Thank you for this last translation, Teresa. It confirms certain conclusions reached by most of us, I suppose, who are following this papacy day by day. I don't know what could be done to change two of the three main "enemies". Not much, I suppose. But problem no. 3, the Vatican's communication skills - or lack of it - in this day and age, is something that must be possible to correct? And I sometimes wish Benedict XVI would open his eyes and recognize that people like Bertone and others around him are a dead loss for his papacy. IMO the manner in which they leave him for the dogs to devour is absolutely scandalous. THEY mess up and he takes the flak. Lovely.
I have reached the stage that I cannot even look at Bertone without a bitter taste in my mouth.
Well now, let's see what the visit to Britain will kick up. Our Pope deserves a monument for even contemplating to enter that lion's den.
Dear Crotchet -
Personally, I feel that the greatest value of the three books coming out this month in Italy on the subject of the attacks on Benedict XVI is not so much the conclusions they draw, which are, as you pointed out, self-evident to the sensible reader.
Rather it is that they marshal the available evidence together in a fair, objective but comprehensive way - which will be of great utility for historians in the near and long term because the record contained in these books is contemporaneous to the events described and conveniently put together already, which saves the would-be historian much time and effort. More importantly, they present both sides of the picture, not just the negative as he might tend to see if he had to research the archives himself and found page after page of search results containing items that are overwhelmingly negative.
As for the trip to the UK, I think Benedict is going to the UK not just as a modern Anselm ("to bring to their brethren on the other side of the Channel the renewal that was being brought about on the continent" is how he described why Anselm and his monks were summoned from France to Canterbury in the 11th century, in his catechism on St. Anselm in 2009) but also as an almost lifelong disciple of Cardinal Newman, whom he will have the privilege to beatify. To how many Popes has it been given to beatify a master of reason and faith that he himself discovers at age 18!
He will need all our prayers - and the intercession of Blessed Newman himself - not just to 'survive' the trip itself and its obvious perils, but to make an eventual difference in the life of the Church in the UK. Four days seems inconsequential compared to that challenge, but all things are possible in Christ....
And Bertone is a very sore point for me, too. With apologies to the Pope, Bertone seems to be his one egregious lapse in judgment. I am sure he has his good points, but he has failed to do what he was hired to do - run the Church administration for the Pope. But what's worse is failing to stand up for the Pope when the going gets tough. On the contrary, he becomes conspicuously missing in action then turns up several days or weeks later, safely away from the initial salvoes. You'd think all those glowing letters of praise from the Pope would shame him into proving himself, but so far, zip!
TERESA
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/08/2010 03:16]