Cardinal Herranz, The Pope’s Investigator -- From Medjugorje to the “Bubble” of Vatileaks

(Vatican) Much has been written in recent days about the Vatican Secret Dossier, and even more speculation. It's about the final report of the Commission of Inquiry consisting of three cardinals Pope Benedict XVI. had used to investigate the issue which became known as the "Vatileaks” document theft scandal that led to the arrest of the papal chamberlain Paolo Gabriele.

When the Holy See announced that the cardinals will be granted access to the report before the conclave, but this will not continue to be published, the journalists have had an editorial high season. And the more unreliable, the more speculation shot up like a tangle of weeds that Benedict XVI. had resigned because of this report. In a document that is not to be made available in the foreseeable future, anyone can interpret into it what he wants. Even some Catholic journalists could not keep themselves in check, and thought to have to ride the wave that showered the church with garbage.

The head of the pontifical commission, Cardinal Julián Herranz, a member of Opus Dei, canon law expert, physician and psychiatrist had only once previously only taken a position on the matter. He did this in an interview with the Spanish daily El Pais on 19 Published in February. A look at this week utilized to see things beyond contrived media excitement, the right scale.

Julián Herranz was born in 1930 in Andalusia. Ordained a priest in 1955, he has worked since 1960 at the Roman Curia. In 1990 Pope John Paul II appointed him an Archbishop in the  Curia and created him a cardinal in 2003. He is Chairman Emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts and the Disciplinary Commission of the Roman Curia. Cardinal Herranz was appointed by Pope Benedict XVI. in the Commission to examine the phenomenon of Medjugorje. Although the final report for church recognition of the Herzegovina as "place of pilgrimage” seems as of yet not ready for the Pope. The Spaniard celebrated the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite after the adoption of the motu proprio Summorum Pontifical, and was a member of the Pontifical Ecclesia Dei commission.

[...]

You have led the commission regarding Vatileaks, on the 17th December, the Pope received its final report. There has been much speculation about the contents of this report, which one imagines is extremely serious, to the extent that many are of the opinion that it had been crucial for the resignation of the Pope.

This matter has been enormously inflated. I assure you that in my capacity as Chairman of the Commission of Inquiry that a bubble was constructed from it, the air will soon be out on its own. In the Vatican, it is relatively common, to form committees of this kind. You have the task of examining how things are in a certain area. It goes and talks to people, looks at the things that sees things that go and those who do not, the lights and the shadows, it made notes, and finally the results are reported to the competent authority. It then comes to the competent authority to make the decisions it deems appropriate.

The matter has conveyed a bad impression of the church.

But it's just a soap bubble, an anecdote. The willingness to want to see nests of vipers, mafia groups fighting each other, internal jealousies and hatred, all this is absolutely wrong. I have been working for more than half a century in the Vatican, and I can say that I admire many of my colleagues, for their capacity for devotion and sacrifice. There will be black sheep, as in all families, which I will not argue, but we speak of the least corrupt and most transparent government, there is. More than any international organization and any secular government. I have been following the media attention, I am a hermit, and I read what happens in the world and see that we speak of the least corrupt government that has been exemplary in many respects.

[...] In fact, they created a bubble of mysterious things. It comes with a lot of imagination. It is clear that there is no government, family or organized group that has not even an intimate area that is removed from the public. In any government, there are far more dark areas of intelligence and decisions that a president makes, without making them public, far more than in the Vatican secret areas.

The case of Vatileaks has not really scarred the Pope?

No. I assure you that this is just an anecdote compared to the decisions of the Holy Father and the problems of the Church. The fundamental problem of the church is the need for a new evangelization. The church suffered a terrible persecution. 80 percent of people worldwide who have been persecuted in the past year because of their beliefs were Christians, and other institutions say this, not the Church itself.  So it happens in India, Pakistan, Africa. In other places, they are discriminated against, as if they had wrong, reprehensible opinions. And then there are more toxic forms of persecution.

In the developed countries?

Yes, for example

In Europe, the Church has certainly lost a lot of power.

Anyone looking at the Church as a power monger, is wrong from the outset. The message of the Church is persecuted there, where there is an absolutist stance. Where religious freedom is not granted. It is estimated that last year were around 100,000 Christians persecuted, imprisoned or murdered. For three years, a family of mother, Asia Bibi in Pakistan is in prison and there are only a few secular bodies who raise their voices. Again, these things cause one anguish. And the Pope is aware that the waves of the ocean is in a state of flux and that the ship needs a solid hand control.

What qualities should the man who presents himself as the new Pope to the control?

Two things. In the first place it is necessary that there is a man who loves Christ. That he knows and loves Christ as the founder of the Church.

But this property is met by all the cardinals?

Of course, but not in the same way. All Cardinals can talk, but it is to see who speaks best. There are different degrees of holiness in the people. It is not irrelevant to whether someone has the monastic vocation, as Celestine V, or if another is a friend of Christ in the same way, but aware, is what happens in the world, what ideological and cultural trends in the world waves hit.

And the second property?

That he is prepared to explain his love for God others.

So a good communicator.

Exactly. The carry forward the new evangelization, white publicize Christ in the world.

Is age important?

Yes, these are indeed secondary issues, but of great importance. Age, health, language skills, ability to travel and perhaps nationality.

Translation: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: AciPrensa

Link to original katholisches….