Blogwatcher - Illicit Acts and Mismanagement at the Vatican

By Michael Mullins
The Cathnews
June 3, 2012

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=31652


Sandro Magister writes on the Vatican leaks, bickering among Cardinals Bertone and Nicora on the Vatican Bank, and a bungled attempt by the some cardinals to take over a major hospital in Milan. His conclusion:

"The boundary between illicit acts and those of simple mismanagement has become very slender, almost nonexistent".

The Tablet's Robert Mickens blames the troubles on a "lack of transparency in most of the Roman Curia's operating structures" that is a consequence of "the clericalist ethos that permeates the curia".

[Clericalism] serves only to shield members of the hierarchy from being judged by (or held accountable to) anyone of lower rank or by the lay faithful - and certainly from anyone outside the Vatican... In the end, the continued confusion and negative press that all of this has generated have cast this pontificate in an extremely negative light.

They have raised, like never before, serious concerns about Pope Benedict's governance and painful questions about his choice of personnel... Those who are flattering the Pope during these days of crisis and refusing to tell him that the Roman Curia and other church structures are in need of major reform (and not merely spiritual renewal), are doing him no favours.

As it happens, Australia Incognita is generous to Benedict in her post yesterday on his meeting with Bishop Morris and the misunderstanding that followed his meeting with the Pope. The leaked information, she says, "shines light on the holiness of our great pope". It is discussed by John Allen in his summary of journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi's sensational new book His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI. Incognita writes:

As we know, Bishop Morris met with Pope Benedict XVI, who attempted to persuade him to resign. The Pope clearly thought he had agreed ... The Pope's personal note[s] ... reflect the humility of a great man, and accepts responsibility himself, placing the best possible interpretation on Bishop Morris' actions. Instead of responding to the Bishop's rather nasty personal attack, which effectively accused the Pope of lying, the Pope blames himself for 'misinterpreting' the Bishop's response, blaming his own English language skills. Here truly is a great man of God who blesses those who curse him.

Like Bishop Morris, the American nuns' peak body the LCWR has signalled it will be unyielding in its response to the Vatican crackdown. David Gibson at dotCommonweal notes that "while the nuns have no ecclesiastical authority to wield in the negotiations, the Vatican is not enjoying a great stretch, credibility-wise", especially with the outpouring of popular support for the nuns in the US and elsewhere. He quotes what he believes is the most pertinent point in a statement issued by the LCWR board the other day:

As the church and society face tumultuous times, the board believes it is imperative that these matters be addressed by the entire church community in an atmosphere of openness, honesty, and integrity.

Gibson writes that the Vatican seems to have taken note of the popular support for the nuns as well, with Pope Benedict praising the work of the US nuns recently, and his delegate Archbishop Sartain also striking a diplomatic tone in an essay published in the latest issue of America magazine.

In America's blog, James Martin SJ reflects on the use – on both sides – of the word "scandal".

The use of the word "scandal" is, to my mind, noteworthy, since it is an especially strong charge, and is also the precise word used by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in its Doctrinal Assessment ... Both the Vatican and the LCWR are saying that the other's actions are, literally, a "stumbling block" to the faith of others.

In Greek, a skandalon was a stumbling block, and the word occurs several times in the New Testament.

In Ireland, a focus of a comparable scandal has been the Redemptorist order. The blog of the Association of Catholic Priests harks back to the days of the "fire and brimstone" Redemptorist missions which many Australians would also recall, and makes the point that they had successfully reformed their practice. There is a poignant illustration from a poem about a woman who dies after she follows a Redemptorist's instruction that she ignore doctor's advice to use contraception to avoid falling pregnant for a seventh time.

In view of the fact that some Redemptorists are now under sanction from the Vatican for supposedly 'liberal' views, it is interesting to note the tradition they came out of, as it is powerfully represented here in this poem from Austin Clarke. Whatever the Vatican authorities might think, it would be hard to argue that the change that has taken place in the pastoral practice of the Redemptorists is not for the better.

Maybe there is an answer to the old pastoral dilemma in The Divine Wedgie's latest post – "Why the Best Sex is Boring" – which is based on Blessed John Paul II's Theology of the Body.

There are now a plethora of shows on TV and movies that propagate the idea that sex has to be thrilling ... The marital act is not meant to instil sexual excitement, although it can do that from time to time. Instead marital love, if we understand John Paul II's writings correctly, is meant to affirm the spouses even when sexual excitement is not generated.