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First Audience Pope Benedict XVI took a spin around St. Peter's Square in the new popemobile Wednesday before his first general audience; about 20,000 people showed up. It was a sunny morning in Rome and he chose to address the crowd seated in the open air without a canopy. He zeroed in on why he chose the name Benedict. He gave two reasons: Benedict XVI and Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism, the founder of the Benedictine Order, and a patron of Europe. Benedict XV's papacy began during World War I. '”Following in his footsteps, I wish to put my ministry at the service of reconciliation and harmony among men and nations, profoundly convinced that the great good of peace first of all is a gift of God, a fragile and precious gift to be invoked, defended and built day after day with the contribution of all.” Regarding the “other” Benedict, the new pope said, “The gradual expansion of the Benedictine Order founded by him has had an enormous influence on the spread of Christianity on the whole continent. Because of this, St. Benedict is much venerated in Germany and in particular Bavaria, my native land.” It is the “other’ Benedict that was most on my mind. The Rule of St. Benedict begins with the word “Asculta” English translation – “Listen.” Web site Statistics Besides the new pope, the high level of Internet traffic received by the Vatican in the past month is a hot topic. The Vatican website is among the 100 most visited sites worldwide, usually ranking at about 80 of the 100 most visited. In April it moved to 16th place, then 14, then 12th. John Paul's funeral Mass was seen on the web site by 1.3 million people and Pope Benedict's installation Mass by two million. In the statistics office, each of the United States is listed as a country. The highest number of hits the Vatican received during these historic days came from Italy, followed by California, then Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany and Lithuania. The Vatican notes that hits from China outnumbered those from New York and New Jersey. While other Italian-based web pages collapsed during the heavy traffic, the Vatican's site held up with help from a telecommunications company that realized the page was beginning to have problems due to the excessive traffic. The company provided a broadband free of charge. If you've had trouble getting through your Inbox today, Pope Benedict has received 100,000 messages at his new email address. |
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