The family that prays together, stays together

One of an enormous collection of Catholic holy cards I purchased yesterday.

Just had the pleasure today of seeing on German TV a Franciscan respond to a protestant minister who accused the Pope of conducting too Catholic an occasion during his pilgrimage to the Marian shrine of Altötting in Bavaria. He said that he had bent over backwards for the protestants, visting schools and "churches" but they were divided, their services cold and you could believe anything and nothing. Apart from that they were good people. When protestants convert and pray in the Catholic sense, they will find the unity they crave.

I am visiting the Pope's birthplace of Marktl next week that has now given rise to a new word in German, vermarktlung (vermarktung =marketing) given the commercial exploitation of all things Papal. See earlier post on this issue. Let's see if the Pope's visit changes anything.

The Pope will arrive in about an hour in Marktl. Overnight, two pots of blue paint were thrown against the Pope's childhood home, but the Bavarians have worked at top speed to remove any effects.

Our Lady, Patroness of Bavaria, pray for us!