Inside the Vatican magazine December 2020

INSIDE THE

DECEMBER 2020 $5 / EUR 5 / £3.30

VATICAN Lights of Christmas THE MEMORY OF THE BIRTH OF JESUS LIGHTS A FLAME IN THE HEARTS OF ALL MEN AND WOMEN OF GOOD WILL

How to Grow in Virtue and Find True Happiness

X SALT AND LIGHT The Spiritual Journey of Élisabeth and Felix Leseur Bernadette Chovelon

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beautiful love story of a charming French couple so compatibly matched, except for one major difference—Élisabeth was a devout Catholic, Félix a firm atheist. As they faced the seasons of life together, their relationship was tested, and both were called to deep spiritual transformation.

Out of love for her husband, Élisabeth offered her many sufferings for the sake of his conversion. After her death, in response to the profound love he encountered in her writings, Félix converted and became a Dominican priest. A compelling narrative of their marriage and the transforming power of God's grace in their lives.

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"A profound love story filled with fascinating characters and panoramic landscapes. Their tender relationship is a compelling witness to the transformative power of love."

— Kris McGregor Catholic Radio Host Founder, Discerning Hearts

X THE WILLPOWER

ADVANTAGE Building Habits for Lasting Happiness Tom Peterson & Ryan Hanning

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ll people are called to holiness and happiness, but we struggle with the practical steps necessary to overcome vices that rob us of our peace and joy. This book shows us how to use our will and strength to surrender to God’s grace and transform the world, beginning with ourselves.

This unique work helps us to build the virtues we need, using practical wisdom from ancient and contemporary sources.

It includes a Spiritual Audit that identifies our temperament, and its strengths and weaknesses. The virtues that our temperament needs are presented systematically with practical tips for strengthening them.

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X BECAUSE OF OUR FATHERS Tyler Rowley

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his inspiring book makes the compelling case for a father’s essential role in the spiritual lives of his children. These 23 powerful testimonies will inspire men to consider more carefully the amazing privilege that God has given them to be living examples of the love of our Father in Heaven.

Those telling moving stories about their father’s impact on their spiritual lives include Catholic leaders Patrick Madrid, Bishop Joseph Strickland, Abby Johnson, Fr. Paul Scalia, Jesse Romero, Fr. Rocky, Anthony Esolen, Fr. Gerald Murray and 15 more.

BOFP . . . Sewn Softcover, $16.95

"Every man must read this extraordinary book. Men need encouragement to be the good fathers or mentors God gifted them to be. This book will change your life.”

— Meg Meeker, M.D. NY Times Best-Selling Author, Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

“Solidly based on Church teachings. A practical resource for growing in the virtues needed.”

"Glowing examples and heartwarming —Most Rev. Thomas Olmsted testimonies of Christian fathers taking up the Bishop of Phoenix, AZ challenge to be real dads."

— Steve Ray, Author, Crossing the Tiber “Offers concrete ways to take seriously our struggle against sin, and seek sanctity.”

— Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J., Host, EWTN Live

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EDITORIAL

by Robert Moynihan

Nunc Dimittis How we await with patience the things we long for. God finally answers our longings, in His time.

A reflection on life, on death, on Christmas, and on Christian hope A happy and holy Christmas to all.

The year 2020 has been difficult. We look forward now to the Christmas season and the new year with much hope, but also with much sorrow.

My father died this past spring, and in the late autumn, my friend and colleague, John Moorehouse, also passed away. I would like to remember both men here—as well as any of your loved ones who have gone to the Lord this year.

William T. Moynihan My father’s favorite passage from Scripture was the Nunc dimittis (“Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord”), spoken 2,000 years ago by the High Priest, Simeon, after he saw the Baby Jesus, brought to him

by Mary and Joseph. (Luke 2:29-32) I remember my father saying those words to me in a joking way when I was seven years old. I had asked my father to help me in the yard, and he had worked with me for an hour. When we finished, my father turned, fixed his eyes on mine, and, with a big smile, said, “Good job. Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine.”

I was puzzled. I asked him to explain the words to me. He said, “Those were the words the High Priest, Simeon, spoke to God after he saw the Baby Jesus, for whom he had been waiting all his life. ‘Now you dismiss your servant, O Lord.’ When Mary and Joseph brought the Child Jesus to him, Simeon realized Jesus was the promised Savior, expected for so long. So Simeon turned and said to God, ‘Now (nunc) you dismiss me (dimittis), O Lord (Domine).’ Simeon meant that all of his work, like all of the work we have just done, was complete. Jesus had come at last.

Having seen Jesus, Simeon could depart from this world. Everything he had hoped for and longed for was fulfilled. Now our work is also done, and you may also dismiss me and go do other things!”

Dad was like that, weaving together Scripture and everyday life, illuminating one by the other, with good humor and kindness.

The Nunc dimittis is known as the Song of Simeon or the Canticle of Simeon. Latin (Vulgate): Nunc dimittis servum tuum, Domine, secundum verbum tuum in pace: Quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum, Quod parasti ante faciem omnium populorum: Lumen ad revelationem gentium, et gloriam plebis tuae Israel.

English (translation of the Vulgate): Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; Because my eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: A light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.

John Moorehouse One of the unsung heroes of Catholic publishing and intellectual life in America, John Moorehouse, passed away quite unexpectedly on

December 5, at the age of only 51, leaving his widow, Robin, and five children. I grieve over his passing.

John was the chief acquisitions editor at TAN Books in Charlotte, North Carolina, and he helped me during the past year and a half to complete my book, FINDING VIGANÒ: The Search for the Man Whose Testimony Shook the Church and the World.

I am just one among dozens of Catholic authors who depended on John to clarify and refine their visions. John worked in the service of Him who was, always and unquestionably, his Lord and Savior. Inside the Vatican contributors Anthony Esolen, Michael Greavey and Paul Kengor, to name a few, also collaborated with John on books.

Esolen recalled John’s willingness to take on true labors of love, like publishing the now-defunct Catholic Men’s Quarterly, simply because it was “a good thing to do.” John, he says, “was a good man, a faithful husband and father, a devout Catholic, and—what is rare enough in our time—great fun to be around. You could see it in his eyes and in the eyes of his wife and children. We sometimes met them on our way out of Mass on a Sunday evening at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts, where I now teach, and where I hope to instruct his children as they come of age. And that too brings something to my mind. John had tremendous energy and ability and intelligence, and a willingness to take risks. He could have been the chief of a big business. He could have been living the easy and secure life of a tenured professor. No ambition compelled him to produce his Quarterly. He did it, and he enjoyed it, because it was a good thing to do—and a necessary thing to do. He did it for the good of his fellow men and for the Church. John did much with small resources, but it may be truer to say that the God who governs even a grain of dust, who resists the proud and dwells with the humble, works miracles by those who hold to His truth, whatever their resources may be, even while the colossi crumble to dust. Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.”

A Christmas Meditation A few words to ponder from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò: “In the silence of our holy waiting for the promised Savior, we venerate the Annunciation to Mary Most Holy, who in her humility consented to receive the Second Person of the Holy Trinity to be made flesh in Her virginal womb, which had been preserved from every stain of sin. By her consent through that blessed Fiat, our salvation would be realized.

“The Most Holy Christmas of Our Lord is approaching, to celebrate a historic event—the true ‘Great Reset’—which snatched the redeemed souls from Satan by means of the Blood of the Lamb. Let us commit ourselves to ensure that this Christmas constitutes a spiritual rebirth for each one of us, for our families, for our communities and for our countries: this Christmas, we can be that crib in which the Blessed Virgin will lay the Child King, ‘the Light to enlighten the nations and the glory of your people Israel’ (Lk 2:32).” m DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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CONTENTS DECEMBER 2020

Year 28, #10

LEAD STORY New Book: A major new biography of Pope Benedict XVI, now in English

by Edward Pentin (National Catholic Register), interviewing Peter Seewald . . . . . . . . . . .10

DECEMBER 2020 Year 28, #10

v

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Robert Moynihan ASSOCIATE EDITOR: George “Pat” Morse (+ 2013) ASSISTANT EDITOR: Christina Deardurff CULTURE EDITOR: Lucy Gordan CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Giuseppe Rusconi, Dr. Jan Bentz WRITERS: Anna Artymiak, Alberto Carosa, William D. Doino, Jr., David Quinn, Andrew Rabel, Vladimiro Redzioch, Serena Sartini, Father Vincent Twomey PHOTOS: Grzegorz Galazka LAYOUT: Giuseppe Sabatelli ILLUSTRATIONS: Stefano Navarrini CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER: Deborah B. Tomlinson ADVERTISING: Katie Carr Tel: 202-536-4555, ext.303 kcarr@insidethevatican.com

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v INSIDE THE VATICAN (ISSN 1068-8579, 1 yr subscription: $ 49.95; 2 yrs, $94.95; 3 yrs, $129.95), provides a comprehensive, independent report on Vatican affairs published monthly except July and September with occasional special supplements.

Inside the Vatican is published by Urbi et Orbi Communications, PO Box 57, New Hope, Kentucky, 40052, USA, pursuant to a License Agreement with Robert Moynihan, the owner of the Copyright. Inside the Vatican, Inc., maintains editorial offices in Rome, Italy.

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Copyright 2020 Robert Moynihan

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INSIDE THE VATICAN

DECEMBER 2020

NEWS VATICAN NEWS ITEMS/Pope Francis issues new book, Let Us Dream; U.S. Bishops prepare for Biden presidency; Biden calls Pope Francis; Basketball players visit Pope; abuse trial underway in Vatican City

by Inside the Vatican Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 VATICAN/Lack of clarity on where to go to reach “The Economy of Francesco”

by Michael Greaney . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 HOLY SEE/Vatican finally issues its long-awaited “McCarrick Report”

by Inside the Vatican Staff . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 HOLY SEE/Pope exhorts 13 new cardinals to humility — November 28 consistory

by Cindy Wooden, Catholic News Service (CNS) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 INTERVIEW/

by Nicole Winfield, Associated Press . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 CHRISTMAS ART ESSAY CHRISTMAS THOUGHTS/“The Ancient of Days has become an infant”

by St. John Chrysostom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .30 CULTURE DEBATE/

by Dr. Anthony Jay, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 ANALYSIS/The Vatican’s New “Global Compact” on Education

By Prof. Anthony Esolen, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 INTERVIEW/

by Dr. Jan Bentz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 EDUCATION/A new boys’ high school “prepares the soil”

by President Daniel Kerr of St. Martin’s Academy in Fort Scott, Kansas, USA . . . . . . . . . .44 SCRIPTURE/

by Prof. Anthony Esolen, Magdalen College, New Hampshire, USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46

URBI ET ORBI: CATHOLICISM AND ORTHODOXY Icon/

by Robert Wiesner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 East-West Watch/

by Peter Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 News from the East/

by Becky Derks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50 FEATURES LATIN/On the date of Christmas, in Latin...

by John Byron Kuhner, Paideia Institute, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Art/The story of Italy’s only Christmas carol

by Lucy Gordan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 BOOK/Selection from Lord of the World (originally published in 1907)

by Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Vatican Watch/A day-by-day chronicle of Vatican events: October and November

by Becky Derks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 People/

by Becky Derks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Food for Thought/The Vatican Christmas Cookbook from the Swiss Guards

by Mother Martha . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

"Michael O'Brien is a superior spiritual story teller worthy to join the ranks of Flannery O'Connor, Graham Greene, Evelyn Waugh, and C. S. Lewis." — Peter Kreeft

THE LIGHTHOUSE: A Novel

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than McQuarry is a young lighthouse keeper on a tiny island, the rugged outcropping of easternmost Cape Breton Island on the Atlantic Ocean. He cherishes his solitude but is haunted by his aloneness in the world and by a feeling that his life is meaningless. His courage, his integrity, his love of the sea and wildlife, of practical skills and of learning, are not enough. He is faced with internal storms and sometimes literal storms of terrifying power.

At times he becomes aware that messengers are sent to him from what he calls "the awakeness" in existence, "the listeningness." But he cannot recognize them as messengers nor understand what they might be telling him, until he finds himself caught up in catastrophic events, and begins to see the mysterious undercurrents of reality— and the hidden face of love

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“The austere, authentic, and solitary world of The Lighthouse captured me entirely. O'Brien's tale has the beautiful and luminous nature of a parable through its engaging and gentle story.”

—Sally Read Author, Night’s Bright Darkness

“O'Brien has given us another larger-than-life character who serves a larger-than-death God. He subtly delivers a powerful message without creating cardboard characters.”

—Marvin Olasky Editor in Chief, World

“As deeply moving as anything O’Brien has written. In this lyrical ode to the hidden mysteries of life that shall one day be revealed, truly amiable character is shaped and drawn to mirror its eternal form.”

—David Lyle Jeffrey, Ph.D. Professor of Literature, Baylor University

“Can a man be an island? Can he be the captain of his soul? Such questions are at the courageous heart of this story of one man's quest to make sense of himself and the world.”

—Joseph Pearce Author, Tolkien: Man and Myth

Other Novels by Michael O’Brien

Father Elijah FEP, Sewn Softcover $19.95

Elijah in Jerusalem FEJH, Sewn Hardcover $19.95

Island of the World IWP, Sewn Softcover $24.95

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INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

Editor’s note: Eight and a half years ago, on May 3, 2012, I sent out a Moynihan Letter entitled Letter #9: “Pro Multis,” which dealt with the liturgy in general and specifically with the use of the Latin words “Pro multis” (“for many”) at the moment of consecration. The letter spoke of how many national bishops’ conferences were seeking to use the translation “for all” for those words of the liturgy. This is how that Letter opened: May 3, 2012 —“Pro Multis” “Qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur.”

—The words of the consecration of the wine in the Mass, meaning literally “(my blood) which is poured out for you and for many” “But when He added pro multis He wanted that there be understood the rest of those chosen (electos) from the Jews or from the Gentiles. Rightly therefore did it happen that for all (pro universis) were not said, since at this point the discourse was only about the fruits of the Passion which bears the fruit of salvation only for the elect.” —Roman Catechism (the Catechism produced after the Council of Trent), 1566 I received the following email response: Dr. Moynihan, I enjoy your insightful commentaries very much. Thank you for your enlightening letters on the goings-on in the Vatican. This raises some interesting questions for me.

1. Why didn’t John Paul II change the wording back to the correct format during his long papacy? I can understand that during his last days he may not have been in full possession of his faculties, but what about the earlier years when he was fully lucid? I find it hard to believe that John Paul II and then Cardinal Ratzinger would not have discussed this matter at length. I am no theologian and I can understand why the correct translation is “for many.”

Furthermore, if Cardinal Ratzinger understood the correct translation, I assume John Paul II did as well. So, why didn’t John Paul II make the necessary change?

2. Another puzzling question surrounds the strange interpretation of the Third Secret of Fatima which the Vatican

@

presented in 2000. Many, including myself, found the interpretation not credible nor even logical.

For example: The “Bishop dressed in white” who is killed together with other clergy and lay people clearly could not have referred to John Paul II’s assassination attempt in 1981 for obvious reasons.

Secondly, Bishop Ito’s claim that Cardinal Ratzinger told him that the message of Akita was essentially the same as the contents in the third secret of Fatima invalidated the Vatican’s interpretation which Cardinal Ratzinger seemingly approved.

Thirdly, the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary quite obviously has not yet occurred.

Lastly, Pope Benedict XVI himself reopened the controversy over the Vatican’s interpretation, during his remarks on the plane to Fatima in May 2010, when he stated that it would be mistaken to think the events in the third secret of Fatima had already occurred and Fatima was in the past.

3. The question of Holy Communion in the hand. Everything I have read on the subject indicates that neither Paul VI, nor John Paul II nor Benedict XVI approved the widespread use of Holy Communion distributed in the hand. It was apparently introduced by dissenters and then became universally accepted without Vatican approval. Of course, we all know that Pope Benedict XVI has attempted to “persuade” and “teach” the flock to follow his example.

However, this is not working.

Maybe, it’s time for the Pope to start implementing the changes necessary (not only on this issue), by using his authority as Supreme Pontiff, because the gentle “persuasion” he favors is not working.

I remember Mother Angelica on television years ago wisely advising her audience that, “the more respect you pay to Jesus in the Eucharist, the less likely you are to lose YOUR FAITH in the Eucharist.”

She was correct. Of course, opinion polls continually show that many Catholics no longer believe in the Real Presence.

What exactly is the reason for Communion in the hand? And, was the intention of those

who introduced this practice to diminish belief in the Real Presence? If so, they have succeeded!

4. These questions only scratch the surface. The bottom line is this: Who exactly controls the Popes? Are they just figureheads controlled by Masonic forces inside the Vatican? If this isn’t the case, why didn’t JPII and Benedict XVI take forceful action to clean up the mess in the Church during JPII’s long papacy? The only conclusion I can come to is that they didn’t want to rock the boat and cause a schism, as this would weaken the Church’s power in the secular world and lessen the Church’s ability to oppose the emerging Masonic New World Order. So they chose the “teach and persuade” method, rather than a head-on confrontation with the wolves masquerading as sheep. It’s apparent that the Freemasons have successfully used the divide and conquer technique against the Catholic Church, weakening her from the inside to render her impotent to stop them. Is my speculation correct, or is there some other reason I’m missing?

Cathy Fernandes CFerna1634@aol.com

ST. GALLEN CONNECTION Editor’s Note: This next letter refers to my Moynihan Letter #37: Sankt Gallen, sent out Friday, November 13, 2020.

The first three paragraphs of that letter were citations, as follows: “Whilst in Rome before the 2005 papal conclave, the cardinals who were members of the Saint Gallen Group sent their host Ivo Fürer a card saying: ‘We are here together in the spirit of Saint Gallen,’ and before the conclave they came together for a talk over dinner. According to an anonymous cardinal from whose diary excerpts were published by (Lucio) Brunelli, two of them, Lehmann and Danneels, were ‘the thinking core’ of the reformisti during the conclave. These reformisti did not want to vote for Joseph Ratzinger, and tried to prevent his election by giving all their votes to Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who thus might achieve a blocking minority. They succeeded, but Bergoglio, ‘almost in tears,’ begged not to be elected. Ratzinger was elected Pope Benedict XVI.” —A brief summary of the actions taken by members of the “St. Gallen Group” to try to elect Cardinal Jorge

Bergoglio (now Pope Francis) as Pope in 2005. The effort was repeated, and did succeed, in 2013. Did Theodore McCarrick have some connection with this St. Gallen group? The answer is not clarified by the Vatican’s just released 400+-page “McCarrick Report.” Such a connection, if established, would seem to be of importance in understanding McCarrick’s career, and how he was treated by the Vatican hierarchy over the decades. But the “McCarrick Report” authors do not seem to think this question of any importance...

“It is clear that the beginning of McCarrick’s climb... coincided with that visit to Switzerland [Note: in 1951, when McCarrick was just 21 years old], to a monastery that was later the site of the meetings of the conspirators of the so-called “St. Gallen mafia.” —Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, speaking November 12 to Raymond Arroyo in an interview on EWTN “Who convinced John Paul II and Benedict XVI not to take into account the serious accusations against McCarrick? Who had an interest in getting McCarrick promoted, so that he could gain an advantage in terms of power and money?” —Archbishop Viganò, from the same interview The Letter then went on to consider the McCarrick case in greater detail, and it provoked this Letter to the Editor: I appreciate your exhaustive reporting on this important issue and look forward to receiving your most recent book with Viganò.

A point I have trouble reconciling is the appearance that “we” (i.e., those sympathetic to Archbishop Viganò) believe in the direction and leadership of the “more orthodox/conservative” Popes St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI vis-à-vis Pope Francis, yet at the same time those two are completely manipulated by “The Sankt Gallen Mafia” and (as Archbishop Viganò writes): “The same connections, the same complicities, the same acquaintances always recur: McCarrick, Clinton, Biden, the Democrats, and the Modernists, along with a procession of homosexuals and molesters that is not irrelevant.” So while the two former Popes are supposedly hoodwinked, it is this “other” group led by Archbishop Viganò that knows the real story, but their efforts are always foiled at every turn.

I have a hard time swallowing this. Let’s face it, the two former Popes are big boys,

and they could have certainly asked for/demanded more information on Cardinal McCarrick if they had wanted to. Or are we to believe that their requests are merely “pretty please” types of requests and without sincerity or consequences?

And why would Pope Benedict resign in the face of this? He is described as a great foe of the St. Gallen Mafia and “we” believe he was critical to the survival of the Church, yet he resigns… under pressure?

Do you believe this? It is easy for me to say, but would not the Pope look to the suffering of Christ as inspiration to battle these forces for the good of the Church? Is it possible that the beliefs we want to ascribe to Pope Benedict may be less firm than we want to consider? I can’t believe that he was “run out” of the Vatican.

I know you are writing a book on his departure and I think this would be a great area to explore.

Keep up the good work!

Tim Harding trh@hardings.com The Editor replies: I hope to deal with these questions in my second book. I hope it will be out in the spring.

The Vintage Catholic – Sacred Art & Antiques – “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred....” Pope Benedict XVI

www.thevintagecatholic.com

DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

9

LEAD STORY

THE CHURCH’S POPE EMERITUS SPEAKS ABOUT HIS EARLY LIFE IN A NEW BOOK GERMAN JOURNALIST AND LONGTIME RATZINGER FRIEND PETER SEEWALD PUBLISHES AN AUTHORITATIVE BIOGRAPHY (VOLUME ONE) IN ENGLISH

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t has been seven years and 10 months since Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected Pope, taking the name Francis on March 13, 2013. At that time, it was an extraordinary occurrence, as there was already a living Pope, Benedict XVI, also in Rome, who had abdicated the Throne of Peter just weeks before. Benedict gave health reasons (lack of strength to rule the Church) to explain his decision to step down.

Still, almost eight years later, Pope Emeritus Benedict, while frail and in a wheelchair, retains his mental faculties and even his sense of humor. Surprisingly to some, he has lived through the papacy of Francis roughly the same amount of time that he himself was Pope: April 19, 2005 to February 28, 2013, approximately seven years and 10 months. That means that Pope Emeritus Benedict, had he remained in the papacy, would this month have almost exactly doubled the amount of time he had been Pope when he resigned. What are we to make of this seeming anomaly: a Pope who resigns due to ill health and then continues to thrive many years later?

It is something of a mystery which we will not pretend to answer; however, Pope Emeritus Benedict himself has touched on the subject, and many others, in a new (December 2020) English translation of a book based on conversations with German journalist Peter Seewald, called Benedict XVI: A Life: Volume One: Youth in Nazi Germany to the Second Vatican Council, 1927-1965.

Seewald has interviewed and then produced books with Benedict in the past, when the latter was still Cardinal Ratzinger: Salt of the Earth, in 1997, and God and the World, in 2002.

But Benedict XVI: A Life: Volume One is the first installment of what may become the definitive biography of one of the leading intellectual and spiritual lights, not only of the Church in the 20th and 21st centuries, but of the world.

Following is an abbreviated version of an interview Vatican journalist Edward Pentin did earlier this year with Peter Seewald, just after the German-language version of the book was released.m

“RATZINGER SAW IN GOD’S ‘PATH OF SALVATION’ A CHURCH OF THE MINORITY” PETER SEEWALD DESCRIBES THE UNIQUE PAPACY OF BENEDICT XVI — AND THE MAN JOSEPH RATZINGER n

BY EDWARD PENTIN

I

n this May 21, 2020 email interview with The Register, Seewald explains how the book, Benedict XVI: The Biography — running 1,184 pages in the German version [It has just been published in English—Ed.] juxtaposes Joseph Ratzinger’s life and teaching with the dramatic and stirring events of the 20th century.

He also explains the genesis of the book, as well as Bene10 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

dict’s relationship with Francis, and the advice Benedict offers for dealing with the crisis of faith in the Church and the world today.

You’ve known Benedict for many years; what did you learn about him that you did not know before?

PETER SEEWALD: Oh, countless things. The life of Joseph

Opposite, Pope Benedict XVI, now 93. He resigned the papacy in 2013, seven years ago. A new book tells his life story

Ratzinger is the biography of a century.

One had always thought that the rise of the former professor of theology was one smooth progression, a career without any breaks. But there are countless ups and downs, with dramas that led to the brink of failure. There were the experiences during the Nazi era, when it was said that after the “Final Victory” [of the Nazis], Catholic priests would either be banned or end up in concentration camps. As a student, he had fallen in love with a girl — a story that made his decision to enter priestly life an existential one. A critical essay almost cost him an appointment to a faculty chair at the end of the 1950s. [...]

I was also unaware that Ratzinger’s role in the [Second Vatican] Council is not marginal but enormously significant. He himself always played it down. But alongside Cardinal [Josef] Frings, he was basically the definitive Vatican spin doctor. Pure legend, however, is the story of his “trauma” during the student revolt in Tübingen [in 1968], or the story of his turn from revolutionary to reactionary brakeman.

I have examined all these things thoroughly, including the so-called scandals, such as the [former Society of St. Pius X Bishop Richard] Williamson affair or “Vatileaks,” and come to quite different conclusions than those [voices] who merely reiterate stereotypes.

Ratzinger is not without fault. Nor did he get everything right when he was pontiff. But it is not by accident that he is considered worldwide as one of the great thinkers of our time.

Benedict says that modern society is in the process of “socially excommunicating” those who disagree with abortion or the same-sex agenda that he attributes to the spirit of the Antichrist. What does he advise believers to do in the face of these threats?

SEEWALD: Pray and work. Just stand firm. Do not be infected by relativism, and do not despair — for, in the end, Christ will always be the victor. Society is dependent on the streams that nourish it through religion. [...]

At the same time, Ratzinger never had any illusions about the fundamental contradiction between secular society and the thought and life of Christians. He saw early on the situation of a diminishing community of faith coming closer.

In his 1958 work The New Pagans and the Church, he says: “In the long run, the Church cannot avoid the need to get rid of, part by part, the appearance of her identity with the world and once again to become what she is: the community of the faithful.” Ratzinger saw in God’s “path of salvation” a Church of the minority. That means a church of relatively few confessions, who are then charged with representing the many. Only when the Church ceases to be “a cheap, foregone conclusion, only when she begins again to show herself as

she really is,” he admonished, “will she be able to again reach the ear of the new Gentiles with her message.”

You mention that relations between Benedict and Pope Francis are good, but there are some Catholics who wish Benedict had not resigned, who contend that he would never agree with some of the decisions of this pontificate.

SEEWALD: The former and the current Pope have different temperaments, different charismas, and they each have their own way of exercising the office. We see from the Popes of previous centuries that a more intellectual pontiff is usually followed by a more emotional one. That was never a disadvantage. Undoubtedly, there can be different views between Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. But that does not matter. The Pope is the Pope. [...]

Moreover, in my book he literally says: “The personal friendship with Pope Francis has not only remained, but has grown.”

Does the book offer a more complete picture of Benedict’s reasons for his resignation, and if so, how?

SEEWALD: The complete circumstances of his resignation are explained in detail in my biography. [...] It only seems so mysterious because certain people don’t get tired of always spinning some secrets.

Anyway, the whole act was a resignation with an announcement. It had nothing to do with “Vatileaks,” as is still claimed, nor with blackmail or anything else. Like the Popes before him, Benedict XVI, soon after his election, had signed a resignation declaration in case he could no longer exercise his office due to a serious illness, such as dementia. [...] John Paul II is a special case here. He had a charism of his own, and his ordeal, which was necessary to bring new strength to the Church, cannot be repeated. In the last years of Wojtyla’s life, however, a vacuum was created, which was not without problems.

Benedict XVI saw for himself another vocation.

He was no longer a young man when he was elected to office. In the many decades before [his election] he also never spared himself, fighting as a front-line defender of the faith.

During his pontificate, which lasted, after all, (nearly) eight years, he had completely exhausted himself. The fact that he, at his old age and with health handicaps, of which the public had no idea, then also wrote a trilogy on Jesus almost bordered on the superhuman.

In the end, he was powerless and saw the necessity of giving the shepherd’s crozier to younger, fresher hands.m Edward Pentin is the National Catholic Register’s Rome correspondent. Published with the permission of NCR. DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 11

NEWS VATICAN

IN NEW BOOK, FRANCIS RECALLS “THREE CRISES” “THESE WERE MY MAIN PERSONAL ‘COVIDS.’ I LEARNED THAT YOU SUFFER A LOT, YOU COME OUT BETTER.” — POPE FRANCIS, FROM HIS NEW BOOK LET US DREAM

BUT IF YOU LET THINGS CHANGE YOU,

n BY ITV STAFF

Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future published Simon & Shuster

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some pre-crisis state,” the publisher said in a statement. “But if we have the courage to change, we can emerge from the crisis better than before.”

Simon & Shuster says that the book offers a scathing critique of the systems and ideologies that contributed to the current crisis, “from a global economy obsessed with profit and heedless of the people and environment it harms, to politicians who foment their people’s fear and use it to increase their own power at their people’s expense.”

ope Francis came out with a new book on December 1 entitled Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future, in which he reflects on how the COVID crisis can result in a safer, fairer, and healthier world.

Simon & Shuster published the book, which was released simultaneously in English and Spanish.

In it, Pope Francis talks with papal biographer Austin Ivereigh (The Great Reformer: Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, 2014) about crises in his own life, and lessons he learned from them. “By

its very nature, he shows, crisis presents us with a choice: we make a grievous error if we try to return to

MY LIFE’S THREE MOMENTS OF SOLITUDE Pope Francis and Austin Ivereigh (CNS photo)

Here is an excerpt, originally published ahead of the book’s release in Italy’s La Repubblica newspaper, from Let Us Dream, in which the Pope describes three of his own personal “COVID” moments of solitude.

I

n my life I have had three “Covid” situations: illness, Germany and Córdoba.

When I contracted a serious illness at 21, I had my first experience of limitation, pain and loneliness. He changed my coordinates. For months I didn’t know who I was, if I was going to die or live. Not even the doctors knew if I would make it. I remember one day I asked my mother, hugging her, to tell me if I was going to die. I was attending the second year of the diocesan seminary in Buenos Aires. I remember the date: it was August 13, 1957.

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INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

A prefect took me to the hospital, realizing that I did not have the kind of flu that is treated with aspirin. First they extracted a liter and a half of water from my lung, then I was left to struggle between life and death.

In November, they operated on me to remove the upper right lobe of my lung. I know from experience how coronavirus sufferers feel when they struggle to breathe on a ventilator.

I remember two nurses in particu-

lar from those days. One was the head nurse, a Dominican nun who had been a teacher in Athens before being sent to Buenos Aires. I later learned how, after the doctor left once the first exam was over, she told the nurses to double the dose of the treatment he had prescribed — penicillin and streptomycin — because her experience told her I was dying. Sister Cornelia Caraglio saved my life. Thanks to her habitual contact with the sick, she knew better than the doctor what patients needed, and she had the courage to use that experience.

Another nurse, Micaela, did the same thing when I was in pain. She secretly gave me extra doses of sedatives, outside the scheduled time.

Cornelia and Micaela are now in heaven, but I will always be in their debt. They fought for me until the

Pope Francis blesses a disabled person during his visit to the Serafico Institute in Assisi, Italy, on October 4 (CNS photo)

end, until I recovered. They taught me what it means to use science and to know how to go even further, to meet specific needs.

From that experience I learned something else: how important it is to avoid cheap consolation. People came to see me and told me that I would be fine, that I would never feel all that pain again: nonsense, empty words spoken with good intentions, but that never reached my heart.

The person who touched me most deeply, with her silence, was one of the women who marked my life: Sister María Dolores Tortolo, my teacher as a child, who had prepared me for First Communion. She came to see me, took my hand, gave me a kiss and kept quiet for a long time. Then she said to me: “You are imitating Jesus.” There was no need for her to add anything else. Her presence, her silence, gave me profound consolation.

After that experience, I made the decision to speak as little as possible when I visit patients. I just take their hand. *** I could say that the German period, in 1986, was the “COVID of exile.” It was a voluntary exile, because I went there to study the language and to look for the material to complete my thesis, but I felt like a fish out of water. I went for a few strolls towards the cemetery in Frankfurt and from there you could see the airplanes taking off and landing; I was homesick for my homeland, to return. I remember the day Argentina won the World Cup. I hadn’t wanted to see the game and I only knew we had won the next day, reading it in the newspaper. No one in my German class mentioned it, but when a Japanese girl wrote “Long live Argentina” on the blackboard, the others laughed. The teacher came in, said to delete it and

closed the subject.

It was the solitude of a victory alone, because there was no one to share it; the loneliness of not belonging, which makes you a stranger.

They take you out of where you are and put you in a place you don’t know, and in that time you learn what really matters in the place you left.

Sometimes uprooting can be a radical healing or transformation. So

it was in my third “COVID,” when they sent me to Córdoba from 1990 to 1992. The root of this period went back to my way of wielding authority, first as a provincial and then as rector. I had certainly done something good, but at times I had been very hard. In Córdoba they did me a favor and they were right.

In that Jesuit residence I spent a year, ten months and thirteen days.

I celebrated Mass, confessed and offered spiritual direction, but I never went out, except when I had to go to the post office. It was a kind of quarantine, of isolation, as has happened to so many of us in recent months, and it did me good. It led me to develop ideas: I wrote and prayed a lot.

Up to that moment in the Society I had an orderly life, based on my experience first as a novice master and then in [the order’s] government from 1973, when I was appointed provincial, to 1986, when I concluded my mandate as

rector. I had settled into that way of life. An uprooting of that type, with which they send you to a remote corner and put you as a substitute teacher, upsets everything. Your habits, your behavioral reflexes, your reference lines stuck in time, all this had gone wrong, and you have to learn to live from scratch, to put life back together.

About that period, today, three things strike me in particular.

First, the ability to pray that was given to me. Second, the temptations I felt. And third—and it is the strangest thing—that I then happened to read the thirty-seven volumes of Ludwig Pastor’s History of the Popes. I could have chosen a novel, something more interesting. Where I am from now I wonder why God inspired me to read that work at that very moment. With that “vaccine,” the Lord prepared me. Once you know that story, there is not much that can surprise you about what happens in the Roman Curia and in the Church today. It helped me a lot!

The “COVID” of Córdoba was a real purification. It has given me more tolerance, understanding, the ability to forgive. It also left me with a new empathy with the weak and defenseless. And patience, a lot of patience, or the gift of understanding that important things take time, that change is organic, that there are limits and we must operate within them and at the same time keep our eyes on the horizon, as did Jesus. I have learned the importance of seeing the great in the small, and of paying attention to the small in the great things. […] These were my main personal “COVIDs.” I learned that you suffer a lot, but if you let things change you, you come out better.

But if you raise the barricades, you come out worse.m DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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NEWS UNITED STATES

U.S. BISHOPS ANNOUNCE TEAM TO ADDRESS PROBLEMATIC BIDEN POLICIES THE PRESIDENT OF THE US BISHOPS’ CONFERENCE IN NOVEMBER ANNOUNCED THE CREATION OF A WORKING GROUP TO ADDRESS BIDEN POLICIES “THAT ARE AGAINST SOME FUNDAMENTAL VALUES WE HOLD DEAR AS CATHOLICS” n BY VATICAN NEWS STAFF

In the circle, Archbishop Gomez. In the large photo, then-Vice President Joe Biden stands beside Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica (CNS photo/Bob Roller)

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rchbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles said on November 17 that the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is setting up a team to deal with policies the apparent future US president, Joe Biden, may put in place which diverge from Church teaching.

He announced the move at the conclusion of the public portion of the USCCB Fall plenary assembly, which was held online November 16-17.

Archbishop Allen Vigneron of De-

troit, USCCB vice president, will lead the special working group.

The team will be composed of the chairmen of various committees, including those covering doctrine and communications.

Joe Biden is set to become the second president who professes the Catholic faith in America’s history.

The first was John F. Kennedy.

Opportunities and challenges Speaking to US Bishops, Archbishop Gomez said the Church in

NEWS VATICAN

Disgraced Vatican Cardinal sues magazine Becciu says “slanderous” reports ruined his chances of becoming Pope

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ardinal Angelo Becciu, who in September was forced to resign due to allegations of financial malfeasance, in November filed a lawsuit against an Italian magazine, claiming it slandered him, causing him to lose his chance to become Pope. According to Italian news agency Adnkronos, the 74-page lawsuit claimed that the “slanderous and defamatory” reporting of L’Espresso influenced Pope Francis’ decision to remove Cardinal Becciu.

“On the basis of his prestigious curriculum... (Becciu) could well have been among the ‘papabili,’” or the front-runners for the papal election, the suit claimed, according to Adnkronos’ November 19 report.

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INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

Becciu filed the suit on Nov ember 18 in Sardinia. He is suing L’Espresso for 10 million euros ($11.8 million), which his lawyers said would be donated to charity. The former Prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes was forced to offer his resignation to the Pope on September 24.

According to Becciu, he is falsely accused of embezzling some 100,000 euros (c. $116,361) of Vatican funds and redirecting them to Spes, a Caritas organization run by his brother, Tonino Becciu, in his home diocese of Ozieri. The cardinal’s name also turned up in a questionable property development deal in London’s Chelsea dis-

trict, which was extensively covered

by L’Espresso.

In a November 18 piece, Marco Damiliano, editor-in-chief of L’Espresso, defended the magazine’s reporting. “If the cardinal possesses a curriculum and such a pristine image as meticulously reported in his lawyer’s document, why would Pope Francis choose to believe a journalistic investigation and not (Cardinal Becciu)?” Damiliano asked. “L’Espresso is accused not only of influencing the current Pope but also the Holy Spirit, who could have chosen (Cardinal) Becciu as his successor were it not for an article to block his ascent,” Damiliano wrote. “For the first time, the price of the throne of St. Peter has been determined: 10 million euros,” he said.

—Junno Arocho Esteves (CNS)

the country is facing a “unique moment” which “presents certain opportunities but also certain challenges.”

He added that President-elect Biden “has given us reason to believe his faith commitments will move him to support some good policies.”

Archbishop Gomez counted immigration reform, aid to refugees and the poor, racial justice, capital punishment, and climate change among the list.

President-elect Biden has “also given us reason to believe that he will support policies that are against some fundamental values we hold dear as Catholics,” Gomez said.

Archbishop Gomez said these include the repeal of the Hyde Amendment, which bans the use of federal funds to pay for most abortions, and the preservation of Roe vs.

Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision which legalized abortion.

“Both of these policies undermine

BIDEN’S CALL WITH POPE FRANCIS

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pparent President-elect Joe Biden spoke by phone on November 12 with Pope Francis.

Biden thanked Francis for extending blessings and congratulations and said he appreciated Francis’ leadership in promoting peace, reconciliation, and the common bonds of humanity around the world. Biden expressed his desire to work together on the basis of a shared belief in the dignity and equality of all humankind on issues such as caring for the marginalized and the poor, addressing the crisis of climate change, and welcoming and integrating immigrants and refugees into our communities.

our preeminent priority for the elimination of abortion,” Archbishop Gomez said.

Other potential issues include “unequal treatment of Catholic schools” and the Equality Act. “These policies

pose a serious threat to the common good whenever any politician supports them,” Archbishop Gomez said. “We have long opposed these polices strongly and we will continue to do so.”

“When politicians who profess the Catholic faith support them there are additional problems,” he added.

“And one of the things it creates is confusion among the faithful about what the Church actually teaches on these questions.” He called it a “difficult and complex situation.”

Enhance collaboration Concluding his remarks, Archbishop Gomez said the USCCB responded similarly four years ago when President Donald Trump was elected, establishing a committee to address “critical issues.”

“Then as now,” he said, “committees already existed to address those issues and the goal was to emphasize our priorities and enhance collaboration.”m

NEWS VATICAN

NBA players discuss social justice with Pope Francis The athletes came to the Vatican at the request of the Pope

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ope Francis met with five NBA players at the Vatican on November 23 to discuss their efforts to combat social and economic injustice in the United States.

Milwaukee Bucks shooting guards Kyle Korver and Sterling Brown were a part of the delegation, along with Orlando Magic power forward Jonathan Isaac, the Memphis Grizzlies’ Anthony Tolliver, and Marco Belinelli of the San Antonio Spurs.

The players met with the Pope privately in the papal library of the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace. Three executives from the players’ union, the National Basketball Players’ Association, also took part.

The Pope commended the athletes for being examples of teamwork. “You’re champions… giving

that good example of teamwork but always remaining humble... and preserving your own humanity,” AP reported the Pope as saying.

Pope Francis requested the meeting last week because he wanted to learn more about the American athletes’ social justice advocacy, and the players’ union quickly scheduled an overnight flight Sunday, according to ESPN. Following the death of George Floyd in May, NBA players mobilized to raise awareness of the

police brutality affecting Black communities and the broader issues of inequality.

Pope Francis wrote about racism in his most recent encyclical Fratelli tutti, comparing racism to a virus that “quickly mutates and, instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting.” Francis also spoke out about racism in the U.S. during a live-streamed audience in June, saying he was praying for the soul of George Floyd and for all who lost their lives “because of the sin of racism.” Francis also called Archbishop José Gomez, president of the U.S. bishops’ conference, that same day to thank the American bishops for the pastoral tone of the Church’s response to the demonstrations across the country.

—Courtney Mares (CNA) DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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NEWS VATICAN

VATICAN ABUSE TRIAL CONTINUES FORMER RECTOR AT ST. PIUS X PRE-SEMINARY DENIES HE KNEW OF ALLEGED ABUSE n BY CNA

The boys who attend the Vatican’s Pius X Pre-seminary serve at Masses in St. Peter’s.

In the circle, the accused, Fr. Gabriele Martinelli

T

he Vatican’s court heard November 19 the questioning of one of the defendants in an ongoing trial of two Italian priests for alleged sexual abuse and cover-up committed in Vatican City from 2007 to 2012.

Fr. Enrico Radice, 72, has been charged with impeding investigations into an abuse allegation against the accused abuser, Fr. Gabriele Martinelli, 28.

The abuse is alleged to have taken place at the St. Pius X pre-seminary located in the Vatican. The abuse allegations were first made public by the media in 2017. Radice stated at the November 19 hearing that he was never told about abuses committed by Martinelli by anyone. He then accused the alleged victim and another alleged witness of making up the story for “economic interests.”

The second defendant, Martinelli, was not present at the hearing because he works at a residential health clinic in Lombardy in northern Italy which is in lockdown because of the coronavirus.

The November 19 hearing was the third in the ongoing Vatican trial. Martinelli, who has been charged with using violence and his authority to commit sexual abuse, will be questioned at the next hearing, scheduled to take place on February 4, 2021.

At the approximately two-hourlong hearing, Radice was questioned about his knowledge of allegations of abuse against Martinelli, as well as about the alleged abuser and his alleged victim. The priest described the boys at the pre-seminary as “serene

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INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

and calm.” He said the alleged victim, L.G., had a “lively intelligence and was very dedicated to studies,” but over time had become “pedantic, presumptuous.” He said that L.G. had a “predilection” for the Old Rite of the Mass, arguing that this is why he “teamed up” with another student, Kamil Jarzembowski.

Jarzembowski is an alleged witness to the crime and a former roommate of the alleged victim. He has said in the past that he reported abuse by Martinelli in 2014. Jarzembowski, who is from Poland, was later dismissed from the pre-seminary.

Radice said he never saw or heard of abuse in the pre-seminary, that the walls were thin so he would have heard something, and that he checked to make sure the boys were in their rooms at night.

“No one has ever told me about abuse, not the students, not the teachers, not the parents,” the priest said.

Radice went on to make the claim that the testimony of alleged witness Jarzembowski was motivated by revenge for having been kicked out of the pre-seminary for “insubordination and because he did not take part in community life.”

The St. Pius X pre-seminary is a residence for about a dozen boys, aged 12 to 18, who serve at papal Masses and other liturgies in St. Peter’s Basilica and are considering the priesthood.

Located on Vatican City territory, the pre-seminary is run by a Como-based religious group, the Opera Don Folci.

During the interrogation of the former rector, it was revealed that the alleged victim L.G. testified that he spoke to Radice about the abuse in 2009 or 2010, and that Radice “responded aggressively” and L.G. “was marginalized.”

L.G. stated in his affidavit that he “continued to be abused” and he was “not the only one to be abused and to speak with Radice.”

Radice was also questioned about a 2013 letter from a now-deceased priest and spiritual assistant at the pre-seminary, who said that Martinelli should not be ordained a priest for “very serious and truly grave reasons.”

The defendant said he “didn’t know anything about it” and the other priest “should have informed me.”

Prosecutors had put forward as evidence against Radice a letter that he had supposedly created with the bishop of Como’s letterhead and in the name of the bishop, stating that Martinelli, then a transitional deacon, could be transferred to the Diocese of Como.

It was noted by the prosecution that four priests had written to Bishop Coletti and to Cardinal Comastri, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and vicar general for Vatican City State, to complain about a difficult climate at the youth seminary.m

SOCIAL TEACHING

CONFUSION IN “THE ECONOMY OF FRANCESCO” A TRUE ECONOMICS OF PERSONALISM, FOLLOWING CHURCH TEACHING, IS THE REAL ANSWER n BY MICHAEL D. GREANEY

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ublicity for “The Economy Pope Francis invited economists from around the world to a clopedia Britannica, 19: 14th November conference held in Assisi in to discuss ethics of Francesco,” the conferEdition, 1956, Print.) ence held in Assisi, Italy, Saint-Simon’s principle November 19-21, 2020 (with translates into the belief that the global video links) addressed end justifies the means. This some critical issues—not merely completely nullifies natural law regarding economics, but also the and the principle of social jusultimate meaning and purpose of tice developed by Monsignor life. Unfortunately, presentations Luigi Aloysius Taparelli during the conference exhibited massive confusion d’Azeglio, S.J., that social action must be confined to what regarding different meanings of social justice, and thus is admissible under natural law and the Magisterium of the how best to apply the Church’s social doctrine to bring Church. It also ignores Pope Pius XI’s breakthrough in more justice. moral philosophy that defines social justice not as proviBriefly — a more in-depth explanation can be found in sion for individual goods, regardless of how vast the scale, the recently-released book, Economic Personalism: but as a particular virtue directed to the common good.

Property, Power and Justice for Every Person — the Consequently, what came out of the conference problem was that temporary emergency measeemed to many people confused and possibly sures were confused with permanent soluinconsistent with Catholic social doctrine, tions. At the same time, the purpose of particularly in three areas.

Catholic social teaching has been redirected First and foremost, given Msgr. Taparelli’s from preparing people for their final end (to principle of social justice (to say nothing of be with God in Heaven), to trying to create a Pius XI’s definition of social justice as a partemporal paradise, what the socialists and ticular virtue), there was widespread confumodernists often call “the Kingdom of God sion about natural law, and thus about Catholic on Earth.” social teaching derived from natural law.

Thus, recommendations tended to attempt Given that the Church’s social teachings implementation of the principle of the “New are framed within Aristotelian-Thomism, all Christian” prophet, Claude Henri de Roudiscussions should have taken place within vroy, comte de Saint-Simon. This is that “the that paradigm. “Natural law” should be underwhole of society ought to strive towards the stood as meaning that something is right PERSONALISM amelioration of the moral and physical exis- PECONOMIC because God is so, not because someone in ROPERTY, POWER AND JUSTICE FOR EVERY PERSON tence of the poorest class; society ought to authority has declared that God said so.

By Michael D. Greaney organize itself in the way best adapted for As G.K. Chesterton put it, quoting Aquinas, and Dawn K. Brohawn attaining this end.” (“Saint-Simon,” Ency- Justice University Press (2020) we must accept what is right not on “docuINSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

17

Economic mistakes can lead to crises and can cause great suffering: a line of unemployed workers during the Great Depression of the 1930s in New York and, bottom, young girls receive food at a soup kitchen in Washington in 2009

ments of faith,” but because we have ever vague and inchoate, to be proved it “by the reasons and stateachieved? Under today’s flawed ments of the philosophers.” Law is understanding of social justice, the reason (lex ratio), law is not will temptation is to attempt to deal with (lex voluntas). Basing our notions seemingly overwhelming problems of right and wrong on a personal by commanding or imposing deunderstanding of God’s Will, insired results. stead of reasoning things out, ultiUnfortunately, depending on mately leads to pure moral posihow much power or lack thereof an tivism, even nihilism, as the soliindividual or group has, this turns darist jurist Heinrich Rommen, a social activists and even leaders student of Fr. Heinrich Pesch, S.J., into either merciless tyrants or inefpointed out. fectual scolds. A better understandSecond, what was the specific ing of true social justice would have purpose of the conference? Presenavoided this all-too-common error. tations seemed to lack coherence.

Properly understood, social jusThey were cluttered with trees and tice does not involve providing for underbrush that entirely obscured any individual good directly, the forest. In common with what regardless how widespread or one commentator observed regardpressing the need. Rather, the ing Pope Francis’s recent encyclidirected object of social justice is cal, Fratelli Tutti, the conference the common good of all humanity. seemed to be a grab bag of short term objectives, vaguely Specifically, the common good is the vast network of instistated, and smacking of “everythingism.” tutions within which human persons as “political animals” To be effective, neither an encyclical nor a conference become virtuous, thereby becoming more fully human. should try to be a “jack of all trades,” inevitably ending up More simply put, the act of social justice is to reform as “master of none.” Trying to do everything is a costly and institutions (e.g., money and credit, banking, and finance) time-consuming way of doing nothing. to make it possible for people to take care of themselves and There should, therefore, have been a clearly stated overtheir dependents through their own efforts. Social justice all objective to prepare participants and open the conferdoes not involve providing for individual needs directly. ence. Since presumably the conference was held to discuss That remains the matter of individual justice and charity. ways to apply Catholic — and catholic — natural law prinAs the conference was ostensibly within the context of ciples to today’s social and economic problems, perhaps Catholic social teaching, the focus should have been the something along these lines would have been helpful: dignity and sovereignty of each human person under God. While material wellbeing is not, in and of itself, the In addition, to be consistent with natural law and the Magmeaning and purpose of life, it is, nevertheless, ordinarily isterium, proposals should also have been non-contradican essential precondition to empower every tory, e.g., not advocate bestowal of the benefits of private child, woman, and man with access to the property (control and enjoyment of the fruits) on some by means and opportunity to become virtuabolishing them for others. In conous and develop more fully as a person. trast to capitalism, socialism, and Except as an expedient in an emergency, modernism, in authentic Catholic then, providing for anyone’s material social teaching the end does not jusneeds must be carried out within the strict tify the means. parameters established by justice completed Clearly, approaching economic and fulfilled by charity, that is, guided by and social issues from within the the precepts of natural law and the Magisexisting paradigm only creates an irreterium of the Church. solvable dilemma as well as confuOur goal, therefore, as R. Buckminsion. Is there, however, an ethical and ster Fuller observed, is to “make the practical framework that would have world work for 100% of humanity in the made the conference effective as well shortest possible time through spontaneous as coherent? cooperation and without ecological Thinking “outside the box”: Louis Kelso and On reflection, it appears that the Mortimer Adler, authors of The New offense or the disadvantage of anyone.” conference proceedings, as well as the Capitalists: A Proposal to Free Economic Growth from the Slavery of Savings Third, how are the desired ends, howmindsets of many people today were 18

DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

SOCIAL TEACHING

CONFUSION IN “THE ECONOMY OF FRANCESCO”

dictated by an assumed dependence on what Louis Kelso Obviously, there is a critical need for redistribution and Mortimer Adler called “the slavery of savings.” today. No one denies that. The conference, however, To explain, mainstream economics is obsessed with the focused exclusively on short term expedients and demonstrably false belief that the only way to finance new treated them as solutions. Participants ignored the capital formation — and thus provide material wellbeing need to restructure institutions, especially those for most of the world — is to cut consumption and accuinvolving money, credit, banking, and finance, to mulate the excess production as money savings. Obviousmake it possible for every child, woman, and man to ly, this limits ownership of new capital to wealthy capitalparticipate in economic life as a producer and as a conists or socialist States. It also restricts the great mass of sumer, that is, to institute the just, third way of ecopeople to wages and welfare, imposing what Pope Leo nomic personalism.

XIII called a yoke little better than slavery.

This is not advocacy of homo œconomicus. Based on the natural law, economic perIn particular, Keynesian economics insists that most people must gain sonalism posits that there are uniincome only from wages or welfare, versal moral values and principled, not by being directly productive. effective means for reforming instiKeynes even declared in his General tutions to liberate and empower Theory of Employment, Interest and every person economically and thus Money (1936) that waste is good if it politically. It affirms Pope Saint creates useless jobs that result in prodJohn Paul II’s observation that the ucts that are not consumed. economic system and society as a whole benefit when the rights, valKeynesian assumptions thereby encourage overproduction and con- The deforestation taking place in the Amazon ues, and dignity of each person are sumerism to provide non-owners with region through burning and, below, solar energy respected. panels in the middle of a field of flowers By conquering systemic poverjobs and owners with savings. They ty by applying the principles of disregard damage to the environment economic personalism, everyone in the quest to create employment that can become, as Buckminster is needed only to generate consumpFuller put it: “Architects of the tion income. future, not its victims.” Everyone Kelso and Adler observed that a would have the means to become new monetary system has the potential better stewards of Nature, prosperto free humanity from the idea that ing in harmony with the natural only the rich or the State can finance world rather than destroying it. new capital. People can be emancipatThe personalist approach to building a just global ed from the “slavery of savings,” and production limited economy would also eliminate the economic causes to what is actually wanted and needed. This can be done of war, bringing unity in support of ending weapons by changing financing for new capital from past reducof mass destruction. tions in consumption (“past savings”), to future increases in production (“future savings”). *Michael D. Greaney is co-author with Dawn K. To ensure that the change would benefit everyone, each Brohawn of Economic Personalism: Property, Power and person must have equal opportunity and access to the Justice for Every Person (2020) published by Justice Unimeans of acquiring “self-liquidating capital.” That is capversity Press. As Director of Research for the interfaith ital that pays for itself out of its own production, and once Center for Economic and Social Justice in Arlington, Virthe financing is repaid, generates consumption income for ginia, he participated in a Vatican seminar on the importhe owner. Ideally, production would be limited to what is tance of widespread capital ownership in combatting needed for consumption. There would be no need to proglobal poverty, and co-edited the compendium, Curing mote waste and consumerism merely to provide jobs for World Poverty: The New Role of Property (1994). Among the poor or savings for the rich. other books, he has written So Much Generosity (2013) As Kelso and Adler explained in The New Capitalists about the fiction of Cardinals Wiseman and Newman and (1961), everyone can be “creditworthy” by collateralizing Msgr. Robert Hugh Benson, Easter Witness (2016) about new capital with insurance and financing capital with new the Easter Rising in Dublin in 1916, and Ten Battles Every money with a fixed standard of value and backed by the Catholic Should Know (2018) from St. Benedict Press. He new capital. This has the potential to break the nearhas appeared on EWTN Live with Father Mitch Pacwa and monopoly over capital ownership now held by the rich and EWTN Bookmark with Doug Keck.m the politicians.

INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

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NEWS VATICAN

VATICAN FINALLY ISSUES “MCCARRICK REPORT” MIXED REACTIONS GREET THIS “SORROWFUL PAGE” IN CHURCH HISTORY

n BY ITV STAFF

Then-Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick attends a Mass in Rome on April 11, 2018.

The retired archbishop of Washington resigned from the College of Cardinals and was laicized after “credible allegations” that he sexually abused a minor and a number of seminarians some years ago. Pope Francis accepted his resignation from the College of Cardinals July 28, 2018.

Opposite page, Cardinal John O’Connor, Papal Nuncio Gabriel Montalvo and Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re (CNS photos)

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fter two years of work, including hundreds of hours of interviews with dozens of witnesses, the Vatican on November 10 issued its long-awaited report on the case of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, the former Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C., now also a former cardinal, who was removed from the cardinalate and laicized by Pope Francis in 2019 due to “credible” accusations of sexual abuse.

Since then, a great deal of commentary has appeared in the media from every quarter.

The various analyses point to many and varied conclusions, but one common denominator seems to be that, in addition to personal failures of judgment and oversight on the parts of many Church leaders on all levels of the hierarchy (including Popes), there also is some kind of institutional malaise — a “culture of clericalism,” some call it — which has allowed, even encouraged, the few but malignant Theodore McCarricks in the Church to operate virtually unchallenged for long periods of time.

The official communication organs of the Vatican, represented by Andrea Tornielli, Editorial Director

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for the Dicastery of Communications, present the McCarrick Report as an exhaustive exposé which satisfies the demands of the faithful to know how such a man could have risen to become a “Prince of the Church.” But as Inside the Vatican’s editor, Robert Moynihan, points out, the Report rather handily finds four main “scapegoats” to bear most of the blame for the largely unchecked rise of McCarrick, and they are one deceased and one canonized Pope (John Paul II); one very aged Pope (Emeritus Pope Benedict); one aged Polish cardinal (Stanislaw Dziwisz, John Paul’s personal secretary); and,

interestingly, the very archbishop twho started the whole ball rolling to investigate McCarrick: Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò. It was Viganò who, in his 2018 “Testimony,” claimed that various Vatican officials — most notably, including Pope Francis himself — had been apprised of McCarrick’s misdeeds and had done little or nothing to expose him or even place any significant obstacles in the path of his ecclesial career. The Report, which was released without an accompanying press conference, finds no one in the current Vatican apparatus under Pope Francis to have any meaningful responsibility for the McCarrick debacle.

Archbishop Viganò, in his initial reaction to the Report, had this to say about it in a November 11 interview with EWTN news anchor Raymond Arroyo: “The disturbing thing is that within the report itself, obviously put together by many hands, there are numerous contradictions — enough to make the argument that the Report has little credibility.”

Excerpts of Andrea Tornielli’s introduction to the Report, are below.

The complete text of the Report is available on the Vatican website at http://www.vatican.vam

“A sorrowful page the Church is learning from” How did McCarrick rise so high in the Church hierarchy? Who recommended him? n BY ANDREA TORNIELLI (VATICAN NEWS)

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t the time of Theodore McCarrick’s appointment as Archbishop of Washington in 2000, the Holy See acted on the basis of partial and incomplete information. What has now come to light are omissions, underestimations, and choices that later proved to be wrong, due in part to the fact that, during the assessment process requested by Rome at the time, those questioned did not always disclose all they knew. Until 2017, there had never been any precise accusation regarding sexual abuse or harassment or harm done to a minor. As soon as the first report was received from a victim who was a minor at the time the abuse was committed, Pope Francis reacted promptly regarding the elderly cardinal, who had already retired as head of the archdiocese in 2006, first taking away his red hat and then dismissing him from the clerical state. This is what emerges from the Report on the Holy See’s Institutional Knowledge and Decision-Making Related to Former Cardinal Theodore Edgar McCarrick (1930 to 2017) published by the Secretariat of State. [...]

From this overview, a few key points emerge that are necessary to consider. The first point concerns the mistakes that were made; these have already led to the adoption of new regulations within the Church, to help avoid history repeating itself. A second element is that, until 2017, there had been no specific accusations regarding the sexual abuse of minors committed by McCarrick. [...] The first specific accusation involving a minor was, in fact, that which emerged three years ago, which led to the immediate opening of a canonical process that concluded with the two decisions taken by Pope Francis — the first of which took away the red hat from the Cardinal emeritus and the second that dismissed him from the clerical state. [...]

CARDINAL O’CONNOR’S LETTER A crucial point in the case is certainly McCarrick’s appointment as Archbishop of Washington. During the months in which McCarrick’s possible transfer to a see in the United States traditionally led by a cardinal surfaced, notable among the several positive influential opinions regarding his person is a negative one from Cardinal O’Connor. While acknowledging that he did not have first-hand information, the Cardinal explained in a letter, dated October 28, 1999, addressed to the Apostolic Nuncio, that he believed that McCarrick’s appointment to a new office would be a mistake: that, in fact, the risk of a serious scandal existed in light of the rumors that McCarrick had in the past shared a bed with young adult men at the rectory and with seminarians at a beach house.

POPE JOHN PAUL II’S FIRST DECISION In this regard, it is important to highlight the initial decision made by Pope John Paul II. The Pope, in fact, asked the Nuncio to verify the basis of these accusations. Once again, the written investigation does not contain any concrete proof — in fact, three of the four bishops from New Jersey who were consulted provided information which the Report reveals to have been “not accurate and incomplete.” Even though the Pope had known McCarrick since 1976, having met him during his trip to the United States, he accepted the proposal of the then Apostolic Nuncio in the United States, Gabriel Montalvo, and of the then Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, Giovanni Battista Re, to drop him as a candidate. [...]

DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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NEWS VATICAN reserved life and to decline frequent appearances in MCCARRICK’S LETTER TO THE POPE public, the cardinal continued to move about, Something happened that radically changed the traveling from one part of the globe to the course of events. McCarrick himself, after other, Rome included, generally with the having evidently become aware both that he knowledge and at least tacit approval was a candidate, and of the reservations in of the Papal Nuncio.[...] From the his regard, wrote to then Bishop Stanisdocuments and testimonies now publaw Dziwisz, personal secretary to the lished in the Report, it is evident that Polish Pontiff, on August 6, 2000. “sanctions” were never imposed.

McCarrick declared himself innocent They were, rather, recommendations, and swore that he had “never had sexual given to him orally in 2006 and then in relations with any person, male or female, writing in 2008, without stating that this young or old, cleric or lay.” Pope John Paul II was an explicit desire on the part of Pope read the letter and was convinced that the AmeriBenedict XVI. [...] Having received in 2012 a new can Archbishop was telling the truth and that the negaccusation against McCarrick, ative “rumors” were precisely Viganò, who in the meantime that — solely rumors that were had been appointed nuncio in unfounded, or at least the United States, received unproven. [...] instructions from the Prefect In accordance with the testiof the Congregation for Bishmonies cited in the Report, to ops to investigate. However, better understand the context the Report shows that he did of that period, it may be useful not carry out all of the investialso to recall that during the gations that had been asked of years when he was an Archhim. Furthermore, continuing bishop in Poland, Pope John to follow the same approach Paul II had witnessed the use of false accusations on the part of Top, Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, personal secretary of Pope used until that moment, he did II, and then newly-created Cardinal McCarrick with not take significant steps to the regime to discredit priests John Paul John Paul. Below, McCarrick with Benedict XVI limit McCarrick’s activity, or and bishops. his national and international travels.

BENEDICT’S DECISION Furthermore, at the time of THE PROCESS OPENED his appointment as ArchbishBY FRANCIS op of Washington, no victim When Pope Francis was — adult or minor —had as yet elected, McCarrick was already made contact with the Holy over 80 years old [...] What was See or with the Nuncio in the communicated to Pope Francis United States to present an was that there had been allegaaccusation regarding any tions and “rumors related to immoral conduct with improper behavior attributed to the Archbishop. adults” prior to McCarrick’s appointment to WashMoreover, nothing inappropriate about McCarington. Since, in his view, the accusations had been rick’s behavior was reported during his years as Archinvestigated and had been rejected by Pope John bishop in Washington. When, in 2005, accusations of Paul II, and well-aware that McCarrick had harassment and abuse toward adults began to surface remained active during Pope Benedict XVI’s pontifonce again, the new Pope, Benedict XVI, rapidly icate, Pope Francis did not think it was necessary to asked for the resignation of the American cardinal to modify “the course adopted by his predecessors” whom he had recently granted a two-year extension of [...] Everything changed, as already mentioned, his mandate. [...] when the first accusation of sexual abuse of a minor emerged. The response was immediate. A rapid RECOMMENDATIONS, NOT SANCTIONS canonical process concluded with the serious and In the years that followed, notwithstanding the unprecedented measure of dismissal from the cleriindications McCarrick received from the Congrecal state of a former Cardinal. [...]m gation for Bishops to lead a more quiet and 22

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COMMENTARY FROM AROUND THE CATHOLIC WORLD: EXCERPTS ANNA BUJ (Lavanguardia. com) Could Pope John Paul II end up being another casualty in the McCarrick saga?

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ccording to the investigation carried out for two years by the Holy See, Pope Wojtyla was decisive in the promotion of the former American cardinal to the post of Archbishop of Washington despite the fact that at that time several accusations of abuse were already weighing on him. These revelations have reignited the debate over his swift canonization, with some Catholics wondering if proclaiming him a saint in 2014 — in record time, nine years after his death — was a hasty decision. The McCarrick report has resurrected this debate to the point that the influential National Catholic

Reporter website has published an editorial urging the US bishops to suppress the cult of the late Pope. That is, even if he is still considered a saint, churches or schools should not bear his name and acts of devotion to him should be performed privately.

Instead, defenders of John Paul II argue that the late pontiff was vilely deceived by McCarrick, who swore to him in a letter that he was innocent. [...]

His biographer, George Weigel, has also come out in his defense. “There is absolutely no evidence in the McCarrick report to prove that John Paul II deliberately named a sexual predator as Archbishop of Washington,” he stresses, “but saints are human beings and holiness is not a guarantee of an infallible judgment on people or situations.”m

ARCHBISHOP VIGANÒ ON MCCARRICK REPORT: “I WAS NOT CONSULTED” DESPITE BEING MENTIONED MORE THAN 300 TIMES In a November 13 interview, Archbishop Viganò answers EWTN’s Raymond Arroyo on whether the Report’s authors questioned him at all:

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t is completely incomprehensible and anomalous that it was not considered opportune to call upon me to testify, but even more disturbing that this deliberate omission was then used against me. And let it not be said to me that I had made myself untraceable: the Secretariat of State has my personal email address, which is still active. [...]

Furthermore, it also seems significant to me that James Grein, the only victim of McCarrick’s sexual molestations who had the courage to denounce him publicly, does not appear in the Report, and that there is

CHRISTOPHER ALTIERI - The Catholic Herald.

The McCarrick Report: Don’t Ignore the Fine Print.

November 11, 2020

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raising the courageous transparency of a highly curated and much-belated document that offers a window onto very bad decisions in the past simply will not do. It is a bridge too far, especially when there is ample evidence to suggest — viz. Cincinnati, NashvillePhiladelphia, and L’Affaire Zanchetta — that the ideas and casts-of-mind that animated those baleful decisions live very much in the present at the highest echelons of

no trace of his testimony, in which he would have also reported the trip he made with McCarrick to St. Gallen at the end of the 1950s.

From the public statements of James Grein, it is clear that the beginning of McCarrick’s climb — he was then a young, newly ordained priest — coincided with that visit to Switzerland, to a monastery that was later the site of the meetings of the conspirators of the so-called “St. Gallen mafia.” According to the declarations of the deceased Cardinal Godfried Danneels, that group of prelates decided to support the election of Bergoglio both after the (2005) death of John Paul II as well as during the (2013) conclave that followed the controversial resignation of Benedict XVI.n

ecclesiastical power.

For his part, Pope Francis issued no letter, nor did he make any statement of his own to accompany the McCarrick Report the day the Vatican published it. On Wednesday, the day following the Report’s release, he said: “Yesterday was published the Report on the painful case of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. I renew my closeness to victims of all abuse, and the commitment of the Church to eradicating this evil.”

That’s literally all he said about it, before pausing a good 10 or 15 seconds and then proceeding with his standard, end-of-audience salutations.m DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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NEWS VATICAN RICARDO CASCIOLI — La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana.

A conservative Italian Catholic news magazine.

November 11, 2020

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hether it is an “operation-truth,” as has been announced, or “a surreal operation of mystification,” as Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò immediately defined it, there is no doubt that the McCarrick Report presented yesterday in the Vatican is intended to raise more questions than it offers answers.

Pending further, specific insights into the story of the former cardinal archbishop of Washington Theodore McCarrick, there are two issues that jump to the eyes, both linked to homosexuality: the first is the tolerance of homosexual practice, even among the clergy; the second is the concealment of the existence of a gay lobby and of a system that favors the “career” of trendy clerics.

Regarding the first point, despite the fact that the figure of a serial predator McCarrick emerges from the Report, the big reaction is triggered only when in 2017 the first report of abuse of a minor arrives. [...]

In practice, we are told that “immoral behaviors with adults” are certainly not a good thing, but in the end they are tolerated; the real alarm, the one that provides for even heavy penalties, is triggered only with the minor age of the ROBERT MICKENS — La Croix of France.

Profiles in Clericalism: The Real Flaw in the McCarrick Report.

November 14, 2020

T

he US bishops had urged the Pope to entrust the investigation to a board of respected lay experts. But Francis and his aides ignored this advice. It was a mistake to do so.

But one can only suspect why — because the Vatican would not be in control of what would and would not be reported.

The McCarrick Report is long and should be studied slowly and carefully. But a first summary reading suggests that there must be something missing. [...]

McCarrick used money and his position as bishop, archbishop and — eventually — cardinal, to “buy” peo-

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abused. As if the dozens and dozens of future priests who shared a bed with McCarrick, and therefore for the most part condemned to an unbalanced priestly life, didn’t count for much. As if the moral and faith devastation caused by a predatory bishop — lost vocations, priests who in turn will repeat the abuses, episcopal appointments distorted by morbid ties — were a minor problem.

It is a very serious approach which ignores the fact that the second crime — child abuse — is the child of the first.

As for the second aspect [...] it was deliberately ignored, that what allowed McCarrick’s irresistible rise is a system of power otherwise called the gay lobby, which favors the appointment and career of bishops with certain characteristics.

From reading the Report published yesterday, one might think that the McCarrick case is the result of an unfortunate combination of different factors: the exuberant personality (to put it mildly) of the man himself, the lack of clear rules, the vagueness of the accusations, the error in good faith of one Pope, the weakness of government of another.

Of course, these are also elements that have had their weight, but the real problem is that without the existence of a network of relationships and complicity at different levels, certain careers would be almost impossible.m ple’s silence and cull their favor. No one would come forward and tell Church authorities what they knew. No one would sign a sworn statement.

Not the seminarians, for fear that McCarrick or his loyalists would block them from being ordained.

Not the priests — including certain seminary rectors — out of their desire to be raised to the episcopate, which they knew McCarrick could facilitate or impede.

Not McCarrick’s fellow bishops — especially his juniors — out of a similar desire for further advancement, which McCarrick could help or hinder. And for fear of being cut off from his generous monetary donations.

And not even the Popes and their aides, who found in McCarrick an important financial and (at times) diplomatic asset of the Holy See. All clerics or future clerics.m

NEWS VATICAN

FRANCIS EXHORTS 13 NEW CARDINALS TO HUMILITY “THE SCARLET OF A CARDINAL’S ROBES, WHICH IS THE COLOR OF BLOOD, CAN, FOR A WORLDLY SPIRIT, BECOME THE COLOR OF A SECULAR ‘EMINENCE,’“ THE POPE WARNED THE NEW CARDINALS n BY CINDY WOODEN (CNS) Ordinary Public Consistory for the creation of new cardinals, presided over by Pope Francis on November 28 in Rome.

Here, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, where he replaces Cardinal Becciu, receives the red hat from Pope Francis.

Opposite, Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops.

(Vatican/Pool/Galazka photos)

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ne by one, 11 senior Churchmen, including two U.S. citizens — Cardinals Wilton D. Gregory of Washington and Silvano M. Tomasi, a former Vatican diplomat — knelt before Pope Francis to receive their red hats, a cardinal’s ring and a scroll formally declaring their new status and assigning them a “titular” church in Rome.

But with the consistory November 28 occurring during the COVID-19 pandemic, Pope Francis actually created 13 new cardinals.

Cardinals Jose F. Advincula of Capiz, Philippines, and Cornelius Sim, apostolic vicar of Brunei, did not attend the consistory because of COVID-19 travel restrictions; however, they are officially cardinals and will receive their birettas and rings at a later date, the Vatican said.

In his homily at the prayer service, Pope Francis told the new cardinals that “the scarlet of a cardinal’s robes, which is the color of blood, can, for a worldly spirit, become the color of a secular ‘eminence,’” the traditional title of respect for a cardinal.

If that happens, he said, “you will no longer be a pastor close to your people. You will think of yourself only as ‘His Eminence.’ If you feel that, you are off the path.”

For the cardinals, the Pope said,

the red must symbolize a wholehearted following of Jesus, who willingly gave his life on the cross to save humanity.

The Gospel reading at the service, Mark 10:3245, included the account of James and John asking Jesus for special honors. “Grant that in your glory we may sit one at your right and the other at your left,” they said.

But Jesus reproaches them.

“We, too, Pope and cardinals, must always see ourselves reflected in this word of truth,” Pope Francis said. “It is a sharpened sword; it cuts, it proves painful, but it also heals, liberates and converts us.”

According to canon law, cardinals are created when their names are made public “in the presence of the College of Cardinals.” While many Rome-based cardinals attendINSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

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Cardinal Grech: Synod of Bishops is “no longer an event, but a process” Cardinal Mario Grech of Malta, Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, delivered remarks at the November 28 Consistory that spotlighted the topic of “synodality” in the Church. Excerpts

P

laced as a “sacrament, or a sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race ”(LG, 1), the Church is called to open new paths...This is the lesson of the Second Vatican Council, in Chapter II of Lumen gentium, which returns to the idea of the People of God on the move: for the New Testament, this is the situation of Christians, who live in this world as pilgrims, knowing full well that we can attain fullness only in the Kingdom of God. For again, at the beginning of a new millennium, the Spirit seems to want to tell us to be again those who are “walking on the way” (Acts 9: 2).

If the “holy and faithful people of God” walk “together,” they will not go astray, because the whole communion of the baptized employs that ability of being “infallible in credendo,” in the sensus fidei to which you so much invite us to listen to what the Spirit is saying to the Church.” [...] This by no means is relativism; rather, here we

ed the consistory, more members of the college were “present” online.

The pandemic also meant the gathering was unusually small; each cardinal was accompanied by a priest-secretary and could invite a handful of guests, so there were only about 100 people in the congregation at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Also missing were the “courtesy visits,” a reception lasting several hours in the early evening when the general public was invited into the 26

DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

see the dynamism of Tradition, through which “the Church moves unceasingly toward the fullness of divine truth until the words of God reach their complete fulfillment in her” (DV, 8).

Within this dynamism, the profile of the synodal Church, and synodality as a form and style of the Church, become clearer.

This is the vision you, Holiness, are proposing to us with power. The Constitution Episcopalis communio tries to put this into practice, by interpreting the Synod of Bishops no longer as an event but as a process, where they are involved in synergy with the People of God, the College of Bishops and the Bishop of Rome, each one according to its function. I am pleased to stress how essential is the function of the People of God in this process. In this way, the sensus fidei regains its active function, which allows us to use listening as a principle of a truly whole Church. [...]n

Vatican to greet the new cardinals.

In addition to some Rome-based cardinals, the congregation at the consistory included the pastors or rectors of the 13 Rome churches to which the new cardinals were associated. Cardinals are given a “titular” church in Rome, formally making them members of the Rome diocesan clergy, which is what the church’s first cardinals were.

In fact, the formula for the creation of cardinals, recited in Latin

by Pope Francis, says, “It chiefly

concerns the church of Rome, but it also affects the entire ecclesial community: We will call certain of our brethren to enter the College of Cardinals, so that they may be united to the Chair of Peter by a closer bond to our apostolic ministry.”

Maltese Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, was the first mentioned by the Pope October 25 when he announced he was creating new cardinals. As such, it fell to Cardinal Grech to address the Pope on behalf

VATICAN of the new cardinals. “Convoked in consistory at such a serious time for all humanity because of the pandemic, we want to turn our thoughts to all our brothers and sisters enduring hardship,” the cardinal said.

He prayed that people would react to the pandemic as an “opportunity to rethink our lifestyles, our relationships, the organization of our societies and, especially, the meaning of our lives.”

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, was made the first black American cardinal.

Below, Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, Preacher of the Papal Household. (Vatican/Pool/Galazka photos)

a U.S. citizen, the number of U.S. cardinals rose to 16; nine of them are cardinal electors.

Entering the college November 28 were Cardinals: • Grech, 63.

• Marcello Semeraro, an Italian who is prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, 72.

• Antoine Kambanda of Kigali, Rwanda, 62.

• Gregory, 72.

• Advincula, 68.

• Celestino Aos Braco of Santiago, Chile, 75.

• Sim, 69.

• Paolo Lojudice of Siena, Italy, 56.

• Mauro Gambetti, custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi in Assisi, 55.

• Arizmendi, 80.

• Tomasi, 80.

• Raniero Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household, 86.

• Enrico Feroci, 80, former director of Rome’s Caritas.m

Cardinal Grech also led the others in the recitation of the Creed and of an oath of fidelity and obedience to Christ and his Church and to Pope Francis and his successors.

The new cardinals came from eight countries: Italy, Malta, the United States, Brunei, the Philippines, Mexico, Rwanda and Chile.

With the consistory the College of Cardinals now has 229 members, 128 of whom are under the age of 80 and eligible to enter a conclave to elect a new pope. Pope Francis has given the red hat to 57% of electors.

With Cardinals Gregory and Tomasi, who was born in Italy but is INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

27

INTERVIEW

CARDINAL PELL ON THE VATICAN AND VINDICATION ABOUT WHO MAY HAVE BEEN BEHIND THE CHARGES RAISED AGAINST HIM, PELL SAYS, “THE PARTY’S NOT OVER” n BY NICOLE WINFIELD (AP)

Cardinal George Pell answers a question during an interview with the Associated Press in Rome, Monday, November 30, 2020 (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Pell left his job as prefect of the Vatican’s economy ministry in 2017 to face charges that he sexually molested two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral in 1996. After a first jury deadlocked, a second unanimously convicted him and he was sentenced to six years in prison. The conviction was upheld on appeal, only to be thrown out by Australia’s High Court, which in April found there was reasonable doubt in the testimony of his lone accuser.

In the prison diary, Pell reflects on the nature of suffering, Pope Francis’ papacy and the humiliations of solitary he Pope’s former treasurer, Cardinal George Pell, confinement as he battled to clear his name for a crime he said November 30 that he feels a dismayed sense of insists he never committed. vindication as the financial mismanagement he Pell and his supporters believe he was scapegoated for tried to uncover in the Holy See is now being exposed in a all the crimes of the Australian Catholic spiraling Vatican corruption investigation.

Church’s botched response to clergy sexual Pell made the comments to The Associated abuse. Victims and critics say he epitomizes Press in his first interview since returning to everything wrong with how the Church has Rome after his conviction-turned-acquittal dealt with the problem. on sexual abuse charges in his native AusIn the book, Pell makes repeated reference tralia. Pell told the AP that he knew in 2014 his three years at the Vatican trying to impose when he took the treasury job that the Holy international accounting, budgeting and See’s finances were “a bit of a mess.” transparency standards on the Holy See’s “I never, never thought it would be as notoriously siloed bureaucracy, where preTechnicolor as it proved,” Pell said from his fects guard their money, turf and power as living room armchair in his apartment just fiefdoms. outside St. Peter’s Square. “I didn’t know that That secretive culture has come under a there was so much criminality involved.”

CARDINAL PELL microscope as Vatican prosecutors investiPell spoke to the AP before the Dec. 15 PRISON JOURNAL gate the Vatican secretariat of state’s 350 milrelease of the first volume of his jailhouse GEORGE CARDINAL PELL lion-euro investment in a London real estate 3 volumes memoir, Prison Journal, chronicling the first in weekly installments on the venture and the tens of millions of euros in five months of the 404 days he spent in soli- Ignatius Press website (2020) donations from the faithful that it paid to Italtary confinement in a Melbourne lockup.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, who was appointed

by Pope Francis in 2014 as the first prefect of the newlycreated Secretariat for the Economy to oversee — and overhaul — the Vatican’s financial apparatus, was waylaid in his progress toward that end by charges of sexual abuse that were adjudicated in his native land, and finally dismissed. Here he talks with the Associated Press’ Nicole Winfield about Vatican financial mismanagement and his role in trying to remedy it.

T

28

INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

ian middlemen to manage the deal. After more than a year of investigation, no one has been indicted, though a handful of Vatican officials and Italian businessmen are under investigation. Pell said he is watching the developments as they unfold.

“It just might be staggering incompetence,” he said of the scandal, adding that he hoped eventual trials would ascertain the truth.

“It would be better for the Church if these things hadn’t happened, if I wasn’t vindicated in this way,” he said. “But given that they have happened, it’s quite clear” that the reforms he sought to impose were necessary.

Pell, with his rather brusque, no-nonsense Australian sensibilities, clashed frequently with the Vatican’s Italian old guard as he sought to get a handle on the Vatican’s assets and spending. His most well-known nemesis was the then-No. 3 in the Vatican’s secretariat of state, Cardinal Angelo Becciu.

Pell famously boasted in 2014 that he had “discovered” hundreds of millions of dollars that were “tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet” — a reference to the secretary of state’s in-house asset portfolio that Becciu controlled that never appeared on the Vatican’s consolidated financial statements. Becciu hasn’t been charged in the corruption investigation, but it came as little surprise that Pell issued

a blistering statement after Francis on Sept. 24 fired Becciu over apparently unrelated allegations of embezzlement, which Becciu denies.

Pell congratulated Francis then and said: “I hope the cleaning of the stables continues in both the Vatican and Victoria,” a reference to his home state of Victoria, where he was initially convicted.

After Pell returned to Rome last month, he had a wellpublicized private audience with Francis.

“He acknowledged what I was trying to do,” Pell said of the pope. “And, you know, I think it’s been sadly vindicated by revelations and developments.”

Pell and his lawyers have suggested a possible link between the resistance he faced in his reform efforts at the Vatican and his forced departure from Rome to face prosecution in Australia.

“I hope for the sake of the Church, there’s nothing in it,” Pell said.

“In fact — I say that quite sincerely — because some Australian people, my own family, said to me: ‘Well, if the Mafia is going after you or somebody else is going after you, that’s one thing. It’s a little bit worse if it comes from within the Church.’ ” Pell said he’s not sure if there is a connection or not.

“But I think we will find out, whether there is or there isn’t,” he said. “Certainly the party’s not over.”m

DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

29

The Seraphim Exalt His Glory!

OUR SAVIUR AVIOR, DEARLY BELOVED, WAS BORN THIS DAY. LET US REJOICE. THE ANGELS SING!

30 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

PHOTO ESSAY THE SERAPHIM EXALT HIS GLORY!

HOMILY ON THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD

BY ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM (347-407 A.D.) St. John Chrysostom (347407 A.D.) was born in Antioch. At first he was a monk in the desert, unimposing but dignified, troubled by stomach ailments. He returned to Antioch, was ordained, then became Archbishop of Constantinople. His body may have been weak, but his tongue was powerful. He

THE ANCIENT

OF

came to be known as “the Golden-mouthed.” His exegesis of Scripture was brilliant, his oratory moving.

But his enemies forced him into exile. He died at the eastern end of the Black Sea. The Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom is the most celebrated divine liturgy in the Byzantine Rite.

DAYS HAS BECOME AN INFANT

I

behold a new and wondrous mystery! My ears resound to the Shepherd’s song, piping no soft melody, but chanting full forth a heavenly hymn.

The Angels sing!

The Archangels blend their voices in harmony!

The Cherubim hymn their joyful praise!

The Seraphim exalt His glory!

All join to praise this holy feast, beholding the Godhead here on earth, and man in heaven. He who is above, now for our redemption dwells here below; and he that was lowly is by divine mercy raised.

Bethlehem this day resembles heaven; hearing from the stars the singing of angelic voices; and in place of the sun, enfolds within itself on every side the Sun of Justice.

And ask not how: for where God wills, the order of nature yields. For He willed, He had the power, He descended, He redeemed; all things move in obedience to God. This day He Who Is, is Born; and He Who Is DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 31

PHOTO ESSAY THE SERAPHIM EXALT HIS GLORY!

becomes what He was not. For when He was God, He became man; yet not departing from the Godhead that is His. Nor yet by any loss of divinity became He man, nor through increase became He God from man; but being the Word He became flesh, His nature, because of impassibility, remaining unchanged.

And so the kings have come, and they have seen the heavenly King that has come upon the earth, not bringing with Him Angels, nor Archangels, nor Thrones, nor Dominations, nor Powers, nor Principalities, but, treading a new and solitary path, He has come forth from a spotless womb.

Yet He has not forsaken His angels, nor left them deprived of His care, nor because of His Incarnation has He departed from the Godhead.

And behold, Kings have come, that they might adore the heavenly King of glory; Soldiers, that they might serve the Leader of the Hosts of Heaven; Women, that they might adore Him Who was born of a woman so that He might change the pains of child-birth into joy; Virgins, to the Son of the Virgin, beholding with joy, that He Who is the Giver of milk, Who has decreed that the fountains of the breast pour forth in ready streams, receives from a Virgin Mother the food of infancy; Infants, that they may adore Him Who became a little child, so that out of the mouth of infants and sucklings, He might perfect praise; 32 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

Nativity by Philippe de Champaigne.

In the foreground, the traditional Christmas red candle used to light the night between 24 and 25 December. The light emanating from the candle symbolizes the birth of Jesus, who came to illuminate a dark world, thus making the way to salvation visible

PHOTO ESSAY THE SERAPHIM EXALT HIS GLORY!

Children, to the Child Who raised up martyrs through the rage of Herod; Men, to Him Who became man, that He might heal the miseries of His servants; Shepherds, to the Good Shepherd Who has laid down His life for His sheep; Priests, to Him Who has become a High Priest according to the order of Melchisedech; Servants, to Him Who took upon Himself the form of a servant that He might bless our servitude with the reward of freedom; Fishermen, to Him Who from amongst fishermen chose catchers of men; Publicans, to Him Who from amongst them named a chosen Evangelist; Sinful women, to Him Who exposed His feet to the tears of the repentant; And that I may embrace them all together, all sinners have come, that they may look upon the Lamb of God Who taketh away the sins of the world.

Since therefore all rejoice, I too desire to rejoice.

I too wish to share the choral dance, to celebrate the festival. But I take my part, not plucking the harp, not shaking the Thyrsian staff, not with the music of pipes, nor holding a torch, but holding in my arms the cradle of Christ. For this is all my hope, this my life, this my salvation, this my pipe, my harp. And bearing it I come, and having from its power received the gift of speech, I too, with the angels, sing: Glory to God in the Highest; and with the shepherds: and on earth peace to men of good will.m 34 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

Here, top, against a starry background, a little statue of one of the angels who spoke to the shepherds near Bethlehem, typical of the manger scenes in the tradition of Naples, Italy.

Below, the wonderful Adoration of the Shepherds by Flemish painter Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), now in the Pinacoteca Ciccia of Fermo, Italy

PHOTO ESSAY THE SERAPHIM EXALT HIS GLORY!

A CHRISTMAS HYMN* (TO

BE SUNG TO THE MELODY

DIES

EST

LAETITIAE)

Composed by Anthony Esolen, Ph.D.

From the temple of her womb Comes the Son of Mary, Light in the surrounding gloom, Priest and King of Glory.

He commands the hosts of heaven, But, tonight, to man is given, Mildest of the mild.

Court and temple now a stable, Who is He to smite the rebel, He a little child?

He who builds the sparrow’s nest, He who feeds the raven, Takes His milk from Mary’s breast In the manger-haven.

We are hungry too, and lost.

Who will feed us without cost, Weakest of the weak?

From His lips in time to be We shall hear that only He Is the bread we seek.

As a child He enters first, As a child would save us, Through the walls of glory burst And as children have us.

Who among all men on earth First bear witness to His birth?

Smallest of the small; Shepherds watching in the field Kneel in awe, and glory yield To the Lord of all.

Let the sons of morning sing!

Every man and nation Gaze upon the Child, and bring Praise for your salvation.

Mary, lead our praises now, Maiden lowliest of the low, Brightest of the bright!

To the Father ever true, Take us as His children too, Swaddled up in light.

the 2019 book The Hundredfold: Songs for the Lord, *Frompublished

by Ignatius Press, www.ignatius.com.

Reprinted with permission.

36 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

One of the seven gates into the Italian city of Norcia, in the exact center of Italy, where St. Benedict was born in 480 A.D. Norcia is the home of a flourishing Benedictine monastery which pilgrims may visit to accompany the monks in prayer.

Below, a nativity painting, Adoration of the Magi, now in Saint Etienne du Mont Church, Paris, France

DEBATE

COVID VACCINES: HOW SAFE? COMPULSORY VACCINATION MAY BE COMING — BUT SHOULD WE COMPLY? n BY ANTHONY JAY, PH.D.

A CATHOLIC PH.D. SCIENTIST AND RESEARCHER AT THE WORLD-RENOWNED MAYO CLINIC IN ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA, EXPLAINS WHY THE RISKS OF A RAPIDLYDEPLOYED COVID VACCINE PROGRAM MAY WELL OUTWEIGH THE BENEFITS

In a 3-page paper issued on July 30, two of England’s Catholic bishops wrote, “The Catholic Church strongly supports vaccination and regards Catholics as having a prima facie duty to be vaccinated, not only for the sake of their own health but also out of solidarity with others, especially the most vulnerable.” A number of other Catholic bishops around the world have similarly told their flocks that accepting a COVID-19 vaccine, should one come to market, may be their Christian duty “for the common good.” But prior questions must be answered before any talk of “the common good” can begin: Is it indisputably safe? If we do not know what the risks are, how can we accept them for ourselves and for our children? And what is wrong with a pharmaceutical industry — and scientific community — that is unable to provide credible proof of safety, perhaps despite claims to the contrary?

Catholic scientist Anthony Jay, Ph.D., has been a researcher at the world-renowned Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for the past three years. Dr. Jay, an alumnus of Ave Maria University with a double major in biology and theology, explains why the risks of a rapidly-deployed COVID vaccine program may outweigh the benefits.

I

am a scientist and veteran of the Mayo Clinic, and if a COVID vaccine is successfully launched, I won’t be in line to get it.

To understand why, let’s start with a serious issue influencing modern American politics and therefore, downstream, American science: money. A scientist friend of mine, Dr. Michael Skinner, raises 3,000 to 38

INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

Dr. Anthony G. Jay, Ph.D., author of this piece.

Below, a poster used in the publicity campaign in the middle of the 20th century which said the use of a certain synthetic estrogen drug would help pregnant women avoid miscarriages

5,000 mice at any given time.

He tests various chemicals on these mice and he studies their long-term health impacts. Dr. Skinner makes numerous sobering discoveries because most toxicity studies only focus on toxicity effects over the course of a few days.

Regarding one commonly used fungicide, Dr. Skinner gave a scientific presentation in Europe. This particular chemical causes substantial health problems affecting multiple generations. The impacts take a long time to observe, but they are real.

And, again, the health issues extend beyond just the animals being exposed, but also to future generations.

Dr. Skinner has found adverse effects out to 4 generations, therefore implicating “epigenetics,” which are marks on the DNA that are changed and passed on to future generations. After Dr. Skinner’s talk, Europe banned that fungicide two weeks later. The European ban continues to this day. In America, this fungicide chemical is still legal and commonly used. Dr. Skinner’s talk was given over five years ago. Europe has far less monetary influence in their political system. People making that chemical weren’t involved behind the scenes, swaying the politicians.

It reminds me of diethylstilbestrol (DES), a synthetic estrogen given to millions of pregnant women between 1940-1971. It was also used to chemically castrate select men; for example, the famous mathematician Alan Turing. Was DES a black-market steroid? No. DES was prescribed and touted by numerous professional medical doctors and researchers. DES had adverse effects, but that’s normal for drugs that are artificially synthesized and slightly different from anything found in nature. Prescription drugs

their studies and fast-track short-term studies. The studfollow this same pattern of mimicking something found ies may overlook many fairly obvious things, but time is in nature — in the case of DES, natural estrogen — yet always at a premium and “publish or perish” rules the they are not something we truly find in nature. What was day. The most meticulous lose their grant funding and most concerning about DES was the long-term and even therefore their research careers. It’s survival of the lifelong effects in future generations that it caused. quickest, often even the sloppiest, maybe the most politResearchers learned this the hard way, and I personally ically-connected with other scientists — definitely not know a number of “DES survivors.” The influence of the fittest. money, but also the lack of long-term studies, kept this What is being studied? Another well-known scientist, harmful drug on prescription pads for far too long.

Dr. Marion Nestle, has a hobby of finding and reporting Am I just jaded? Maybe. I’ve had a peek at the Wizard on studies that have been directly funded by corporaof Oz behind the curtain. Most people haven’t seen tions. Of 168 studies Dr. Nestle has collected, 156 were behind the research scenes because they’re not profes“favorable” toward company products. I wonder how sional scientists. Yet, it’s not just me. Once I had lunch that could possibly have happened? Relevant to our with a corporate pharmaceutical CEO. He explained times, COVID vaccine studies would be an example of that before re-creating and studying any costly drug studies funded by corporations, discovered and published in peeralthough companies generally reviewed scientific studies, his don’t peer-review their research company tries to exactly replicate because they pay the FDA to do it. that study. They fail about 70% of In addition, if you have adverse the time. effects from a vaccine, you can’t Another insider, Dr. Marcia sue the vaccine corporation. They Angell, penned this eerie statehave a special “vaccine court” ment, written well before COVIDfunded by the US government that mania: “It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical “IF YOU HAVE ADVERSE EFFECTS FROM A handles these lawsuits, if they ever see the light of day. research that is published, or to I have personal experience in rely on the judgment of trusted VACCINE, YOU CAN’T SUE THE VACCINE CORPORATION. THEY HAVE A SPECIAL this area. My own dad got a flu shot physicians or authoritative medand a few days later, had to be airical guidelines. I take no pleasure ‘VACCINE COURT’ FUNDED BY THE US lifted to a Twin Cities hospital in this conclusion, which I reached GOVERNMENT THAT HANDLES THESE because his nervous system was slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of the New LAWSUITS, IF THEY EVER SEE THE LIGHT giving out. He was bedridden for OF DAY.” about 10 years and still suffers England Journal of Medicine.” from POTS. This is a condition in [Emphasis mine] which, essentially, his brain doesn’t communicate effecHow did Dr. Angell come to the extreme conclusion tively with his heart to monitor its rate. Was there a lawthat it is no longer possible to believe much of the clinical suit? No. It’s almost impossible to prove the vaccine did research? She was further behind that Oz curtain. She anything directly. was the 20-year chief editor of the world’s most prestiOn August 13, 2020, comedian Ron Funches was a gious medical journal. guest on one of the most successful podcasts in the counWhat are some of the things Dr. Angell was seeing? try, the Joe Rogan Experience. When asked if he was in Manipulation of the system, for one. line to get a COVID vaccine if one comes out, Funches In the past 12 months or so, I’ve published about five relayed this story: “I just remember the day that we got scientific papers in peer-reviewed research journals. And my son his first vaccinations and he had been developing there’s one thing most people don’t realize about this: normally, and had just been chill, and had been talking, when scientists like myself submit these papers, we and all the things pretty normally. And then we got him select our peer-reviewers. We literally inform the journal the vaccine and me and my ex-wife, we just remember, of three people that we prefer to peer-review our paper to he was just kinda like out-of-it. Because me and my exdetermine whether the paper should be published. wife were big pot heads, we were both like ‘Oh! look Also, when I submit these papers, nobody removes how stoned he looks... he looks so stoned and he’s outmy name from the top of the paper, so there is no of-it,’ but he (...) never came back! And so that was the anonymity. Sound like a recipe for unadulterated facts? moment where I was like, I don’t know if it causes it or It gets worse. If you don’t publish, you perish. When what, but that’s the story I can tell.” [emphasis mine] you are an active scientific researcher in America, publiRon Funches’ son is 17 today, and has severe autism. cations-per-year are the main “currency” for succeeding No lawsuits were filed and probably no documentation in grant-funding awards. This strongly incentivizes researchers to have their buddies favorably peer-review linking that vaccination with autism. Good thing we DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

39

DEBATE COVID VACCINES: HOW SAFE? patients who died had at least one preexisting condition. have peer-reviewed studies on the topic so we know the Preexisting conditions are common in America, particu“truth,” right? larly Type 2 diabetes, so a vaccine may make sense for Circling back to COVID vaccines, it’s a moving tarmany people. But it is also possible a COVID vaccine get, so a very challenging one, but we’ve actually made may cause worse lung damage, arising from the vaccine previous attempts to create these specific vaccines in itself, in people with preexisting conditions than in peopast years. Researchers from the Department of ple without preexisting conditions. This is especially Immunology at The University of Texas Medical Branch true if a vaccine is rushed to market and only tested on published this paper in 2012: “Immunization with SARS robust, healthy young people. coronavirus vaccines leads to pulmonary Most chronic health conditions in America are caused by immunopathology on challenge with the SARS virus” processed food, lack of exercise, poor sleep, stress, and lack [emphasis mine]. of social connections. (Yes, social connections are critically The headline is alarming when you realize that “on important for optimal health.) Vitamin D is also critically challenge” means “on par.” important. A new research article from the International In other words, the vaccine caused lung damage on Journal of Infection Diseases was par with the actual virus. interestingly titled “Vitamin D3 and The vaccine they created and K2 and their potential contribution to tested in mice was successful in reducing the COVID-19 mortality that it induced antibody protection rate.” This article mentions a recent against SARS-CoV. However, in clinical study from Iran with over many mice, the vaccine itself 600 patients. It revealed that there caused more lung damage than were no COVID deaths if serum vitsimply getting the SARS-CoV amin D3 concentrations were higher infection! than 41 ng/mL. The average AmeriAnd when they give these aniA NEW RESEARCH ARTICLE... WAS can has about 30 ng/mL, so we need mals the virus infection, they hit INTERESTINGLY TITLED “VITAMIN D3 to get our act together — but at least them hard. It’s not like a few virus sunshine is natural; we don’t have to particles you breathe in at a superAND K2 AND THEIR POTENTIAL buy it in a bottle! market and then you develop some CONTRIBUTION TO REDUCING THE Furthermore, studies on hunterimmunity without severe lung COVID-19 MORTALITY RATE” gatherer tribes show that everyone in damage from the virus. They have those tribes has vitamin D3 levels a “0-to-60” approach. So the fact between 70 – 100 ng/mL, so we have that the vaccine was as damaging some insight into a more natural as extreme SARS-CoV infection is human state. Jesus walked to alarming indeed. Here is a relevant Emmaus from Jerusalem, about 7 quote, directly from that study: miles — he didn’t drive. People his“Clinical trials with SARS corontorically have been exposed to sunavirus vaccines have been conshine. So, regarding vitamin D, I ducted and reported to induce antithink we can do better as a culture. body response and to be ‘safe.’

But I don’t advocate forcing anyHowever, the evidence for safety is body to take vitamin D supplements or forcing anyone to go for a short period of observation.” out in the sunshine, despite these things clearly being natThis particular study was actually conducted over a ural or “found in nature.” longer period of time than many, and the results speak for themselves.

With that in mind, what do you think my stance is on Why don’t we currently have a SARS or COVID vaccompulsory vaccines, which are artificially constructed? cine already? Because they often cause lung damage. As a healthy individual with a healthy family, I don’t want ANTHONY G. JAY, PH.D., is the president an unnatural substance injected into my or my children’s and CEO of AJ Consulting Company. Dr. Jay earned bodies, especially if that substance offers a high risk of a B.A. with a double major in Biology and Theology causing lung damage. Should I be forced to get that vacfrom Ave Maria University in Naples, Florida, and a cine? That’s even worse. It’s like punishing me for eating Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Boston University School healthy, exercising daily, not owning a TV, prioritizing of Medicine. He has been a researcher at the Mayo good sleep, and meditating daily.

Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, for the past 3 years, What about COVID infection? According to the researching stem cells and epigenetics. He is the National Institute of Health in Italy, a country among bestselling author of Estrogeneration: How those hit hardest by COVID, over 99% of COVID Estrogenics are Making You Fat, Sick and Infertile.m 40

INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

ANALYSIS

VATICAN’S NEW “GLOBAL COMPACT ON EDUCATION” “THE DOCUMENT PARTAKES OF THE TOO FAMILIAR HYPER-MODERN COMMITMENT TO WHAT IS DISINCARNATE” n BY ANTHONY ESOLEN, PH.D.

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he Vatican has released its Instrumentum laboris to guide statesmen, teachers, pastors, parents, and students in discussing its proffered Global Compact on Education. We are to build a “global village” of education, because, according to the outworn proverb the compact cites, “it takes a village to raise a child.” The global village is necessary, says the document, because the problems we face are global: war, the degradation of the environment, and the subjugation of the human person to the power of social media, whereby we can find information, but we do not develop the habits of introspection, of wisdom, and of genuine encounters with other human beings. The document urges us to adopt a correct anthropology, which will insist upon the primacy of the human over the technological, and which will see the human person as essentially and always in relationship with others.

The authors are correct to warn against a “throwaway culture,” one that not only fills the world with detritus, but also consigns the elderly to irrelevance, and that is poor in children, because people are valued only insofar as they produce things. They do not see that they themselves are enmeshed in that anti-culture and that they grant most of its premises. For there is not, in the entire document, any sense of what a genuine human culture is; no sense that culture depends upon piety, upon treasuring what has been handed down to us by our forebears; only the slightest sense that culture, the thing itself, is threatened in our time as never before in the history of man.

The authors are aware of the inhumanity of mass communications, but they do not see that anything “global,” especially as applied to the smallest and most vulnerable among us, must also be inhuman. Imagine a “global compact for the raising of children.” Would that not be a contradiction in terms? Children, and perhaps the rest of us too, for all that we gabble about the global, do not live in six continents at once. They are or should be rooted in their place, the neighborhood with its physical nearness a precious and essential feature of its existence. They are or should be raised up in a family, a parish, a village; the things that are of human scale, and that resist the gigantism of mass education, mass politics, and mass entertainment. The document partakes of the too familiar hyper-modern commitment to what is disincarnate, to structures of impersonality and ideology.

Such disincarnation is evident in its language, the jargon of sociology and bureaucracy. In this way, the document, despite its demands for new things, is not new at all, but stale and old.

“It is necessary,” say the authors, “to focus today on educating the questions of our youth, which are a priority compared to

providing answers: it is a matter of dedicating time and space to the development of the great questions and wishes that dwell into the hearts of new generations, who from a serene relationship with themselves might fulfill the search for the transcendent.” Perhaps so; but we have heard this recommendation for many decades, and what happens, practically, when we displace truth as our aim, is that young people embrace indifferentism in religion, relativism in epistemology, and dogmatism in those things preached to them by the mass phenomena.

Despite the document’s lament that people in our time lack an interior depth, that they do not take time to meditate upon man and his world, the authors give no sign that they know where or how to develop that depth. They reject one kind of utilitarianism, the technological, to replace it with another, the political. Young people are to be the ball-bearings in a changemachine, one way or the other. Nowhere in the document is there a single reference to the faith’s heritage of art, music, or letters. Nowhere do the authors seem aware that the first task of the teacher in our time is to develop in young people the slow and patient habit of reading good books. The authors make a nod to parents as the primary educators of their children, but that necessary intimacy cannot stand against their real concerns, which are geopolitical.

Even at the geopolitical, though, the authors show that their thought is disincarnate and ideological. To give an example: they say that the main cause of war is man’s fear of diversity, fear of the “other.” A glance at human history shows that that is not so. The Greek city-states shared the same language, the same religion, and most of the same cultural habits, but they fought with one another all the time. But the Spanish, under Ferdinand and Isabella, drove the Moors out of the peninsula, forced the Jews to convert or leave the country, and instituted the dreaded Inquisition, with the result that Spain took no part in the religious wars that tore Europe apart for more than a century. The aboriginal tribes in North America fought all the time, and they too were far more alike than different. Men fight for glory, power, ambition, vengeance, and wealth; and sometimes the more alike they are, the more they hate. For man is fallen, a brute fact which the authors ignore.

And perhaps that explains why the authors never refer to Jesus Christ or to the Church. Christ reveals man to himself, said the Fathers at the Second Vatican Council; He is the answer that reveals, the answer that opens to us farther and farther vistas of truth and of the quest for truth. Despite the document’s sporadic personalism, the single Person who can show us who we are is not here. And, in a document written especially for Catholic teachers, the omission is stunning.m INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

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PERSONS

BUILDING A HUMAN-CENTERED SOCIETY IN A GLOBALIST WORLD: A New Dean in Rome SR. HELEN ALFORD, FIRST FEMALE DEAN OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES DEPARTMENT AT THE PONTIFICAL UNIVERSITY OF ST. THOMAS (KNOWN AS THE ANGELICUM), IS A DOMINICAN SISTER OF THE CONGREGATION OF ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA OF NEWCASTLE, KWAZULU NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA n BY JAN BENTZ

ITV: Sr. Alford, how did the nomination of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences reach you? Did it catch you by surprise?

SR. HELEN ALFORD: The President of the Academy told me it might happen, so it wasn’t a complete surprise when I received a letter from the Chancellor of the Academy, Monsignor Sanchez Sorondo, telling me that I had been nominated.

What will be your prime topic of concern while working for the Academy? What can and will be your most significant contribution?

SR. ALFORD: We listen to what the Pope wants us to do, but we can also select other topics. The Academy will work on key questions for our day, and these change over time. I think one of my main contributions will be to build a stronger dialogue between Catholic Social Teaching/Thought and the social sciences. The Compendium of the Social Teaching of the Church (available on www.vatican.va) gives us an idea about how this dialogue can help both the Church and the social sciences; on the one hand, listening to the knowledge we can gain from the social sciences helps the Church to keep her social teaching “reliable, 42

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concrete and relevant,” while the Church can offer the social sciences “the perspectives of meaning, value and commitment that the Church’s social doctrine reveals.”

What is the prime task of the Academy in today’s society and the world?

SR. ALFORD: The Academy has two main tasks, given to it by Pope St. John Paul II when he set it up in 1990 and captured in its statutes: firstly, it has “the aim of promoting the study and progress of the social sciences, primarily economics, sociology, law and political science” and, secondly, “The Academy, through an appropriate dialogue, thus offers the Church the elements which she can use in the development of her social doctrine, and reflects on the application of that doctrine in contemporary society.”

Your Ph.D. dissertation was written on “hu man-centered technology.” In a time of “trans-humanism” and an un-Christian and often erron eous understanding of human progress in the field of technology, what is a true “human-centered technology?”

Professors and students at the Angelicum. Sr. Alford is the new Dean of Social Sciences at the university

SR. ALFORD: We could say a lot about that. Let me just say one thing. The history of technology tells us that there are always two basic ways in which technology has developed, and at different moments in time, one or other of them has been dominant. Not all historians use the same names for these two types, but let’s call them “human-centered” and “technocentric.”

Human-centered forms of technological development put the life of the human community at the center, so that tools and machines are produced that make our community life more full. We can find this kind of technology in Neolithic villages, in medieval Europe, in the early phases of the Industrial Revolution where skilled workpeople designed machines to make their skill more productive, and in some attempts at “green” technology today.

Technocentric forms put the machine at the center – although we can see that in practice this means one group in society uses the technology to weaken or exclude other groups.

This became the dominant form of technological development as the Industrial Revolution deepened and widened, although at least one thinker (Lewis Mumford) would say that its earliest example in recorded history would be the organized slave labor that the Egyptians developed to build the pyramids. It is the main form of technological development that the engineering profession has inherited (since engineering did not exist as a profession before the Industrial Revolution).

But the important thing to realize is that technology does not have to develop this way – with appropriate economic structures and policy environments, we could favor human-centered technological forms once again.

If the Christian and the Catholic strives for a “relational society,” how can he discern and distinguish this from “globalization”? In other words: is a “globalization” and a “globalism” – the extension of human relations to a global scale – the only way to make everyone in the world “relate”?

SR. ALFORD: The connection between the local and the global is another area where the Church can make a serious contribution to our thinking. Firstly, the Church herself is both a local institution, rooted in specific places (dioceses, parishes) and a sacramental life, as well as a global community. Our Lord lived in

a specific time and place, spoke a specific language and belonged to a particular culture, and yet we know from the end of the Gospel of Matthew that he sent his followers out to the ends of the earth. So the Church herself lives this experience of a relational society on both local and global levels.

Secondly, the principle of subsidiarity helps to guide us in structuring the relation between the local and more extensive levels of organization (provincial, national, regional, like Europe or the Americas, up to the global level). The basic idea is that higher, or broader, levels of organization need to help or support more local levels (the word “subsidiarity” comes from the Latin word subsidium, meaning “help”), helping them to make better decisions for themselves.

Right now, we do not have an international system that works according to the principle of subsidiarity, and the global economy is even less influenced by this idea. The idea of subsidiarity has been used in the treaties of the European Union, but it has been applied rather superficially; its full implications have not been worked out.

So, here again, we have a powerful idea that we need to work on in places like the Academy, to draw out its implications for the future design of the global system including the global economy. Such an idea has the potential to create a more healthy relationship between the local, building up through intermediate structures, to the global, and we really need a more healthy way of relating to each other on each of these levels.

What are you most looking forward to in your new task?

SR. ALFORD: Being able to take what I have been doing in the Faculty of Social Sciences at the Angelicum (Pontifical University of St Thomas) for the last 25 years to a new level in the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, where I’ll be able to work on social problems with some of the most able academics of our day. But I will also continue to work with migrants and refugees in our STRONG program in the Faculty of Social Sciences, and in passing on management skills to our students so that they are able to put into practice the academic knowledge they have gained with us at the Angelicum in resolving real-life social problems (https://angelicum.it/academics/social-sciences/).m DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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EDUCATION

A NEW BOYS’ HIGH SCHOOL “PREPARES THE SOIL” ST. MARTIN’S ACADEMY COLLABORATES WITH “GOD THE FARMER” SO THAT HOLINESS CAN TAKE ROOT AND FLOURISH n BY DANIEL KERR*

guide every decision we make. These commitments are: to awaken wonder, to heal the imagination, to restore authentic masculinity, and to develop attentiveness.

I’d like to consider these commitments specifically within the framework of three well-chosen realities of the place, namely that it is: a boarding school, without screens, on a working farm.

In the first place, our boys’ full-time residence is an essential part of our mission. Education is not a 9 to 5 proposition. In order to make a compelling counteroffer to the bombardment of mainstream media, an entire culture needs to be t St. Martin’s Academy articulated, and then lived. in Fort Scott, Kansas, The building of such a culture our goal is simple: to requires constant attention to create good soil. And as a detail across every front: the boarding school for boys that way we worship, the prayers combines classical acadewe pray, the songs we sing, mics with a practical work the books we read, the clothes program on a farm, that soil we wear, the food we eat, our building takes a variety of manners at the table, the jokes forms. we laugh at (and don’t laugh In a literal sense, it is done at), the games we play in our in our pastures and gardens – lesson during one of the many excursions in contact leisure time. The result is a a farm is only as healthy as its An outdoors with nature taken by students at the Academy discipulus with first-hand soil. But in the deeper and experience in the art of living well. more mystical sense, our soil building happens in the Further, the boarding environment offers boys souls of the young men entrusted to our care. Deus something that is altogether lost today in Western culAgricola est. God is a farmer, says Saint Augustine, ture: a rite of passage. Jason Craig, in Leaving Boyand as educators we are but collaborators with God, hood Behind, notes that in nearly every culture, boys chiefly by helping to get the soil right – that is, by on their way to manhood have gone through a rite of putting in order the natural conditions in which the passage that consistently includes the elements of sepsupernatural can take root and flourish. aration, initiation and incorporation. A boarding Ultimately, our mission, the reason why we exist, is school is uniquely positioned to deliver this three-part for sainthood. More than savvy politicians, brilliant rite of passage. scientists and princes of the public square, the world Take separation, for example. Each school year needs saints, the true movers of history who walk cirbegins with difficult, sometimes teary, goodbyes as cumspectly, redeeming the times. This all may sound our 9th graders bid farewell to their family, and in a rather lofty, but frankly there is just no other reason for particular way, to their mothers. I formerly considered us to exist. And as Pope Piux XI makes clear in his this to be an unfortunate, circumstantial by-product of encyclical Divini Illius Magistri, sainthood is the aim our being a boarding school. But increasingly it has of Christian education because it is the end for which become clear that this painful separation is an we were made. To build good soil, therefore, St. Marabsolutely essential part of these boys’ maturation. tin’s adheres to four pedagogical commitments that And as he sowed, there were grains that fell beside the path, so that all the birds came and ate them up.

And others fell on rocky land, where the soil was shallow; they sprang up all at once, because they had not sunk deep in the ground; but as soon as the sun rose they were parched; they had taken no root, and so they withered away. Some fell among briers, so that the briers grew up, and smothered them. But others fell where the soil was good, and these yielded a harvest, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

—Matthew 13: 4-8

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Religious ceremonies help to form the students. Bottom, Daniel Kerr, President of St. Martin’s Academy in a casual pose, and the college’s coat of arms

And it clears the way for the subsequent phases whereby boys prove their mettle over time and are finally welcomed into a community of men.

Second, St. Martin’s is a screen-free campus. No computers, smartphones, or televisions are permitted for the students. Besides the obvious and grave moral peril of online pornography, the pervasive use of screens is devastating to the imagination. A recent study from Common Sense Media revealed that the average American teenager spends 9 hours a day looking at a screen. It is critical to remember that one’s imagination ought to be a powerful ally in the moral and intellectual life. The Ignatian spiritual exercises, for example, leaned heavily upon an active imagination well-stocked by the literature of Holy Scripture and took for granted the first-hand experience of common agrarian pursuits like shepherding and viniculture.

Today, as passive consumers of entertainment, we stock our imaginations with images that are banal, violent, perverse, demonic and ultimately, unreal.

And what’s more, in doing so, we effectively outsource the active faculty of the imagination altogether. This is enormously destructive to both the head and the heart. At St. Martin’s, we set aside screens to allow the imagination to heal and regenerate, and we replace the visual noise with great stories, songs and poetry. And even more fundamentally, we offer the direct experience of the real: the sound of a rooster crowing, the feeling of splitting well-seasoned oak, the taste of pastured lamb.

Further, screens decrease one’s attention span. As philosopher and mystic Simone Weil so beautifully writes: “...developing attentiveness may very well be the final purpose of all education.” Prayer, the outward gaze upon God, is our highest calling and the state towards which all human endeavor, especially education, should be oriented. For example, all of our students select a “sit spot,” a quiet and solitary location in the woods where they can observe the changing natural world. For most, this time of silence is uncomfortable at first, as self-preoccupation tends to obscure one’s vision.

Over time, however, the student’s focus shifts outward and he notices things that had previously escaped detection: the chipping of a junco feeding on the

ground, or the whistling of greenwinged teal flying low overhead of an overcast morning. This patient and receptive outward gaze begins a habit of mind that, Lord willing, may well detect the gentle stirring of the Dove Himself.

This brings us to the third essential element of the school’s operation: our practical work program on the farm.

Each day, faculty and students milk cows, slop hogs, feed chickens, split wood, shovel dung and perform a host of other chores as part of a diversified and sustainable farming enterprise.

The fruits of this work are enjoyed every day on the dinner table.

The farm provides the setting for our commitment to restoring authentic masculinity, which we define as a mature servant leadership, with Christ as our exemplar. Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote that maturity comes about principally through pain and responsibility. This may sound harsh, but it is undeniably true.

Through early morning and evening farm chores in fair weather or foul, our boys build habits of accountability and perseverance – and the confidence and self-possession that only the strenuous life can provide for a young man.

Interestingly, the work on the farm is also integral to our academic work, for the life of the intellect must be connected to tangible things or it is in great peril of becoming hollow. This contact cannot come through screens, or finally, even books. These three practices – the culture of a boarding school, the rejection of screens, and the hands-on work of the farm – have in common an emphasis on encountering reality itself and on its own terms.

Finally, this experiential approach will develop a life-long perspective bringing our boys into constant contact with the ultimate Source of all reality. And if the soil is right, they will have the intellectual and moral wherewithal to continuously recognize and respond to Him in the encounter. The result, Lord willing, will be what Pope Pius XI calls the proper “product of Christian education... the true and finished man of character.” *President, St. Martin’s Academy, Fort Scott, Kansas, USAm DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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SCRIPTURE

LET US BE NOURISHED BY MARY’S EXAMPLE Mary is the true Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey n BY ANTHONY ESOLEN Madonna and Child, by Lippo Memmi, now in the Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, Germany

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lessed be the womb that bore you,” cried a woman from the crowd, “and the breasts that you sucked!” But Jesus said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Lk. 11:27-28) Many a Christian artist in the Middle Ages dwelt lovingly upon that scene of intimate love, Mary giving the breast to the Child Jesus. I am looking at a painting by the Sienese master Lippo Memmi, with Mary in a rich blue silken robe fringed with gold, echoing the psalmist as he describes the daughter of the king, “decked in her chamber with gold-woven robes, in many-colored robes” (Ps. 45:1314).

Memmi shows Mary as seated, though we hardly see the chair: she herself is as the throne for the Child Jesus.

The floor is decorated with patterns of red and gold and blue, and the background is a textured gold, with the haloes above the heads of Mary and Jesus set upon it – thin layers of tin covered with gold leaf and delicately punched to form the design of the circles and the rays.

Mary looks upon the Child Jesus with a steady gaze of wisdom and love, while Jesus, nursing, looks away from her and toward us. The faces bear the features of the Byzantine style characteristic in medieval Siena, and the forms are solid, static, suggesting not change and motion but stillness and eternity.

Such a work may not be to our taste now. We want what we call realism, meaning a concentration on what the particular woman and child might have looked like,

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in a stable or a poor room in Bethlehem. There is nothing wrong with such realism, so long as it does not obscure the truth – so long as it does not let slip what is most real. Mary knew that Jesus was the Son of God. What exactly that meant to her, we are not told, though we are given to know that the child in her womb inspired her to a flight of Hebrew poetry, the Magnificat; and if anyone should say, “Luke has put those words into her mouth,” I should very much like that person to compose a poem in a language he does not know so as then to translate it into his mother tongue, and afterwards to tell us why he would do so pointless a thing in the first place. If anyone should say, “It is impossible to suppose that a mere village woman would compose a poem,” I reply that he knows little about villagers and the songs they compose and sing.

For Mary who “kept all these things in her heart” (Lk. 2:51) – the word suggests watching, guarding, keeping a lookout – is our great exemplar of someone who hears the word of God and keeps it. The word of God is real and solid, and all that we do and say, and all the things of the world that we strive for as if they were treasure, are shadows by comparison. When Jesus replies to the enthusiastic woman (whose words, by the way, make a fine verse of Semitic poetry), he does not mean to suggest that his mother Mary is not blessed, or that it was not a good and sacred thing that he took milk from her breast. For Mary is herself one who hears the word of God and keeps it, and that, more than her earthly

Detail of the painting Madonna of the Magnificat by Sandro Botticelli, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

motherhood, is what makes her blessed. The Greek word that Luke uses here is quite strong: it is what you do when you have something inestimably precious. You set a guard on it, a sentry. We should think of Mary as turning her whole heart in concentration upon the Word of God, and upon the incarnate Word who is her child.

Mary, the first to adore the Lord come to dwell among us in the flesh, is the true Canaan, the land flowing with milk and honey. She gives to the Child Jesus the fullness of her motherly body, but that is possible only because she has taken into her heart and mind and soul and strength the word of God. Many a painting of the Annunciation shows her seated, with an open book in her lap, prepared, without being aware of it, to fill the great role she will be called to play. Consider then the interchange: the word, as known from the Scriptures, comes to Mary, who hears it and treasures it, and so she opens herself to the strange and fearful message of the angel. The Word of God comes to dwell within her, and when she brings him forth into the world, he takes

nourishment from her. So must he continue to do, and from his foster-father Joseph as well: to learn to walk, to speak, to play, to work, as he “grew and became strong, filled with wisdom” (Lk. 2:40). But with every step he takes, with every word he speaks, he gives, even to the uttermost: “For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed” (Jn. 6:55).

Milk, honey, wine, all rich, all sweet; and so is the word of God. “How sweet are your words to my taste,” cries the psalmist, “sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Ps. 119:103) When we prefer our sins and the wisdom of the world, we are like people so used to brackish water that we have forgotten what fresh water is. When we pretend that we can stand in judgment upon the word of God, we do not keep watch over it as Mary did; as if we were content to eat any old thing regardless of whether it was true food, or to feed our children any old thing regardless of whether it would make them strong or sickly. Let us not do so. Let us learn from Mary, and be nourished by her example.m

Join us ffor or V Virtual irtual Pilg Pilgrimages rimages St . F Frrancis col lected stones to rebuild the cr umbling phyysica l church a round him. T Tooday many of our “ liv ing stones” of the fa ith a re cha l lenged, conf used and tired.

We a re gathering up a col lection of “ liv ing stones” to rebuild the univversa l Church into a liv ing body of people to k now Christ, to love Christ and to ser ve Christ so to k now ourselves more, as we a re created in His image and likeness, and to love our neighb bors.

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Join at no cost to you and ex perience interactive pa r ticipation and robust conversation a f ter each Vir t ua l Pilg rimage.

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DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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C AT H O L I C I S M A N D O R T H O D O X Y E D I T E D B Y: C H R I S T I N A D E A R D U R F F

The Message of the Icon

BY ROBERT WIESNER

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THE CURSE OF THE BARREN

t. John Damascene, when asked by his flock what to do when asked about their beliefs, famously replied, “Take them to the church and show them the holy images.” In that spirit, this column will provide an object lesson in catechetics over the next few months. As some readers will know, the Ukrainian Catholic mission in Front Royal, Virginia (USA), under the patronage of Saints Joachim and Anna, has been blessed with the purchase of a parish home.

Among other plans, the layout of iconography in our new church will include a series of images to acquaint our people with the history of our patrons. Their story is ably told by means of the holy images.

Joachim and Anna were evidently fairly prosperous; St. Joachim was employed in the Temple precincts while his wife lived the life of a simple housekeeper. Of course, they longed for children, but as time went on, that possibility became more and more remote. Joachim became the target of much cruel speech at the Temple. He was accused of hiding some great sin in his life, since God had evidently cursed him with the lack of a child. Indeed, a barren marriage was held to be a real disgrace for devout Jewish couples; the command to increase and multiply was very clear in the Torah. The aging couple thus keenly felt the reproach of their neighbors while at the same time bore their own great personal sorrow for their childless state. The icon thus depicts the elderly couple attempting to comfort each other both personally and socially. They embrace, relying on each other to mutually bear their great burden.

Of course, they were quite aware of some great precedents in Scripture for their plight. Abraham and Sarah were in exactly the same state, yet in due time

Isaac was born; according to some commentaries, Sarah had reached her nineties at the time! She had responded to the promise of a son with sneering skeptical laughter, but, as always, God did indeed have the last laugh! Hannah was also quite aged when she gave birth to Samuel the Prophet. So we can be sure that Joachim and Anna never gave up hope and their trust in the Lord; they were well versed in the possibilities of miraculous divine intervention. They continued to pray in the certain knowledge that God knew what He was doing.

There is a great contrast in this attitude to a common modern response toward a childless marriage.

One might almost speak of a sort of “devil’s beatitudes;” perhaps “cursitudes” might be a better term. Satan does indeed hate the human race and so it is no stretch to imagine him teaching his acolytes that “Blessed are the barren, for they do not pollute the earth with foul human flesh.” Many Catholic mothers have reported being accosted in grocery stores or parks with complaints about their large families, being accused of irresponsibility in the matter of family planning or the failure to utilize abortion to limit their impact upon the earth.

Such reproaches are usually borne in a proper spirit of Christian forbearance; the lessons of Scripture are not forgotten by the devout even in the prevailing rotten modern social milieu. The great blessing of children remains God’s marvelous gift to a holy marriage.

The lesson of the image goes well beyond the circumstances of childlessness, of course. The attitude of resigned waiting for God’s will to be manifested applies to every aspect of each human life. Patient endurance in faith and hope are the duty of all, in whatever state of life they may reside.m

INSIDE THE VATICAN PILGRIMAGES made a special pilgrimage to Russia, as well as Rome, to take part in the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the execution of Tsar Nicholas and his wife and five children in 1918. Contact us at insidethevaticanpilgrimages.com for information about joining us for upcoming special pilgrimages like this one. page 48

www.InsideTheVatican.com t Urbi et Orbi Foundation is a project of Urbi et Orbi Communications t 202-536-4555

East-West Watch

BY PETER ANDERSON

UNDERSTANDING POPE FRANCIS

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f one knows a person’s goals, that person’s actions may be more understandable. Conversely, a person’s actions may indicate the person’s goals. This short article will explore the theory that one of the major goals of Pope Francis is to bring the Catholic and Orthodox Churches closer together and that this goal can explain the Pope’s actions.

First, there is the matter of the countries that Pope Francis has chosen to visit in the first seven years of his pontificate. Of the 14 Local Orthodox Churches, he has already visited the countries of the primates of nine of them including Georgia, Romania, and Bulgaria.

There were reports that he was planning a trip in 2020 to Cyprus (which would be number ten), but the pandemic made this impossible. The Pope has not yet been invited by the Orthodox Churches of Russia and Serbia to visit their respective countries, but he would undoubtedly accept these invitations if extended. Of course, Pope Francis did go to Cuba in 2016 to meet Russian Patriarch Kirill, the first meeting between a Pope and a Russian patriarch. In contrast, Pope Francis has not visited his homeland of Argentina and many of the most important countries of Europe.

Second, Pope Francis has worried some Catholics who fear that he might modify the traditional Catholic positions with respect to Communion for divorced-andremarried Catholics and with respect to celibacy for Roman-rite priests. Although these modifications have not occurred to date, Pope Francis has not firmly rejected the possibility of some future changes. It is important to note that the Orthodox permit Communion to be received by divorced-and-remarried Orthodox under certain circumstances. Also, the Orthodox permit married priests as long as the marriage occurred prior to ordination. Thus, modifications by the Catholic Church in these two areas would not increase the differences between the two Churches.

In comparison to these two areas, the Vatican has voiced strong objections to the Church in Germany adopting a proposal for non-Catholic spouses receiving Communion in the Catholic Church in certain cases.

Allowing such Communion would increase the gap between Catholics and Orthodox as the Orthodox Church strictly prohibits nonOrthodox from receiving Communion in its churches and prohibits Orthodox from receiving Communion in non-Orthodox churches. In one of its objections, the Vatican stated that the German proposal “would necessarily open new rifts in the ecumenical dialogue with the Orthodox Churches.”

Third, Pope Francis has stressed that the Catholic Church must learn more about synodality from the Orthodox. In fact, the next synod of Catholic bishops in 2022 will be devoted to the subject of synodality. Under the Orthodox practice of synodality, the primate will not make a major change relating to doctrine or practice unless supported by the synod of bishops.

It appears that Pope Francis is leaning in that direction. Thus, when the Catholic synod in 2016 issued an ambiguous statement with respect to Communion for the divorced-and-remarried, the Pope in his final document Amoris Laetitia also refrained from deciding the matter decisively. For those who are concerned that Pope Francis may overturn some traditional Church doctrines, there is the consolation that synodality dictates that the Pope not make a major change unless a synod of bishops representing the universal Church first recommends that he do so.

In conclusion, it is overly simplistic to contend that the goal of unity with the Orthodox provides the key to understanding Pope Francis. Presumably, his decisions are usually based on many factors. Nevertheless, his goal of Catholic-Orthodox unity may be a significant factor.m

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page 49

C AT H O L I C I S M A N D O R T H O D O X Y

NEWS from the EAST

BY BECKY DERKS

the Church of Greece and the Ecumenical Patriarchate ARCHBISHOP OF CYPRUS COMMEMORATES which commemorated Metropolitan Epifaniy during the METROPOLITAN EPIFANIY OF KYIV FOR FIRST TIME celebration of the Divine Liturgy by Archbishop IeronyOn the morning of October 24, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Athens and Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in mos of Cyprus commemorated for the first time the name Thessaloniki on October 19, 2019. of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv and all Ukraine, thus recHowever, Archbishop Chrysostomos II of Cyprus disognizing the autocephalous Orthodox Church of Ukraine, approved vehemently regarding the stance of the four during the Divine Liturgy for the ordination of the new Synod members, namely, Metropolitans Athanasios of LiBishop of Arsinoe, Pagkratios, at the Monastery of Panagia massol, Nikiphoros of Kykkos and Isaiah of Tamassos and Chrysorroiatissa in Paphos. the Bishop Nikolaos of Amathus, after the commemoration Archbishop Chrysostomos of of Metropolitan Epifaniy of Kyiv.

Cyprus stated that his decision In an interview with Kathimerini served Orthodoxy and the Church of newspaper, the Archbishop of Cyprus. It may be against certain Cyprus talked about a parasynapeople, he said, but what interests gogue of the four, who, he says, are the Archbishop himself is Orthoeven punishable by defrocking. He doxy. explained why he did not abandon He said today, “I commemorated the leadership of the Church despite the new Primate of Orthodox the fact that he had thought on it and Church of Ukraine, Epifaniy. Since despite his health problems. last year, we have notified the EcuAsked why he was currently recmenical Patriarch that we would Left, Archbishop Chrysostomos of Cyprus, and, right, ognizing the autocephalous OrthoPrimate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Epifaniy maintain a neutral position and deddox Church of Ukraine, the icate ourselves to serving Orthodoxy through the primates Archbishop of Cyprus said that he had been a representaof various autocephalous Churches.” tive of the Church of Cyprus at Orthodox conferences for “I had to take a position,” he continued, speaking to re30 years, he knew the views of all the Autocephalous porters, although the Holy Synod disagreed with him, Churches and, therefore, believed that he could continue while acknowledging that the members of the Holy Synod to meet all primates and convince them. were not aware of his decision to commemorate MetropolMoreover, the Archbishop stressed that he was the only itan Epfaniy of Kyiv. One said that a member of the Holy one who reacted and said to them, “Brothers, we have all Synod left at the end of the service, stating that, if he were become national churches; first we are the nation and then him, he would leave as soon as he heard the Archbishop Orthodox. This is wrong.” We must first be Orthodox and himself, commemorating Metropolitan Epifaniy. then a nation, he insisted: Orthodoxy must come forward He also said that he admired his patience in waiting for and we must be united. so long. The Archbishop of Cyprus stated that his move Archbishop Chrysostomos then pointed out that after served first Orthodoxy, and second, the Church of Cyprus. the Fall of Constantinople, it was Constantinople that He estimated that all the predecessors, including Kirill, ad“gave birth” to the rest of the Orthodox Churches, includmitted that he was right. ing the Russian Orthodox Church, with the exception of In a post on Twitter, the Orthodox Church of Ukraine the four Apostolic Churches of the Middle East, with the thanked the Church of Cyprus for the recognition, saying, Ecumenical Patriarchate ceding autocephaly and its terri“The Church of Cyprus, one of the oldest local churches, tory to other churches. In the case of Ukraine, it was a diowas recognized as autocephalous at the Third Ecumenical cese of the Ecumenical Patriarchate that was granted to the Council, 10th in the Diptych, joined the Tomos recognition Russian Church for administration, as had been the case of the autocephaly of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine and with the dioceses of the Metropolises of the New Lands in became the fourth Church to recognize the Local OCU.” Greece.

It is noted that the Church of Cyprus became the third The Archbishop also said that after the Fall of Comchurch to recognize the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, after munism, the Ecumenical Patriarchate asked the Russian page 50

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Orthodox Church to return to the pre-1917 status, which was denied by the then-Patriarch of Moscow, Alexy.

“And now they behave like that,” he said. “Asking the Ecumenical Patriarch: Since the codices exist, why does it [Moscow Patriarchate] interfere? I know that today it took over two dioceses from Georgia, two dioceses from Ukraine, he took over half of Christianity from Poland, he took dioceses from Romania. Who gave them the right to set up an autocephalous Church in America? These interventions of others in the jurisdictions brought upheaval throughout Orthodoxy.”

As Archbishop Chrysostomos pointed out, he considered it appropriate not to inform the Metropolitans of the Church of Cyprus that he would commemorate the Metropolitan of Kyiv “not to disturb and quarrel with them. If I did, they would say no. And I would answer them, “I will not listen to you,” and that would make things worse.”

(Orthodox Times)

ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH BARTHOLOMEW I RECEIVES HONORARY DOCTORATE FROM PONTIFICAL ANTONIANUM UNIVERSITY An honorary Doctorate in Philosophy degree was conferred on Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I by the Pontifical Antonianum University on October 21, 2020.

At the ceremony presenting the degree, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, observed “the harmony with the Petrine magisterium which demonstrates the ecumenical union between the Churches of East and West.”

Organized by the Franciscan pontifical university in Central Rome, the private event took place without the public, in a large auditorium in full compliance with anti-COVID 19 rules and provisions.

Also giving interventions at the event moderated by TV2000 journalist Fabio Bolzetta,

were the Prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Peter Turkson; President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, Cardinal Kurt Koch; the Rector of the Antonianum, Br. Agustín Hernández Vidales, OFM, and Fr. Michael Anthony Perry, the General Minister of the Order of Friars Minor.

ZENIT’s Senior Vatican Correspondent was present and spoke with Cardinal Parolin.

Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople also participated in an ecumenical service with representatives of the Roman Catholic Church at the Catholic Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere on October 19.

This time, Bishop Ambrose of Bogorodsk, vicar of the Patriarchal Exarch of Western Europe of the Russian Orthodox Church, and Metropolitan Joseph of Western and Southern Europe of the Romanian Orthodox Church, participated in the service, as did Patriarch Bartholomew and clergy from a variety of Protestant traditions and the Catholic Church.

The service was held at the Basilica of Santa Maria in Aracoeli as part of 2020’s “An Encounter of Prayer for Peace in the Spirit of Assisi,” an annual event organized by the lay Catholic community Sant’Egidio.

Regarding his participation in the ecumenical service, Bishop Ambrose wrote on Facebook: “We all need to forgive and be forgiven. The injustices of the world and history are not healed by hatred and revenge, but by dialogue and forgiveness. May God inspire in us a commitment to these ideals and to the journey we are making together.

May it touch every heart and make us heralds of peace.”

In a comment on the post, he writes: “Whatever the fundamentalists say, the call of our Lord to pray and do everything possible to help the suffering remains a fundamental priority.”

(Zenit and OrthoChristian)m

The Christian Churches, the communities of the disciples of Christ, were intended to be united as one; Pope John Paul II proclaimed, “The Church must breathe with Her two lungs!” Unfortunately, the Churches are not united.

This is a great scandal, an impediment to the witness of the Church. Since unity was desired by Christ Himself, we must work to end this disunity and accomplish the will of the Lord.

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page 51

LATIN

THE BIRTH OF CHRISTMAS n BY JOHN BYRON KUHNER

Y

ou’ve probably heard skeptics on the topic of Christmas. “Jesus wasn’t even born on December 25! That was the Roman Saturnalia!”

(Wrong.) “They were just trying to mark the solstice but couldn’t figure out the date properly.” (Partially true – we’ll have to explain.) “That day was the birthday of Sol Invictus!” (Definitely true – but there’s more to be said about it.) So what is the ancient evidence for Jesus’s birthday?

Luke offers the only calendar detail about Jesus’ birth in the Gospels. He writes (chapter 1) that the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary took place in the “sixth month.”

Jews celebrate the “head of the year,” Rosh Hashanah, in September, and the “sixth month” by that reckoning is the month of Adar, corresponding (inexactly) to March. All of the New Testament dates appear to use the Hebrew calendar, but if we use the Macedonian calendar, which would be the next most likely option as it had become widespread in the Hellenistic world due to Alexander the Great, the result would be similar – that calendar also began in the fall, placing the sixth month in March. So Bede, in his commentary on St. Luke, writes: “Mensum autem sextum,” Martium intellige, cuius vicesimo et quinto die Dominus noster et conceptus traditur et passus. “By ‘sixth month,’ understand 52

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March, on the 25th day of which tradition has it that Jesus was not only conceived but suffered his passion.”

Jesus’s gestation being fully human, he was born something like nine months after March. Hence: around December.

You may have heard some writers using a different bit of Biblical evidence – the fact that there were shepherds in the area – to defend a September birthdate. But the evidence really points in the opposite direction: Jesus was born in the outskirts of a town, not on some remote hilltop pasture where livestock might have been sent for the summer. Other commentators note that the flocks were “in the fields,” i.e. on agricultural land, but all the Greek says is that the shepherds were “in the same area” (Latin in eadem regione; the King James version inaccurately says “fields”). Having the flocks out of doors but near the town is entirely plausible in December. And the September theory doesn’t take into account Luke’s indication of the sixth month for the Annunciation. In conclusion: the notion of a December date for Jesus’ birthday is on good Scriptural authority.

As to the day itself, we don’t have any biblical evidence. All we have is the tradition of the Church. It might well be accurate – it was custom in the Roman Empire to celebrate birthdays. Jesus probably knew his birthday,

Opposite page: scholars show Pope Gregory XIII a chart of the sun against the zodiac to indicate the location of the sun throughout the year. This great pontiff was responsible for the reform of the calendar into the form we have today. Bottom, The Shepherds and the Angel, by Carl Bloch

and his friends probably knew it too. Birthdays of all the deified Emperors (who were called Dominus et Deus, Lord and God) were major feast days throughout the Empire. It would not be unusual for a group of people who called Jesus Lord and God to keep track of his birthday. So the argument for tradition is unusually strong in this instance, but we really don’t have any further evidence. Any of the days in December could be correct.

But what of the argument that Christmas is really just the Saturnalia? Well, in that case, why is Jesus’s birthday the 25th? The Saturnalia were on the 17th. When the Julian calendar was instituted in 46 B.C., the date of the Saturnalia (XIV Kal. Ian.) was shifted by two days to accommodate the new 31day month (before Caesar, December was 29 days), and Augustus made it a three-day holiday, running until the 19th. It was a popular holiday and many people disregarded its official length and kept the feast for seven days, up to the 23rd. But there was never any Saturnalia on the 25th. The Saturnalia seem to be close to Christmas only by accident.

The idea of Christmas being originally a solstice-festival is more intriguing. The Julian Calendar did in fact peg the solstices to the 25th of December and June. Solstices were not marked in the ancient Roman calendar and the Romans did not take them very seriously, which was why their calendar was three full months astray from the solar calendar until Caesar fixed it. But the Romans did import a festival from Persia known as the “birthday of Sol Invictus” – the “unconquered sun” god – (dies natalis or d.n. Solis Invicti). It was on December 25. This festival became an official part of the calendar under Aurelian in 274 A.D. The problem with this date is that it is quite late – after Justin Martyr, Ignatius of Antioch, Tertullian, Perpetua, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, and Origen.

Christianity had already been around for centuries.

Hippolytus of Rome had already (ca. 220) calculated that the world had been created in the spring – on March 25th, in fact – and Jesus’ conception came on the same day, as the firstfruits of the New Creation. It’s not clear he would really have been all that interested in the birthday of Sol Invictus, which didn’t even get official status in the Roman calendar for another half-century. And yet the date of Christmas that we know is already implied in his writings.

Another interesting bit of data is that the Church Fathers knew that December 25th was not actually the solstice. The Julian calendar, with its leap year every four years, is slightly too long, with the result that the solstice had moved ahead three days by the time of Constantine. So if they were looking to peg Christmas to the solstice, they would not have chosen the 25th. Hence Bede writes: Si quis ante dominicae nativitatis et conceptionis tempus lucem vel crescere, vel tenebras superari convicerit, dicimus et nos quia et Ioannes tunc ante faciem adventus eius regnum caelorum evangelizabat. “But if anyone will argue that the light begins to grow, or the darkness to be overcome, before the time of the Lord’s birth and conception [which it does], we say also that John was at that time preaching the kingdom of heaven before the outward manifestation of his advent.” In other words, December 25th is an appropriate day because it is just after the solstice, just after John had started the pendulum moving toward God’s kingdom.

Interestingly enough, when Gregory XIII instituted the Gregorian calendar, he moved the solstice from December 11th to December 21st by jumping the calendar ahead 10 days. This was a conscious decision. He could have jumped 14 days, and moved the solstice back onto December 25, where Caesar had intended it to be.

But he instead decided to restore the calendar to what it was in the days of Constantine, when so many of the feasts of the Church were set down. Hence Bede’s theological point about John being the real initiator of the new era is still accurate by today’s calendar because of the choices of Gregory.

So what is the case for December 25 as Jesus’s birthday? Well, the only evidence for the day itself is tradition. But a December birthday is biblical. The date definitely doesn’t come from the Saturnalia, which never were on that date, nor from the solstice, which people knew was no longer on the 25th. Sol Invictus does share the same birthday, but anyone who reads a lot of the writings of the Church Fathers would find it hard to believe that they were very swayed by the birthday of Sol Invictus. So have a merry Christmas, everyone. It’s not really a pagan holiday – unless, of course, you turn it into a godless feast of consumerism. But that’s on you, not the early Church.m DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

53

Of Books, Art and People

THE STORY OF ITALY’S ONLY CHRISTMAS CAROL n BY LUCY GORDAN

I

Mosaics by Filippo Rusuti in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, dating to 1288, depict the story of the miraculous snowfall in Rome the night of August 4/5, 352 AD. Bottom, St. Peter’s Square made white by the snow of 2018

grew up in Manhattan and from 4th-12th grade sang in my parish choir. In high school I sang three times every Sunday: Sunday School’s Mass at 9:30 AM, at 11:00 AM Mass for parents and parishioners, and Vespers at 8 PM. When I moved to Rome after my college graduation, what I missed most, besides my family and friends, were the smell and contents of The New York Times, the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Entenmann’s donuts, and my choir, particularly at Christmas, because there was no such thing as carol services in Italy.

It took me only one holiday season to realize that in Italy there was no popular Christmas music. Actually, that’s not quite right: there is one, and only one, Christmas song.

When I first lived here, shepherds from the Abruzzi mountains used to flock down to Rome and play “Tu scendi dalle stelle” over and over again on their homemade bagpipes on almost every street corner. At first I couldn’t help wondering why their repertoire was so limited. Sadly now, even this custom has disappeared, so my grandchildren have grown up with Jingle Bells and I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas, instead.

Speaking of snow, blizzards are an almost unheardof event in the Eternal City. Since I’ve lived here, blizzards have occurred in March 1971 (melting the same day); and in 1985 and 1986 on Epiphany, both of which froze and caused serious inconvenience and damage, especially to trees. Then, after a 30-year hiatus of no snow, there were two nearly back-to-back storms on February 4 and 10 in 2012, followed by February 26 and 27 in 2018, and lastly in 2019 on my saint’s day, December 13th.

Historical snowfall data can be traced back to the 54 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

winter of 1709, but the earliest mention of snow in Rome oddly dates to the night of August 4/5, 352 AD. Almost certainly a legend, it seems that for a long time a childless elderly patrician couple had wanted to use their wealth to honor God and prayed fervently for a signal on how to fulfill this desire. That August night an angel appeared to them in a dream and indicated to them that the next morning they would find snow, even though it was summer, on the site where they should build a church. The next morning the husband Giovanni rushed to recount his dream to Pope Liberius (r. 352-66), who surprisingly had had the very same dream. So together they, pope and patrician, went with a procession of priests to the angel’s miraculous location on the Esquiline Hill, where on the still-intact snow they drew the perimeter of a new church.

This early church was demolished in the 5th century during the reign (432-440) of Sixtus G. Galazka photo III to build a more sumptuous one with the name of Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in remembrance of the council of Ephesus in 431. Mosaics by Filippo Rusuti dating to 1288 depict the story of the miracle.

They are still visible today in the 18th-century loggia that covers the original façade. In addition, every year on August 5th, from 8 PM to midnight, the miracle is recreated using white rose petals for snow.

Now to return to “Tu scendi dalle stelle,” we know its music and its lyrics were both written by St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori. Thought of as an Italian song to be accompanied by zampogna, a large-format bagpipe, it’s not well-known that today’s carol was inspired by the Neapolitan folksong, “Quanno nascette Ninno a Bettlemme / Era nott’e pareva miezo journo” (When the baby was born in Bethlehem/it was nighttime but seemed

Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori noontime”) and that St. Alphonsus was a distinguished theolowas the first priest to write lyrics in gian. He was born in MariNeapolitan dialect for a religious anella near Naples on Sepsong. The rest of its early history is a tember 27, 1696, the eldest bit garbled. Some scholars believe of seven children. His father that St. Alphonsus, a gifted musician, was a naval officer, but poor wrote the music in pastorale style, eyesight and chronic asthma prebut with the lyrics in dialect on Nocluded a military career, so he trained vember 9, 1732, while he was staying as a lawyer. However, after losing an at the Convent of the Consolation in important case, he heard an interior the small city of Deliceto in the voice saying: “Leave the world, and province of Foggia, and that Pope give yourself to me.” A follower of St. Pius IX translated the lyrics into ItalPhilip Neri, he was ordained on Deian in 1870. Others think that St. cember 21, 1726 and spent his first Alphonsus wrote two versions, one with lyrics in dialect and one with St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori and the Vatican’s five years as a priest among the homeless and marginalized youth of lyrics in Italian, at the same time, in 1996 stamp commemorating the 300th Naples. In November 1732 Alphonanniversary of his birth. the city of Nola where he was bishop Bottom, Angelo Cardinal Comastri with his sus founded the Congregation of the in December 1754.

Christmas book published by San Paolo Edizioni Most Holy Redeemer, known as the In any case, “Tu scendi dalle Redemptorists, and on June 14, 1762 was appointed stelle,” also entitled “Canzoncina a Gesù Bambino” bishop of Sant’Agata dei Goti. In 1775, he was allowed (“The Little Song for Baby Jesus”), or “A Gesù Bambito retire and went to live in the Redemptorist communino” (“For Baby Jesus”) has seven verses of six lines ty in Pagani in the province of Salerno, where he died at each. Their lyrics are far from joyous, much less conage 90 on August 1, 1787. He is buried in the town’s cerned with the joy of Baby Jesus’ birth than with the basilica named for him. heart-rending sacrifice for mankind of his A prolific writer, Alphonsus published nine edideath. It seems that its author revised the tions of his Moral Theology (1748) during his lifetext of his work several times, but the time. Among his best-known different musical versions could also be works are The Glories of Mary due to its popularity and the slight and The Way of the Cross still used changes made in the different locations in parishes during Lenten devowhere it was first sung. tions. One of the most widely-read The composer Ottorino Respighi inCatholic authors, on April 26,1950 corporated its music in the second Pope Pius XII, who subsequently movement of his symphonic poem wrote of him in his encyclical Trittico Botticelliano (Botticelli’s TripHaurietis aquas about devotion to tych), a work inspired by three of the artist’s most fadivine love (published on May 15, mous paintings: La Primavera (Spring), L’Adorazione 1956), named him the patron saint dei Magi (Adoration of the Three Kings), and La Nasciof confessors and moral theoloG. Galazka photo ta di Venere (The Birth of Venus). Variations of its mugians as well as of lawyers. His feast day is August 1. In sic were recorded in Claudio Villa’s Le intramontabili 1987 Italy issued a 400 lire stamp to commemorate the (1958), in Topo Gigio en Navidad (1961), in Luciano 200th anniversary of St. Alphonsus’ death, and in 1996 Pavarotti’s Carnival (1997), and most recently in the the Vatican issued a 1250 lire stamp to commemorate Piccoli Cantori di Torino’s Buon Natale (2011). Not to the 300th anniversary of his birth. mention that the contemporary Piero Niro wrote a comPreviously, in September 1816, Pope Pius VII beatiposition entitled Three Variations on “Tu scendi dalle fied him; on May 26, 1839 Pope Gregory XVI canonstelle” for a Large Orchestra in 2000, and Andrea Boized him; and in 1871 Pope Pius IX proclaimed him a celli recorded renditions in 2009 and 2015.

Doctor of the Church.

There are several translations of the lyrics into EngJust a few days ago, on November 3, San Paolo Edilish. In the United States the piece was first published in zioni published “Tu scendi dalle stelle… ed è Natale,” 1932 by A. Paolilli’s Music Co. of Providence, Rhode a new book published by the prolific writer Angelo CarIsland, but credits the music to Tommaso Capocci and dinal Comastri. Here His Eminence condemns the conthe words to Pope Pius IX with no mention of St. sumerism and egoism of contemporary Christmas and Alphonsus. In the 1960s several versions of the carol in with this volume tries to help the reader find the real English were recorded. meaning of Christmas: hope and peace.m Although perhaps most famous for this carol, DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 55

THE END EXCERPTS FROM LORD OF THE WORLD

“Look how Christianity has failed” MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO, MONSIGNOR ROBERT HUGH BENSON FORESAW THE RISE OF SECULAR HUMANISM, THE CONTRACTION OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, AND THE COMING OF THE ANTICHRIST... n BY ITV STAFF Editor’s Note: The passage below is from the novel Lord of the World, written by the English Catholic convert Monsignor Robert Hugh Benson (the son of the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury) in 1907. He attempts a vision of the world more than a century in the future — in the early 21st century… our own time… predicting the

LORD OF THE WORLD

BY ROBERT HUGH BENSON (1907) BOOK II-THE ENCOUNTER CHAPTER I II (continued) It would mean enormous labour; all foreign relations would have to be readjusted—trade, policy, methods of government—all demanded re-statement. Europe was already organised internally on a basis of mutual protection: that basis was now gone. There was no more any protection, because there was no more any menace.

Enormous labour, too, awaited the Government in other directions.

A Blue-book must be prepared, containing a complete report of the proceedings in the East, together with the text of the Treaty which had been laid before them in Paris, signed by the Eastern Emperor, the feudal kings, the Turkish Republic, and countersigned by the American plenipotentiaries…. Finally, even home politics required reform: the friction of old strife between centre and extremes must cease forthwith—there must be but one party now, and that at the Prophet’s disposal…. He grew bewildered as he regarded the prospect, and saw how the whole plane of the world was shifted, how the entire foundation of western life required readjustment. It was a Revolution indeed, a cataclysm more stupendous than even invasion itself; but it was the conversion of darkness into light, and chaos into order.

He drew a deep breath, and so sat pondering. ***** Mabel came down to him half-an-hour later, as he dined early before starting for Whitehall.

“Mother is quieter,” she said. “We must be very patient, Oliver.

Have you decided yet as to whether the priest is to come again?”

He shook his head.

“I can think of nothing,” he said, “but of what I have to do. You decide, my dear; I leave it in your hands.”

She nodded.

“I will talk to her again presently. Just now she can understand very little of what has happened…. What time shall you be home?”

“Probably not to-night. We shall sit all night.”

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rise of Communism, the fall of faith in many places, the advance of technology (he foresees helicopters) and so forth, up until... the Second Coming of the Lord, with which his vision ends. For this reason, and also because Pope Benedict and Pope Francis have repeatedly cited Benson’s book, saying its clarification of the danger of a type of humanitarianism without God is a true danger that we do face, we are printing selections from it in ITV, now and in the months ahead.

“Yes, dear. And what shall I tell Mr. Phillips?”

“I will telephone in the morning…. Mabel, do you remember what I told you about the priest?”

“His likeness to the other?”

“Yes. What do you make of that?”

She smiled.

“I make nothing at all of it. Why should they not be alike?”

He took a fig from the dish, and swallowed it, and stood up.

“It is only very curious,” he said. “Now, good-night, my dear.”

III “Oh, mother,” said Mabel, kneeling by the bed; “cannot you understand what has happened?”

She had tried desperately to tell the old lady of the extraordinary change that had taken place in the world—and without success. It seemed to her that some great issue depended on it; that it would be piteous if the old woman went out into the dark unconscious of what had come. It was as if a Christian knelt by the death-bed of a Jew on the first Easter Monday. But the old lady lay in her bed, terrified but obdurate.

“Mother,” said the girl, “let me tell you again. Do you not understand that all which Jesus Christ promised has come true, though in another way? The reign of God has really begun; but we know now who God is. You said just now you wanted the Forgiveness of Sins; well, you have that; we all have it, because there is no such thing as sin. There is only Crime. And then Communion. You used to believe that that made you a partaker of God; well, we are all partakers of God, because we are human beings. Don’t you see that Christianity is only one way of saying all that? I dare say it was the only way, for a time; but that is all over now. Oh! and how much better this is! It is true—true. You can see it to be true!”

She paused a moment, forcing herself to look at that piteous old face, the flushed wrinkled cheeks, the writhing knotted hands on the coverlet.

“Look how Christianity has failed—how it has divided people; think of all the cruelties—the Inquisition, the Religious Wars; the separations between husband and wife and parents and children— the disobedience to the State, the treasons. Oh! you cannot believe that these were right. What kind of a God would that be! And then

God as seen by William Blake as the Architect of the world, in Ancient of Days, held in the British Museum, London

Hell; how could you ever have believed in that?… Oh! mother, don’t believe anything so frightful…. Don’t you understand that God has gone—that He never existed at all—that it was all a hideous nightmare; and that now we all know at last what the truth is…. Mother! think of what happened last night—how He came— the Man of whom you were so frightened. I told you what He was like—so quiet and strong—how every one was silent—of the—the extraordinary atmosphere, and how six millions of people saw Him. And think what He has done—how He has healed all the old wounds—how the whole world is at peace at last—and of what is going to happen. Oh! mother, give up those horrible old lies; give them up; be brave.”

“The priest, the priest!” moaned the old woman at last.

“Oh! no, no, no—not the priest; he can do nothing. He knows it’s all lies, too!”

“The priest! the priest!” moaned the other again. “He can tell you; he knows the answer.”

Her face was convulsed with effort, and her old fingers fumbled and twisted with the rosary. Mabel grew suddenly frightened, and stood up.

“Oh! mother!” She stooped and kissed her. “There! I won’t say any more now. But just think about it quietly. Don’t be in the least afraid; it is all perfectly right.”

She stood a moment, still looking compassionately down; torn by sympathy and desire. No! it was no use now; she must wait till the next day.

“I’ll look in again presently,” she said, “when you have had dinner.

“Mother! don’t look like that! Kiss me!”

It was astonishing, she told herself that evening, how any one could be so blind.

And what a confession of weakness, too, to call only for the priest! It was ludicrous, absurd! She herself was filled with an extraordinary peace. Even death itself seemed now no longer terrible, for was not death swallowed up in victory? She contrasted the selfish individualism of the Christian, who sobbed and shrank from death, or, at the best, thought of it only as the gate to his own eternal life, with the free altruism of the New Believer who asked no more than that Man should live and grow, that the Spirit of the World should triumph and reveal Himself, while he, the unit, was content to sink back into that reservoir of energy from which he drew his life. At this moment she would have suffered anything, faced death cheerfully—she contemplated even the old woman upstairs with pity—for was it not piteous that death should not bring her to herself and reality?

She was in a quiet whirl of intoxication; it was as if the heavy veil of sense had rolled back at last and shown a sweet, eternal landscape behind—a shadowless land of peace where the lion lay down with the lamb, and the leopard with the kid. There should be war no more: that bloody spectre was dead, and with him the brood of evil that lived in his shadow—superstition, conflict, terror, and unreality. The idols were smashed, and rats had run out; Jehovah was fallen; the wild-eyed dreamer of Galilee was in his grave; the

reign of priests was ended. And in their place stood a strange, quiet figure of indomitable power and unruffled tenderness…. He whom she had seen—the Son of Man, the Saviour of the world, as she had called Him just now—He who bore these titles was no longer a monstrous figure, half God and half man, claiming both natures and possessing neither; one who was tempted without temptation, and who conquered without merit, as his followers said. Here was one instead whom she could follow, a god indeed and a man as well—a god because human, and a man because so divine.

She said no more that night. She looked into the bedroom for a few minutes, and saw the old woman asleep. Her old hand lay out on the coverlet, and still between the fingers was twisted the silly string of beads. Mabel went softly across in the shaded light, and tried to detach it; but the wrinkled fingers writhed and closed, and a murmur came from the half-open lips. Ah! how piteous it was, thought the girl, how hopeless that a soul should flow out into such darkness, unwilling to make the supreme, generous surrender, and lay down its life because life itself demanded it!

Then she went to her own room. ***** The clocks were chiming three, and the grey dawn lay on the walls, when she awoke to find by her bed the woman who had sat with the old lady.

“Come at once, madam; Mrs. Brand is dying.”

IV Oliver was with them by six o’clock; he came straight up into his mother’s room to find that all was over.

The room was full of the morning light and the clean air, and a bubble of birdmusic poured in from the lawn. But his wife knelt by the bed, still holding the wrinkled hands of the old woman, her face buried in her arms. The face of his mother was quieter than he had ever seen it, the lines showed only like the faintest shadows on an alabaster mask; her lips were set in a smile.

He looked for a moment, waiting until the spasm that caught his throat had died again.

Then he put his hand on his wife’s shoulder.

“When?” he said.

Mabel lifted her face.

“Oh! Oliver,” she murmured. “It was an hour ago. … Look at this.”

She released the dead hands and showed the rosary still twisted there; it had snapped in the last struggle, and a brown bead lay beneath the fingers.

“I did what I could,” sobbed Mabel. “I was not hard with her.

But she would not listen. She kept on crying out for the priest as long as she could speak.”

“My dear… “ began the man. Then he, too, went down on his knees by his wife, leaned forward and kissed the rosary, while tears blinded him. “Yes, yes,” he said. “Leave her in peace. I would not move it for the world: it was her toy, was it not?”

(End, 3rd part, Book II, The Encounter. To be continued)m DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

57

VATICAN WATCH

By Becky Derks with CNA Reports - Grzegorz Galazka and CNA photos

OCTOBER SATURDAY 10 POPE FRANCIS CALLS FOR “INTEGRAL ECOLOGY” IN TED CLIMATE COUNTDOWN VIDEO Pope Francis sent a video message to the TED Countdown Summit on climate change, explaining how a more “integral ecology” can help the poor.

“Science tells us, with more precision every day, that urgent action is needed—and I am not exaggerating, this is what the science says—if we are to have any hope of avoiding radical and catastrophic climate change. And for this we must act now. This is a scientific fact,” Pope Francis said in the video posted online October 10.

“Conscience tells us that we cannot be indifferent to the suffering of the poorest, to growing economic inequalities and social injustices. And the economy itself cannot be limited to production and distribution. It must necessarily consider its impact on the environment and the dignity of the person,” he added.

MONDAY 12 VATICAN TO TURN BUILDING OFFERED

BY NUNS INTO SHELTER FOR REFUGEES The Vatican said that it would use a building offered to it by a religious order to house refugees.

The Office of Papal Charities announced October 12 that the new center in Rome would offer shelter to people arriving in Italy through the Humanitarian Corridors program.

“The building, which bears the name of Villa Serena, will become a shelter for refugees, especially for single women, women with minors, families in a vulnerable state, who arrive in Italy with the Humanitarian Corridors,” said the Vatican department that oversees charitable works on behalf of the Pope.

The building, provided by the Sisters Servants of Divine Providence of Catania, can accommodate up to 60 people. The center will be overseen by the Community of Sant’Egidio, which helped to launch the Humanitarian Corridors project in 2015. Over the past five years, the Catholic organization has helped more than 2,600 refugees to settle in Italy from Syria, the Horn of Africa, and the Greek island of Lesbos.

The Office of Papal Charities said that the order was responding to Pope Francis’ appeal in his new encyclical Fratelli tutti for those fleeing wars, persecution, and natural disasters to be welcomed generously.

58 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

THURSDAY 15 FORMER SWISS GUARD RELEASES CATHOLIC CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK A new cookbook released October 15 offers recipes, some more than 1,000 years old, that have been served at the Vatican during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

The Vatican Christmas Cookbook is written by chef David Geisser, who is a former member of the Vatican’s Swiss Guard, along with author Thomas Kelly. The book offers stories of the Vatican’s own Christmas celebrations, and includes 100 Vatican Christmas recipes.

The book pays special attention to the Swiss Guard, the small military force that has guarded Popes for five centuries.

“It is only with the cooperation and assistance of the Swiss Guard that we are able to present this compilation of special recipes, stories, and imagery inspired by the Vatican and set in the glory and wonder of the Christmas season,” the book’s foreword explains.

FRIDAY 16 NEW VATICAN COIN DEPICTS “MOTHER CARRYING THE EARTH IN HER WOMB” A new coin minted by the Vatican City State depicts a woman carrying the earth in her womb. The artist who designed the coin, which commemorates Earth Day, has said the design was his response to the ecological theme he was commissioned to portray.

The Vatican City State Mint released a new series of coins October 16, with themes on migrants, Earth Day, the painter Raphael, and the Acts of the Apostles.

The 10 euro silver coin marks the 50th anniversary of World Earth Day. The front of the coin is the image of a pregnant woman embracing her round belly, which looks like a globe. Stalks of wheat are in her hair.

WORLD MISSION SUNDAY: NUMBER OF CATHOLICS CONTINUES TO RISE WORLDWIDE The number of Catholics worldwide increased by almost 16 million in a year to 1.33 billion, according to statistics highlighted by the Vatican ahead of the 2020 World Mission Sunday.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, with Pope Francis. The Pope issued an order that the funds under the control of the Secretariat of State be placed under the control of APSA, the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See

The figures, shared by the Fides News Service October 16, showed that there were 15,716,000 more Catholics at the end of 2018 — the most recent year where numbers are available — compared to 2017.

This took the overall number of Catholics to 1,328,993,000, compared to 1,313,278,000 the year before.

The growth was spread across all inhabited continents, with an increase of 94,000 in Europe, 9.2 million in Africa, 4.5 million in the Americas, 1.8 million in Asia, and 177,000 in Oceania.

Fides noted that this was the third successive year that the number of Catholics in Europe had risen.

But the percentage of Catholics in the world population remained unchanged at 17.73%, meaning that the number of Catholics is increasing in line with broader global population growth.

THURSDAY 22 POPE FRANCIS’ CHRISTMAS LITURGIES TO TAKE PLACE WITHOUT PUBLIC Pope Francis’ Christmas liturgies at the Vatican will be offered without public participation this year, as countries continue to react to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to a letter seen by CNA which was sent by the Secretariat of State to embassies accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis will celebrate the Vatican liturgies of the Christmas season “in a private form without the presence of members of the diplomatic Corps.”

The letter, which was sent by the section for general affairs October 22, said the liturgies will be streamed online. Diplomats accredited to the Holy See usually attend papal liturgies as special guests.

FRIDAY 30 POPE FRANCIS SAYS MORE ACTION COMING IN FIGHT AGAINST VATICAN CORRUPTION Pope Francis has said more changes are on the horizon as the Vatican continues to combat financial corruption inside its walls, but he is cautious about success.

Speaking to Italian news agency AdnKronos this week, Pope Francis said corruption is a deep, recurrent problem in the history of the Church, which he is trying to counter with “small, but concrete steps.”

“Unfortunately, corruption is a cyclical story, it repeats itself, then someone comes along to clean and tidy up, but then it starts again waiting for someone else to come and put an end to this degeneration,” he said in the interview, published October 30.

NOVEMBER WEDNESDAY 4 POPE FRANCIS REQUIRES BISHOPS TO HAVE VATICAN PERMISSION FOR NEW DIOCESAN RELIGIOUS INSTITUTES Pope Francis has changed canon law to require a bishop to have permission from the Holy See prior to establishing a new religious institute in his diocese, further strengthening Vatican oversight over the process.

With a November 4 motu proprio, Pope Francis modified canon 579 of the Code of Canon Law, which concerns the erection of religious orders and congregations, referred to in Church law as institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life.

The Vatican clarified in 2016 that by law the diocesan bishop was required to consult with the Apostolic See before giving canonical recognition to a new institute. The new canon provides further Vatican oversight by requiring the bishop to have the prior written permission of the Apostolic See. According to Pope Francis’ apostolic letter Authenticum charismatis, the change ensures that the Vatican will accompany bishops more closely in their discernment about the erection of a new religious order or congregation, and gives “final judgment” over the decision to the Holy See. THURSDAY 5 POPE FRANCIS TRANSFERS FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION FROM SECRETARIAT OF STATE Pope Francis has requested that responsibility for financial funds and real estate assets, including a controversial London property, be transferred out of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State.

The Pope asked for the management and administration of the funds and investments to be given instead to APSA, which functions as the Holy See’s treasury and sovereign wealth manager, and also administers payroll and operating expenses for Vatican City.

Pope Francis’ decision, outlined in an Aug. 25 letter to Cardinal Pietro Parolin, was made as the Secretariat of State continues to be at the center of unfolding Vatican financial scandals.

In the letter, made public by the Vatican November 5, the Pope asked for “particular attention” to be paid to two specific financial matters: “investments made in London” and the Centurion Global investment fund.

Pope Francis requested that the Vatican “exit as soon as possible” from the investments, or “at least dispose of them in such a way as to eliminate all reputational risks.”n DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

59

PEOPLE B

Y

BECKY DERKS with G. Galazka, CNA and CNS photos

n POPE FRANCIS NAMES NEW FILIPINO CARDINAL Pope Francis has named 68-yearold Filipino Archbishop Jose F. Advincula among 13 prelates to be installed as cardinals at a consistory on November 28. He made the announcement at the Vatican on October 25.

Archbishop Advincula currently heads the Archdiocese of Capiz on the island of Panay in the Visayas region in the Philippines.

The choice of Archbishop Advincula came as a surprise to clergymen and churchgoers in the Philippines.

“Cardinals from the ‘unknown’ or/and ‘unexpected,’ from the margins ... [Pope] Francis’ trait to be handed down to the next Pope. Creating these cardinals would have a chance for a Pope coming from the farthest lands and communities,” said Father Roy Eco, a Filipino priest in the US. (UCA News) n CARDINAL SARAH SAYS WEST MUST WAKE UP TO THREAT OF ISLAMISM AFTER THREE KILLED AT FRENCH CATHOLIC CHURCH Vatican Cardinal Robert Sarah said that the West must wake up to the threat of Islamism after three people were killed in late October at a French church by an attacker shouting “Allahu Akbar.” The Guinean cardinal wrote on Twitter October 29 that “Islamism is a monstrous fanaticism which must be fought with force and determination.”

“It will not stop its war. Unfortunately, we Africans know this all too well. The barbarians are always the enemies of peace,” the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments wrote.

60 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

POLISH CITY UNVEILS GIANT ST. JOHN PAUL II MURAL IN CENTENARY YEAR A Polish city has unveiled a giant mural of St. John Paul II in honor of the birth centenary of the Pope whose feast day is celebrated October 22.

City authorities in Stalowa Wola, southeastern Poland, commissioned the portrait, which is 30 feet wide and 100 feet high, to mark the anniversary year, which is being commemorated by events in Rome and Poland.

The image, on the side of an apartment building on the city’s John Paul II Avenue, depicts the Pope who led the Church from 1978 to 2005 leaning on his crozier while praying. The mural was officially blessed October 18

by Bishop Edward Frankowski, a retired auxiliary bishop of Sandomierz.

At the base of the portrait are words that the Polish Pope spoke about the city: “I embrace with my heart Stalowa Wola, a city symbolic of the great faith of working people.”

The city held a competition to design the mural. The winner, Piotr Topczyłko, was selected by a jury ahead of six other candidates.

(CNA)

“The West, today France, must understand this. Let us pray.”

An attacker armed with a knife killed three people at a church in Nice and wounded others, the mayor of the French city said.

The incident took place at the Basilica of Notre-Dame de Nice October 29 at around 9am local time, according to French media.

(CNA) n “HE LIVED THE BEATITUDES”: MASS OF THANKSGIVING FOR BLESSED FR. MICHAEL MCGIVNEY At the November 1 Mass of thanksgiving for newly beatified Father Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore said

McGivney provides a model for both priests and laypeople of how to “live the Beatitudes.”

“Anyone aspiring to holiness will exhibit those luminous qualities that Jesus perfectly exemplified... having lived the Beatitudes so consistently and thoroughly, Father McGivney led his parishioners to holiness,” Lori said in his homily.

Pope Francis, via apostolic letter, beatified McGivney October 31, making him the fourth U.S.born man to be beatified, joining Bl. Stanley Rother, Bl. James Miller, and Bl. Solanus Casey.

Archbishop Lori, who serves as Supreme Chaplain for the Knights of Columbus, was the principal celebrant at the November 1 Mass of Thanksgiving. (CNA) n KILLING OF CATECHIST ALARMS INDONESIA’S CATHOLIC BISHOPS Catholic bishops in Indonesia met with government officials this week to express concern about the

violence in Papua province after a Catholic catechist was shot and killed by security forces.

Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta, chairman of the Indonesian bishops’ conference, was part of the delegation of three bishops that met with Indonesia’s security minister Mohammad Mahfud MD in Jakarta on November 1.

Two of Papua’s bishops also took part in the meeting, which was held days after Rufinus Tigau was killed by soldiers in Intan Jaya district, Papua province.

Tigau, 28, had served as a catechist and translator at St. Michael Bilogai Parish since 2015, a local priest told UCA News. A military spokesman said that Tigau was a member of the Armed Separatist Criminal Group — a claim which his diocesan apostolic administrator has disputed. (CNA) n MALAYSIA’S FIRST CARDINAL DIES AT THE AGE OF 88 Cardinal Anthony Soter Fernandez died October 28 at a home run by the Little Sisters of the Poor in the town of Cheras, according to a communiqué from the Arch-

From left: Fr. Leonard Melki, Fr. Thomas Saleh, Fr. Luigi Lenzini, and Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos

POPE FRANCIS RECOGNIZES MARTYRDOM OF LEBANESE PRIESTS KILLED UNDER OTTOMAN EMPIRE Pope Francis advanced the sainthood causes of nine men and women, including two Lebanese priests martyred under the Ottoman Empire. Fr. Leonard Melki and Fr. Thomas Saleh were Capuchin friars and missionaries in what is now Turkey who were arrested, tortured, and martyred by the forces of the Ottoman Empire in 1915 and 1917 respectively.

Melki was given a choice: convert to Islam and be freed, or die as a Christian. Refusing to apostatize, the Lebanese priest was forced to march with more than 400 Christian prisoners into the desert, where he was killed “in hatred of the faith” on June 11, 1915, alongside the Armenian Catholic archbishop Blessed Ignatius Maloyan, who was beatified by John Paul II in 2001.

Saleh was arrested and sentenced to death after giving shelter to an Armenian priest during the Armenian genocide. Before his death, he said: “I have full trust in God, I am not afraid of death,” according to the Capuchin Order in Lebanon.

Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Melki and Saleh on October 28, as well as that of two other martyrs: Fr. Luigi Lenzini, who was killed in Italy in 1945, and Brazilian Isabel Cristina Mrad Campos, who was murdered in 1982 at the age of 20 for resisting rape. (CNA)

diocese of Kuala Lumpur. Fernandez, who served as archbishop of Kuala Lumpur from 1983 to 2003, was diagnosed with tongue cancer in November and had been receiving palliative care.

He made history on November 19, 2016, when he received the red hat, becoming the first cardinal in the Southeast Asian country’s history. (CNA) n KILLER OF MARTYRED ITALIAN NUN: “I CAN HAVE OF HER ONLY A MEMORY OF LOVE” The three teenage girls who killed Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti 20 years ago attested afterward that, while they were stabbing the 60-year-old religious sister to death, she told them she forgave them.

“The sister cried out. She said she would not report us. That she forgave us,” Milena De Giambattista, Ambra Gianasso, and Veronica Pietrobelli told police when they confessed to killing the woman as part of a Satanic ritual.

In May, Pope Francis declared Venerable Maria Laura Mainetti a martyr, killed in “hatred of the faith” in Chiavenna, Italy. She will be beatified on June 6, 2021, the 21st anniversary of her murder.

Milena De Giambattista wrote to Sr. Mainetti’s religious community some years after the act. “I can have of her only a memory of love. And in addition to this, it also allowed me to believe in something that is neither God nor Satan, but which was a simple woman who defeated evil,” Milena wrote.

“Now in her I find comfort and the grace to endure everything. I always pray and I am sure she will help me become a better person.”

(CNA)m DECEMBER 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 61

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Stefano Navarrini illustration

n BY MOTHER MARTHA

I

n early November I received a press release from Sarah Lemieux, the Publicity Coordinator of Sophia Institute Press about its recent publication, The Vatican Christmas Cookbook.

It’s the sequel to its best-seller The Vatican Cookbook, which I reviewed in ITV’s August/September 2018 issue.

Both volumes are sponsored by the Pontifical Swiss Guards and The Holy See of the Vatican City State and co-authored by former Swiss Guard David Geisser, one of Switzerland’s leading chefs and TV cooking show hosts. In between these Vatican volumes, Geisser has written three more cookbooks, available only in German.

In this second Vatican volume, Geisser researched and wrote the some 70 recipes (many, perhaps too many, though not unexpectedly, from Swiss and Italian kitchens). His American co-author Thomas Kelly, a resident of Cleveland, wrote the interval texts about the legends, traditions, and history of Christmas in Vatican City and around the world. The images of food are by the Swiss photographer Roy Matter, who has previously collaborated with Geisser on three of his best-selling cookbooks.

The Vatican Christmas Cookbook, available from Amazon ($34.95), follows the Christmas calendar: Advent, Christmas Eve, Christmas, and Epiphany.

Other chapters are “Dishes on the Side” (all featuring potatoes or rice), “The Joy of Fondue,” “Christmas with the Popes,” “Christmas Desserts” (a vast selection, although oddly missing are Panettone, Panforte, Bûche de Noël, Plum Pudding, Gingerbread Houses, and Makowiec), “Christmas Prayers and Graces,” “Christmas Around the World,” specifically on the traditions in Argentina, Egypt, the Philippines, and Switzerland, but including recipes from many countries.

In the introduction, Geisser explains that he included recipes for fondues and fajitas “because these dishes are meant to be shared at the table among friends, family, and guests. These are the best of meals because they encourage and emphasize the human touch.” Then, at the beginning of the chapter “The Joy of Fondue,” he confesses that he couldn’t omit fondue because it’s a Swiss specialty.

Although I would have expected Kelly’s chapter on “Christmas with the Popes” to be longer, he recounts the holiday of only four years: 451 AD, 592 AD, 1919, and 1981.

THE VATICAN CHRISTMAS COOKBOOK

By 451 the ferocious barbarian warrior Atilla the Hun had invaded most of Asia, Eastern Europe, Gaul (today’s France), and northern Italy. Rome was his next objective, even though the Roman Empire was collapsing and the plague and famine had left this once world-dominating city virtually de-

fenseless.

Nonetheless, the fearless Pope Leo I (reigned 44061), later known as Leo the Great and canonized, traveled with an unarmed delegation of bishops and priests to meet Attila, flanked by his entire army, near today’s city of Mantua. It seems Pope Leo asked Attila for mercy, but there are no official reports of why Attila had a change of heart, withdrew his troops, and retreated to the north. According to legend, during the meeting with Pope Leo, he was shaken by a vision of St. Peter and St. Paul brandishing swords in the sky.

Although I couldn’t find a reason for Kelly’s choice of singling out the Christmas of 592, there’s no doubt that Gregory the Great (Pope from 590 to 604), who had been born into a wealthy and politically powerful Roman family, was one of the most admirable early Popes. Soon after his mother became a nun, he put aside his political career for a life of monastic piety. Although never wanting to be Pope, particularly noteworthy during his reign were his land reforms to support Rome’s poor, and his diplomacy.

For example, his closest advisor, the missionary St. Augustine of Canterbury (not to be confused with his more famous namesake, St. Augustine of Hippo) converted the Anglo-Saxons.

Not surprisingly, Gregory was canonized quickly after his death. Today he’s best known as a music lover and the promoter of plainsong, later named Gregorian chant.

The chronological gap between 592 and 1919 seems excessive even if the moral fiber of many Popes during the Renaissance and the Baroque was dubious. However, 1919’s Christmas was an appropriate date to celebrate. The First World War had ended the year before and the Spanish flu was de-escalating even if only briefly. (Three years later, Pope Benedict XV (1914-1922) succumbed to the disease.)

Christmas 1981 was certainly a date to celebrate. Pope, now Saint, John Paul II had recovered, if never completely, from Ali Aca’s assassination attempt on May 13 of the same year. All celebrated John Paul’s recovery that Christmas.m

The cover and some pages of The Vatican Christmas Cookbook; David Geisser (when a Swiss Guard 2013-15), coauthor with Thomas Kelly of the book

62 INSIDE THE VATICAN DECEMBER 2020

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