By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
November 29, 2011
vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/papa-vaticano-vatican-pope-el-papa-documenti-documents-documentos-10307/
 |
| Benedict XVI |
A classified circular letter reminds all the dicasteries of the Roman Curia that nothing can be divulged without first being checked by the Secretary of State
The cardinals and bishops of the Roman Curia that head the Roman dicasteries, have all received a circular letter reminding them of the praxis regarding the publication of pontifical texts: nothing can be divulged with the Pope's signature without being approved by Benedict XVI's Secretary of State first.
The classified document was published on www.chiesa.espressoonline.it, a website run by Sandro Magister, who revealed its existence a few days ago, linking the circular to the disappointment allegedly provoked within the Vatican by a document sent by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on the financial crisis. The latter text requested for the establishment of a world authority able to regulate financial transactions. The hypothesis that the turn of the screw referred to the document from the aforementioned pontifical council – signed by the Cardinal president Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson and by the bishop secretary Mario Toso –was strongly doubted by John Thavis, an American Vatican correspondent from the "Catholic News Service".
As the Magister also correctly noted, the circular does not refer to that document (which also caused a debate within the Holy See), but only to the texts, messages and documents that are published with the papal signature. The circular was sent by Archbishop Angelo Maria Becciu, Substitute for the Secretary of State. It affirms that "in the case of the publication of a document signed by the Holy Father," "the original document should be sent, a reasonable amount of time before the anticipated publication date, in printed and electronic format, along with any translations, to the Secretary of State. After an attentive revision of the content, the Secretary of State will pass it on to the Holy See's social communications section."
The circular stated that "the primary aim of the procedure, is the defense of the integrity of the teachings of the Catholic Church, which could be damaged by the circulation of texts that have not been revised or which have been unduly distributed before the permitted publication date. The obligation to send texts to the Secretary of State (a department which, according to the reforms put forward by Paul VI, should carry out the function of a "director's booth" of the Curia. Over the years, this department has taken on increasingly more powers and duties compared to the congregations) for revision, does not refer to the texts signed by the heads of the curial dicasteries. It refers only to the messages prepared on behalf of the Pope, by the various Vatican bodies.
What then, has provoked the initiative of Mgr. Becciu, who acted on what was said by the Cardinal Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone, after a summit held on 4 November? Why remind the entire Roman Curia of the "ruling norms"? As revealed by "Catholic News Service", what sparked the circular letter, was an error which took place on 20 October, when the Holy See's online "Vatican Information Service" (VIS), published Benedict XVI's message on the occasion of the 98th World Day for Migrants and Refugees, five days before the established date for the publication and its presentation in the Vatican newsroom.
Hiccups such as these in the age of global information and of the Web have become the norm. Once more, the anticipated publication, on a website linked to the Holy See, and the internal grumblings about a document by a pontifical council, demonstrate how in the Vatican, problems of governance, or at least of coordination, persist.
Naturally the need for a turn of the screws regarding the review of papal texts, is one of the symptoms of the exponential growth in the production of documents, speeches, messages and interventions, that has occurred in the last forty years. The number of papal speeches, interventions, texts, and instructions of the individual dicasteries, have grown exponentially. "The word became paper" and "Papelorum progressio" are the two jokes often coined to make fun of the ridiculous growth in bureaucracy. And yet, this huge quantity of words has had a hard time reaching the faithful, or even just the clergy. Indeed, sometimes their purpose seems to be to certify the need for the existence of certain Vatican departments: to show that they exist and must produce texts.
There has often been discussion of the need for a reform in the Roman Curia, to thin its ranks and simplify it, leaving in preeminence perhaps only the papal messages. Just as voices had been raised inviting a greater moderation in the production of texts. In 1995 the writer Vittorio Messori had come to ask for "a sabbatical year of silence," against the river of clerical texts (that is, from the Vatican and Episcopal Conference). "If someone had the patience to read everything that is published," Messori had said, "24 hours a day would not be enough; this "documentitis" has negative effects as it creates further confusion: clarity is precisely what is lacking in matters of faith. And the Catholic survivors have the impression that the faith is a very complicated matter."
Benedict XVI himself, on the flight from Benin to Rome, emphasized that faith is "a simple, profound and comprehensible message." He also said is "important for Christianity not to appear like a difficult system." If the Pope's collaborators in the Roman Curia would just take the Pope's words more seriously, perhaps they would write a little less.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.