Pope Paul VI Will Be A Saint This Year - Perspectives Daily.

saltandlighttv on Feb 20, 2018 The Pope, along with the Roman Curia, left Rome yesterday to begin their annual week-long Lenten retreat at a retreat house in Ariccia, just outside Rome.

The retreat which will run until the 23rd of this month is being led this year by Fr. José Tolentino de Mendonca, the vice-rector of the Catholic University in Lisbon. The overall theme of Fr Mendonça’s meditations will be: “In Praise of Thirst.” He will give ten talks during the retreat, beginning with a meditation titled “Apprentices of Awe.” The other presentations include examining the experience of thirst, “the thirst for nothing,” “the thirst for Jesus,” tears and thirst, desire, and “the beatitude of thirst.”

The Vatican has also released the Pope's liturgical schedule for the next two months including Holy Week and Easter. Some of the highlights include:

A pastoral visit to San Giovanni Rotondo southeast of Rome where St. Padre Pio lived and ministered on March 17th and Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter's Square on March 25th. Holy Thursday morning chrism Mass will be celebrated at St. Peter's Basilica on March 29th and Good Friday liturgy on March 30th, followed by the Nighttime Way of the Cross at Rome's Colosseum that evening. March 31st, Easter vigil St. Peter's Basilica and the next day, Easter morning Mass in St. Peter's Square on April 1st.

As usual, the Vatican schedule didn’t say where Pope Francis will celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper, but the location this year will be announced closer to the celebration. We will be covering all these events, with LIVE commentary on the network so, be sure to check our television schedule on our website listed below for details and times

In other news today, it looks like Blessed Paul VI will be canonized later this year. Pope Francis made the announcement to the pastors of the Diocese of Rome during a question-and-answer session, that he had with the priests on February 15th.

During the session, Archbishop Angelo De Donatis told the priests that they will receive a book of "meditations" about priesthood drawn from speeches from each pope, from Blessed Paul VI to Pope Francis.

That prompted the Pope to comment that, "There are two bishops of Rome who are saints already - St. John 23rd and St. John Paul II. Paul VI will be a saint this year". Afterwards, the Pope said jokingly, “The sainthood cause of Pope John Paul I is open. Benedict and I are on the waiting list; so pray for us."

Although the Pope announced the upcoming canonization, the formally signed decree recognizing the miracle has not yet been signed, nor the date set for the ceremony. Pope Paul VI was the head the Catholic Church from 1963 to 1978.

And finally, Chaldean archbishop, Archbishop Bashar Warda of Iraq spoke at an event at Georgetown University in Washington, where he said that “If Christians in the Middle East are going to be honest with their Muslim dialogue partners, Muslims will have to acknowledge that the persecution of Christians in the region did not start with the Islamic State's rise to power in 2014. Here now, are some highlights of that event.

That is all that for today. Join us again tomorrow, when I bring you more news and stories from the Perspective of a Catholic Lens. Thanks for Joining us.