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| Archbishop Bruno Forte: Defeated in Bishops' Conference |
The president of the Italian Episcopal Conference is the Pope himself, but he does not exercise this function, but a person of his confidence. The Office is still held by Archbishop Angelo Cardinal Bagnasco of Genoa, whom Benedict XVI. appointed. However, the new strong man is Bishop Nunzio Galatino, whom Pope Francis unexpectedly appointed as the new Secretary-General on 23 December 2013. So far, the Secretary General was appointed on the proposal of the President. Cardinal Bagnasco found out about it from the media.
Archbishop Bruno Forte "for all" and Homosexuals
The Vice President is elected by the General Assembly of the Bishops' Conference, however. Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto, a pupil of Carlo Maria Cardinal Martini, whom Pope Francis designated to the Special Secretary of the Synod of Bishops on the family, was a candidate for this office. Archbishop Forte made under Benedict XVI. a stubborn resistance to an improved translation of the words of consecration pro multis. Instead of "for all" which was used with the introduction of the vernacular, "for many" was to be used as truer in its theological dimension. The new Missal is in Italian but not yet published.
At the Synod of Bishops, Archbishop Forte was a significant author of the controversial Relatio post disceptationem, around which there has been intense debate within and outside the Synod Hall. Fortes authorship was attributed by relator Cardinal Erdo especially the most controversial passages on homosexuality. The paragraph in question was finally rejected in a revised version of the synod.
The "duel" in the Bishops' Conference
The Archbishop was not so very popular. Besides Forte, Bishop Meini of Fiesole ran for the office of Vice President. For the more famous Forte, the "duel" should have been a walk. Especially since it is known that he is in the favor of Pope Francis. No bishop could seriously doubt that what Forte had written in the interim and final report of the Synod, was not approved by the Pope. Nevertheless, it was a different outcome. In the first ballot no candidate reached the intended quorum. In the runoff election the more famous Forte was being sidelined was abundantly clear. Only 60 votes were cast for the bustling Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto, but 140 for Bishop Mario Meini of Fiesole. Only 30 per cent for Forte, 70 percent for his challenger but are a smooth result.
Had the Archbishop wanted to get the office of Vice President and with the favor of the Pope to return as the successor of Cardinal Bagnasco's position, the attempt backfired. The electoral defeat makes his papal appointment as chairman of the Bishops' Conference almost impossible .
Bishop of Fiesole Meini
Bishop Meini, with 68 years, is three years older than Archbishop Forte from Tuscany, where he is also a bishop. He earned his doctorate at the Gregorian University in Rome. The ordination he received in 1971 for his home diocese of Volterra. In 1996 John Paul II appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Pitigliano-Sovana-Orbetello. In 2010 Benedict XVI appointed him as bishop of the larger Diocese of Fiesole, near Florence.
It is clear that Bishop Meini is responsible for the family in the Bishops' Conference of Tuscany. He published in 2005, a remarkable letter to his priests under the title Ut Carne carnem liberans ...
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: MiL
image: MiL
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
