Asparagus isn’t the most common vegetable among home gardeners, and that’s likely because growing it is an exercise in patience. But three years of patience is a small price to pay for up to 20 years of relatively effortless tender green shoots.
Pope Francis, center, sits as the coffin of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is carried in St. Peter’s Square for his funeral mass, at the Vatican, Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)The road to Francis’ 2013 election was paved by Pope Benedict XVI’s decision to resign and retire — the first in 600 years.
Francis didn’t shy from Benedict’s potentially uncomfortable shadow. Francisas an elder statesman and adviser, coaxing him out of his cloistered retirement to participate in the public life of the church until“It’s like having your grandfather in the house, a wise grandfather,” Francis said.
Francis’ looser liturgical style and pastoral priorities made clear he and the German-born theologian came from very different religious traditions, and Francis directly overturned several decisions of his predecessor.He made sure Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar Romero, a hero to the liberation theology movement in Latin America, was canonized after his case languished under Benedict over concerns about the credo’s Marxist bent.
Francis reimposed restrictions on celebrating the old Latin Mass that Benedict had relaxed, arguing it was divisive. The move riled Francis’ traditionalist critics and opened sustained conflict with right-wing Catholics, particularly in the U.S.
Pope Francis presides the Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) torchlight procession celebrated in front of the Colosseum on Good Friday in Rome, March 29, 2013. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)“He sent me a message saying he wasn’t going to take part and I responded and then talked to him by phone,” Spalletti said. “There are players who deserve to be here just as much as he does.”
Acerbi said on Instagram that he felt disrespected.“I don’t want to stay where I’m not really wanted and it’s clear that I’m not part of the coach’s plans,” Acerbi wrote.
Italy visits Norway on Friday and then hosts Moldova three days later.“Whether we go to the World Cup or not depends a lot on how we play in Norway,” Spalletti said. “We all know it.”