After Three Days of Calm, It's Back to Poison Pen Letter Writer Hell

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
June 4, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/family2012-15717/

The Pope returns to the Vatican

On the very day that the Pope was welcomed with open arms by the one million people that spent the night out in the open or walked from faraway neighbourhoods all the way to Milan’s Bresso park, the poison pen letters writer struck again with another threat.

What with the final mass and the sea of people gathered for the final few hours of the Pope’s visit, Benedict XVI’s retinue did not have much time to think about the latest warning sent by the person responsible for the confidential document leak. The poison pen letter writer sent an ultimatum published in Italian newspaper La Repubblica. It was sent in the form of two letters which contained the letterhead, date and signature of the Pope’s secretary, Fr. Georg Ganswein, but no text. The mole said he/she would publish the content of the letters if Ratzinger did not get rid of his closest collaborators. But despite the evident leap in terms of the management of the Vatileaks operation, - which appears increasingly as if it is being led by experts who are aiming to strike hard at those closest to the Pope - tensions did not affect the final events of the World Meeting of Families in Milan.

On Saturday evening, when total darkness had fallen over Bresso Park, in Milan, after what had been a very heavy-going day in terms of meetings, the Pope answered families’ questions off-the-cuff, giving accurate, succinct and assertive replies. He gave his best during his direct dialogue with families, despite not having a prepared text in front of him, disproving the rumours regarding his alleged resignation. Despite his fragility due to his age and his hip problem which make sit impossible for him to walk long distances in his papal attire, there he was all smiles yesterday morning, inside the Popemobile, surrounded by crowds of people gathered vast grounds of the flying club which was turned into a huge open air cathedral. Along the way, he sent out his blessings and greetings and gave a kiss to a number of newborn babies.

But the success of Benedict XVI’s visit to Milan went beyond the good turnout in terms of numbers present, the efficient organisation and the weather which was temperate enough to drastically reduce fainting. It was primarily a success because of the look on the faces of people who had come from nearby or faraway just to see him, respecting every single moment of the final mass by remaining silent, breaking into a standing ovation at the end of it all. Faces such as that of Karina, a business agent from Lima who has been living in Italy for twenty years. Waving a huge flag of Peru she said: “This is all so thrilling, there is so much love and you can feel that all this comes from Jesus. It is obvious how much we love the Pope. The message we are sending out here is positive; it’s beautiful…”

At the World Meeting of Families, 57 year old Kingsly Perera who works for a transport company but has become immobile because of a serious accident, came without his family. His loved ones stayed behind in Sri Lanka: “I wanted to be here as what we are experiencing here is important for the whole world.” Then there is Pia, who lives in Milan but has Southern Italian origins. She came to Bresso to find an answer to “thousands of questions.” She works in a betting shop and having been used to being alone, was struck by the air of positivity around her: “I felt moved, I even took communion…”. The pestilence of the Vatileaks scandal seems light years away. But even the crowds gathered at Bresso airport are aware of the delicate time Benedict XVI is going through. Jandiro, a Bolivian carer who has been in Italy for just a few years, said: “Poor Pope! The devil is always present. Wherever there is good, there is also evil at work.”

The affection shown by faithful came as a comfort to Benedict XVI during this difficult time. He promoted and supported not the “normal family” but the real families who accepted his invitation and travelled half way across the world, to be in Milan in the flesh. He did not make any condemnations and for the whole three days did not mention abortion, euthanasia or de facto couples. He spoke in an encouraging and positive way. Saturday evening was an example of this, when he spoke about his experience of family life. “When I try to imagine what paradise is like – he said – my mind always goes back to my youth, to my childhood. We were happy surrounded as we were by trust, joy and love and I think that paradise should be similar to what my childhood was like. As such, I hope to go “home”, going towards “the other part of the world.”

But now it is time to return to the Vatican and here, difficult days lie ahead for him. The letters sent by the poison pen letter writer, are far, far away from that paradise of harmony which the Bavarian Pope remembers with such nostalgia.