Benedict XVI. And the Synod Conclusion --- Schönborn Grey Eminence

(Rome)  Marco Ansaldo, the Vaticanist of La Republica has caused a stir among Catholics on the crucial final phase of the Synod. Ansaldo reported a lunch between the archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn and Pope Benedict XVI,  in the last week during the Synod. The meal was taken in his voluntarily chosen retreat, the monastery Mater Ecclesiae, instead of the Vatican. This is an established fact, that was recognized as a student visiting with his old teacher.

Not backed up, however, is what Ansaldo suggests, or at least wanted to suggest, that Cardinal Schönborn had moved the emeritus pope to act on Cardinal Müller and through him, to the group of defenders of the  sacrament of Catholic marriage, so that in the end the two-thirds majority was brought about for the Synod final report and the looming public disavowal of Pope Francis was averted.

The Facts

The fact is that Cardinal Schönborn already played a central role in the  Circulus Germanicus  of facilitator, to bring about a joint document between the conflicting positions of Cardinal Kasper and Cardinal Müller. The fact is also that the report of the German working group, albeit significantly modified, was the decisive formula to "rescue" the final vote, and thus the two-year synod work. The fact is that the indignation was great among the synod, as  the unaltered final documented of instrumentum aboris was submitted to Pope Francis after three weeks of synod  work, being so heavily criticized by so many.

The fact is, therefore, which is confirmed by representatives from all sides,  that this document would not have found a majority in the Synod. The fact is so established that thus, a serious rift would become visible in the Church. A crack, its unforeseeable consequences triggered nervousness and anxiety among some Synod Fathers, also among the defenders of marriage and morality. A crack of reason, and finally a new text was caused by frenetic negotiations, who found the necessary majority in the end, even if in the decisive section of remarried divorcees, around which the whole Synod had turned, only because of a single vote.

Fact or desired impression?

Tn no  way has it been corroborated so far as to whether and in what way Benedict XVI. actually imported on a compromise solution or has executed acts. Or whether and how Cardinal Schönborn may have achieved or event hinted at the support by the retired Pope over other synod.

The fact is that Ansaldo would give such an additional impression on the  luncheon  to create concrete evidence. The crucial point in his article was ultimately not lunch or Benedict XVI., but the form of the Vienna archbishop, who is counted without hesitation among the  "Progressivists"  in the disputed Synod issues.

The fact is also that Marco Ansaldo was one of those journalists who participated last May at the Gregorian University at the secret meeting of Kasperians which organized the representatives of the "new Mercy" for the Synod. Ansaldo in fact is thus a party to it. The more weight comes to his assessment, Cardinal Schönborn attributable to the progressivist camp, who has been classified yet very differently in general. Schönborn had himself taken part in the secret meetings. And the more it may be assumed that Ansaldo wanted with this certain intention, to involve Benedict XVI. in the matter. Apart from the fact that he for has von Schönborn in his thesis as the ideal mediator between the two great "fractions" of the church, between the Argentine and the German Popes.

To bring Cardinal Schönborn in position as  Francis's successor: The concerns

Schönborn's diplomacy succeeded, says Ansaldo, between the progressives, with whom he  is known in terms of remarried divorcees and homosexuality several times and the Ratzingerians of which he is commonly reckoned as a student of Ratzinger, as part of the staff at the Congregation and for his promotion. He has, at least according to the portrayal, saved the Church from a veritable break and Pope Francis from  a loss of face, which could have had incalculable consequences also due to the personality aspect of the reigning Pope.

Ansaldo wanted this bonus especially, to credit that   Schönborn has internal connections in the Church , and is the scion of an old Frankish noble family that has produced many diplomats and bishops, bringing him into the picture as a predestined candidate for Francis's successor, in other words, to bring him into play. Knowing that Pope Francis daily reads, according to his own admission, only La Repubblica.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: la Torre
Trams: vekron99@hotmail.com
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