NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      VATICAN CITY, 18 (NE) From the 21st to the 27th of February the annual Lenten retreat of the Roman Curia will take place in the Vatican, in the presence of the Holy Father. It will begin the first Lenten Sunday, and will consist of two daily sessions, which include meditation, the rosary, adoration and benediction. They will be held at the Clementine Hall in the Vatican.

      As the Vatican Information Service (VIS) explained, Papal spiritual exercises began with Pope Pius XI in 1929. In his encyclical Mens nostra he declared his intention of initiating annual retreats with the members of the Roman Curia.

      This year Bishop André-Mutien Léonard of Namur (Belgium) will preach the spiritual exercises. In 1976 John Paul II himself, at that time Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, preached the spiritual exercises of the Roman Curia for Pope Paul VI.