By Sandro Magister
Chiesa
July 2, 2010
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1343939?eng=y
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It was a laborious vigil for the pope, the one for the feast of the holy apostles Peter and Paul, patrons of the Roman Church.
As always, he celebrated vespers in the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside the Walls, together with a delegation from the ecumenical patriarchate of Constantinople, which had been received at the Vatican that same morning.
In the homily, he announced the creation of a new Vatican organism "for a renewed evangelization" in the countries of ancient Christian tradition in which an "eclipse of the sense of God" has taken place.
But in addition to this, Benedict XVI has worked hard to restore a little peace among a few cardinals who have clashed publicly in recent weeks. He did so with two rather unusual statements, and with an equally special audience with three of the belligerents.
By a curious coincidence, the previous day, a Sunday, in the churches all over the world the passage was read from the letter of St. Paul to the Galatians in which the apostle warns: "If you bite and devour one another, take heed that you are not consumed by one another."
A warning that Benedict XVI had cited in the memorable letter that he sent to the bishops on March 10, 2009, also following bitter contention among churchmen.
The first of the statements on June 28 concerned the congregation for the evangelization of peoples, and in particular Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe, who headed it from 2001 to 2006, before he was transferred to the archdiocese of Naples.
Sepe was a heavyweight in the curia of John Paul II. And in fact, when last June 20 the Italian judiciary opened an investigation of him for suspected irregularities in the management of the congregation's real estate portfolio, he immediately said he had always worked with the approval and appreciation of the Vatican secretariat of state at the time, headed by Cardinal Angelo Sodano.
By involving Sodano in his affairs and at the same time implicitly stirring up trouble with the current secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone, who was behind his transfer from Rome to Naples, Sepe had produced significant irritation among the Vatican higher ups, shown by the icy detachment with which "L'Osservatore Romano" followed his legal proceedings.
So then, with the statement on June 28 the Holy See intended to reaffirm the exclusively missionary purpose of the income from the real estate portfolio of the congregation for the evangelization of peoples – which owns dozens of valuable buildings in Rome – and at the same time, to dissociate itself from any "accounting errors" made by Sepe and by his coworkers in their individual responsibility.
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The second statement on June 28 concerned Cardinal Christoph Schonborn (in the photo), archbishop of Vienna, who was received by the pope that same morning.
Schonborn had made news in recent weeks by proposing on several occasions a "rethinking" of the discipline of clerical celibacy, and by harshly criticizing Cardinal Sodano's words and actions in the matter of pedophilia.
Schonborn's statements were all the more newsworthy in that he is thought to be extremely close to Joseph Ratzinger. He was a brilliant student of his, and has always been highly regarded by him. Because of this, one widely shared opinion was that he had said those things with the substantial approval of the pope.
But that wasn't the case. Both the statement on celibacy and the attacks on Sodano were highly displeasing to Benedict XVI, who severely chastised Schonborn both verbally and in writing.
But in order to dispel the impression of an agreement between the two, a public action was needed. And this is what took place on June 28, first with a one-on-one conversation between the pope and the archbishop of Vienna, then with the inclusion of cardinals Sodano and Bertone in the audience, and finally with a statement that made the contents of the encounter public.
Here is the complete text of the statement, followed by a commentary and by a recap of the latest changes made to the Vatican curia by Benedict XVI.
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STATEMENT OF THE VATICAN PRESS OFFICE, JUNE 28, 2010
1) The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Christoph Schonborn O.P., Archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian Episcopal Conference. The cardinal had asked to meet the Pope personally in order to report on the current situation of the Church in Austria. In particular, Cardinal Schonborn wished to clarify the exact meaning of his recent declarations concerning some aspects of current ecclesiastical discipline, and certain of his judgements regarding positions adopted by the Secretariat of State – and in particular by the then Secretary of State of Pope John Paul II – concerning the late Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, archbishop of Vienna from 1986 to 1995.
2) Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. were subsequently invited to join the meeting.
In the second part of the audience certain widespread misunderstandings were clarified and resolved, misunderstandings deriving partly from certain statements of Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, who expressed his displeasure at the interpretations given to his words.
In particular:
a) It must be reiterated that, in the Church, when accusations are made against a cardinal, competency falls exclusively to the Pope; other parties may have a consultative function, while always maintaining due respect for persons.
b) The word "chiacchiericcio" (gossip) was erroneously interpreted as disrespectful to the victims of sexual abuse, towards whom Cardinal Angelo Sodano nourishes the same feelings of compassion, and of condemnation of evil, as expressed on various occasions by the Holy Father. That word, pronounced during his Easter address to Pope Benedict XVI, was taken literally from the pontifical homily of Palm Sunday and referred to the "courage that does not let itself be intimidated by the gossip of prevalent opinions".
3) The Holy Father, recalling with great affection his own pastoral trip to Austria, via Cardinal Christoph Schonborn sends his greetings and encouragement to the Church in Austria, and to her pastors, entrusting the journey to renewed ecclesial communion to the celestial protection of the Blessed Virgin, so venerated at Mariazell.
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The statement leaves no doubt: Schonborn went to the pope with ashes on his head, and had to retract what he had said against Cardinal Sodano and concerning celibacy.
But all of this would not have been made public by the Holy See if Schonborn's words and actions, for their part, did not have the impact in the media that they do.
Because what distinguishes the archbishop of Vienna from so many other cardinals is precisely his capacity as an actor on the stage of public opinion. To the tendencies and pressures of which he shows himself to be extremely sensitive.
In fact, success almost always smiles on him in the media. His remarks on celibacy were vague, but his allusions to a possible "rethinking" of this discipline were enough to ensure him high levels of attention and agreement.
He has never said that he agrees with the claims of the neomodernist Catholic reform movement "We Are Church," which was founded in Austria and is fairly widespread there. But on the evening of the Wednesday of last Holy Week, he wanted the heads of the movement at his side as he asked forgiveness for the sexual abuse by the clergy.
As for the procedures to combat abuse, the archbishop of Vienna characterizes himself as the most decisive interpreter of "transparency": the systematic referral of cases to civil justice, and in any case to tribunals of judgment independent of the hierarchy. Drawing extensive support on this as well.
By accusing Cardinal Sodano of insensitivity and ineptitude in regard to the scandal of pedophilia, Schonborn has hit an easy target – too easy – a figure who for various reasons already drew extensive criticism.
But what most worries the Vatican authorities and the pope himself is the weak leadership that the archbishop of Vienna is demonstrating, with respect to the Austrian Church as a whole.
In the 1980's, then cardinal Joseph Ratzinger entrusted to Schonborn and to a few other trusted bishops the drafting of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. But shortly after he was elected pope, receiving the Austrian bishops on an "ad limina" vist on November 5, 2005, he chastised them precisely for teaching doctrine "in an incomplete manner," omitting "those things that are hard to hear or that prompt reactions of protest and derision." Schonborn was also there to hear it.
On June 15 and 16, 2009, the Austrian bishops were again called to report to Rome. Evidently, in the pope's view, the lesson given to them in 2005 hadn't been enough.
Moreover, a short time before many of the Catholic laity and clergy had rebelled against the appointment to Linz of a bishop, Gerhard Maria Wagner, opposed for being too conservative. Both Schonborn and other bishops let the protest run its course, and within a month Rome gave in and withdrew the appointment, to the delight of all those who claim that the right criterion for selecting bishops is popular approval.
After the meeting on June 15 and 16, 2009, the Holy See released another public statement, relating the reminders that had been addressed to the Austrian bishops.
The June 28 statement on the meeting between the pope and Schonborn is therefore the third rebuke of the series. In the meantime, the canonical five years since the "ad limina" visit of 2005 have almost gone by, and so the Austrian bishops will soon return to meet with the pope, likely for a fourth public rebuke.
This does not change the fact that Ratzinger continues to appreciate the qualities of his former student Schonborn, who is absolutely orthodox at heart. In the last week of August, when the circle of the pope's former students will gather around him at Castel Gandolfo, the opening talk will be given by Schonborn, on a topic as crucial as the interpretation of Vatican Council II.
But Benedict XVI is also aware of Schonborn's flaws, the first of which is the inconsistency between what he thinks – completely in line with the pope – and what he says and does for attention and applause.
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Returning to the statement, there is one passage that requires explanation. It is the one in which the pope chastises Schonborn for the accusations he made against Sodano regarding the late cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, archbishop of Vienna from 1986 to 1995.
In practice, Schonborn accused Sodano of covering up the sexual abuse committed by Groer.
Committed? In reality, Groer never admitted any guilt, nor was he ever put on trial, canonical or civil.
The most detailed reconstruction of the case is the one published on July 1 by "il Foglio":
"The Groer case broke out in 1995, when, after accusations of abuse spread by the media, the cardinal, who had already turned 75, had his resignation accepted. Appointed in his place was Schonborn, who after a few months as auxiliary became coadjutor and then archbishop of Vienna. In that first phase, the young Dominican prelate showed no tendency to condemn his Benedictine predecessor.
"The Groer case exploded again with a vengeance in January of 1998, when he was accused by a few of his fellow monks. On February 21 of that year, the consistory was scheduled to take place at which Schonborn would receive the cardinal's berretta, and he did everything he could to try to keep Groer from being at the ceremony. By that time, in fact, the new archbishop of Vienna had come to see his predecessor as guilty. But not only did John Paul II not prevent Groer from coming, he received him in audience on February 20.
"After coming back from the consistory, the permanent council of the episcopate met in Austria. The new cardinal, Schonborn, participated, together with four other bishops: Kapellari, Eder, Weber, and Aichern. In the end, four of them signed a note declaring themselves "morally certain" of Cardinal Groer's guilt. The only one not to sign was Aichern, who was also a Benedictine and perhaps knew more than the others about the infighting that had led to the accusations against Groer.
"At this point, Schonborn went to Rome to ask the Holy See to ratify the prelates' expression of condemnation. But without success. The refusal was manifested – in clear and plain terms – during Holy Week of that year, when John Paul II and Cardinal Sodano held an audience with Schonborn, Weber, and Eder. The Holy See did not find the accusations convincing. Nonetheless, after Easter Groer released a statement in which he asked for forgiveness if he had done anything wrong, but didn't admit any guilt.
"In June of that year, the pope visited Austria. Schonborn and some of the other bishops, but not all of them, asked that Groer not be present at the visit, and that the Vatican make a statement of condemnation against him. The first condition was accepted, the second was not. Groer would absent himself for a few months, but then would return to his country. He would die in 2003, without John Paul II, the only one who had this power – as the statement last June 28 reiterated – having said a word of condemnation against him."
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On June 30 and July 1, a series of appointments to the Vatican curia were made official. Three of them are significant.
The first is the appointment of Archbishop Renato Fisichella as president of the newly created pontifical council for the new evangelization.
Fisichella was the rector of the Pontifical Lateran University, and president of the pontifical academy for life. Where he will be succeeded, respectively, by Salesian priest Enrico dal Covolo and Monsignor Ignacio Carrasco de Paula.
The second important appointment is that of Canadian cardinal Marc Ouellet as prefect of the congregation for bishops, in place of Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.
Ouellet, 66, a Sulpician, until recently the archbishop of Quebec, a disciple of the great theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar, is a diehard follower of Ratzinger. As a bishop in French-speaking Canada, he worked in one of the places where dechristianization has taken place most dramatically and suddenly. So in the selection of future bishops, it is likely that he will be very much in agreement with the vision that led Benedict XVI to institute the new organism for the new evangelization.
But it is not yet known what will be this new organism's precise duties, which will be defined by a papal "motu proprio." For example, it is not clear what the boundaries are between its own competencies and those of the pontifical council for culture, which is already in charge of the "Court of the gentiles" and therefore of the evangelization of nonbelievers.
Moreover, the entrusting of the new organism to Archbishop Fisichella could reignite the controversies that tormented his presidency of the pontifical academy for life, because of a controversial article he published in "L'Osservatore Romano" in defense of a Brazilian girl who had been forced to have a double abortion: controversies that were not quelled even by a declaration by the congregation for the doctrine of the faith.
Finally, the third important appointment is that of Swiss bishop Kurt Koch as president of the pontifical council for Christian unity, in the place of Cardinal Walter Kasper.
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On July 1, Benedict XVI also received the bishop emeritus of Augsburg, Walter Mixa. This was also done to calm a fight within the ecclesiastical hierarchy. And here as well, with a statement released at the end of the conversation.
In this case, the "often exaggerated dispute" to which the statement referred was between two of the leading bishops of Germany, who have railed against him with criticisms and accusations that are not entirely well founded, leading him to resign: the president of the German bishops' conference, Robert Zollitsch, archbishop of Freiburg im Breisgau, a progressive, and the archbishop of Munich, Reinhard Marx, a conservative.
For this reason, the exhortation to peace and to mutual good will expressed by the pope in the statement is addressed primarily to his "brothers in the episcopal ministry."
With this concluding appeal:
"At a time of upheavals and uncertainties, the world awaits from Christians the harmonious witness that they, on the basis of their encounter with the risen Lord, are able to offer and in which they are of assistant to one another as also to the whole of society, to find the right path to the future."
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