On the day of his official retirement yesterday, the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, issued a stout defence of the pontificate of Pope Benedict.
Often at the centre of criticism, Cardinal Bertone served as Vatican
“prime minister” from June 2006 until yesterday, having been appointed
to the job by Pope Benedict.
Speaking at a Vatican
ceremony to mark his retirement, Cardinal Bertone (78) surprised some
by underlining the “continuity” of the papacy of Francis with that of
his predecessor Benedict XVI.
Many commentators would claim that the
pontificate of Francis represents a break with 35 years of doctrinal
intransigence from both Pope John Paul II and Benedict.
Cardinal Bertone, however, said to Pope Francis:
“Today, I see in Pope Francis not so much a revolution but rather a
continuity with Pope Benedict XVI before him, even if their personal
lives and experiences are very different . . . Being able to listen, to
be compassionate, to be merciful and to make contact with people, these
are stupendous realities that I have experienced with you Holy Father . .
.”
Church commentators are likely to recall
Cardinal Bertone’s time in office as one marked by a series of
embarrassing blunders by pope Benedict, such as his 2006 Regensburg
speech on Islam.
Furthermore, many will recall tensions within the Roman
Curia as highlighted by the “Vatileaks” scandal and the arrest of the
pope’s butler last year for stealing confidential documents from the
papal apartment.
Cardinal Bertone, however, said Benedict’s
pontificate had been “able to speak to the world, to the heart and to
the head of everyone with doctrinal clarity”.
He suggested relations
with the Jews, with other Christian denominations and even with Muslims
had improved under Benedict.
The new secretary of state is Italian archbishop Pietro Parolin.