Valencia Trader

International Reaction to The World Meeting of Families

The world press has given Valencia and the entire staging of the World Family Forum high praise, with one report stating that the scenario "was more than spectacular: inside the avant-garde buildings of the City of Arts and Sciences designed by the great Valencian architect Santiago Calatrava. In the middle, an altar of 2,700 square metres over the enormous park created by the dry Turia riverbed" (Clarin – the leading paper in Argentina) Other publications were equally enthusiastic, with the Washington Post, the Houston Chronicle and English broadcaster BBC lavishing praise on Valencia and the staging of the event. The one divergent note came from The Daily Telegraph that wrote: "This was the first time in Spanish history that the head of Government failed to attend a Mass celebrated by a Pope."

Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that Joaquin Navarro Valls, the official Vatican Spokesman, was leaving his job after 22 years. Long considered the lay person with the most power inside the Vatican, Mr. Navarro Valls, who was born in Cartagena in Murcia Province 69 years ago, had initially offered to resign after Pope Benedict was elected, but the former Joseph Ratzinger asked him to stay on, despite his desire to leave the job. His replacement was named as Federico Lombardi, a Jesuit who had been heading the Vatican’s TV and Radio Services. Also resigning later this year is the Vatican Secretary of State Angelo Sodano, in another move that is expected. His replacement will be Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.