Souvenirs at the ready for pope’s visit
When Pope Benedict XVI comes to town April 15, very few people will get the chance to be up close and personal with him.
But that has not stopped hundreds of snapshots from circulating around Washington that show people posing happily alongside the pope before he even sets foot in this country.
At closer look, the pope, in red and white vestments, appears, well, flat.
That’s because a life-size cutout of Pope Benedict is on display in Washington outside the gift shop at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. Adjacent to the cash register, the cardboard pontiff lures those passing by, who happen to have a cell-phone camera, to snap away.
The shrine is not charging for photos, as some places do with life-size cutouts of famous people. It also is not selling that particular cut out,  although plenty of folks have inquired about buying it. There are plenty of smaller, desk-size versions available.
And just because the life-size image isn’t for sale, it hardly means papal images are too sacred to market. The separate kiosk outside the shrine gift shop is currently selling all kinds of Pope Benedict merchandise including: coffee mugs, rosaries, magnets, bumper stickers, T-shirts, postcards and books.
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Those who can’t make it to the shrine bookstore can purchase souvenirs of Pope Benedict’s U.S. visit online. And while browsing, Web users might want to visit another site that sells religious items for an unusual, although not official, papal souvenir.
Tucked in between a book on religious sisters in the United States and a book of contemplative prayer by Trappist Father Thomas Merton, is a two-ounce bottle of “The Pope’s Cologne.”
The site, which sells products from monasteries around the world, offers a lot of fruitcakes, cookies, jams and religious books, but only one papal scent which is advertised as the “private formula of Pope Pius IX.”
PHOTO: Father Ray Wadas poses with a life-size cutout image of Pope Benedict XVI outside the gift shop at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington April 6. The pastor of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Takoma Park, Md., said he wanted to have his photo taken with the cutout because it was “as close as I’m going to get” to the pope. Pope Benedict arrives in Washington April 15 for his pastoral visit to the United States. (CNS/Nancy Wiechec)
Charlton Heston’s other ‘holy’ roles
Just about everyone familiar with cinema knows that Charlton Heston, who died April 5 at age 84, played Moses in the 1956 Hollywood classic “The Ten Commandments.”
But it would take a real film buff to remember the other “holy” roles Heston played, including St. Thomas More in a 1988 TV remake of “A Man for All Seasons,” St. John the Baptist in 1965’s “The Greatest Story Ever told,” Sistine Ceiling painter Michelangelo in “The Agony and the Ecstasy” (also made in 1965), Cardinal Richelieu in the 1973 film version of “The Three Musketeers,” and Judah Ben-Hur in 1959’s “Ben-Hur,” for which he won the Oscar for best actor.
But he topped all of those characters by playing God in an uncredited appearance in the 1990 movie “Almost an Angel.”
In an interview with Catholic News Service to promote the movie, Heston said he told Paramount Pictures, which produced the film, that he didn’t want any billing: “It really is ridiculous to say ‘God — Charlton Heston.’”
In negotiating with studio execs, Heston added, he told them, “God doesn’t need billing.” Heston said the studio replied, “God doesn’t need to be paid either.” Ultimately, Heston and Paramount worked out a deal in which the studio didn’t have to pay the actor an almighty sum.
Pilgrims of the world honor JPII
VATICAN CITY — Thousands of people flocked to St. Peter’s Square Tuesday to attend a memorial Mass for Pope John Paul II, who died on that date three years ago.Â
The blue balloons on this Google map show you just some of the places they all traveled from.
I talked to several people in the square about why they came and what they thought of the late pope. You can read more of what they told me by clicking on some of the balloons below. Or, click here to bring the world map up on a separate page to view what these pilgrims of the world said.
Washington Metro subway system offers ‘Mass Pass’
A lot of special events in Washington these days are drawing big numbers and keeping Metro subway operators on their toes, what with a shiny new ballpark now open and the spring’s annual cherry blossom festivities in full bloom. Add to that Pope Benedict XVI’s upcoming visit to the nation’s capital April 15-17.
So Metro wants people to know it can move a crowd. Passengers dashing for a train or waiting on the platform for the next one likely will hear a periodic announcement with an invitation to take the subway to special events happening in Washington, including the pope’s April 17 Mass at Nationals Park. “We’re ready. Are you?” intones the voice on the public address system.
To make Massgoers lives easier, Metro is issuing a commemorative “Mass Pass,” good for unlimited travel April 17.  ”It will be a great keepsake of this special day,” a Washington archdiocesan spokesperson told the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Washington Archdiocese. It costs $9 and features the event logo. Metro has created a special Web site on the papal trip and has even produced a commemorative brochure. Metro plans to add extra trains and extra staff too.
Most-viewed CNS stories for March
Did you miss any of these? Here’s a list of most-viewed stories for March on our public site, www.catholicnews.com:
1. St. Patrick’s Day falling during Holy Week prompts parade dilemma.
2. Maryland couple hopes son’s medical case will help Toussaint’s cause.
3. Vatican spokesman calls rumors of rehabilitation of Luther groundless.
4. Vatican statement on baptisms not meant to cause panic, priest says.
5. Cardinal: Liberalized use of Tridentine Mass already is bearing fruit.
6. Security requirement to keep Sikhs from interreligious papal event.
7. Nuncio says pope comes to strengthen faith, hope, love of U.S. church.
8. Closing the doors of limbo: Theologians say it was hypothesis (Dec. 2, 2005).
9. Social effects of sin greater than ever, says Vatican official.
10. Upcoming book links parishioners’ politics with their priests’ views.
Welcome to Nazareth’s Old City
NAZARETH, Israel — The Maronite Church in Nazareth’s Old City is chained and locked; most parishioners have joined the flight of residents out of the Old City in search of better housing in newer neighborhoods.
But a group of hardy young Nazarenes — and one Israeli Jew — believe in the potential of the city and refuse to abandon it. The group of young business-minded Nazarenes are taking over their family’s shops or renting abandoned properties and revamping them, offering new restaurants and cafes for tourists, simply because they love their city and want to make it better.
They want tourists to stay longer than the traditional one-hour dash through the city to see the Basilica of the Annunciation and across the city to the church where the Greek Orthodox say the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary.
Three years ago, Maoz Inon, a 32-year-old Israeli Jew, rented and renovated an abandoned house, retained the name of the original owner and opened the Fauzi Azar Inn in the heart of the Old City for pilgrims and travelers who like to take the unbeaten path. Together with his friend David Landis, Inon has also mapped out a pilgrimage trail along the footsteps of Jesus in the Galilee — starting, of course, from Nazareth.
Nearby, Wissam Abu Saleem, 31, offers thick Arabic coffee in a shop his family has run for three generations. Just on the outskirts of the Old City, Amin Zayyad will soon open a restaurant he says will offer “Middle Eastern fusion†cuisine.
If traditional fare is what a visitor craves, there is a choice of traditional restaurants, including the landmark Diana, where the salads are endless and the meats legendary.
But lunch can also be a simple warm pita-pizza with melted cheese and a slightly sweet tomato sauce at a little hole-in-the-wall place near White Mosque Square in the middle of the open-air vegetable market.
Nazareth is not only about food and in addition to the charming outdoor market, Nazareth Village, located near the French Hospital, will transplant a visitor to Nazareth as it was in biblical times.
“Ahaallaan Waasaalan” (Welcome),  says Abu Saleem. Old, new, traditional, fusion, Jew, Muslim, Christian, pilgrim, tourist, trekker – everything and everyone is welcome in Nazareth.
More nightmares about covering papal events
Tim Drake, who runs the National Catholic Register’s Pope2008.com blog, has a few nightmares of his own to tell about covering papal events. It’s a follow-up to our post last week.
Vatican blurbs for new book
VATICAN CITY — Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, hopped over to Rome and the Vatican this week to promote his new book, “A Civilization of Love: What Every Catholic Can Do to Transform the World.”
The first-time author, whose book and related survey were unveiled last week at events in Washington and New York, got a warm welcome and rave reviews in Rome during his book presentation, which was hosted by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi and Vatican Radio.
Too bad the book’s backcover jacket is already covered with blurbs from top Catholic commentators — there’s no room now for the thumbs-up reviews the book got from the Vatican. So I’ll just share a few snippets of what Vatican panelists said during today’s presentation:
Father Lombardi, head of the Vatican’s press office, television station and Vatican Radio, called it ”a very important and interesting book.” He continued:
“(Carl Anderson)Â has presented the big issues, the big problems of the world of today, the challenges we see before us. And in a very clear, simple language he has helped not only the Knights of Columbus, but many other people to understand, to reflect what can we do to solve these big challenges.”
U.S. Cardinal J. Francis Stafford, head of the Vatican’s Apostolic Penitentiary and former president of the Vatican’s laity council, said the book is “a meditation upon rebirth” and “a reflection on St. John’s ‘God is love.’”
“(Anderson) states his purpose is to outline the way the Catholic laity should create a civilization of love. Carl Anderson has discovered his mature identity as a Catholic by his fidelity to the sources of revelation, sacred Scriptures, and the sacred tradition.”
The president of Rome’s Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family, Msgr. Livio Melina, praised the book for having “the courage to propose a great, positive vision” and realistic ideals that Christians and all people of good will can work toward.Â
Msgr. Melina said he liked how each chapter ended with ”original suggestions for contemplation and action” which, in his opinion, made the book:
“a modern handbook of spiritual exercises that update the Ignatian spiritual exercises for the lay Christian of our day. It is concerned with the practice of seeing reality with new eyes, thinking with new criteria, and acting according to new perspectives.”
Finally, Msgr. Jean Laffitte, vice president of the Pontifical Academy for Life, underlined Anderson’s assertion ”that Christians have the responsibility to transform culture radically.”Â
But, he said, the author is advocating a moral, ethical revolutionÂ
“not by imposing values … from above, but through a subtler, more powerful process: living a vocation of love in the day to day reality of our lives. A love whose actions are grounded in the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ.”
Dismantling the “culture of suspicion” and building up a civilization of love “involves a personal willingness to see Christ in the suffering of all human beings around us such that our only response to them is one of responsibility for them in love,” said Msgr. Laffitte.
He also lauded Anderson’s book as being “a new powerful tool for which to expand the new evangelization to every world culture.”