John Thavis of CNS on the pope’s ad-libbing…and the official versions.

Rarely is a general audience talk interrupted by spontaneous applause, and Pope Benedict XVI seemed as surprised as anyone when the clapping began in the Vatican’s audience hall.

The pope had been talking about the church’s early times, and he set aside his text to drive home a point: The apostles and first disciples weren’t perfect, but had their own arguments and controversies.

"This appears very consoling to me, because we see that the saints did not drop as saints from heaven. They were men like us with problems and even with sins," he said Jan. 31.

That’s when the applause erupted among the 6,000 people in attendance. The pope paused, looked up and smiled awkwardly, then continued to ad lib about how holiness doesn’t mean never making a mistake.

The moment marked a milestone for Pope Benedict as a communicator and demonstrated two important facts: First, the scholarly pontiff is focusing on uncomplicated lessons about the church and the faith. Second, when he talks, people listen.

The simple idea that saints were also sinners resonated with his audience, and journalists were among those eagerly awaiting the Vatican’s official text of the pope’s remarks. But a funny thing happened on the way to the printing presses.

When the Vatican press office released the text two hours later, gone was the line about the sins of saints. Instead, the official version had the pope saying that the early saints "were men like us with problems that were complicated."

The pope spoke in Italian, and "con peccati" ("with sins") sounds like "complicati" ("complicated"). But a close listening to a tape confirmed that the pope had indeed been speaking about sins. The Vatican spoiled his applause line.

What happened? The discrepancy was said to be a simple transcription error. Two days later, however, it had still not been corrected — which meant that many media reported the mistaken version.

It’s not always easy to catch every word the pope delivers off-the-cuff. But on some occasions, the pope’s words have been deliberately tweaked by his own aides. The process was explained recently by Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, in a meeting with a group of news agency reporters.

And…here’s the of liturgies which the Pope will publicly celebrate over the next few months.

Three beatifications set for April:

In keeping with the practice that he adopted immediately after his election to the papacy, the Holy Father will not personally preside at the beatifications. Instead the ceremonies will be led by other prelates– normally the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints– and held in the city with which the candidate for beatification is most closely associated.

The ceremonies scheduled for April 2007 are:

• for Luigi Boccardo, in Turin’s church of the Holy Countenance, on April 14;
• for Maria Maddalena della Passione (Costanza Starace in secular life), in the cathedral of Castellammare di Stabia, on April 15; and
• for Maria Rosa Pellesi, in the cathedral of Rimini, on April 29.

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