THE CHURCH MILITANT - BELEAGUERED BY BERGOGLIANISM

Vatican media chief resigns over Lettergate
Mons. Vigano has resigned from his post after he revealed
and mischaracterized a private letter from Benedict XVI
And Bergoglio 'accepts' the resignation but retains him anyway
as 'adviser' to the dicastery in a role created just for him
by Nicole Winfield


VATICAN CITY, March 21, 2018 (AP) — The head of the Vatican's communications department resigned Wednesday after he mischaracterized a private letter from retired Pope Benedict XVI, then had a photo of it digitally manipulated and sent out to the media.

A week after The Associated Press exposed the doctored photo, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Monsignor Dario Vigano and named his deputy to run the Secretariat for Communications for now. But Francis kept Vigano on in the department in a lesser capacity, indicating that he doesn't believe the problem was all that grave. [Because someone else - the all but hapless emeritus Pope - was the victim! Wait till the same malicious misrepresentation is made of Bergoglio himself- then it would be the gravest ever of all crimes of malice!]

The so-called "Lettergate" scandal erupted last week when Vigano read aloud part of a private letter from Benedict at a book launch for a Vatican-published, 11-volume set of [little] books [booklets, more properly] about Francis's theology.

Marking Francis's fifth anniversary as pope, Vigano had held up Benedict's letter as a sign of the continuity between the two popes, to blunt critics who complain that Francis's mercy-over-morals papacy represents a theological break from Benedict's doctrine-minded, theology-heavy papacy. [You know what, Ms Winfield? If you were truly paying attention to what Benedict XVI said and wrote as pope, then you would have to agree that he was never 'heavy' in the way he articulated theology, or any subject for that matter - because from the earliest observations documented about his gift for language, praise was always consistent for how he managed to reduce complex ideas to simple yet elegant and appropriate language that could be understood by everyone across the board. He never ever tried to 'parade his erudition' by trying to sound erudite as Bergoglio often does with unfortunate effects! A truly erudite man should also be most comprehensible!]

Vigano didn't read the whole letter, and omitted the part where Benedict objected to one of the authors in the volume because he had been a longtime critic of Benedict and St. John Paul II. [Now, Ms Winfield, let's get this clear: Benedict's objection was not to the personal affront to him and the Polish saint, but the affront against the Papacy itself and the Church Magisterium, represented by what amounts to the lifework of Huenemann (and Werbick, the other professional German dissenter called to author one of the 'little books' on Bergoglian theology) You make it sound like it was just a question of personal pique on the part of Benedict XVI - who has been attacked in far more terrible ad hominem ways than the pro-forma if extremely radical dissent from Church teaching that Huenemann, Werbick, Hans Kueng and their colleagues of the Cologne Declaration have vociferously mounted all these decades.].

A press release sent out by Vigano's office only contained Benedict's words of praise for Francis and the book initiative, without mentioning that he hadn't even read the books and had no plans to.

The AP reported that the photograph of the letter that accompanied the press release had digitally blurred out the lines where Benedict began to explain that he didn't have time to read the books and wouldn't comment on them, as requested by Vigano. The photo manipulation violated basic photojournalism ethical standards that forbid such distortion, especially when it misrepresents the content of the image.

The scandal embarrassed the Vatican and led to accusations that the pope's own communications office was spreading "fake news," just weeks after Francis dedicated his annual media message to denouncing "fake news" and the intentional distortion of information. Francis has frequently chided journalists for only giving half of the story. [That's a doozy! Coming from someone who habitually only gives 'half the story' of what Jesus says because to give the other half - i.e., the 'Go and sin no more!' rigor that accompanies the Lord's mercy and forgiveness - would go against Bergoglio's own premises!]

In his resignation letter dated March 19, Vigano said he wanted to step aside so that his presence "wouldn't delay, damage or block" Francis's reform of the Vatican's communications operations.

He didn't acknowledge that he had misrepresented Benedict's letter or doctored the photo, saying only that he realized that his actions — despite his intentions — had created controversy and destabilized the communications reform.

In his own letter accepting the resignation, Francis said he was removing Vigano reluctantly and praised him for his humility and willingness to work for the good of the church. He asked Vigano to stay on in the communications secretariat in the new position of "assessor," which in Vatican offices usually amounts to the No. 3 spot.

The current No. 2, Monsignor Lucio Adrian Ruiz, will run the office until a new prefect is named.

It is rare for the Vatican press office to release such an exchange of letters, suggesting that the pope wanted to make clear that he still has faith in Vigano to help oversee the consolidation of the Vatican's vast media operations.

Francis named Vigano, an expert in film, to head the new Secretariat for Communications in 2015. The department was created to bring under one umbrella the Vatican's various media operations, to cut costs and improve efficiency. But Vigano's reforms and management style soured relations with many longtime employees.

After the AP revealed the doctored photo and another Vatican commentator, Sandro Magister, hinted that there was even more in the letter that Vigano had concealed, the communications office released the full text of Benedict's letter, which had been sent to Vigano by the retired pope as "personal" and "reserved," suggesting that it was never meant to be made public.

The previously concealed part of the letter provided the full explanation why Benedict had declined Vigano's request that he write a commentary on the books: In addition to saying he didn't have time, Benedict noted that one of the authors involved in the project, German theologian Peter Huenermann, had launched "virulent" and "anti-papist" attacks against papal teaching during Benedict's papacy. He wrote that he was surprised the Vatican had chosen the theologian to be included in the 11-volume "The Theology of Pope Francis." [What's the total number of pages in those 11 booklets - how pretentious to call them 'volumes'! - 1100? if one assumes each one had to be at least 100 printed pages long. Consider that each book of Joseph Ratzinger's OPERA OMNIA (and some have three books per volume) is at least 900 pages long. Not that the length of the work is necessarily an index of its importance, but the COLLECTED WRITINGS of Joseph Ratzinger simply anthologize the numerous articles, homilies and books he has written over decades.

You can't make an instant theologian out of someone by having 11 no-name theologians commenting on his admittedly thin 'theology', such as it is! It's a foolhardy, vainglorious and counter-productive attempt to make Jorge Bergoglio what he is not. No one expects him to be a theologian because that was not his training. It would have been far better to put out instead a documentation in photographs and testimonials of the people he benefited and worked with as the 'priest of the slums' - which is supposed to be one of his outstanding and distinguishing strengths - because the available documentation on that has been very deficient, and very thin even anecdotally.

In the parts of Benedict's letter that Vigano read during the book launch and included in the press release, Benedict confirmed that Francis has a solid theological and philosophical training [when he was merely obviously quoting back parts of Vigano's letter suggesting what the Vatican wanted Benedict to write about the 'little books'! At times like this, one can only rue the pro forma 'courtesy formulations' demanded by good manners and right conduct, instead of simply saying things as they are] and he praised the book initiative for showing the "interior continuity" between the two papacies. He wrote it was "foolish prejudice" to paint Francis as only a practical man devoid of theology and Benedict as a mere academic who knew nothing of the lives of ordinary faithful. [More polite quotebacks to Vigano from the latter's letter soliciting Benedict's 'contribution' to the Bergoglio hommage.]

But Benedict's full caveat about his refusal to comment on the volume was [DELIBERATELY] never made public in Vigano's presentation, press release or accompanying photo. That omission left the impression that the 91-year-old retired pope had read the volume and fully endorsed it, when in fact he hadn't. [One other telltale detail of Vigano's 'carefully' calculated manipulation - even Cardinal Baldisseri from the Bishops' Synod has lessons to learn from Vigano on journalistic legerdemain! - is what he read of the last line of the letter, in which Benedict explicitly wrote, "I am sure you will understand my refusal (It's even more forceful in Italian - il mio diniego), and I extend to you my cordial greeting" - but the Vatican version first released and which Vigano read at the presentation was edited to say "I am sure that you will understand, and I extend to you my cordial greeting". I can almost see Vigano preening inwardly as he read 'the letter': "Oh what a clever man I am to be able to make lemonade from the lemons I've been given!"]

As a result, Vigano's effort to show papal continuity effectively backfired. Benedict's harsh criticism of Huenermann laid bare the differences in theological approaches of the two popes, and showed the retired pope still bore something of a grudge. [Isn't that just typical of Winfield to end by attributing pettiness to Benedict XVI? If grudge there is against Huenemann (and Werbick, though unnamed in the letter), then once more it is hardly a personal grudge but a grudge in behalf of the papacy and the Magisterium of the Church.]


Five takeaways from Mons Viganò’s resignation
Although the resignation has its flaws, the fallout from Lettergate
has led, for once, to some accountability for wrongdoing at the Vatican

March 21, 2018

News today of Mons. Dario Edoardo Viganò's resignation as prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communication is remarkable in many respects.

First of all, it’s extremely rare for a senior Vatican official in modern times, and especially during this pontificate, to submit his resignation or hold himself accountable concerning a public scandal or controversy for which he is blamed.

One need only think of a few recent examples where this hasn’t happened: those responsible for the appointment of pro-abortion or pro-contraception academics to the Pontifical Academy for Life; the protocol official who gave a papal knighthood to a militant Dutch pro-abortion politician; or the Vatican priest caught having homosexual drug-fueled parties at the Holy Office (some of course might argue these are lesser offenses, others could say they’re as bad or worse). [And why has no one been punished? Because the persons responsible for these outrages all happen to be under the special patronage of His Holiness, the pope, and can therefore flaunt their privilege with impunity, "Non potes me tangere!" (You cannot touch me!)]

Mons. Viganò will therefore be congratulated for doing the honorable thing after the Lettergate fiasco, and the Holy Father, too, for accepting his resignation.

But despite the gravity of the offense — doctoring photographs and changing the meaning of a confidential letter from Benedict XVI by selectively publicizing it — this case is extraordinary for a second reason: the almost total absence of any admission of guilt or remorse. Msgr. Viganò instead places the blame on “controversies” which, he says, destabilize and could potentially block the communications reforms that he was leading and harm his co-workers. [This robs his gesture of any credibility whatsoever, makes it yet a new act of dishonesty for him, and confirms that it was nothing more than a 'show' staged by his fellow spinmeisters at Casa Santa Marta to recover some lost 'image' ground for the pope. And BTW, Vigano ought to have addressed at least one line of apology to Benedict XVI whom he so misused and abused, if only for having made public what was clearly marked as a private and confidential letter. Vigano is no better than Gianluigi Nuzzi and Paolo Gabriele who had no qualms at all about disclosing to the world the content of private and confidential documents pilfered from Benedict XVI's private files.]

A third point of interest is that the Holy Father has only ostensibly sanctioned Msgr. Vigano by accepting his resignation. In truth, he has asked him to stay on as an assessor (consulter) to the dicastery in order to help provide a “human and professional contribution” to the new prefect and to the media reform. Some therefore see this more as a “demotion” than a resignation and an inadequate and ill-befitting sanction at that, while others may see it as reasonable and appropriate given the reforms are now in their final stages.

Fourthly, the resignation highlights what many now view as an arbitrary administration of justice at the Holy See. One of Pope Francis’s first acts was to make the leaking of confidential documents to the press a punishable offense (later witnessed in the 2016 Vatileaks II trial), and yet misusing the confidential letter of the Pope Emeritus results in what Msgr. Vigano called today a “stepping back” from a previous leadership role.

In a similar way, those responsible for financial crimes and misconduct in the Vatican are supposed to face tougher sanctions after recent reforms, yet no one has so far been tried for money laundering, despite many cases coming to light, while those pushing for financial reform are thwarted.

Similarly, Vatican officials with checkered pasts are often promoted, while those who hold fast to the Church’s teaching are ostracized or sent away.

But lastly, today’s very rare resignation, while flawed and a tragedy for Msgr. Vigano, could still be a sign of hope: that glimmers of a true sense of accountability and justice may at last be coming into view, trumping the courtier mentality in the Vatican that has existed for so long. [A very kind and charitable spin by Mr. Pentin in a commendable effort to show he is fair and balanced in his reporting and commentary. But I'm much too jaded to buy it. This resignation is a one-time event - forced on the Vatican by the sheer shameful weight of the machinations that made Lettergate so outrageous even to staunch Bergoglians like Il Sismografo's Luis Badilla - that the spinmeisters at Casa Santa Marta thought up this new deceit: Let Vigano write a letter of resignation without owning up to his misdeeds - which are really egregious crimes against Truth - and let Bergoglio accept the resignation with great regret whereby he therefore asks Vigano to stay on with a new title (and probably continuing to run the show from a less-exposed position). So the Vatican gets to mollify those asking for Vigano's head while Bergoglio really gets to keep one of his pet priests to continue serving him in the prime responsibility of exalting the pope while demeaning his enemies.]