9/19/2010

PAPAL THREE

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Papal Visit ~ Day 3 ~ Hyde Park Prayer Vigil.
By Uncle Monty at the Vigil.
Papal Photos By Alex Albion.
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Unexpectedly, the popemobile stopped within
just feet of me as Pope Benedict XVI personally
received a baby handed to him to be kissed and
blessed with some 350,000 pilgrims cheering and
looking on among London’s densely packed crowds
at the Hyde Park Prayer Vigil on the last day, but
one, of the Holy Father’s official four-day state visit
to the United Kingdom. I could now almost reach
over and touch the pope himself as he dutifully
stood-up to receive the child at the opened window
of his bullet-proof popemobile that was surrounded
by security agents ever leary of some public protester
acting out against the 83-year old German-born
Vicar of Christ. The moment was almost surreal
for me, aside from being an extraordinary and un-
forgetable one that I couldn’t have planned any
better by being, has it was, at the perfect and un-
planned spot to record such a moving and papal
moment that I shall never again see
repeated in my own life time.
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A Future Priest, Perhaps?
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Beside that, there was the five-hour long stage per-
formances leading upto to the personal arrival of
His Holiness at the Papal Prayer Vigil that saw both
high and low class performances of dancers, singers,
skits, and musical treats. However, there was too
much of the same gymnastics that was presented
as “dancing” when my “kitty” called “Potty” could
have easily outperformed such poor and mechanical
performers and ticks much better with hands down.
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The Papal Stage at Hyde Park Prayer Vigil, 2010.
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The vigil was also so swamped with too many African
immigrants and foreigners that it was hard to know if
it was English at all. Christian charity was hard to find,
too. Many of the Africans and foreigners were decidedly
rude and aggressive and demanding that they be given
priority over others wanting to get to the front row
despite being too late to get there themselves. It took
me a couple of hours to land up on the first row myself
by patiently dealing with the largest crowds I have ever
encountered before at any where else. Whatever, I
still got there by determination and stamina to get
myself where I wanted to be by being polite and
considerate to others above all else. Some of the
kids, too, were clearly more polite and kind than
some of their edgy elders at the Hyde Park
Prayer Vigil.
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His Holiness Sat Throned on the Papal Stage.
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Speaking English in his deep guttural German accent,
Pope Benedict came over as a rare man to be reckon
with religiously, intellectually, and ecclesiastically, as
he spoke as “God’s Rottweiler,” if you will, to the
massive crowds as dusk had now fallen to full night
time at London’s autumntide in mid-September that
was also on the same evening as the Jewish Day
of Atonement or Yom Kippur.
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The constrast between Benedict and the late beloved
John Paul II was like day and night for many, although
I think Benedict has been a good choice after the char-
ismastic and splendid and resounding 26-year long
papacy of the Great JPII. Although an avid
Anglican myself, I much perfer JPII to the
somewhat rather stiff personality of Benedict.
(I personally never did see the biggest protest against the
pope has I arrived at Hyde Park around 1:30pm and stayed
there until 8.30pm at the close of the Papal Prayer Vigil.
I had no desire to neither to see such nor to add
any kind of credence to such an anti-pope protest.)
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Pope Decries 'Marginalization' of Religion

By Lawrence D. Jones. The Christian Post.
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No one can appreciate, by the way, the immense
draw of any pope – even that of Benedict’s unwarm
personality and anti-pope protests against him –
unless you’ve been there to actually see a pope. It
is akin to the draw of an American President in
which crowds are drawn simply because the person
is a president. Again, unless you’ve been there to
see a president you cannot appreciate or experience
what such is really like. I have been present at
presidents and popes, so I think I can understand
the draw and why others do not. For me, "the
taste" is irresisible, while for others it is not.
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Another touching momemt at the Hyde Park Prayer
Vigil was the Mizen Family who spoke movingly
of their 16 year-old son Jimmy Mizen’s mindless
London stabbing and murder two years ago by yet
another knife-weilding youthful immigrant thug.
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Mass immigration to the UK has brought untold
murders, grave stabbings, street crime, black
youth postcode gangs, spreading of Aids, and
broad day robberies of the kind never before
seen in England until New Labour deliberately
inflicted its socialistic vision of turning Great
Britain into a savage and hideous Third World
country that is has now become in some urban
spots. When Cardinal Walter Kasper spoke of
Heathrow looking like a Third World Country he
was, of course, absolutely right aside from being
shunned from the papal visit because of what he
honestly said. The British news media called it
a "gaffe," while I call it the truth of what the
dear Cardinal said. You cannot speak critically
of today's Broken Britain without being con-
demned and branded as a racist, bigot, Nazi,
and/or Fascist despite the fact that Britain has
been turned into a massive dumping ground for
the world's unwanted weirdos, rejects, spongers,
criminals, nutcases, and low-life!
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And, when Monsignor John Armitage stood-up
to speak on the Papal Stage he soon sounded
to me more like he was presenting some kind
of Socialist Manifeso rather than a religious
homily. Perhaps him and socialism go to-
gether much like what was once called
"Liberation Theology."
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There was, however, two things that I was rather
pleased with at the prayer vigil: Sir Edward
Elgar's magnetic music of "Pomp & Circumstance"
and his British patriotic piece of "Land of Hope
& Glory" brought me great pleasure. Although
I suspect that many of the bobbing heads
among the big crowd didn't know it was Elgar
or that he was a quintessential English
Catholic composer whose classical music
I never tire of hearing. Bravo!
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Then I come now to the superb 480-page
pocket-size printed MAGNIFICAT, that
contains all the liturgies, Eucharistic prayers,
Communion hymns, and state events of the
Papal Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the
United Kingdom. Each page is glorious
reading to me with its missal character
and essence. I've gotten thru about 100
pages so far, but I will savour the rest of
MAGNIFICAT long after the pope has
safely return home to the Holy See.
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Big TV Screen View of the 350,000 Pilgrims.

I have so much enjoyed Pope Benedict's visit to us. And, especially his presence at Lambeth Palace and at the huge Papal Prayer Vigil at London's world famous Hyde Park. What was also so wonderful about the papal visit was it was free for the most part save for a few quid here and there to help underwrite the huge costs of such an important state visit. Certainly, the overkill security and policing was evident and very costly when deployed in the name of protecting the pope by thousands upon thousands of British cops of every kind along with private security companies that must have made a big killing in huge profits thankz to the pope's visit. What positive impact Benedict's four-day state visit to the UK will have on reducing the de-Christianization of Anglican England seems to me to be minimal at best because of the already stated irreligiosity of the English people and the forced infusion of alien religions like Islam in its vile anti-Christian stand that is allowed to flourish freely in the hideous name of multiculturalism and multiracialism inside Bloody Broken Britain. I doubt we will see another UK papal visit in this 21st century of growing secularism and atheism unless something dramatically changes the sorrowful and soulless generations to come. While now, England is pretty much dead from what I can see. We are the "New Africa" displacing everything that was once my beloved Albion. Plus, we're being overwhelmed by those of alien cultures, foreign attitudes, strange religions, odd tongues, weird lifestyles, anti-English beliefs, and non-stop legal and illegal immigration.

Truly, Uncle Monty. +16th Sunday after Trinity, 2010.

Papal Visit ~ Final Day 4
The Beautification of John Henry Newman.

Pope's visit culminates with beatification of Cardinal Newman

Service for Victorian cleric in front of 50,000 at windswept park in Birmingham. Nuns arrive at Cofton Park, Birmingham where the pope oversaw a service beatifying Cardinal Newman.
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Feedback & Comments: thebiggerissue@k.st
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4 comments:

Richard Darcy. said...
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thebiggerissue.org said...
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Richard Darcy. said...

Congratulations Uncle Monty on your detailed reports regarding the Benedict visit to GB. You report like few others that dare not be critical of what they see.
The revealing images of the pope's
visit and the various people at the papal events made your stories very readable to say the least. The photographs you took of Benedict with the baby girl are the best ones I have seen on your incredible blog. Thank you for sharing your stories and opinions
so freely with us all. Congratulations are in order again to you Uncle Monty. Best to you,
Richard Darcy, retired CofE priest

thebiggerissue.org said...
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