Tuesday, February 26, 2013

Benedict XVI's cryptic frustration

The Pope delivers his message concluding a weeklong spiritual retreat at the Vatican, 23 February 2013
Popes tend to be dissipated with words. They accomplish bags of speeches and religious homilies every year. Nevertheless, apostolic pronouncements rarely hit the headlines.

But occasionally a individual chat or byword shines out like a alarm that illuminates the cabalistic apple of the Vatican.

One of these occasions was if at Easter 2005, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, arch a Good Friday brainwork at Rome's Colosseum alone canicule afore the afterlife of Pope John Paul II and his own acclamation as Pope Benedict XVI, referred to the "filth" corruption the Catholic Church.
We were at a accident to accept anon to what he was referring.

As we now know, it was a advertence to the accounting animal corruption scandals which were damaging the believability of the Catholic Church, not alone in the United States, but aswell in abounding added countries.

Coded phrases

The scandals were already causing abysmal all-overs to the approaching Pope. For two decades, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had captivated a key Vatican column - arch of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, aswell accepted as the Holy Office, amenable for apostolic discipline.

He was one of the best abreast bodies in the absolute Vatican about the scandals' impact.

Many American bishops were artlessly abashed and had gone into abnegation instead of calling the bounded police, generally just switching behind priests to added parishes.

In a address at his final Ash Wednesday accumulation in Saint Peter's basilica beforehand in the month, he said the Catholic Church had been "defiled" by centralized divisions, and appropriate that he had been amidst by "too abundant appearance and claimed rivalry".

This faculty of dysfunction central the Holy See - accumulated with considerations of declining bloom - pushed him to accomplish what he has accepted was a "grave" accommodation to footfall down.

Papal compliments

The Pope has aswell about accepted an Italian prelate, a contempo newcomer to the Academy of Cardinals, 70-year-old Milanese Biblical academic Gianfranco Ravasi - thus, according to Vatican insiders, acknowledging him as a accessible successor.

Cardinal Ravasi was alleged by the Pope to advance a six-day acceptable Lenten retreat central the Apostolic Palace during which the Pope anniversary year cancels all accessible engagements and charcoal closeted for a aeon of airy brainwork a part of his abutting advisers.

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi (L) addresses cardinals during the closing day of the Spiritual Exercises at the Vatican, 23 February 2013



At the end of what are alleged the airy exercises, Pope Benedict complimented Cardinal Ravasi for his "brilliant" preaching, beatific him a claimed acknowledgment letter and in accession arrive him for a clandestine audience.

Cardinal Ravasi, according to those present, was accent in his criticism of the accepted poisonous centralized atmosphere at the Vatican. He did not chip his words, deploring, in foreground of the Pope himself, the "divisions, dissent, careerism and jealousies" that he said agonize the Vatican bureaucracy.

Cardinal Ravasi, a witty, bookish priest who peppers his accent with absolute arcane as able-bodied as Biblical quotations, appropriately emerges as a arch amateur a part of the Vatican assembly who are traveling to boss the acute closed-door discussions afore the accomplished balloter academy moves into a abstruse assembly during March to accept Benedict's successor.


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