VATICAN CITY
Whispers in the Loggia
2.35am ET – In the latest proof of his desire to reach out from behind the walls – and along the way, (again) remind the Establishment he inherited who’s Boss – today’s cover of Italy’s largest-circulation daily indeed blared the second major interview in 12 days with the Pope, this time given to one of the country’s most prominent atheists.
As Eugenio Scalfari tells the story, the pontiff called the La Repubblica founder out of the blue to arrange a meeting as a follow-up to their public exchange of letters over the summer. With Francis looking over his calendar to find a workable time – “I can’t on Wednesday, Monday either; would Tuesday work for you?” – the Pope booked the Domus sit-down himself.
Saying he had no idea how to end a call with the Pope, when Scalfari asked if he could “hug [Francis] through the phone,” Papa Bergoglio replied, “Sure, I’m hugging you too. Then we’ll do it in person. See you soon.” Of course, the stealth strategy ensured again that, as with Antonio Spadaro SJ in August, the interview would not leak in advance nor be sabotaged from within.
Once they came together – with jokes about trying to convert each other as they first met – the 4,600-word extravaganza that ensued touched on everything from the journalist’s non-belief to movie picks, politics and a “court” mentality in the church which Francis termed “the leprosy of the papacy,” admitting that church leaders were “often… narcissistic, flattered and badly excited by their courtiers.”
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