And now, a breath of fresh air and much good sense from Bruno Mastroianni...
Benedict marches
to a different drumbeat
While everyone else rummages in the back rooms,
the Pope does the housekeeping
by Bruno Mastroianni
Translated from
March 4, 2010
The more people speculate about what's happening behind the scenes at the Vatican, the more Benedict XVI talks of God.
The more concern there is about balances of power and supposed frictions in the Church hierarchy, the more the Pope offers admirable lessons on the mission of the Church - as he did last month in his meeting with the Roman clergy, explaining to them that "to live according to the will of the Creator" means to be 'truly human".
It is the Ratzinger style: to concern himself with the basics, knowing that everything else will follow.
With the Church, one can stop at the facade - evaluating its structural elements and its historico-sociological aspects. Or one can go to its back rooms in search of gossip and voices hiding in the shadows.
But
it is only by entering through its doors that one can see what it really is: an institution dedicated to the task of bringing God to the world.
Before addressing the Roman priests, the Pope had addressed the seminarians of Rome. He told them that the story of salvation is the story of God seeking out man and not yielding to his rebellions - rather, constantly offering his creature a way to come back, a way of love.
And that is what Benedict XVI has been doing with dedication.
Regardless of contrary voices, of those who peddle dark scenarios and all other critics fixated on the Pope's purported retro-vision, the Church, under the leadership of Benedict XVI, is carrying out its mission with determination: to keep open, for anyone, the door that leads to God.
And that is the story that we hope to hear about, not wasting our time with odds and ends in the back room.
I am a bit confused because for two Thursdays now, Mastroianni's weekly piece has been published in the Opinion page of TEMPI, instead of on his blog for TEMPI, where it usually appears under the rubric of 'Recensire Ratzinger'. Regardless, his brief essays continue to be a model of conciseness, clarity, focus and passionate Catholicism.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 04/03/2010 22:01]