Influential Critic of Pope Francis Shown the Door by the Holy See

(Rome) Sandro Magister has been Vatican expert  of the weekly magazine L'Espresso  since 1974. For 41 years, he has reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church firsthand. An activity that he has exercised under five popes since Paul VI. He reported with remarkable prudence and background information, including disclosures. Under no Pope he was reprimanded. Under Pope Francis, things have changed, however.

A draft of the eco-Encyclical Laudato Si which was printed a few days ago by the Vatican printing house, but would have been scrapped for revisions, was published by L'Espresso. The Italian newspapers immediately suspected "conservative Pope critics" behind the leak. It's an assertion which was also heard from voices close to  the Pope in the Vatican.  From the Holy See Press Office, the publication of Magister charged and brought against him the most serious of possible sanctions. His accreditation to the Holy See has been suspended "indefinitely". For 41 years  Magister, a veteran Vaticanist, has worked for the Holy See Press Office on and off.  He is still among the long-serving and  the most experienced Vaticanists.

The written notice of the Vatican Press Office:

"I regret very much, your Federico Lombardi"

The letter from the Vatican Press Office, Vatican expert Sandro Magister of the is excluded

"Dear Dr. Magister,
the draft you caused to be released of the encyclical of the Pope, despite a publication ban being declared, is a manifestly incorrect initiative, and the source of great disturbance  for many fellow journalists and is a serious breakdown of the sound functioning of this Press Office.

I therefore wish to inform you that your accreditation is suspended from our press office from tomorrow, indefinitely.

I regret very much, your

Federico Lombadi SJ

NB: Of course, these sanctions must be made known to colleagues of the Press Office.

CC:
Dr. Luigi Vicinanza
Chief Editor L'Espresso "

Magister, who studied philosophy, theology and history at the Catholic University of Milan,  was the chief editor and consultant of the television station of the Italian Episcopal Conference TV2000.

Revealing to the Pope unveiling fall from grace of the past of Francis-confidant Battista Ricca

It is known that Magister was among the most well-known  Vaticanists representing a particularly critical position towards the pontificate of Pope Francis. Magister had already fallen out of favor with the Argentine Pope  in June 2013   when he criticized the appointment of Msgr. Battista Ricca, the director of the guesthouse Santa Marta to the house prelates of the Vatican Bank IOR. Magister revealed his homosexual past of the former Vatican diplomat. But Pope Francis did not took his decision back, but on the contrary.

Magister's revelations prompted journalists on the flight back from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro to ask the Pope about the Ricca case. Pope Francis responded to the infamous question with: "Who am I to judge?" It's a sentence that has since been completely detached from the case Ricca and generally recognized as widespread recognition of homosexuals and other offending behaviors against the Church's moral teaching. Although politicians believe he is saying the legalization of "gay marriage" is justified,  Pope Francis has seen no need to correct the statement in almost two years. 

"To Those Within," a red flag

For Magister it meant that he was cut from certain prelates of the Vatican, particularly the closest familiar circle of Pope Francis since June 2013. Sandro Magister was "to those within," meaning the guest house Santa Marta with the Papal entourage, as a red rag. Many contradictions of the current pontificate were visible through his excellent information and his keen analysis on a broad scale. He revealed the role of a director, whom the pope himself employed in the disputed machinations around the Synod of Bishops in 2014.

He criticized the controversial Pope interviews with atheists Eugenio Scalfari, while other Vaticanists offered them blind applause or "explained" with various contortions. It was a criticism that Magister employed, although Scalfari himself was  from 1963-1968, the editor of Espresso. That was before Magister began to work for the magazine, but Scalfari is to this day the gray eminence in the publishing group. The weekly magazine L'Espresso and the daily newspaper La Repubblica belong to the same media group. Even internally, the professional journalist made ​​no friends with his criticism. 

Conversely, Magister was because of his sober attitude, which absented him from a false apologetic, the addressee for a wealth of information that has been leaked to him by prelates critical of the Pope.

How the sanctions will affect his work must be seen. First will to be seen will be how his employer reacts. In the editorial board or on the publisher and owner level, the opinion could prevail that a Vatican expert without accreditation is a contradiction. In L'Espresso , the Italian equivalent of the German Spiegel such a view is not mandatory.

A Blemish as a Welcome Occasion?

The wrath of the other Vaticanists about Magister alone is remarkable. Nevertheless, some believe that Magister's involvement is inconvenient to someone in the Vatican. Vatican spokesman Lombardi explained the sanction with the objective certainty that  Magister had broken the publication embargo. This is exactly what  Magister denied to Associated Press. The editor of Espresso had decided to publish. He, Master, had only written a short introduction, which seemed necessary to him. It had no effect on the decision to publish it.

Magister is not the first journalist to whom  accreditation has been withdrawn. Nevertheless, sanctions are extremely rare.  All the more intensified is the impression that the incident had offered someone a welcome opportunity to punish the most influential critics of Pope Francis among Vaticanists in front of everyone. That Pope Francis is resentful, is sufficiently well known. The withdrawal of accreditation at the Holy See Press Office removes the ground from under  Vaticanist's work.  A step, that's for sure, which came as a surprise even for Magister.

"The new despotism in Vatican claims another victim" said Chiesa e postconcilio on Magister's ouster, who is described as "incorruptible and really a Catholic." "The new compassion in action in this case,  would be laughable to ridicule, if it wwere not so worrying," said the traditional website.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: InfoVaticana

Trans: Tancred verkon99@hotmail.com

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