As recently announced, the Holy Father Pope Benedict will observe this event by celebrating a Papal Mass in St. Peter's Basilica on the day itself at 11:30 am CEST. Furthermore, there will be, from 15 to 17 September, a symposium of the Pave the Way Foundation about Pius XII which aims at dispelling the "black legend" surrounding him. In November, in the Charlemagne wing of the colonades of St. Peter's square, an exhibition about the Pastor Angelicus will be opened. And, as the alway well informed Andrea Tornielli reports today, it is not impossible that before the year ends the decree on the heroic virtues of Pius XII (which the plenary of the Congregation of the Causes of the Saints had already approved last year) will be published, which would be the decisive step on his way to beatification.
As Tornielli also mentions, on the coming weekend there will be a conference about another great figure of the Church in the 20th Century, Cardinal Giuseppe Siri. And speaking about Cardinal Siri, he informs us that a collections of his homilies, arranged according to the liturgical year, has been published by the Italian publisher Fede & Cultura. Homilies which, as Tornielli notes, impress by their incisiveness and brevity and could well serve as a model for preachers today. Perhaps some English language Catholic publisher could be interested for an English edition.
