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(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for July 16, 2016 features a brief look at the day Pope Francis told us why he had taken the name Francis as Bishop of Rome. This is followed by a celebration of  Bonaventure of Bagnoreggio, the saint formed in the shadow of Saint Francis. And finally we share with you a conversation with our popular 'Latin Lover'  Father Reginald Foster who tells us all about the Carmelite 'duplex spiritus'.

Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick:  

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(Vatican Radio) Vatican Weekend for July 17, 2016 features our weekly reflection on the Sunday gospel presented by Jill Bevilacqua for the series 'There's More in the Sunday Gospel than Meets the Eye'. The programme ends with 'Joan knows...', a bird's  eye view of the past week in the Vatican with Joan Lewis, EWTN bureau chief here in Rome.

Listen to a programme presented and produced by Veronica Scarisbrick: 

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Vatican Radio) In a telegram sent on his behalf by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis has condemned the terror attack in Nice and expressed his profound sadness and his spiritual closeness to the French people. 

Addressed to the Bishop of Nice Andre Marceau, the telegram noted that whilst France was celebrating its national day “blind violence has once again hit the nation” in the city of Nice whose victims include many children. It said the Pope once again “condemned such acts” and expressed his “profound sadness and his spiritual closeness to the French people.”  

The telegram continued by saying that Pope Francis “entrusts to the Mercy of God those who have lost their lives” and he shares “the pain of the bereaved families” and also expressed his sympathy to those wounded.  The Pope concluded by imploring from God the gift of “peace and harmony” and invoking divine blessings on the families affected by this tragedy and all the people of France.   

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Vatican City, Jul 15, 2016 / 02:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Updated July 15, 2016, at 12:23 local time to include a letter from the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, His Excellency André Marceau, Bishop of the diocese of Nice.

After a truck plowed through crowds celebrating Bastille Day in the French city of Nice, killing 84, Pope Francis voiced his sorrow for the act of “blind violence,” and assured the French people of his prayers.

In a July 15 letter signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope expressed “his deep sorrow and spiritual closeness to the French people,” entrusting the dead to God’s mercy and uniting himself in the pain of grieving families.

He offered his sympathy to the wounded and to rescuers, praying that the Lord “sustain each one in the event” and grant “the gift of peace and harmony” to the grieving and to the entire French nation.

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ also expressed his grief and solidarity with the victims, firmly condemning all acts of terrorism and hate.

“We condemn in the most absolute way every manifestation of homicidal madness, of hate, of terrorism and of every attack against peace,” he said in a July 15 statement.

Having followed news of the attack with “great concern,” the spokesman, on behalf of Pope Francis, expressed the Vatican’s participation and solidarity in the suffering of the victims and of the French people as a whole on “what should have been a day of great celebration.”

The Vatican’s statement comes the day after a large truck ploughed through crowds along 1.2 miles of the Promenade des Anglais in the southern French city of Nice, killing 84, including several children, and wounding roughly 50 others, 18 of whom remain in critical condition, according to BBC News.

Crowds had been celebrating Bastille Day, which marks the day of France’s independence and is traditionally the country’s biggest public holiday.

Shortly after the end of a fireworks display on the seaside, the truck turned onto the pavement and began driving through the crowd at 25-30 mph, zigzagging in an attempt to hit as many people as possible.

When stopped by police, the driver, believed to be a French-Tunisian criminal known to police but not on a terrorist watch list, opened fire before being shot dead by officers. Upon searching the vehicle, police reportedly found guns and grenades inside the truck.

The attack prompted French president Francois Hollande to extend the countrywide state of emergency imposed after a chain of attacks in Paris left nearly 130 people dead Nov. 13, 2015. The state of emergency will now be effective until July 26.

In a nationwide address, President Hollande said France was in tears and had been “badly hit,” but was strong. “We need to do everything we can to fight against” such attacks, he said, adding that “all of France is under the threat of Islamic terrorism.”

He announced that “operational reserves” would be deployed to support the army and security forces throughout France, particularly on the country’s borders.

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Rome, Italy, Jul 15, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- For five generations the Gammarellis have dressed and shod the Vicar of Christ through their family business, Rome’s historic Ditta Annibale Gammarelli.

Now, after the recent death of manager Annibale Gammeralli, the business will pass to the hands of the sixth generation.

Established in 1798 by Giovanni Antonio Gammarelli, the “Ditta” was founded under Pius VI as a tailor for the Roman clergy. After Giovanni died, management of the shop passed to his son Filippo, and then to Filippo’s son Annibale.

In 1874 Annibale moved the shop from its original location to its current spot on Via Santa Chiara 34,  just steps away from the Pantheon. It's located inside the building of the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy, the institute that forms future Vatican diplomats.

When Annibale died, his sons Bonaventura and Giuseppe decided to keep the name “Ditta Annibale Gammarelli” as a homage to their father – a name that has since become known to clergy throughout Italy and the world.

In an additional act of homage, Bonaventura decided to name his own son after his father: making the late Annibale Gammarelli the second to carry the name of the family business and to carry it forward.

Annibale passed away July 12 in Rome after a long career managing the sartorial workshop, leaving it in the care of his son Stefano Paolo and his nephews Maximillian and Lorenzo, who are the sixth generation to sew garments for the Pope.

During each conclave the Gammerellis are charged with making three white cassocks in different sizes –  small, medium and large – which sit ready and waiting for the new Successor of Peter.

And though Francis doesn’t use it, the white cassocks are always accompanied by the red mozzetta (the papal half-cape of choir dress that buttons in the front and covers the shoulders), as well as the white pellegrina (the buttonless white shoulder cape worn with a cassock and open in front), the white fascia (the waistband typically embroidered with the papal coat of arms, though Francis opted out of this), and the white zucchetto (or skullcap).

(A point worthy of noting is that Popes typically change cassocks more or less every two months, since the silver cross they wear oxidizes, leaving a stain on the white fabric).

In 2000 the Ditta Annnibale Gammarelli was added to the list of historic shops in the city of Rome, and is likely the oldest shop to still be managed by the direct descendants of its founder.

The shop has served thousands of priests and hundreds of bishops and cardinals, and sewn garments for the Roman Pontiffs since Blessed Pius IX, who was elected Bishop of Rome in 1846.

Photos of the past nine Popes decorate the walls inside the workshop, which will continue to dress Popes under the guidance of yet another generation of Gammarellis.

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