Ring Mass

All the Catholic high schools in California that I know (and perhaps in the USA for that matter), celebrate "ring mass" - the day when the juniors (grade 11) get their class rings. Usually there is a mass and a blessing in the Catholic schools…

So the Vatican holds its own "ring mass" on the day after the consistory: when the pope blesses the golden rings of the new cardinals, and then gives the ring to each of them. It is yet another encounter between the pope and the new cardinals -- a moment of reassurances and of shared joy.

It began raining -- strike that: POURING this morning by 9.00, and so I decided that I would not use my ticket to go to the Piazza for that celebration. However, I did follow it in the media… and and it was another festive/solemn happy-kind-of-day.

There is nothing in the USA websites about our Cardinal Farina, except for some lamenting about there being still some curial cardinals by some American commentators who want to insist that the new cardinals are not representative enough of the people… (cf. John Allen of NCR). However, I did manage to find some enthusiastic reports from the newspaper of Benevento. It seems that a huge delegation from don Raffaele's hometown of Buonalbergo came to Rome to attend the two-days of consistory and celebration, and that their wild, noisey, affectionate endorsement of their hometown boy more than make up for the silence of the world press.

Representative of the people of God? Hmmm … the American critics may be sour on it, but the people of Buonalbergo are very happy that Raffaele Farina, Salesian and their own priest, is now cardinal. They have loved him and have always found him to be approachable and simple -- one of them. Sounds like a good representation to me!