God forgive me for the low opinion I currently hold about the cardinals and other high prelates of the Church, for their abject and totally unnecessary disloyalty to someone they had only more than a month ago owed allegiance and professed high praise.
The prelate in this story, at least, never pretended to even like Benedict XVI, and has now taken the occasion of an official trip as president of the Pontifical Commission for Eucharistic Congresses (to which Benedict XVI appointed him) to give an interview not unlike those given by the overwhelming majority of cardinals so far in their fulsome and fullblown praise of Pope Francis but always at the cruel and unmerited expense of Benedict XVI. And in Piero Marini's case, one almost has a palpable sense that he rejoices at the opportunity to finally make his feelings about Benedict XVI explicitly known. Helped along by the leading questions of a journalist who is part of the grand concert of chirpers.
Other than comments to a few of his remarks which are not part of the chirpers' twitter points, I do not need to fisk his words since they parrot what the rest of the Hallelujah flock has been chirping.
Also, I really do not give a hoot what Marini thinks, except when he disses Benedict XVI as he does here, and as he did earlier in his book on the liturgy, defending the absolute rightness of the post-Conciliar Novus Ordo Mass devised overnight by his mentor Annibale Bugnini.
Is there a sentiment worse than shame that these persons ought to feel about their utter lack of decency, and obviously, of principle? Are they even aware they are committing something wrong????
Mons. Piero Marini says
'the Church is living in hope
after years of fear'
by Alberto Barrantes
Translated from
April 20, 2013
This week, the Catholic Church in Costa Rica celebrated its IV Eucharistic Congress with the end of promoting, through faith and reflection, the mission of priests in bringing the message of Jesus to the faithful. It was to conclude Sunday with a Mass presided by the Vatican delegate for Eucharistic Congresses, Archbishop Piero Marini.
His home is the Vatican and he speaks as a man who has walked alongside three Popes in the Sistine Chapel, from John Paul II to Francis.
[How? He did not join John Paul II's staff until 1987, and he was not a cardinal nor a member of the Office for Papal Liturgies at the time of Francis's election. So the only new Pope he did assist in the Sistine Chapel in the crucial first hour post-election was Benedict XVI.]
Mons. Marini is 70, and on his visit to Costa Rica, he said that the new Pope has brought changes that mean hope for the Catholic Church.
He also says he is in favor of civil unions for homosexuals and disapproves of Twitter as a means for a Pope to communicate with the faithful.
What has the change in Popes meant for you?
That one now breathes fresh air - it is a window to springtime and hope. Up to now, we have been breathing in air from marshlands which are foul-smelling. [This is probably the nastiest, meanest statement I have read so far about the Benedict years! If it was so foul, why ever did Marini not leave the Curia right away, and why ever did he accept a promotion from Benedict XVI!]
We were in a Church which was afraid of everything and was very problematic with matters like Vatileaks and pedophilia. With Francis, only positive things are said. He places the positive before anything, and speaks of keeping our hope.
Can you describe the present atmosphere in the Vatican?
In these first weeks of the Pontificate, there is a different climate of freedom, of a Church which is much closer to the poor,
a Church that is less problematic. [All the problems under Benedict XVI now gone, with him gone from the vatican!] Besides, Francis does not like to live amid great paintings and gold décor.
[I must comment on this - the papal apartment is markedly plain and Spartan compared to the public rooms of the Apostolic Palace, and contains not a single 'great painting' as the world saw in the RAI TV documentary for Benedict XVI's 80th birthday.]
With his humble gestures, is the Pope recalling the vow of poverty made by priests?
The call is for us to ask ourselves who are the poor today? They are those who do not know if they will eat tomorrow. We priests shou7ld give an example of a simple and moderate life.
Does it mean that the priest must get out of the temple and share the life of the needy?
Without a doubt. That is why the new Pope has called on us to have the 'odor of the sheep' - which means to live life and faith with the community.
[Excuse me, but as colorfully vivid as it is, I really find that phrase rather condescending if not insulting to the 'sheep'].
In your 18 years with John Paul II as master of papal liturgies, what did you learn from such a greatly admired man?
I learned his simplicity. He was a very simple person, spontaneous, but with great ideas to share with the faithful. and who liked to linger with them, chatting, after Mass.
[????Did he ever have a chance to do that as Pope?] He had worked in a mine so he knew the reality and the needs of people.
What must be done to integrate young people better into the Church?
It is one of the most important problems and challenges for the Catholic Church. We have a rupture in the transmission of the faith from one generation to the next. We need to recover the message, and that must begin in the family - children must obey their parents.
[How strange he does not refer to the WYD initiative which was one of John Paul II's best legacies! But at least, he agrees with benedict XVI that faith education must start with the family.]
Benedict XVI used Twitter as a means of communication? Do you think it is effective?
If it were me, I would not have done it, but he was advised to do it. The Church does not have to remain 'antiquated', but one must observe caution.
[Has he told that to those in the Vatican who are boasting that Francis has more than doubled Benedict's 'followers' on Twitter?]
In Costa Rica, the discussion is now open about a secular state. What do you think about this? [But since when has Costa Rica not been a secular state?]
It is already reality in Europe. The secular state is good - what is bad is if it becomes 'secularist' - meaning that it becomes anti-Church. Church and State should not consider themselves enemies. But in these ongoing discussions, it is necessary, for instance, to recognize same-sex unions, because
many such couples are suffering because their civil rights are not respected [None of their civil rights has been 'not respected' - but they consider the right to 'marriage' a civil right, and the Church opposes that for well-known reasons. Is this unsolicited opinion Marini's personal view or is he simply seeking to align himself with the supposed personal view of Cardinal Bergoglio in favor of same-sex civilian unions?[ What cannot be recognized is that such a union is a marriage.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 23/04/2013 00:19]