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Rcesq isn't this just a cheap publicity stunt? Can it really be taken seriously? I hope that the Pope's courageous approach to this issue while he was in the US has made a real difference. I suppose it will take some time to see if that is the case.

From Sandro Magister: Saint Pius X, a Backward Pope? No, an Unprecedented Cyclone of Reform A 1300-page study treatise written by a great scholar overturns judgments of the antimodernist pope. The new Code of Canon Law he created had tremendous effects. It reinforced more than ever the public role and freedom of the Church with respect to the world

Vatican Council II was not the only pivotal moment in the history of the Catholic Church in the 20th century. Another important transformation took place half a century earlier, with the pontificate of Saint Pius X. This is the conclusion of an imposing two-volume treatise just published in Italy, entitled "Chiesa romana e modernità giuridica [The Roman Church and juridical modernity]," written by an illustrious scholar of ecclesiastical law, Carlo Fantappiè, and dedicated to a grandiose undertaking of pope Giuseppe Sarto, the new Code of Canon Law.

Pius X is remembered for his tenacious battle against "modernist" Catholics. His current profile is that of a pope of reversion and of anathemas. Not so. New studies are reinterpreting this pontificate in a different light, much more forward-thinking and innovative. For example, his famous encyclical "Pascendi Dominici Gregis," the centenary of which fell in 2007, was prophetic in its treatment of questions that are still relevant and central in the life of the Church.

And so was the new Code of Canon Law, promulgated by Benedict XV in 1917, but desired and conceived above all by Pius X. This did not represent the Church falling back on the defensive, but was an audacious work of modernization. It reinforced the public figure and freedom of the Church with respect to the world.

Pius X rejected the philosophical modernization proposed by modernist Catholics. He saw this as a surrender to the secular culture that was eroding the truths of the faith. But he was a decisive modernizer of the juridical and institutional form of the Church, taking from the liberal states of the time the structures that he believed were compatible with the theological nature of the Church itself.

Professor Fantappiè shows how the juridical reform ordered by Pius X was not an isolated case, but was connected to all of his other innovations: in the Roman curia, in the dioceses, in the seminaries, in the catechism, in the liturgy, in sacred music. From these various changes emerged the form of the Church that dominated until Vatican Council II, and to a great extent even after it. In his review of Fantappiè's two volumes for "L'Osservatore Romano," the historian Gianpaolo Romanato summarized the transformation as follows:

"What was still in the second half of the 18th century a federation of national Churches was transformed into a unified international organization, directed by the pope in discipline and theology."

Saint Pius X, a Backward Pope? No, an Unprecedented Cyclone of Reform

CNS - Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, a pioneering church figure for Africa and an influential voice at the Vatican for more than 30 years, died in Paris May 13 at the age of 86.

Pope Benedict XVI, in a telegram of condolences, praised the cardinal for his pastoral ministry and for his generous service in Rome, where he worked for several Vatican offices.

"This eminent son of Benin and of Africa was respected by all, animated by a deeply apostolic spirit and a superior sense of the church and its mission in the world," the pope said.

The cardinal's death leaves the College of Cardinals with 194 members. Of that number, 118 are under age 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a conclave.

Cardinal Gantin's body was being flown from Paris for burial in Benin, a poor West African country where the cardinal was born and had lived in recent years.

Cardinal Gantin became the first black African archbishop in 1960. Sixteen years later, he became the first African to head a major Vatican department when he was made president of the Pontifical Justice and Peace Commission. ...

In 1993, he became the first black African to be chosen as dean of the College of Cardinals. He stepped down from that post in 2002 and was replaced by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger -- a move that gave Cardinal Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict, a leading role in the period leading up to the conclave that elected him in 2005.

While often seen as a Third World church leader who broke new ground in Rome, Cardinal Gantin was also a strong defender of the Roman Curia. At a 1991 synod, he criticized "certain ideas and anti-Roman attitudes, disseminated in the West through the teachings of theologians and masters of thought." ..

African Cardinal Gantin, former Vatican official, dies in Paris

Gantin Gone

Herald Tribune - Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin, a prominent churchman whose influence was felt in Europe and in West Africa, has died. He was 86. Gantin died Tuesday afternoon at the George Pompidou Hospital in Paris of complications caused by severe dehydration, said Jean-Yves Riocreux, the bishop of Pontoise, who was at the cardinal's bedside before his death.

Gantin was transferred to the Paris hospital from Benin when his health worsened following a funeral ceremony in Africa, Riocreux said, adding that the cardinal had suffered from dehydration.

Gantin, the son of a railway worker, was archbishop of Cotonou in Benin before going to Rome. He worked closely with Pope John Paul II and Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, now Pope Benedict XVI.

One of the last cardinals to be named by Pope Paul VI, Gantin spent more than 30 years in the Roman Curia. He served as head of the Vatican's Justice and Peace Commission and head of the Congregation for Bishops. That office is responsible for the world's bishops and is one of the top Vatican positions.

Cardinal Bernardin Gantin of Benin, close to popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI, dies

The Independent -

The Vatican's official newspaper has endorsed the possibility that the universe could contain intelligent life beyond Earth, while insisting that aliens would be "our brothers" and "children of God" as much as human beings are.

The Pope's astronomer, José Gabriel Funes, a Jesuit priest, told L'Osservatore Romano that there would be nothing surprising about the existence of intelligent extra-terrestrials.

"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on Earth, so there could be other beings created by God [beyond it]," he said. The interview suggests that the Church's hierarchy may be paving the way to showing that Pope Benedict XVI is more open to the ideas of modern science than he has previously seemed to be.

Pope Benedict has spoken in favour of "intelligent design" in the past and has damned evolutionary ideas that leave no room for God.

Pope's astronomer insists alien life 'would be part of God's creation'