By Kris Kotarski
Calgary Herald
January 23, 2011
http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Kotarski+Scandals+church+state+ignite+bonfire/4152757/story.html
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| Herald columnist Kris Kotaski finds it fascinating that Pope Benedict would call for politcians, such as Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, "to rediscover their soul, their moral and spiritual roots," when the Catholic Church is dogged by allegations of covering up sexual abuse of minors. |
On Feb. 7, 1497, during the Mardi Gras festival in Florence, Italy, supporters of Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola gathered on beautiful Piazza della Signoria and carried out a bonfire of the vanities, publicly burning objects of sin, such as mirrors, cosmetics, lewd pictures and "pagan" books.
What was a fit of religious fundamentalism was also a moment of profound protest against the immoral actions of Pope Alexander VI and his corrupt family.
Savonarola's disciples - including Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli, who is said to have hurled some of his own paintings into the fire - were enraged by the ongoing theft during church "confiscations," and tried to purify their society from sin and corruption.
Luckily for Italians the time of bonfires has passed. However, the sin and corruption are still very much at hand.
There is something morbidly ironic about Pope Benedict XVI calling for world leaders to "rediscover their spiritual and moral roots" during the same week that Irish journalists revealed a 1997 letter from the Vatican, warning Ireland's Catholic bishops not to report suspected sexual abuse cases to the police.
The letter, which was signed by Pope John Paul II's diplomat to Ireland, instructed Irish bishops that their new policy of mandatory reporting of suspected sex crimes to criminal authorities "gives rise to serious reservations of both a moral and canonical nature."
The letter also noted that canon law, which keeps all such allegations within the disciplinary structures of the Catholic Church and away from criminal authorities, "must be meticulously followed."
"The letter is of huge international significance, because it shows that the Vatican's intention is to prevent reporting of abuse to criminal authorities," said Colm O'Gorman, once a victim of clerical rape and now director of the Irish chapter of Amnesty International.
"This wasn't some sort of muddled or confused failure on the part of the individual bishops, but rather a concerted approach directed by the Vatican."
Of course, the Vatican does not see it that way.
"That letter has been given biased treatment by some media outlets that have presented it as proof of an instruction from the Vatican to cover up cases of sexual abuse of minors," said Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi.
Lombardi said that the letter has been misunderstood.
"It must be noted that the letter does not in any way suggest that national laws must not be followed."
At a time when child sex coverup allegations against Catholic clergy seem as common as toadstools after the rain, the Pope's remarks about morality are widely seen to be aimed at Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who is engulfed in a sex scandal of his own.
"Society and public institutions must rediscover their soul, their moral and spiritual roots," said the Pope, without a hint of irony to an audience of police chiefs in Rome.
Meanwhile, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican state secretary, told reporters that the Church is treating "these Italian affairs with great attention and concern."
Which affairs exactly? With Berlusconi, that's a difficult question to answer.
Earlier this month, one day after an Italian top court ruling partially stripped the prime minister of political immunity, Italian prosecutors announced an investigation into allegations that Berlusconi had sex with a "significant number" of young prostitutes, including 17-year-old nightclub dancer Karima El Mahroug.
In 2009 Berlusconi's wife left him after he attended the 18th birthday party of model Noemi Letizia, bringing her a gold necklace.
At the time, Berlusconi's wife said that she had to draw the line because her husband "consorts with minors."
Meanwhile, the young Letizia told Italian newspapers that "it was a lovely surprise to see the man I call Papi (daddy) at my party."
Berlusconi is famous for surviving scandal after scandal and it is quite possible that he will somehow weather the latest sex allegations, just like his neighbours in the Vatican.
Still, there is hope. Thanks to a 2006 law pushed through by Berlusconi's right-wing government, having sex with an underage prostitute is now punishable with a prison sentence in Italy.
It's not a bonfire, but it's a good start.
Kris Kotarski is a master's graduate from the University of Calgary's Centre for Military and Strategic Studies.
Contact: kkotarski@gmail.com
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