Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Beijing (Agenzia Fides) - “Holy Father we will book you a ticket for the 2008 Olympic Games so we can prepare to welcome you among us”. The special birthday greeting came from Chinese Catholics on the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI’s 80th birthday and the start of his third year of pontificate. Fides spoke with Catholics in several parishes in Beijing with regard to initiatives to mark the Pope’s birthday. Bookings for tickets for the 2008 Olympic Games opened a few days ago and one local Catholic said they want to send the Pope a ticket hoping he will visit China: “We are looking forward to the Letter he is writing to us and we also hope to welcome him to China. This is our prayer. We know it will not be easy but we are hoping and praying for this”.
A priest in Beijing said: “We said a special Rosary for the intentions of the Holy Father. We wish him good health that he may continue to lead us to the truths of the Faith. We hope our prayers will lessen his fatigue. I found his homily about his eighty years of life deeply moving. He almost seemed to excuse himself for being so old but this makes him all the more important for us. His experience opens a path built with strong personal faith. This is what we urgently need and this is what we have received in these two years of pontificate”.(NZ)(Agenzia Fides 17/4/2007 Righe: 25 Parole: 296)
