THE SECRET OF BENEDICT XVI. Why he is still pope.
Today, the new book by Antonio Socci went on sale in Italy. Marco Tosatti has a lengthy commentary on it today that I still have to translate. I believe it is Socci's third book on
the subject in the past five years.
I translated the following a few days ago about the book but did not get around to posting it as a matter of urgency, because I am not entirely sympathetic to the whole exercise
of casting doubt on the validity of 1) Benedict XVI's resignation and 2) of Jorge Bergoglio's election as pope.Any valid arguments, if there are, for one or both hypotheses
count for nothing in effect, because they cannot change the hard historical facts as they stand: Benedict XVI did resign, and Bergoglio was, in fact, elected pope.
Of course, I am not surprised that Antonio Socci continues to plug away at this double hypotheses of which he has been the leading purveyor (as he has been about the hypothetical
'fourth secret' of Fatima, namely, what the Church has supposedly failed to disclose about the Third Secret). And he may well be right about his hypotheses on the recent wrinkle
in papal history and about the 'fourth secret', but just like all the theoretizing about Bergoglio's heresies and/or apostasy, nothing practical, unfortunately, can really
be done to change the history of both matters in any way that has practical consequences for the Church and the faithful.
Nonetheless, the book appears bound to be a bestseller in Italy, if we go by this commentary published 5 days before the book was officially released.
Socci's new book is already
a publishing phenomenon
before it is actually on sale
Translated from
November 22, 2018
What is there to say but that Antonio Socci has once again hit the mark? All he had to do was publish a link on his Facebook page about his new book for it to land right away on Amazon Italy’s best-seller lists – 20th among current bestsellers and obviously number one among religious books. Which means that in less than 24 hours, thousands of copies had alread been 'sold'.
Yet the book itself is not available for sale until November 27 – so it has been ordered on sheer trust.
Once more, the public appears to be unusually interested in the hypothesis that Benedict XVI is still pope, and some faithful continue to ask about the reasons for his renunciation and what are the theological consequences of his decision.
For the benefit of those whose hackles are up and bristling against the ‘Ratzinger widows and widowers’, no one is suggesting that the retired pope should be made pope again, but yes, to at least understand something about his resignation.
[
They proceed to quote the publisher’s blurb, which I have translated below:]
According to many observers, the Church is going through the most serious crisis in her history. Increasingly it is asked what really happened in 2013 with the surprising ‘renunciation’ of Benedict XVI, his choice to be called Emeritus Pope, and the coexistence of ‘two popes’
- Why has Benedict XVI become a ‘sign of contradiction’?
- What was occurring then on the geopolitical level?
- Who was fomenting a ‘revolution’ inside the Catholic Church?
- Did Benedict XVI really ‘resign’?
These are the questions that Antonio Socci seeks to answer through facts, and the gestures and words of Benedict XVI in the past six years, in which he uncovers, as in a fascinating thriller, that he has really remained the Pope, with still unexplored consequences.
This engaging and documented inquiry seeks to understand what is happening in the Vatican, but above all, investigates the ‘mysterious mission’ to which, it seems, Benedict XVI felt himself called to do for the Church and for the world. The author hypothesizes that there could be something supernatural at the origin of his decision and a new revelation from Fatima [????] concerning not only the Church but the entire world.
Of course, the hyper-belligerent Ann Barnhardt also recently released a 2-hour video in which she argues
not just that Benedict XVI is still the pope but also that Bergoglio is an anti-Pope. It is, in fact, entitled
'The Bergoglian Anti-Papacy':
Nonetheless, she appears just as contemptuous of Ratzinger as she is of Bergoglio, which is typical
of many 'rad-trads' like Mundabor and Louie Verrecchio - and for which I cannot 'forgive' them
even if I share some of their opinions about Bergoglio.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 29/11/2018 18:25]