Scottish Catholic Observer

Mgr Georg Ganswein, personal secretary to Pope Benedict XVI, has received the prestigious Capri San Michele prize for his book about the Pope’s first five years.

His book, Benedict XVI: Urbi Et Orbi, was published to commemorate the Pope’s fifth anniversary of his election. The book contains pictures from the Pope’s travels including his first World Youth Day in Cologne in 2005 to his visit to the Czech Republic last September.

In an article in L’Osservatore Romano titled ‘The Pope of surprises,’ the monsignor described how Pope Benedict XVI and his predecessors ‘respond with their own personality and with their own repeatable sensitivity’ to their role, highlighting how the Holy Father was the ‘first devotee’ to his predecessor Pope John Paul II.

VATICAN BANK DISPUTE SET  TO INTENSIFY

A dispute between the Vatican bank and the Italian judiciary over suspected financial irregularities is set to intensify. Rome magistrates are investigating two senior officials at the bank while funds belonging to the Holy See remain frozen by court order.

Vincenzo Scordamaglia, a lawyer representing the Institute of Religious Works, as the Vatican bank is formally known, said the bank would challenge the seizure of its funds if they were not released.

Mr Scordamaglia said he had received the go-ahead to seek redress through Rome’s Tribunal of Freedom to ‘clear the bank’s name’ and show the Vatican’s commitment to regulations on combating terrorism and money laundering.

HUMAN JUDGEMENT REMAINS KEY IN MEDIA, SAYS POPE

Pope Benedict XVI has chosen the theme for the 45th World Day of Social Communications—‘Truth, proclamation and authenticity of life in the digital age.’

His Message for the Day will be published on January 24, 2011, the feast of St Francis of Sales, patron of journalists.

A note released by the Pontifical Council for Social Communications explains that the theme is ‘to be understood as focusing on the human person who is at the heart of all communicative processes.

“Even in an age that is largely dominated, and at times conditioned, by new technologies, the value of personal witness remains essential,” the note read. “To approach the truth and to take on the task of sharing it requires the ‘guarantee’ of an authenticity of life from those who work in the media, and especially from Catholic journalists; an authenticity of life that is no less required in a digital age,” it continued.