How come you all never post anything? 
WCC GENERAL SECRETARY CONGRATULATES POPE BENEDICT XVI ON HIS 80TH
BIRTHDAY....
Your Holiness,
Christ is Risen!
"We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in
our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor
of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight
of our God and Father." (1Thess.1:2-3)
With these words of the apostle, we gladly join this Sunday, April
15, our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers across the world who
will celebrate your 80th birthday in Eucharistic fellowship.
Your Holiness, in your long life and ecclesial ministry you have
experienced the most difficult upheavals in both society and
science. You have dedicated your life to searching for responses
that are grounded in our common faith in the Risen Lord.
During your Pontificate you have been preaching and teaching about
renewal and re-discovery of this very amazing faith in Christ. A
message that we have embodied in the theme of the World Council of
Churches 9th Assembly last year in Porto Alegre , Brazil : "God, in
your grace, transform the world".
On behalf of the fellowship of churches constituting the World
Council of Churches, we pray to the Almighty that by His Grace you
are blessed to continue leading the faithful of the Roman Catholic
Church, so that as you said in your message on Easter Saturday,
"through the wounds of the Risen Christ we can see the evils which
afflict humanity with the eyes of hope".
We thank you for proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ and
sharing generously the assurance of the resurrection. We thank God
for your life and work.
Yours in Christ,
Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia
General Secretary
World Council of Churches
Pope Benedict gave thanks for his 80 years of life dedicated to the
Church with a special Sunday Mass, a celebration tinged with
nostalgia which drew a huge crowd to St. Peter's Square.
The Vatican had invited rank-and-file faithful to the late-morning
Mass on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica to help the pontiff
celebrate both his 80th birthday Monday and the anniversary of his
April 19, 2005, election to the pontificate.
Joseph Ratzinger, who would take the name of Benedict as pontiff,
was born April 16, 1927, in Marktl Am Inn, a riverside town in the
Bavaria region of Germany.
Thousands of pilgrims from Bavaria attended the Mass, and German
echoed in the ancient alleys leading to the Vatican as groups
streamed to the square. Some of his fellow countrymen and women
wore traditional dress, including feather-trimmed hats; others
waved German flags.
Benedict told the crowd they were joining him in a reflection of
his "not brief" life.
Acknowledging their participation, the pope said he was extending,
"my most sincere thanks, from the depth of my heart, to the entire
Church, which, like a true family, especially in these days,
surrounds me with its affection."
Benedict's reserved, almost shy style, came through in his homily.
In contrast to his late predecessor, John Paul II, who would often
speak informally of his youth in Poland, Benedict sounded almost
apologetic that he was striking a personal note, however brief, in
a religious service.
"The liturgy should not serve to talk about one's ego, of one's
self," Benedict said.
He thanked his late sister, Maria, and his retired choirmaster
brother, Georg, for being steadfastly close to him.
"I give thanks in a special way because, from the first day, I was
able to enter and grow in the great community of believers" in God,
Benedict said. He noted that he was born at Easter time, when
Christians celebrate in joy their belief in Christ's
resurrection.
Benedict appears to carry his years well. He walks briskly, stands
through long public ceremonies, and his first book written as
pontiff goes on sale Monday.
Right after Benedict's election as pope, his brother expressed
worry about the toll that the burdens of the papacy might take on
his brother's health. But Benedict's stamina seems to be holding up
despite his rigorous schedule.
On Wednesday, he will receive U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at
the Vatican, and next weekend he will make an overnight pilgrimage
to northern Italy. In early May, he will travel to Brazil, where
the traditionally strong Catholic Church is losing some faithful to
Protestant evangelical churches.
While there are no indications that Benedict suffers from any
serious or chronic medical problems, there have been ailments in
the past including a 1991 hemorrhagic stroke.
Among the pope's birthday presents was a Gospel holder decorated
with gold and precious stones, from Munich-Freising Cardinal
Friedrich Wetter, and a more secular gift 80 bottles of specially
brewed Bavarian dark beer and an equal number of steins, carried in
the luggage of another bishop from the diocese on a train filled
with German pilgrims.
The pope smiled as he gazed across the sea of faithful gathered
under brilliant sunshine.
Yellow and white are the official Vatican colors, and yellow
pansies were lined up in perfect order across the basilica's steps.
Clusters of yellow daffodils brightened the gray cobblestones
elsewhere in the square.
The future pope spent most of his earlier years studying and
teaching theology in Germany and later trying to ensure that
Catholics kept to doctrinal correctness in two decades as a top
aide to John Paul II.
In his first two years as pope, Benedict has waged a vigorous
Church campaign against same-sex marriage, abortion and euthanasia.
He has cracked down on Church clerics whose writings were found not
to correctly reflect Vatican teaching. Benedict has also called for
the use of more Latin in the Church, including some prayers by the
faithful.
