...apparently, the Pope began chatting on a cell phone that was handed to him by a disabled man. The man had a terminally ill friend on the other end. How cool is that?
[UPDATE: Apparently, it was "Sister Maria Cristina, a sick nun from the town of Angri in southern Italy."]
Side note: I hope people realize that this was a terminally ill nun on the other end of the line. It would be silly to see every Joe Pilgrim coming through the Vatican trying to give the pope a phone just to talk to "my friend Sara, who, like, totally wanted to be here."
Anyway, here is the English translation of his address from Zenit, and here is a sample:
The faithful are in need of God's intervention because they are in a painful situation of contempt and derision by proud people. The image the Psalmist now uses is that of satiety: "We have had more than enough of contempt. Too long our soul has been sated with the scorn of those who are at ease, the contempt of the proud" (verses 3-4).
To the traditional biblical satiety of food and years, regarded as a sign of divine blessing, is now opposed an intolerable satiety composed of an excessive load of humiliations. And we know that today many nations, many individuals are full of worries; they are too satiated with the worries of the satisfied, the contempt of the arrogant. Let us pray for them and let us help these humiliated brothers of ours.
For this reason, the just have entrusted their cause to the Lord, and he is not indifferent to those imploring eyes, he does not ignore their invocation or ours, nor does he disappoint their hope.
