From our Rome correspondents

Fr Martin Edwards kindly sent me the above from yesterday's Angelus. The Holy Father is second window from the right at the top of the Palazzo. Father sent a brief note to accompany the photos,
It was a wonderful and moving event. At the end, the Holy Father put his notes away and spoke off the cuff. The Holy Father lectured academe on the importance of liberty in the pursuit of truth. (The priests with me are fellow students from the NAC.)
Here are the priests (Fr Edwards on the left):

Regular commenter, George put this comment in earlier today:
My wife and I were there yesterday. Fantastic atmosphere, people started coming in from early morning. We went to St Anne's for 10 am Mass then just about managed to squeeze into a spot in St Peter's Square from where we could see the window from which Papa Bendict would appear. Nearly an hour later and the cheers went up as our Holy Father appeared at the window with arms raised up and a big smile on his face. Wonderful! The cheers, hoots and whistles amid 'Viva Papa Benedetto' were almost deafening. Estimates in the region of 100,000 to 200,000 people plus in the square. Well, from where we were standing, right in the thick of it I knew how a sardine would feel!

Then silence for the Angelus and wild applause later as the Pope spoke of freedom of speech in the quest for Truth - especially on University Campus where freedom of speech must be free from political shennanigans and free from 'pin-head' professors with their own agendas and axes to grind. Students are not stupid however, and these charlatans are soon uncovered.

Greetings followed in several languages - not too many English speaking people there, but Italians and especially Romans turned out in their thousands. Hundreds of Priests and Religious Sisters both young and old were everywhere to be seen - just so uplifting for us simple folk in the pews to see such a richness of youth among so many of our religious. Hurrah for our Pope and for our Glorious Catholic Faith! It is alive and well - of that there is no doubt!

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