200,000 Gather in Vatican on "Pope Day"

[stbruno]

zenit.org/article-21551?l=english

Benedict XVI Urges Students to Seek Truth

VATICAN CITY, JAN. 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Seek the truth and the good, Benedict XVI urged some 200,000 people who flooded the Vatican to support the Pope, days after protests led him to cancel a visit to a Roman university.

I am so glad that reason rules and in a big way!

 

[Dale_M]

I don’t recall hearing of Pope Day before, but from what I gathered it is the anniversary of when a pope was elected. The Pope Day for John Paul II was in October.

 

[Goth_Catholic]

Actually, I think Pope Day formerly refurred to the day set aside to protest the Pope and the Catholic faith in England…I think that’s what they called it, anyway.

 

[Digitonomy]

Actually, I think Pope Day formerly refurred to the day set aside to protest the Pope and the Catholic faith in England…I think that’s what they called it, anyway.

I had never heard this, but you’re exactly right, except for the location. Here is what a prominent American Catholic said on the subject in 1888.

The present Pope has recently had a day–a day of Jubilee, commemorated in all parts of the world. The faithful testified their joy at the celebration of his sacerdotal Jubilee, and renewed the protestation of their heartfelt allegiance to the See of Unity, to the one whom Christ has set to govern His kingdom. Princes and rulers of all lands, Mohammedan and heathen, as well as Christian, sent their courteous offerings and congratulations to His Holiness, Pope Leo XIII.

The Pope has just had a day, and a glorious day. But is this my topic? No, I am going back into the past.

There was a time when, in New England and other colonies, the Pope had his day, which was very enthusiastically celebrated. This, as a matter of history, will doubtless be new to most of my hearers, for it is not brought into prominence in the current histories of the country, and few would trace the only remnant left of the old-time celebration–the Fourth-of-July firecracker–to its real origin.

The celebration of Pope-Day arose in a curious way. After the overthrow of the English commonwealth, and the restoration of Charles II., New England was in a dilemma.

The English Crown was asserting its rights over New England, and State holidays had to be observed. But how were the Puritans to keep Guy Fawkes’ Day, the 5th of November? A few misguided Catholics, driven to desperation by the penal laws, had plotted to blow up King James I. and his Parliament, led on by government detectives, in all probability. But how could the Puritans, who, as a body, drove the son of James from the throne, and sent his head rolling from the executioner’s block–how could they hold up Guy Fawkes to public execration for an unaccomplished crime, when their own hands were reeking with royal blood?..

It’s really a fascinating aspect of American history, and the rest of the linked page is just as good.