Pope Benedict XVI has said he "does not feel in any way alone" despite criticism of his "isolation" and remote style of papal rule. Speaking to reporters on the papal plane on his way to Cameroon today at the start of his six-day trip to Africa said he was "surrounded" by friends, advisers and bishops.
"To tell the truth I have to laugh when faced with this myth about my solitude. In no way do I feel alone: every day I see those who work with me, the heads of dicasteries (Vatican departments) and the bishops."
Pope Benedict has come under fire for lifting the excommunication of four ultra-conservative bishops, including Bishop Richard Williamson, who denies that Jews were murdered en masse in Nazi gas chambers during the Second World War. He later made clear he was unaware of Bishop Williamson's views as a "Holocaust denier" and demanded that he abjure them.
The bishop, a follower of the late Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, who rejected the reforms of the Second Vatican Council - which among other things absolved Jews of blame for the Crucifixion - said he would "study" the matter, but has not yet retracted his views.
The Pope recently issued a highly unusual personal letter to bishops worldwide referring to the episode as an "unforeseeable mishap". There has however been a series of such mishaps. Last weekend the Vatican backtracked on its approval of Brazilian bishops for excommunicating doctors who performed an abortion on a nine-year-old girl raped by her stepfather.
The Pope's remarks on the plane about AIDS and condoms will further reinforce unease among some officials in the Curia (the Vatican hierarchy) over the mishandling of papal public relations.
There were reports this week of an incipient rebellion inside the Curia against Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State (Vatican Prime Minister), who is the Pope's most trusted aide, with demands that he should step down in December when he reaches 75, the normal retirement age for bishops.
Unlike Pope John Paul II, his predecessor, Pope Benedict does not meet a variety of people from within and outside the Church over lunch or dinner.
"After five o'clock the only footsteps in the corridors of the papal apartment are those of the Pope and Father Georg Gaenswein, his personal secretary" said Marco Tosatti, the Vatican watcher of La Stampa.
"Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the head of the Congregation of Bishops, who recommends Episcopal appointments to the Pope, sees him only once a month".
Cardinal Bertone last weekend insisted said that the Curia remained "loyal and faithful" to the Pope and "profoundly united with him", adding: "He is not alone".
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to either myself or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that I agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Sotto Voce
(Source: TOUK)