NZZ: "The Pope and His Opponents: Francis in the Headwinds"

Cardinal Leondaro Sandri

by Manfred Ferrari

This is one comment, typical of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung   (NZZ), among the best I've ever read on the subject. As a journalist who has been working for three decades with the Vatican Curia, I can agree with the author in many ways. A reform of the Curia was long overdue. But this has to be drawn with tact and consideration out of the myriad of  Vatican cliques. The commissioning of outrageously expensive consulting firms was an unfortunate choice.

In addition, Pope Francis has received some internal crossfire due to  unhappy personnel decisions, particularly also because he (against his better judgment) did not want to reverse. The extravagance of the Curia, which often arises from a frightening arrogance has hardly relented even under the new pontiff.

An example: As the Greek Catholic Church on 16 September 2013, was inaugurated in Astana / Kazakhstan *, the Vatican ordered a private jet in Switzerland so that the Argentine curial official and his staff  could walk in with  "dry feet."  This was certainly not within the meaning of Pope Bergoglio.  But even Pope Paul VI. had his work cut with his Curia. When he gave an analysis of the reform of the Curia at Bishop Edouard Gagnon in order, these disappeared without a trace, even before Pope Montini could see them. Even for Pope John Paul II. it was not possible gather all findings in a single study (existing in a single output).

*) The private company MAX Airlines had carried (from Berne-Rome-Kazakhstan and back)  Cardinal Leonardo Sandri (Argentina) and his suite. The estimated cost was approximately 15-20000 Swiss francs to be a guest at the feast of the dedication there! How many poor children could have been supplied with it? With Alitalia Flight + Aeroflot this would have cost 548 euros per person. And now the Vatican is taking action (according to my information, at the express wish of Pope Francis) against two Italian journalists, because they denounced the wastefulness of Vatican cardinals in their books. According to the new Law Code of the Vatican they could be faced with imprisonment between 5 - expect 10 years, even if they are expected to be pardoned. With this action, Pope Francis may lose his goodwill with the international press. Pity!

Text: Manfred Ferrari, Vaticanist kathmedia.org, fotoferrari.com
Image: Una Fides

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Pope to Kiss the Feet of Prisoners Again on Holy Thursday -- to the Exclusion of the Faith

Pope Washing to feet of Juvenile Delinquents of
Different Religions in 2013

Edit: who cares about liturgical norms and rubrics?

(Rome) On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis will visit the Roman prison Rebibbia and wash and kiss the feet of twelve prisoners.  After the Holy Thursday liturgy in the youth prison in Rome in 2013, and a center for the disabled 2014, Pope Francis will visit the great Roman prison Rebibbia on April 2, 2015. There are pre-trial prisoners and prisoners serving sentences or under five years.

At 5:30pm   he will celebrate the Lord's Super in the prison church. It takes place in the framework of the foot washing,  which dates back to the direct model of Jesus Christ at the Last Supper.

Pope is to wash the feet of twelve male and female 

As the chaplain of Rebibbia, Don Sandro Spriano, told Vatican Radio, the Pope will wash the feet of twelve male and female. "We are very happy that the Pope has accepted our invitation which we have spoken of at a meeting at a Mass  in Santa Marta last September. He told us that he would like, if possible, to come to us on Holy Thursday. We will repeat the experience of three years ago with Pope Ratzinger in a different context and with another person," said Kaplan.

"For the prisoners it is certainly an important sign of attention by the Church of Rome to their situation. We always say that they are the most unhappy. To show them that they are children of God who are loved by the Church and especially of the Pope, is very very important for them. Moreover, in this celebration, male and female prisoners will come together for the first time. The occupants of the women's prison will be  brought to us. This has not been done before.It is a beautiful thing," said Don Spriano.

Meeting with Benedict XVI. in other settings still vividly remembered

"I have vivid memories of the meeting with Benedict XVI. because it was a dialogue with questions and answers of the Pope himself at the time. It was a truly fraternal meeting," said the chaplain.

From politicians he expects  that "the prison is simply not a place of punishment and revenge by society  on those who commit crimes, but - as required by the Constitution - is a place of rehabilitation and reintegration,  a basis in order to live better when you come out," said Don Sandro Spriano, the prison chaplain Rebibbia in Rome, where Pope Francis will visit the prisoners on April 2, on Holy Thursday.

Concerns: overshadowing the institution of the Eucharist and the priesthood by reduction to the social aspect

The  Lord's Supper is one of the few important events in the church year in which the popes have traditionally celebrated in the cathedral church of the bishop of Rome, San Giovanni in Laterano, the mother of all churches. Considering the change of location, which Pope Francis is making on this day, there are significant concerns within the Church.  This includes the discomfort that the Pope celebrates a central Liturgy of the Paschal Triduum, the three holy days, again excluding the faithful.

For a critique, see the articles gesture spectacle - After Washing Prisoners' Feet Pope Washes Disabled of "different religions' feet and Some questions about Pope Francis - responses from Vatican spokesman Father Lombardi .

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Messa in Latino

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Pope Francis and Lunch: Luxury Versus Simplicity or Legionaries Versus Franciscans?

(Jersualem) Pope Francis was in Jerusalem on monday.  Despite the crowded program some media, including Katholisches, found it newsworthy that the Catholic Church's leader participated instead of the agreed lunch, unexpectedly decided  to visit at a branch of the Franciscan Custody and to eat there. The incident was interpreted as "more a gesture of simplicity," which "defines the pontificate." 

Lunch for Francis and his entourage was envisaged in the program to take place at  Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center near the Damascus Gate on the edge of the Old City of Jerusalem. Media did report that the Pope had refused to eat there because the Notre Dame Center is a luxury hotel. But he was craving for simplicity, which is why he went to the Franciscans, who, surprised by the unexpected visit, lined up "quickly another plate".
Luxury opposed to simplicity? Or Legionaries of Christ against the Franciscans?

The Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center is located just outside the Jerusalem city walls, within the Custody.  Nevertheless, it is little more than a stone's throw from one place to another. The program of the journey, if not designed in any case by the Pope, was presented to him in detail.  The place of lunch was also unopposed. Which hint was apparently whispered by someone   to the Pope during the trip, is not known. The Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center, a major presence in the Latin Church in the city is presently, in any event, run by the Catholic Order of the Legion of Christ. That gets closer to an explanation of the papal program change.

Notre Dame Center Founded in 1885 for French pilgrims

In 1885 to care for the increasing number of pilgrims who came to the Holy Land,  construction of the pilgrim house WAS begun. The initiative came from the French pilgrims, which is why the hospice was  supervised initially by the French Order of the Assumption. Both from the Ottoman Empire and after 1948, by Israel, the Order would get a confirmation of its rights. The history of the pilgrim center reflects the dramatic history of Jerusalem and the Holy Land. In the Israeli-Arab war of 1948 it was badly damaged in the fighting. In one part of the pilgrim hospice Israel established a military outpost, while in other parts, numerous Christian Arab families were admitted who had become refugees. The Assumptionists tried to persevere in spite of the difficult conditions and to offer an open house for only few pilgrims. The situation, however, the flow of pilgrims was so meagre,  and the maintenance cost too high, that the Assumptionists had to give up and the pilgrim house in 1972 which it bequeathed to the Holy See.

This began in 1973, thanks to the donations of American Catholics with the renovation of the hospice. In 1978, the leaders of all seven Catholic rites gathered  in Jerusalem,  so the pilgrim center of Pope John Paul II was elevated to the rank of Pontifical Institute.

Safe Haven for Oppressed Christians of the Holy Land

During the first Intifada was the Notre Dame Center an important focal point for the local Christian families and in general for the Palestinian people, its social and economic situation deteriorated dramatically. To help them, a school for Palestinian youth was opened in one part of the center.  Many Arab families whose houses were demolished by the Israeli military in and around Jerusalem found refuge in the aftermath  in the Pilgrim House. Christians of Jerusalem found mainly work and thus a livelihood for their families at the hospice. As during the Intifada and the Gulf War the pilgrims returning back and the house could not be run  economically, the former director, Monsignor Richard Mathes, succeeded in obtainin gat the same time to mobilize the cultural attaché of the Vatican in Israel,  foreign donations to continue to pay the salaries for the employees and to secure the operation of the house. After 1991, the situation calmed down and the house could be self-sustaining. In 1998 Monsignor Mathes  ended twenty years of fruitful work in Jerusalem. The continued existence of the house seemed at this time secured by the calmer waters.

In 2000 the second intifada broke out. The pilgrims dropped  off abruptly. The situation was so difficult that the house in 2001 had to close in winter. It reopened after half a year with the start of the "pilgrimage season" in 2002, yet  the hospice struggles because of the small number of pilgrims to Jerusalem continues and could only be supported by foreign donations. To ensure the survival of the house and "ensure it stability and continuity" John Paul II entrusted the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Center to the Legionares of Christ in November 2004 with a motu proprio.

To ensure continuity, in 2004 transferred the Legionaries of Christ

The political situation stabilized, the pilgrims came again, and the Legionaries could carry out extensive renovations.The Center now consists of a modern guest house, a church that serves the pilgrims and the pastoral care of the Jerusalem's Christians, a training center for Palestinian youth and a permanent exhibition, "Who is the man on the grave cloth?" on the Shroud of Turin. The Center also holds various offices and departments of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem where they housed their headquarters shortly before the Pope's visit, when  it had become the target the  incitement of anti-Christian actions by radical Jews. Perhaps one reason for solidarity?

Whether the guest house is more luxurious than comparable pilgrim hospices of the Holy Land, such as that of the Franciscans in Bethlehem, pilgrims may decide for themselves. It is certain that it is of course new and well maintained because of the recent  renovations effected by the Legionaries of Christ.

The presence of the Franciscans will soon be 800 years old. More Latin facilities in the Holy Land emerged only in the second half of the 19th century. The Pilgrim Centre Notre Dame is one of the oldest of them.

Papal grasp of what matters and what does not

In Rome there is, not so much kept away by   the alleged "luxury" it was the Pope Francis from the Notre Dame of Jerusalem Centers, but the desire, not in to be in the   proximity to Marcial Maciel Degollado,  less than honorable founder of the Legionaries of Christ. The Order now has brilliantly mastered the umbilical cord of the 2008 brought on by the late founder and has a new beginning, but Pope Francis has a keen sense of what has traction (not only in the media) and what does not. An indirect proximity to Maciel Degollado, who was present at the ceremony end of 2004in Rome when Pope John Paul II gave the Legion the Jerusalem pilgrim hospice, would not necessarily be useful.  A certain distance from the Legionaries of Christ would, however honest, be beneficial according to the same logic. Thus, the Franciscans of the Custody received an unexpected papal visit around 1 O'clock on   May 26th which n any case made them very happy.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: Infovaticana / Wikimedia
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMGD

Footballer Sets Himself on Papal Throne -- For Fun

(Vatican) On 14 August, Pope Francis, received the players of the Argentine national team. The footballer Pocho Lavezzi desired a very special souvenir photo. He sat down abruptly on the papal throne and was surrounded by his fellow players, take a photo. The casual player put one knee over the other and felt the midst of his "royal court" clearly happy in the Apostolic Palace. The photo of course he published immediately online. Argentina's press is boiling over with enthusiasm: "Papa Pocho??" asks the sports news paper "Olé" or "Lavezzi 'Steals' the Pope's Throne" subtitled "Ambito financiero".

The image is reminiscent of an American soldier at the end of the Second World War, after the discovery of the imperial regalia, he wore the imperial crown of the Holy Roman Empire of the German nation and posed for photos. The image made history, but was regarded as an expression of great disrespect by many Germans and not only because it was committed by a victor over the vanquished. Even today, many feel a heavenly ecstasies when a visitor slips into the treasury of the Vienna Hofburg through the show rooms where the regalia are exhibited.

The Catholic culture critic Francesco Colafemmina, compared the usurpation of the Pope's throne, the image of the empty throne in the Pope Paul VI Hall to when Pope Francis on the 22nd of June called off attending a classical concert on short notice, which was given in his honor.

I could have made hall my warehouse ...

by Francesco Colafemmina

With only the most possible respect for His Holiness, I still allow myself to point out that Pope Francis, who stayed away from an occasion organized a concert in the Aula Nervi for the Year of Faith in his honor two months ago, but can't stay away from football players of all types. Of those with players from Inter Milan or Juventus, Lazio Roma and AS Roma, etc., etc.

I can not understand why a concert of classical music should be a "glamorous" event, when in contrast an encounter with footballers who are multimillionaires is an urgent pastoral responsibility with the best of intentions. Some will recall that in connection with the classical concert cancelled by the Pope, there were circulating rumors that he had said: "I'm not a Renaissance prince. I won't go to the concert."

But that's not all: This time the footballer has struck a chord. He sat on the "throne" of Pope Francis, had himself photographed and put the photo on the internet.

The spontaneous question intrudes - it is premised that I am neither a prude nor a bigot: How long can the Church still bear to sink into the abyss of ridicule, in a dimension of a dubious caricatural pastiche? According to the bishops in the "Gnam Gnam style", as Blondet passingly defined it, we are experiencing now, that even the Apostolic Palace and even the signs and symbols of papal authority become the objects of boasting and ridicule by four footballers.

The Church's Dignitas seems to be a concept significantly degraded recently. Just as the love of art and culture, which is instead replaced by the sports and subculture of pubescent performances.

I understand well that Beethoven will not draw the same "mass" of people as the football, but then one should openly admit that the Church in search of a "consensus of the masses" really is and therefore seeks "worldliness". Too bad that the "worldliness" often consists of silliness and vanity, love of money and exhibitionism.

Would it therefore not be ultimately preferable to participate in the more sober "worldliness" of a Beethoven concerto, rather than allowing the irreverent fun young retarded football player hospitality?

On the other hand, it is Beethoven himself, who, well interpreted the character of this with the following Sonata, which he Church has been made of by this event, simply "Pathetique"!

Text: Fides et Forma Einleitung/Übersetzung: Giuseppe Nardi Bild: Fides et Forma Translation: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com AMGD