 28/06/2013 00:17 |
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Just as the communications meisters at the Vatican oh-so-wrongly assumed that everyone would know exactly what excommunication is, why it is imposed, why and how it can be lifted (not to mention, failing to do adequate background research on Bishop Williamson) back in January 2009, this time they just assumed everyone would know what 'chirograph' means - a word that has been used and said in the past 24 hours infinitely far more than it has ever been used and said since someone first came up with the word.
As I had never seen the word before, I had to look it up, and as most of you know by now, it simply means, in this case, 'a papal letter intended only for the Roman Curia', not for everyone urbi et orbi. How hard could it have been to slip in that nine-word definition in the Vatican bulletins announcing this momentous chirograph! But no, the Vatican media-meisters think everyone exposed to the media should be omniscient, ignoring one of the first rules journalism students were taught in my time - always include pertinent essential information in any story, as if it was the first time your 'information consumer' is reading or hearing it.
Anyway, the Vatican media also did not take the effort to convey the now-famous and rather short chirograph in anything but Italian, so here is a translation:
Chirograph of the Holy Father Francis
establishing a Pontifical Reference Commission
for the Institute for the Works of Religion
With a Chirograph on March 1, 1990, Blessed John Paul II gave a public juridical personality to the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, giving it a new configuration while conserving its name and purpose.
From the same perspective, considering that he wished to better adapt the structures and the activities of IOR to the demands of the times; following the invitation of Our predecessor Benedict XVI to allow the principles of the Gospel to permeate even activities of an economic and financial nature; having heard the opinion of various cardinals and other brothers in the Episcopate, as well as other co-workers; and in the light of the need to introduce reforms to the institutions which assist the Holy See, We have decided to institute a Reference Commission on the IOR which will collect accurate information on the juridical position and various activities of the Institute in order to allow, if necessary, a better harmonization with the universal mission of the Apostolic See.
The Commission will carry out its tasks according to the provisions of this Chirograph and Our operative dispositions.
1. The Commission is composed of at least five members among which is a President who will be its legal representative; a Coordinator who has the powers of a delegate acting in the name and on behalf of the Commission in collecting necessary documents, data and information, as well as Secretary who will assist the members and be in charge of documents.
2. The Commission is endowed with powers and faculties appropriate to the execution of their institutional functions within the limits established by this Chirograph and the norms of its juridical status.
Official secrecy and other eventual restrictions established by such juridical status shall not inhibit or limit the Commission's access to documents, data and information, other than the norms that safeguard the aut9nomy and independence of the Authorities that carry out activities of supervision and regulation of the Institute, which norms remain in force
3. The Commission will have the human and material resources adequate to its institutional functions. If necessary, it will avail of co-workers and consultants.
4. The governance of the Institute will continue according to the norm established by the (1990) Chirograph that erected it, unless We provide otherwise.
5. The Commission will seek the collaboration of the organs of the Institute as well as all its personnel. Moreover, the Superiors, Members and Officials of the Dicasteries of the Roman Curia and pther entities linked to the latter, as well as those of Vatican City State, will likewise collaborate with the Commission. The Commission may also avail of the collaboration of other subjects, spo9ntaneously or upon request.
6. The Commission will keep Us informed of their activities during the course of their work.
7. The Commission will present to Us the results of their work as well as its entire archive, in a timely manner at the conclusion of its work.
8. The activity of the Commission begins as of the date of this Chirograph.
9. The eventual dissolution of the Commission will be made known.
Given at the Vatican
June 24, 2013
in the First Year of My Pontificate
FRANCESCO
I wondered about the use of the royal 'we' (the so-called majestic plural used by high dignitaries) and its derivatives - capitalized in the original text, as I have kept it in the translation - only to revert to the singular form in 'My Pontificate'. I read somewhere that under John Paul II, the royal 'we' used in the original Latin of papal documents was nonetheless translated to other languages in the singular, and so were those under Benedict XVI. The text of this Chirograph however has only been posted in Italian by the Vatican, and the text uses the royal 'we'.
The broad powers given to the Commission, even if it is only ad hoc and will be dissolved once it makes its final report and recommendations to the Pope, reinforce for me the irony that the five persons named to it may all be considered Benedict's men (and lady). I consider the Commission an indirect tribute to Benedict XVI.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 28/06/2013 17:00] |
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