Inside the Vatican magazine June/July 2020

INSIDE THE

JUNE-JULY 2020 $5 / EUR 5 / £3.30

VATICAN

CHILDREN FIRST ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.

IN A TIME OF PANDEMIC....

HOW SHOULD WE DEFEND CHILDREN’S HEALTH? HOW SHOULD WE PROTECT THEM FROM A VIRUS, BUT ALSO FROM A RUSHED VACCINE? THE NOBLE CRUSADE OF A KENNEDY

A MERICA on T RIAL A Defense of the Founding

"Robert Reilly digs down very deep into the past, down before America . . . to the ultimate source of the transcendent law available to human reason, the ‘Laws of Nature and of Nature's God’. Under these laws, America was formed."

— Larry P. Arnn, Ph.D., President, Hillsdale College

"It would be hard to imagine a more robust or comprehensive account of the deep roots of the American Founding than Reilly provides here. His strong, steady voice warrants particular attention."

— Robert Royal, Ph.D., President, Faith & Reason Institute

"A defense of the principles of natural law, morality, and natural religion as the foundation of American policy from the beginning and a historical 'big picture' of their classical, medieval, and modern origins."

— Peter Kreeft, Ph.D., Professor of Philosophy, Boston College

"Reminiscent of Russell Kirk. Reilly makes clear that the intellectually broad, historically deep arguments of the Founders cannot be reduced to those of John Locke. Essential reading about America's real roots."

— Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D., Professor of Political Science, Franciscan University

"It's become fashionable in Christian intellectual circles to condemn the American Founding as just so much bad Enlightenment philosophy. Reilly shows convincingly that these charges are misguided."

— Jay Richards, Ph.D., Senior Fellow, Discovery Institute

"Reilly demonstrates that the roots of our country are grounded deeply not in Modernist heresies but in Jerusalem, Athens, and Rome. Our current decay can be reversed by embracing where we really came from."

— Austin Ruse, President, Center for Family & Human Rights

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he Founding of the American Republic is on trial. Critics say it was a poison pill with a time-release formula; we are its victims. Its principles are responsible for the country's moral and social disintegration because they were based on the Enlightenment falsehood of radical individual autonomy.

In this well-researched book, Robert Reilly declares: not guilty. To prove his case, he traces the lineage of the ideas that made the United States, and its ordered liberty, possible. These concepts were extraordinary when they first burst upon the ancient world: the Judaic oneness of God; the Greek rational order of the world based upon the Reason behind it; and the Christian arrival of that Reason (Logos) incarnate in Christ. These may seem a long way from the American Founding, but Reilly argues that they are, in fact, its bedrock. Combined, they mandated the exercise of both freedom and reason.

Why are these concepts being rejected today? Reilly reveals the underlying drama: the conflict of might makes right versus right makes might. America's decline, he claims, is not to be discovered in the Founding principles, but in their disavowal.

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EDITORIAL

by Robert Moynihan

The Human Body Is a Temple

The human body is a temple. It is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, given to us by God. We must treat the body with the same respect with which we treat a religious building, dedicated to God: with reverence and piety

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?” —1 Corinthians 6:19 “The purveyors of darkness in the world are many, and growing. Perhaps the COVID crisis is the Lord’s way of awakening the Church to the powers and principalities that threaten us — the health of our bodies, the freedom of our souls.”

—Robert Kennedy, Jr., son of Senator Robert Kennedy, assassinated in June of 1968, 52 years ago. His son, devastated by the loss of his father, passed through many years of difficulties.

Now he leads a global movement in defense of the health of children. We interview him in our “Lead Story #1” in this issue on the question of a (hypothetical) vaccine for the coronavirus “We are all called to assess the current situation in a way consistent with the teaching of the Gospel. This means taking a stand: either with Christ or against Christ... Let us not allow centuries of Christian civilization to be erased under the pretext of a virus, and an odious technological tyranny to be established.” —Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, in a May 8 Appeal to the Church and to the World, signed by more than 50,000 people around the globe.

The Appeal is the subject of our “Lead Story #2” in this issue

June 15, 2020— These recent months have been “times that try men’s souls” as the coronavirus has spread worldwide, countries have “locked down” their economies, travel has been greatly reduced, schools have been closed or gone “online,” millions of jobs have been lost, thousands of businesses have closed, at least temporarily, and all of this was followed by the death of George Floyd, 46, on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, followed by protests again police violence and racism thoughout America and worldwide, including the toppling of many statues and the burning of many businesses. It appears that our entire world is in a state of danger, confusion, violence and looming poverty.

At the same time, there are many noble souls who continue to calmly do their work: so many doctors, so many mothers and fathers, and so many in every profession, seeking to “hold fast” what is right in spite of the dangers of these times. We would like to salute all of you, the “unsung heroes” who go about the duties of daily life with heroic patience and courage.

But we would also like to salute those who have been brave enough to take a public stance against the confusion and chaos that seems to be springing up all around us. One is Robert Kennedy, Jr., who has become a defender of the health of children worldwide, and the other is Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, who continues to speak out regularly in defense of the Catholic faith in a time when that faith is increasingly regarded as unacceptable in “polite” circles. This does not mean that either man is perfect. It does mean that our public discourse would be lamentably impoverished if we did not have the voices of these men to provide an alternative vision for how to cope with this crisis.

In this sense, both men are a little like the young lad David who went up against the Philistine giant, Goliath, with only a slingshot and five smooth stones.

The first is trying to defend the bodies of human beings, particularly the bodies of children, from the potential harm stemming from medical technologies — vaccines, but not only vaccines — which are very profitable, but not always without side effects, and sometimes quite harmful. He is calling insistently for more science, more knowledge, not for ignorance and throwing science away. “How can we do things better?” is his insistent question.

And he is right, and courageous, to ask the question in a time when very powerful interests do not want such questions asked.

“What of the healthy children whose health may be permanently damaged by experimental vaccines in the name of the ‘greater good’?” interviewer Stefanie Stark asks Kennedy in our interview with him. “And what of the unborn babies upon whose remains vaccine manufacturers are building a vast new enterprise?”

And she suggests: “Perhaps the COVID crisis is the Lord’s way of awakening the Church to the powers and principalities that threaten us — the health of our bodies, the freedom of our souls. It seems that we, the faithful, are being called to take up our own slingshots with the bravery of our forebear David, and stand against the Goliaths who believe our health and freedom are theirs to grasp.”

Archbishop Viganò is increasingly becoming a sign of contradiction, with many appreciating what they see as his courage and candor in denouncing abuse and calling for fidelity to the traditional faith of the Church, but with many others beginning to condemn him as intemperate and exaggerated, and dangerously so. I have spoken to him recently about this growing division in how Catholics view his declarations. “I am trying to follow my conscience,” Viganò told me. “I am trying to go deeper down to the root of the problem. I am praying to the Blessed Virgin and to Our Lord to grant me the wisdom to see clearly.”

However one judges him, Viganò is certainly right that, collectively, we ought not “allow centuries of Christian civilization to be erased under the pretext of a virus.” To use the words of Stefanie Stark, “It seems that we, the faithful, are being called to take up our own slingshots with the bravery of our forebear David, and stand against the Goliaths who believe our health and freedom are theirs to grasp” — who believe the heritage of faith handed down to us is theirs to forget, discard, condemn.

Peter was the first leader of the Church, chosen by Jesus to become “the rock” upon which He would build His Church. We know Peter denied the Lord three times on the night He was arrested. When the cock crowed at dawn, Peter realized what he had done, and “wept bitter tears.” We know Jesus said to Peter: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” (Lk 22:31-32) May it be always so.m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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JUNE-JULY 2020

CONTENTS

Year 28, #6

LEAD STORY #1 Interview with Robert Kennedy, Jr, on Coming Coronavirus Vaccines

by Stefanie Stark, special correspondent for ITV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

MAJUNE-JULYY 2020 Year 28, #6

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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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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.

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INSIDE THE VATICAN

JUNE-JULY 2020

LEAD STORY #2 WORLD/A Cry for Dignity

by Robert Moynihan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 OPEN LETTER/Appeal for the Church and the World, May 8, 2020

by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 DOSSIER: The Coronavirus and the Church China: Coronavirus in China: A Diary

by Theresa Li, in China . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Economy: Distributing the earth’s goods during a public health crisis

by Thomas Storck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Social teaching: “Essential” principles during lockdowns

by Michael Severance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 Medicine: The virus between faith and medicine

by Dr. Thomas W. McGovern, M.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Europe: The strains on the European community intensify

by Giuseppe Rusconi, in Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 CULTURE THEOLOGY/Women in seminary formation: The promise and the challenge

by Dr. Deborah Savage, Ph.D., St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28 COMMENTARY/Is CDF survey an attack on Summorum Pontificum?

by Dr. Peter Kwasniewski, Ph.D. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 COMMENTARY/Harvard scholar proposes homeschooling ban: A response

by Dr. William Edmund Fahey, President, Thomas More College . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .34 EDUCATION/A bold vision: Catholic higher education

by President Richard Ludwick, University of St. Thomas, Houston, Texas . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 ANNIVERSARY/Seven years later: A reflection on Pope Emeritus Benedict at 93

by William Doino, Jr. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38 INTERVIEW/

by Dr. Jan Bentz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40 SCRIPTURE/

by Prof. Anthony Esolen, Magdalen College, New Hampshire, USA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .42 INTERIOR CASTLE/

by A Hermitess . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44

URBI ET ORBI: CATHOLICISM AND ORTHODOXY Icon/

by Robert Wiesner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46 Spirituality/

By Father El Meskeen (1919-2006) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47 East-West Watch/

by Peter Anderson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48 News from the East:

by Becky Derks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49 FEATURES LATIN/”Holy Smoking” in Piazza Mastai: an inscription in Trastevere

by John Byron Kuhner, Paideia Institute, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Art/The Uffizi Galleries in Florence, before and after the virus

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: March, April, May

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

by Becky Derks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60 Food for Thought/Religious houses to stay in when visiting Italy

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

EYjjaY_]$ K]p Yf\ ?g\ k E]j[q EYjjaY_]$ K]p Yf\ ?g\ k E]j[q

X HABITS FOR A HEALTHY MARRIAGE: A Handbook for Catholic Couples — Richard Fitzgibbons, M.D.

D

rawing on forty years’ experience as a psychiatrist, Fitzgibbons presents twelve habits that foster healing and growth in Catholic marriages. He helps couples to identify and resolve major emotional conflicts that weaken relationships and hurt their marriages.

This unique work draws on the field of positive psychology, focusing on growth in particular virtues that help couples overcome common marital problems. It shows how forgiveness is the path to healing, and also incorporates the luminous writings of St. John Paul II on marriage. A book to help those newly engaged, recently HHMP . . . Sewn Softcover, $17.95 married, or married for many years.

“Provides a penetrating guide to the virtues that sustain strong and happy marriages.

Highly recommended!"

— W. Bradford Wilcox, Ph.D., Director, National Marriage Project, University of Virginia

X SEX AND THE CATHOLIC FEMINIST: New Choices for a New Generation Sue Ellen Browder hallenging the notion you can't be a feminist and believe in God, former Cosmopolitan writer Browder echoes St. John Paul II's call to embody a "new feminism," a radical new view of women's dignity. She uncovers why the pro-life thread of feminism in America has been ignored by the media and left out of public conversation for fifty years.

Tracing the history of feminism in America, Browder reveals the core of various feminist movements: a desperate search for personhood. She shows that placing one’s identity anywhere other than in God will prove unfulfilling, and that feminism rooted in this truth is authentic feminism that we should reclaim and celebrate. SCFP . . . Sewn Softcover, $15.95

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“A must-read for anyone interested in the 20th century history of feminism, its manipulation by powerful men, and the exciting beginnings of the long road back to sanity.” — Fiorella Nash, Author, The Abolition of Woman: How Radical

Feminism Is Betraying Women

X MERCY: What Every Catholic Should Know Fr. Daniel Moloney tarting from an unexpected perspective, this book approaches mercy from a political point of view, explaining how mercy is intimately interwoven with politics and power, and touches upon topics like legal punishments, the death penalty, and self-defense. It eloquently explains how mercy is not synonymous with leniency, but is a response to a privation of something which ought to be there.

He highlights God's identity as a loving Father, explaining how the most loving route to take for your children and for their ultimate good is sometimes through the course of tough love. God is always good and loving, and his justice and mercy go hand-in-hand. MWCKP . . . Sewn Softcover, $16.95

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“Moloney untangles the concept of mercy from its sentimentalized counterfeits, providing us with a theologically rich and rigorous account of God's loving kindness to His wayward creatures." — R. Reno, Editor, Editor, First Things

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INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

Please accept my very sincere sympathy on the death of your father. What a beautiful tribute you paid to him in the May issue.

This magazine also had some wonderful news, especially the acquittal of Cardinal Pell of all charges. I hope he will have several peaceful and productive years ahead of him and when the time comes, his current unjust suffering will be considered sufficient to proclaim him Blessed as a Martyr to the Faith.

I am also very interested in the removal of the slander against Pius XII. The “Tending to the Soul First, Then the Body” is a gem, and having lived through the selling out of Mindszenty made me fully agree with Cardinal Zen. John Alpar Amarillo, Texas, USA

“WE NEVER REALLY GET OVER IT” Viganò’s testimonies and subsequent commentaries have been and continue to be chilling. Since I’m 82, my faith was formed during the agonies of WWII and the recovery decade of the 1950s. My life was a series of sinking into the depths of sin and disbelief in more ways than I like to remember, but 43 years ago the Hound of Heaven brought me back, thank God. I remember that in the worst of times Mom prayed to St. Monica for me.

From my position as just a guy in the back pew somewhere, I know that Viganò is the Jonah of this age... he is a clear voice in opposition to the destruction Satan is working inside our Church. I’m waiting for your book with anticipation, but wishing it wasn’t needed.

I did not know that your dad followed your mom in March until this letter arrived. I had the same experience; I don’t think that losing parents is something we ever really get over.

Joe Murray Mobile, Alabama, USA

@

father’s passing has given you renewed courage. Thank you!

Tom Greerty tgreerty@aol.com

“FINAL CHAT”?

I was sorry to read that your father died on March 28 and that the government rules at the time forbade gatherings of more than five people at his funeral. It was obvious from your newsletters that you really loved him. May he rest in peace!

With regard to the brave priest who came to administer the last rites to your father, and the hesitation of many priests to do so, understandable as it may be, who in their right minds would suggest to a dying man that he telephone the clergy to have a final chat? Why not approach the enclosed monasteries to seek priestly volunteers to accept the role of hospital chaplain?

Men have volunteered for dangerous assignments during the wars. All they need is the appropriate safety clothing and a secure dwelling. Pray the Rosary every day!

Pat Ryan opm.semper@gmail.com

RESTORE PHILOMENA! Pope Francis has said, “Engagement — we hear it in the word — has to do with trust, confidence, reliability — confidence in the vocation that God gives, because marriage is first of all the discovery of a call from God.” Someone should recommend that the Holy Father return the Feast of the Espousal of Mary & Joseph (January 23) back to the Church’s Universal Calendar.

What better example in support of his comments than Mary and Joseph?

Also, I would request adding the feast of the great St. Philomena (August 11) whose veneration was recommended by St. Pius X. James Merkel merk13@yahoo.com

“RENEWED COURAGE”

VIGANÒ’S TESTIMONY

You have recovered your speech. Your

Thank you for immediately releasing

Vegano’s testimony last year. So much good has resulted. Your follow-up with your letters gives us the documentation we dread but need. It seems a clean sweep will leave very few priests...

Hans & Ann Brebeck schlossb25@gmail.com

THANK YOU (Re: Moynihan Letter #8, April 23, 2020: The Long Hand) Thank you so much for these letters.

They truly resound with the truth of our one, holy and apostolic Catholic faith.

God bless you and keep you safe in His arms, Mrs. Lane Campau St. Augustine, Florida, USA

“COMPLICIT SILENCE” I read with special interest both your son Christopher’s translation of the interview with Archbishop Viganò and the Letter from a subscriber. Both astonishing.

This apostasy, heresy and corruption have been going on since the inception of Vatican II, which was thoroughly subverted — the pure evil of this situation is manifest in the need of Archbishop Viganò to be “in hiding” for his safety.

The silence from the clergy who are aware of schemes against the traditional faith “is deafening.” I accuse them collectively of total incompetence, malfeasance and responsibility to the Church and faithful. Their silence makes them complicit.

Victor J. Cameron vcamco@comcast.net

ABOUT VIGANÒ, CHINA, AND THE GLOBAL ORDER I read the articles about Chinese bishops in the April 2020 ITV.

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1: Until now, Observation Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò’s material in Inside the Vatican seemed fairly normal. However, his open letter to Cardinal Zen does not comport with proper diplomatic tone, nor with proper manners. His opening remarks using the title “Pope Bergoglio” instead of “Pope Francis” sets an unfortunate tone which only gets worse. It is difficult to put much stock in a defense that has language so far removed from common decency.

Observation 2: The arguments over whether previous Popes would have approved the agreement are only one part of the issue. What we would like to know is whether the faithful have benefited from it. Has it helped to spread the Gospel?

What alternatives are there?

Observation 3: Inside the Vatican has put too much emphasis on Archbishop Viganò. There are thousands of bishops.

Surely some of them have informed and wide-ranging views on the issues — why are they not included also?

Observation 4: Inside the Vatican could include more articles from professors about Church history. In over 2000 years, how has the Church handled the appointment of bishops in other countries? Time to include some real scholarship.

Observation 5: The U.S. and China have been moving more and more into political opposition. As anti-China sentiment grows in the West, China may recall the role of the Vatican during the USSR period and the current roles of Western NGOs in regime-change projects — making it more difficult to fulfill the agreement on bishops.

Observation 6: The Vatican is caught between an old world order that is collapsing and a new one being born, from a unipolar order to a multipolar order in international relations. As Foreign Affairs magazine puts it: “Who Will Run the World? America, China, and Global Order.” (January/February 2019) Inside the Vatican could do a service to its readers by commissioning articles that address this issue. Perhaps some Catholic universities would be a place to start, in addition to the Vatican diplomatic corps.

Ryan Dudley xrdudley@verizon.net

CARDINAL BURKE AND STEVE BANNON (Re: Moynihan Letter #36, June 26, 2019: Update on Burke-Bannon) Steve Bannon, like Donald Trump, thinks out loud and drops names too easily. But he has a breadth of vision — it’s sad that his insights are so quickly dismissed.

Cardinal Burke pulled back from his association with a project sponsored by Bannon because he was (rightly) afraid of where this might be going... And Frederic Martel, the homo-activist, author of In the Closet of the Vatican, may have spent a lot of time around the Vatican, but to say that 80 to 90% of the Vatican clergy are homosexual is ridiculous. But Martel is right to expose the moral rot in the Vatican. I spent a few years some time ago with Catholic Charities counseling people with this attraction, and they think everyone is homo or latently homo — that’s part of the disorder. We should all recognize that we need God’s truth and God’s grace, cf.

Romans, Chapter 1 and 2nd Peter, Chapter 2. Only the perennial moral

The Vintage Catholic – Sacred Art & Antiques –

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred....” Pope Benedict XVI

www.thevintagecatholic.com JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR teaching of Christ and His Church can lift us out of this mess.

Fr. Joseph Fishwick jf170575@gmail.com

THE APOSTOLATE OF THE PEN I have found great pleasure in reading your remarkable letters as posted directly to my in-box. I am also delighted with the insight, tact and constructive balance which, in my opinion, you maintain consistently in your analyses and presentation of the issues addressed in your magazine.

Reading and learning of the many successful pilgrimages arranged by you and undertaken with other collaborators is personally elating for me, because I led and coordinated such a faith journey myself in 2000, while serving as administrator of Mater Dei Cathedral, Diocese of Umuahia in Abia State, Nigeria. It can only be richly rewarding for anyone privileged enough to make the list of these pilgrimages you coordinate. It’s a great proposal and I do pray that other pastors may buy the idea.

I wish I were to one day find myself on a journey where my surprise will be to meet Robert Moynihan! I mean, like one of those memorable ones wherein, you described the man you met by chance, turned out to be Fr. Rupert Berger, pastor of St. Oswald’s, Bavaria, ordained with Father Joseph Ratzinger in 1951. I am sure that neither you nor any of your fellow pilgrims bargained for the extras, or even hoped to be treated to that Bavarian “scrambled pancake” which had been such a delight of our beloved Pope Emeritus! How providential!

So, yes, I am one of those who cherish the apostolate of the pen which you practice so dedicatedly and professionally.

I subscribe to your rich magazine and I continue to renew my subscription because of the depth of wisdom, faith and objectivity which characterize your treatment of the available materials, including the very sensitive and delicate information which you often handle therein.

Fr. Modestus Mgbaramuko Catholic Parish of Sandgate-Brighton Brisbane, Queensland, Australia 10

INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

GNOSTIC DOUBLESPEAK (Re: Moynihan Letter #8, February 20, 2019: Tomorrow, on the eve of the Pope’s Summit on Sexual Abuse in Rome) I simply do not understand how you fail to discern this deception called Bergoglio.

Not many can discern his gnostic doublespeak, promoting pagan teachings but covered with Christian terminology. Laudato Si is the ultimate example, and I find mindboggling that not a single Catholic site or blog spot says that. Please wake up, because this is the very last battle for souls and you are more responsible in that you have an audience to instruct.

Luis Rodrigues Coelho luisfcrcoelho@googlemail.com

AT THE CROSSROADS Thank you for the last three Moynihan Letters — very powerful and informative.

The world is at the crossroads in so many ways. The outcome could not be more important, as it includes, as you state, the rampant moral abuses in the form of education, social media and within the Church.

Linda Smith pinkcheeks311@gmail.com

VIGANÒ ON FATIMA (Re: Moynihan Letter #7, April 22, 2020: Viganó on the (Unrevealed) Third Secret of Fatima) I have been a subscriber to ITV off and on for years (more off than on recently due to the economic impact of my seven kids).

I have been active in both the Church and politics, worked for the NCCB, was one of the original founders of the Cardinal Newman Society, and have worked on Capitol Hill for 15 years. During these times, it has always been a struggle to live as a Catholic, being the sinner I am. With that said, your letters have obviously tracked what I would call the “mystical” experience of living in these times. This last letter is particularly helpful, and has given me much help and confidence in how to proceed going forward in these times.

Christopher Caron Ccaron@steptoe.com Excellent. It has occurred to me (and doubtless others) that now would be a time for the Holy Father, with all other bishops, to consecrate Russia to Our Lady. Surely even President Putin would readily agree.

(A request to Our Lady to end the virus... just like the requests of Lepanto; and of Cardinal Sin in the Philippines). But of course great Faith is needed.

Robert Copsey, s.o.l.t. fathercopsey@yahoo.co.uk

What about the book Fatima in Lucia’s Own Words? She seems to go along with what the Vatican said about the three secrets. Do you think she was just being obedient to the Vatican in letting them say that St. John Paul II’s experience was included in the 3rd secret? I have always felt (like Benedict XVI) that this secret was still not fulfilled... When I read Cardinal Bertone’s book The Last Secret of Fatima I felt it was incomplete... as if he alone had the last say about these secrets... end of discussion. Hope you do some digging on this! Let us heed the Blessed Virgin’s warnings and pray hard.

Lorrie Schmidt lighthouseseven7@aol.com I cannot tell you how happy my heart is that you have spent time with Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò… and that you are writing a book. May I please have the first one? Autographed, right off the press! This man is a living saint. There are darn few left these days! Having lived 55 years in Alaska with liberal bishops and priests, I can tell you it has been a spiritual nightmare.

Nita Young Kenai, Alaska, USA In the Blessed Mother’s appearances in Tre Fontane, Italy, in 1947, and again in Akita, Japan in the late 70s and early 80s, she described the problems that we have been seeing in the Church. It seems that Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s 1969 German radio description of the future of the Church is becoming more likely to be the reality. It would, then, seem that we need to prepare for that future; for example, there would need to be some reliable way for small scattered groups of Catholics to communicate amongst themselves and for true seekers to be able to join.

Frank W. Russell philosophicallyfrank@msn.com

“TOO MANY TANGENTS” I hope you are keeping well during this COVID-19 pandemic. I respected Bishop Viganò’s original calls for clarity and

action on Archbishop McCarrick and the whole clerical abuse scandal, and his call for a cleanup at the Vatican, but I find he is getting off on too many tangents of late and claiming things beyond his competence (like this).

Fr. Lindsay Harrison Ottawa, Canada

ISLAM AND ABRAHAM The answer to Islam which claims Abraham and his faith to be theirs, is in Luke Chapter 3:7-8, where John the Baptist says to God's own chosen people: “He therefore began saying to the multitudes who were going out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore bring forth fruits in keeping with repentance, and do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.”

Also, Christ established His Church with married and unmarried men and with some married men in the hierarchy, so perhaps a clear look as to why the Church adopted the discipline for the priest to not be married is needed. Had faith gone cold and the unmarried state was all they could think to do? Calling for mighty strengthening by the Holy Spirit was the answer, and separating from the worldliness of governing the world would probably have helped much.

Claudia Person personcm@comcast.net

COURAGEOUS CARDINAL I was glad to learn that, during and after World War II, my parents had as their Church leader Cardinal DeJong of Utrecht. The “green police” — lackeys of the Nazi occupiers — one day came to arrest the Cardinal. At the door, he responded, “Oh... a minute please, while I get ready and dress up.” He returned to waiting traitors in full Bishop’s apparel.

They all slunk away.

Providentially today we have again, ruling the See of Utrecht, Cardinal Wim Jacobus Eijk (means “Oak”), a worthy successor of the intrepid Cardinal DeJong.

Your continued faithful “relaying” of momentous — yes, far-reaching and penetrating — news from Rome surely is the Divine Mercy for beleaguered Catholics (and all of Good Will)!

Robert Sontrop bsontrop@gmail.com

“IT IS NOT RIGHT” It seems the old foundations of our Church, at least since it became overbuilt clerically, are being restructured to conform more closely to the vision of Jesus when he called fishermen and named Peter first among them and sent the Holy Spirit to guide and empower them.

Personally, I don’t think it is right to scapegoat Francis for the clerical sins and failings over the past hundred years or more. Francis inherited a terrible mess!

My approach is to let God be God and pray for our beloved Church.

It seems to me that all the “Francis haters,” Viganò and Burke among them, are jumping on this opportunity to “get him” because of his pastoral approach to marriage and divorce. (It challenges the clerical authoritarian and legalistic mindset which has enabled the present scandals.) Lord have mercy on Pope Francis, and them and us all.

Carol Marquardt mamacackie@aol.com I am so grateful to Archbishop Viganò as Bishops (of good will, who are serious Catholics) will only listen to another Bishop… maybe. Plenty of the laity have been saying for decades what Archb.

Viganò is saying today. We think very much as a hierarchical Church, thinking obey first and then be cautious about examining anything which suggests there is a disconnect between obeying and the Faith of Christ and the Apostles. The trouble is, catechesis in Catholic schools and Churches has been non-doctrinal since the 1970s and people are not used to the hard work of thinking logically.

But then again, all is Grace. We have at least two Watchmen: Viganò and Schneider.

Hopefully more Bishops and Priests will stand up and agree with this content.

The trouble of course is, if they speak publicly, they can be removed, so Bishops are key to a solution. God bless!

Louise Brady bradybunch77@optusnet.com.au

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11

LEAD STORY #1 Below, Robert Kennedy, Jr., son of the late Robert Kennedy. Right, Father Paul D. Scalia, pastor of St. James Church in Falls Church, Virginia, baptizes Beatrice Anne Borman on April 18, 2020 (CNS photo/Zoey Maraist, Arlington Catholic Herald)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR., ON COMING COVID VACCINES THE SON AND NEPHEW OF CIVIL RIGHTS ICONS TALKS ABOUT THE VACCINES’ MEDICAL AND MORAL HARMS n BY STEFANIE STARK, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT FOR INSIDE THE VATICAN

As a family that supports freedom from government force and open debate, how can we condone government violence, censorship, and compulsory medical procedures which the Nuremberg Charter and numerous international treaties to which we are signatory emphatically outlaw?

As human rights advocates, we must ask ourselves the question: “At what point does one stop blindly believing government and pharmaceutical officials?”

—Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

T

he COVID-19 pandemic has been at the top of international news headlines for several months now. Stay-at-home orders and restrictions on our daily lives, 12 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

including a ban on attending Catholic Mass and receiving the sacraments, have been issued in the name of protecting the public health. At the same time, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, recently promoted the idea of a mass vaccination campaign for COVID-19 when he said to Chris Wallace on April 5, 2020 on Fox News Sunday, “It is fair to say things won’t go back to truly normal until we have a vaccine that we’ve gotten out to basically the entire world.” On April 17, 2020, the chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops sent an open letter to Dr. Stephen Hahn, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, urging the FDA to ensure

that vaccines for COVID-19 be developed ethically and free from any connection to the exploitation of abortion victims.

In this unprecedented time, I reached out to my friend, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., son of the late Senator Robert F. Kennedy (assassinated in 1968) and nephew of the late President John F. Kennedy (assassinated in 1963), for answers to some of the questions raised regarding coronavirus and the rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Kennedy is an environmental lawyer, the president of Waterkeeper Alliance, and the chairman of Children’s Health Defense. He has spent the past 15 years advocating for proper safety testing of vaccines. Robert has taken on the

Below, a picture of Kennedy and the logo of the group he heads, the Chidlren’s Health Defense group

unenviable role of David fighting the pharmaceutical and big business Goliaths, including an enormous $2 billion victory against Bayer’s Monsanto and its popular weedkiller, RoundUp, for causing terminal Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in consumers. Much more than that, Robert is a devoted husband, a father of six children, a grandfather, and an Irish Catholic.

Perhaps providentially, my interview with Robert Kennedy, Jr. on Monday, May 4, preceded by the April 17 letter from the USCCB to the FDA, was followed by the release of a very important document on Thursday, May 7, in six languages: the “Appeal for the Church and the World to Catholics and All People of Good Will.”

The “Appeal,” primarily authored by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, former papal nuncio to the U.S., was signed by more than 80 people, including prelates, theologians, journalists, doctors, lawyers and associations. The American signatories include Dr. Robert Moynihan, editor-in-chief of this publication, as well as Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. The three-page open letter contains a call to action for all Catholics, religious, and all people of good will, in view of radical measures being forced upon much of the world’s population: “The facts have shown that, under the pretext of the COVID-19 epidemic, the inalienable rights of citizens have in many cases been violated and their fundamental freedoms, including the exercise of freedom of worship, expression and movement, have been disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted. Public health must not, and cannot, become an alibi for infringing on the rights of millions of people around the world, let alone for depriving the

civil authority of its duty to act wisely for the common good.”

Regarding vaccines, the “Appeal” goes on to say, “We ask the scientific community to be vigilant, so that cures for COVID-19 are offered in honesty for the common good. Every effort must be made to ensure that shady business interests do not influence the choices made by government leaders and interna-

“NONE OF THE 72 VACCINES NOW MANDATED FOR AMERICAN CHILDREN HAVE EVER BEEN SAFETY TESTED AGAINST A DOUBLE-BLIND PLACEBO” tional bodies. It is unreasonable to penalize those remedies that have proved to be effective, and are often inexpensive, just because one wishes to give priority to treatments or vaccines that are not as good, but which guarantee pharmaceutical companies far greater profits, and exacerbate public health expenditures. Let us also remember, as Pastors, that for Catholics it is morally unacceptable to develop or use vaccines derived from material from aborted fetuses.”

The full text of the “Appeal to the Church and the World” appears elsewhere in this issue of ITV. It has come to my attention since the release of the “Appeal” that some of the signatories, including Cardinal Gerhard Müller, have become the subject of attack in both the media and the Church, in order to silence them. They have been called names such as “conspiracy theorists” when they have questioned the programs and policies being rolled out internationally in response to COVID-19.

I asked Mr. Kennedy about his thoughts, given the call by the World Health Organization, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, and others for mass vaccinations, about vaccines “for the greater good” versus the health of the individual.

Stefanie Stark: What are the moral implications of sacrificing a small number of individuals who we know will have severe adverse reactions, including death, to vaccines for the greater good of the community, the state, the country, the world?

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.: That raises a number of ethical issues.

Also it raises a question: what do we know about vaccine safety and efficacy? That is a threshold question because vaccines are not safety tested, and people find that hard to believe, but unfortunately it’s true.

And that is an artifact of CDC’s (CDC stands for “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention”) legacy of the public health service, which was originally a quasimilitary agency. That is why CDC officials have military ranks such as “Surgeon General.”

The vaccine program was conceived as a national security defense against biological attacks on our country by the Russians or other Cold War enemies. The military JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 13

LEAD STORY #1 DEFENDING CHILDREN objective was to be able to fabricate and deploy a vaccine very quickly to 200 million Americans without regulatory impediments. The regulators and generals understood that testing medicines for safety takes years, so they opted to call vaccines by a different name — “Biologics” — and exempt biologics from safety testing.

As a result of that decision, none of the 72 vaccines now mandated for American children have ever been safety tested against a double-blind placebo. Which means nobody knows the risk profile, and nobody can say with any certitude that the vaccine is averting more problems than it’s causing. That is why I say it’s a “threshold” issue, because the ethical questions become much more clouded if we don’t even know if the vaccine is actually serving the greater good.

The second part of the answer is, even if we believe that a vaccine averts more deaths than it causes, do we have a right to force healthy children to take a risky medicine against their will? And that question has already been answered in numerous treaties and universally accepted ethical statements like the Siracusa Principles, the Nuremberg Charter, and the United Nations Charter, which state that no government has a right to force citizens to take medicines against their will.

One would assume that this would apply doubly to citizens who are otherwise completely healthy and at little risk for infection.

The problem is the slippery slope. If we begin telling doctors that they are no longer functioning to serve the individual patient but that their job is to protect society as a whole, we have opened the door to a lot of distasteful downstream results. For example, we know that 80% of our nation’s medical costs go to treat senior citizens during 14 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

their last year of life. It could be argued, therefore, that letting those citizens simply die, or even killing them, would serve the greater good.

China decided at some point that parents having more than one child was against the interests of the greater good and implemented a policy of forced abortions.

Those are the scary places you end up once you start down that road.

“IF WE BEGIN TELLING DOCTORS THAT THEY ARE NO LONGER FUNCTIONING TO SERVE THE INDIVIDUAL PATIENT BUT THAT THEIR JOB IS TO PROTECT SOCIETY AS A WHOLE, WE HAVE OPENED THE DOOR TO A LOT OF DISTASTEFUL DOWNSTREAM RESULTS.”

According to the World Health Organization, there are 70 vaccines in development — three of which are in clinical trials. What do you think about the push for the rapid development of a COVID-19 vaccine? Is it okay to skip animal trials and go straight to human trials? Can those human volunteers truly have informed consent?

KENNEDY: No. What we know about coronavirus from 30 years of experience is that a coronavirus vaccine has a unique peculiarity, which is any attempted making of the vaccine has resulted in the creation of a class of antibodies that actually make vaccinated people sicker when they ultimately suffer exposure to the wild virus. Following the SARS epidemic that began in 2002, China launched a concerted effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine. They succeeded in developing 30 promising models, and they chose the four “best in class” to fabricate and then test on ferrets, the

animal most analogous to human beings when it comes to upper respiratory infections.

The ferrets all developed admirable, robust, and durable antibody responses, and the scientists believed they had hit the jackpot.

But then, when the animals suffered exposure to the wild virus, something frightening happened. The vaccinated animals sickened and died with body-wide inflammation.

The vaccine had created a condition known as paradoxical inherent immune response, which amplified the injury caused by the illness rather than preventing it.

The scientists at that time recalled a similar occurrence from the 1960s where the NIH had conducted studies on a vaccine for RSV, an upper respiratory illness very similar to coronavirus. The 35 children in that study had developed strong antibody response but had become terribly ill upon exposure to wild RSV. Two of the children died. Remembering this incident, the scientists in 2012 abandoned their efforts to create that vaccine. And that is why today you are hearing dire warnings from unexpected quarters — Paul Offit, Peter Hotez, Ian Lipkin, and even Anthony Fauci himself — who have all warned that a coronavirus vaccine may end up making people sicker from coronavirus rather than avoiding the disease.

The first COVID-19 vaccine trial began in mid-March. The potential vaccine is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and was developed by scientists at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) in partnership with the pharmaceutical company Moderna, Inc. Please speak to the problems you see with DNA-altering vaccines, since some of the proposed vaccines, including Moderna’s, are using genetic engineering.

KENNEDY: MRNA vaccines function by altering DNA expression. There are many vaccines developed using aborted fetal tissue.

And that also has health implications, because fetal tissue has been rendered carcinogenic. A lot of the fetal tissue they use in vaccines was taken from a 14-week-old child who in 1966 was forcibly aborted from a woman in a mental institution.

There are DNA snippets from that child that are injected with the vaccines.

And we have no idea what the implications are for sexuality when male DNA is injected into female babies, or for cancer when tumor cells are injected into healthy babies. These are frightening scientific and health implications, even putting the moral implications aside. There is a possibility that they are permanently altering the human genome with the mass vaccination of this child’s DNA.

I’m finally making my way around to the burning question about COVID-19: Is this a wild virus or a created virus?

KENNEDY: That is unclear. There is strong circumstantial evidence that the virus could be the product of not so much genetic engineering as accelerated evolution, and that is the mechanism that is used to create vaccines and bioweapons. There was a research program that was being used at the Wuhan lab, and we know this because they published many studies on it. It’s a way of creating “gain of function” organisms.

In other words, created organisms that are very virulent and extremely transmissible.

Your answer might strike some as controversial. Why would anybody do such research?

KENNEDY: The reason is, it’s a way of developing vaccines. So

what they do is, they take a wild coronavirus and then they grow it on pangolin tissue. Then they’ll take it off of pangolin tissue. They take the colonies from the pangolin tissue and regrow those colonies on mouse brains. And they’ll take the colonies from mouse brains and they’ll regrow them on monkey vero kidney cells. And then finally, they will grow them on human

“ANTHONY FAUCI HAS BEEN A HUGE CHAMPION OF GAIN OF FUNCTION. PRESIDENT OBAMA FOUND OUT ABOUT IT IN 2014, THAT FAUCI WAS DOING THIS, AND THAT THEY HAD RELEASED A NUMBER OF VIRUSES.”

lung tissue. It’s a way of teaching the virus to jump species. You’re training it.

When they do that, they will give that trained virus to rats that have been genetically engineered to have human DNA to see if they can make the rats sick from coronavirus. And when they prove they can make the rats sick, they then try to develop a vaccine to stop the spread of the thing. And it’s called “gain of function” research. Many doctors and scientists have criticized it as having little benefit historically, of adding little to the knowledge while taking huge risks.

Anthony Fauci has been a huge champion of gain of function. President Obama found out about it in 2014, that Fauci was doing this, and that they had released a number of viruses. Some 200 scientists signed a petition angrily denouncing these experiments. And Obama shut them down. But Fauci simply moved his operation to the Wuhan lab and started funding gain of

function studies in Wuhan for the same purpose — to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

President Trump, when he came into office, cut funding to the biosecurity agency inside the White House that was funding those studies. The funding ran out in Wuhan on September 30, 2019, and the scientists there were dismissed. One hypothesis is that those scientists may have accidentally or even deliberately released the virus because the spread of the virus could have given them job security. That actually is what happened with the Anthrax virus in 2001. All of the Anthrax attacks on the U.S. Congress, when traced back, were coming from the psychiatrist who was the head of the Anthrax program that had been defunded. He apparently committed suicide as the FBI closed in on him. *** It is difficult to imagine that the entire world has come to a grinding halt because one lab in one city, Wuhan, China, may have accidentally or intentionally released a contagious virus. What of the unelected international leaders who see potential profit and power in this? What of the healthy children whose health may be permanently damaged by experimental vaccines in the name of the “greater good”? And what of the unborn babies upon whose remains vaccine manufacturers are building a vast new enterprise?

The purveyors of darkness in the world are many, and growing.

Perhaps the COVID crisis is the Lord’s way of awakening the Church to the powers and principalities that threaten us — the health of our bodies, the freedom of our souls.

It seems that we, the faithful, are being called to take up our own slingshots with the bravery of our forebear David, and stand against the Goliaths who believe our health and freedom are theirs to grasp.m Stefanie Stark JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 15

LEAD STORY #2

A church in Italy: since May 18, open again, but with strict new rules of social distancing

A CRY FOR DIGNITY THE “APPEAL FOR THE CHURCH AND FOR THE WORLD” DECLARES: “PUBLIC HEALTH MUST NOT BECOME AN ALIBI FOR INFRINGING ON THE RIGHTS OF MILLIONS.” A CRY OF ALARM HAS BEEN LAUNCHED

n BY ROBERT MOYNIHAN

T

he text of this cry, entitled “Appeal for the Church and for the World,” follows. It is dated May 8, 2020, Feast of Our Lady of Pompeii. It was released the evening of May 7, in Italy, at 7:30 p.m. Rome time.

The cry is essentially for the dignity of free human persons. It is a cry to honor and defend that dignity, the dignity of the human person, even in times like now, times of a terrible health challenge caused by the coronavirus, times of enormous economic and social challenges due to the national lockdowns imposed by many governments to slow down the spread of the virus.

Especially in times like these, it seems important to recall the dignity of the person, and the priceless value of individual freedom protected by reasonable laws.

16 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

The cry is against unreasonable measures, measures, for example, that divide families — some are suggesting children be removed from families where a parent tests positive for the virus — or close churches, or forbid sacraments to be celebrated, or electronically track and control individuals by the millions.

Why are these issues of concern?

Because fragile human rights, once set aside in a time of emergency “temporarily,” may be very difficult to recover again, once the emergency is past.

Better to speak out now, while there is yet time, in the hope of sparking a movement of prudence and reason in touch with our tradition of individual freedom, that precious gift which our forefathers fought for. Therefore, this appeal is essentially a call for prudence

in a time of great pain and sorrow.

A call for reason and balance, and for remembrance of our traditions of faith and freedom, in a time of great emotion, of great passion and fear.

Because I thought that this call for prudence, for remembrance of our faith and traditions especially in this time of crisis, was reasonable and something good for society as a whole, I too signed this appeal.

The appeal is signed by a number of Catholic Church leaders — cardinals, bishops, priests — and is also signed by well-known names from the world of the media and politics, scholars, businessmen, simple faithful. Some signatories are people of good will who do not belong to the Catholic Church. As of this writing, more than 54,000 people had signed the appeal.m

CARDINAL SARAH REMOVES HIS SIGNATURE; ARCHBISHOP VIGANÒ OBJECTS

I

n a statement published May 8, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò criticized Cardinal Robert Sarah’s decision to distance himself from an open letter, titled “Appeal for the Church and the World,” which argues that the coronavirus pandemic has been exploited in order to create a one-world government.

Viganò claims that Cardinal Sarah had first agreed to sign the appeal, but then, some hours later, on the evening of May 7, the Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and Sacraments contacted him to remove him from the list of signatories to the letter, but by that time it had already been published.

“With surprise and deep regret,” Viganò wrote, “I then learned that His Eminence had used his Twitter account, without giving me any notice, to make statements that cause serious harm to the truth and to my person.”

Viganò was referring to a series of three May 7 tweets from Sarah, which said: “A Cardinal Prefect, member of the Roman Curia has to observe a certain restriction on political matters. He shouldn’t sign petitions in such areas.”

“Therefore this morning I explicitly asked the authors of the petition titled ‘For the Church and for the World’ not to mention my name.”

“From a personal point of view, I may share some questions or preoccupations raised regarding restrictions on fundamental freedom but I didn’t sign that petition,” Sarah added.

Viganò’s statement continued: “I am very sorry that this matter, which is due to human weakness, and for which I bear no resentment towards the person who caused it, has distracted our attention from what must seriously concern us at this dramatic moment.” (CNA)

APPEAL FOR THE CHURCH AND THE WORLD TO CATHOLICS AND ALL PEOPLE OF GOOD WILL

“Veritas liberabit vos.” (“The truth will set you free.”)

John 8:32 n this time of great crisis, we Pastors of the Catholic Church, by virtue of our mandate, consider it our sacred duty to make an Appeal to our Brothers in the Episcopate, to the Clergy, to Religious, to the holy People of God and to all men and women of good will. This Appeal has also been undersigned by intellectuals, doctors, lawyers, journalists and professionals who agree with its content, and may be undersigned by those who wish to make it their own.

The facts have shown that, under the pretext of the COVID-19 epidemic, the inalienable rights of citizens have in many cases been violated and their fundamental freedoms, including the exercise of freedom of worship, expression and movement, have been disproportionately and unjustifiably restricted.

Public health must not, and cannot, become an alibi for infringing on the rights of millions of people around the world, let alone for depriving the civil authority of its duty to act wisely for the common good.

This is particularly true as growing doubts emerge from several quarters about the actual contagiousness, danger and resistance of the virus.

Many authoritative voices in the world of science and

I

medicine confirm that the media’s alarmism about COVID-19 appears to be absolutely unjustified. We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements. The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a world government beyond all control.

We also believe that in some situations the containment measures that were adopted, including the closure of shops and businesses, have precipitated a crisis that has brought down entire sectors of the economy. This encourages interference by foreign powers and has serious social and political repercussions.

Those with governmental responsibility must stop these forms of social engineering, by taking measures to protect their citizens whom they represent, and in whose interests they have a serious obligation to act. Likewise, let them help the family, the cell of society, by not unreasonably penalizing the weak and elderly, forcing them into a painful separation from their loved ones. The criminalization of

JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 17

LEAD STORY #2

A CRY FOR DIGNITY

personal and social relationships must likewise be judged as an unacceptable part of the plan of those who advocate isolating individuals in order to better manipulate and control them.

We ask the scientific community to be vigilant, so that cures for COVID-19 are offered in honesty for the common good. Every effort must be made to ensure that shady business interests do not influence the choices made by government leaders and international bodies.

It is unreasonable to penalize those remedies that have proved to be effective, and are often inexpensive, just because one wishes to give priority to treatments or vaccines that are not as good, but which guarantee pharmaceutical companies far greater profits, and exacerbate public health expenditures. Let us also remember, as Pastors, that for Catholics it is morally unacceptable to develop or use vaccines derived from material from aborted fetuses.

We also ask government leaders to ensure that forms of control over people, whether through tracking systems or any other form of location-finding, are rigorously avoided.

The fight against COVID-19, however serious, must not be the pretext for supporting the hidden intentions of supranational bodies that have very strong commercial and political interests in this plan. In particular, citizens must be given the opportunity to refuse these restrictions on personal freedom, without any penalty whatsoever being imposed on those who do not wish to use vaccines, contact tracking or any other similar tool.

Let us also consider the blatant contradiction of those who pursue policies of drastic population control and at the same time present themselves as the savior of humanity, without any political or social legitimacy.

Finally, the political responsibility of those who represent the people can in no way be left to “experts� who can indeed claim a kind of immunity from prosecution, which is disturbing to say the least.

18 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

We strongly urge those in the media to commit themselves to providing accurate information and not penalizing dissent by resorting to forms of censorship, as is happening widely on social media, in the press and on television. Providing accurate information requires that room be given to voices that are not aligned with a single way of thinking.

Virgin Mary, Cathedral of Minsk, Belarus

This allows citizens to consciously assess the facts, without being heavily influenced by partisan interventions. A democratic and honest debate is the best antidote to the risk of imposing subtle forms of dictatorship, presumably worse than those our society has seen rise and fall in the recent past.

Finally, as Pastors responsible for the flock of Christ, let us remember that the Church firmly asserts her autonomy to govern, worship, and teach.

This autonomy and freedom are an innate right that Our Lord Jesus Christ has given her for the pursuit of her proper ends. For this reason, as Pastors we firmly assert the right to decide au-

tonomously on the celebration of Mass and the Sacraments, just as we claim absolute autonomy in matters falling within our immediate jurisdiction, such as liturgical norms and ways of administering Communion and the Sacraments.

The State has no right to interfere, for any reason whatsoever, in the sovereignty of the Church. Ecclesiastical authorities have never refused to collaborate with the State, but such collaboration does not authorize civil authorities to impose any sort of ban or restriction on public worship or the exercise of priestly ministry.

The rights of God and of the faithful are the supreme law of the Church, which she neither intends to, nor can, abdicate. We ask that restrictions on the celebration of public ceremonies be removed.

We should like to invite all people of good will not to shirk their duty to cooperate for the common good, each according to his or her own state and possibilities and in a spirit of fraternal charity.

The Church desires such cooperation, but this cannot disregard either a respect for natural law or a guarantee of individual freedoms. The civil duties to which citizens are bound imply the State’s recognition of their rights.

We are all called to assess the current situation in a way consistent with the teaching of the Gospel. This means taking a stand: either with Christ or against Christ.

Let us not be intimidated or frightened by those who would have us believe that we are a minority: Good is much more widespread and powerful than the world would have us believe.

We are fighting against an invisible enemy that seeks to divide citizens, to separate children from their parents, grandchildren from their grandparents, the faithful from their pastors, students from teachers, and customers from vendors.

Let us not allow centuries of Christian civilization to be erased under the

pretext of a virus, and an odious technological tyranny to be established, in which nameless and faceless people can decide the fate of the world by confining us to a virtual reality. If this is the plan to which the powers of this earth intend to make us yield, know that Jesus Christ, King and Lord of History, has promised that “the gates of Hell shall not prevail” (Mt 16:18).

Let us entrust government leaders and all those who rule over the fate of nations to Almighty God, that He may enlighten and guide them in this time of great crisis. May they remember that, just as the Lord will judge us Pastors for the flock which He has entrusted to us, so will He also judge government leaders for the peoples whom they have the duty to defend and govern.

With faith, let us beseech the Lord to protect the Church and the world.

May the Blessed Virgin, Help of Christians, crush the head of the ancient Serpent and defeat the plans of the children of darkness.

8 May 2020 Our Lady of the Rosary of Pompeii To add your signature to this appeal: www.veritasliberabitvos.info m

LIST OF SIGNATORIES TO THE APPEAL PRELATES Cdl Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, Prefect emeritus of Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith Cdl Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, Bishop emeritus of Hong Kong Cdl Janis Pujats, Archbishop emeritus of Riga Mgr. Carlo Maria Vigano, Archbishop, Apostolic Nuncio Mgr Luigi Negri, Archbishop emeritus of Ferrara-Comacchio Mgr Joseph Strickland, Bishop of Tyler, Texas Mgr Thomas Peta, Metropolitan Archbishop of Astana Mgr Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of Astana Mgr Jan Pawel Lenga, Archbishop emeritus of Karaganda Mgr Rene Henry Gracida, Bishop emeritus of Corpus Christi Mgr Andreas Laun, Auxiliary Bishop of Salzburg Father Serafino Lanzetta, Theologian Father Alfredo Maria Morselli, Theologian Father Curzio Nitoglia, Theologian JOURNALISTS, EDITORS, WRITERS Dr Aldo Maria Valli, journalist Dr Magdi Cristiano Allam, writer Dr Giulio Meotti, journalist Dr Marco Tosatti, journalist Claudio Messora, director Byoblu.com Dr Robert Moynihan, writer, journalist Dr Jeanne Smits, journalist Dr Olivier Figueras, journalist Dr Cesare Sacchetti, journalist Prof. Giorgio Nicolini, director of Tele Maria Michael J. Matt, editor The Remnant John-Henry Westen, co-founder, editor-in-chief LifeSiteNews.com Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca, journalist and writer Maria Guarini, editor Prof. Francesco Lamendola Antonio Carlos de Azeredo, editor José Narciso Pinto Soares, editorial counselor Dr Massimo Rodolfi Riccardo Zenobi, writer Danilo Quinto, writer Olivier Valette, writer DOCTORS, IMMUNOLOGISTS, VIROLOGISTS, RESEARCHERS Dr Stefano Montanari, scientific director Nanodiagnostics laboratory, Modena Dr Antonietta Gatti, research manager, Nanodiagnostics laboratory, Modena Prof. Alessandro Meluzzi, psychiatrist Dr Anna Rita Iannetti, doctor, PNEI and biointegrated medicine Dr Fabrizio Giudici, orthopedic traumatologist Dr Rosa Maria Roccaforte, cardiologist Dr Silvana De Mari, doctor Dr Maria Grazia Sordi, psychologist

Dr Roberto Marrocchesi, nutritionist Dr Mario Sinisi Dr Antonio Marcantonio LAWYERS Dr Angelo Giorgianni, judge João Freire de Andrade, jurist Lawyer Francesco Fontana Lawyer Luigi Valenzise Lawyer Fabio Candalino Lawyer Luca Di Fazioi Lawyer Massimo Meridio Dr Lawyer Gianni T. Battisti Lawyer Piero Peracchio Lawyer Paola Bragazzi Lawyer Luís Freire de Andrade Lawyer Heitor A. Buchaul Lawyer Maître Olivier Bonnetft LECTURERS, TEACHERS AND PROFESSIONALS Hon. Prof. Vittorio Sgarbi, art critic, essayist Prof. Matteo D’Amico Prof.ssa Mafalda Miranda Barbosa Prof. Francesca Maimone Prof. Martino Mora, philosopher Prof. Massimo Viglione, historian and essayist Prof. Elisabetta Sala, teacher and writer Dr Ing. Alessandro Peracchio Dr Luca Scantamburlo Prof. Rosa Maria Bellarmino Steven Mosher, president, Population Research Institute Prof. Emeterio Ferrés Arrospide, Coimbra Universitys Prof. Ibsen Noronha Prof. ing. Amadeu Teixeira Fernandes, Georgetown University Dr José Filipe Sepúlveda da Fonseca Dr Alfonso Martone, CNR Italy Dr Luís Ferrand d’Almeida.

Ing. Roberto Imparato ASSOCIATIONS Atman Association - President Manuela Baccin Riprendiamoci Il Pianeta Association - President Magda Piacentini Movimento 3V - Vaccini Vogliamo Verità - Secretary Luca Teodori Libera Scelta Association - President Alessandra Bocchi Iustitia in Veritate Association - Directors Una Vox Association - President Calogero Cammarata Comitato Famiglia e Vita - President Franco Rebecchi Confederazione dei Triarii AURET, Autismo, Ricerca e Terapie - President Lawyer Roberto Mastalia Vita al Microscopio Association - President Nino Ferri Texas Right to Life - Jim Graham Cleveland Right to Life - Molly Smith JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 19

DOSSIER

CORONAVIRUS DIARY: CHINA

“DURING THIS DARK TIME, I HAVE LEARNED TO TRUST GOD WITHOUT ANY DOUBTS”

n BY THERESA LI

2

020 seems like a year in which much trust in the Lord is needed. The COVID-19 came into our lives suddenly, and it still remains; the whole world still being shut down. A believer would ask: why COVID-19? Why does God allow it to happen? Is it a divine punishment for us?

As a Chinese Catholic, I have a special testimony that I would like to share with readers during this difficult time.

The Catholic Church in China has been on lockdown from January 24 onwards and it remains closed even now. However, the lockdown does not prevent the faithful from practicing their faith in different ways.

My understanding of this pandemic is that it is absolutely not a punishment from God, but that it does give us an occasion to rethink what it means to us to be Catholic. We should remember, God would never bring evil to us, He wants to save all souls.

St. Thomas Aquinas in his profound work Summa Theologiae (I, 49, a. 2) asks whether the supreme good, God, can be the cause of evil? We should know that he cannot; God is the highest perfection, and evil consists of a defect in action or agent — thus God cannot be the direct cause of evil.

Personally, this time enabled me to participate in the suffering of Christ and by this participation I understood that this pandemic turned out to be a kind of blessing in my life. During this dark time, I have learned to trust God without any doubts. Because I know His plan for me will be the best plan for my life, and this is because He knows me in a most excellent way.

During the day, I started with the 20 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

Liturgy of the Hours followed by the Rosary. In these days it seemed that the Lord slowed down our feet in order to help us to realize what it does mean to be a Christian…, it does not just mean daily prayer and the liturgy, but also good works and charity. Thus, as a Christian, I have joined a local volunteer job team to serve people who are in need during this unusual time.

The job was not very difficult; however, it entailed certain dangers: my duty was to serve at a local small hospital twice a week. When I was on duty, I needed to check the temperature of people who came in the hospital, and obviously all volunteers were required to use medical masks during the whole time. I remained in this job for two weeks. During the time at the hospital, I witnessed the testimony of many doctors who did not fear death and helped patients, trying to save their life, and I realized that these must be some of the loveliest people in the world.

After the volunteer job, I opened online courses for people who are interested in the Catholic philosophy and theology, and by the providence of God I received many students. Most of

my students come from the local Protestant community; I am indeed surprised by their desire to seek the truth; also, I realized that a ‘good action’ can be done in many different ways. It can mean a volunteer at a hospital, but also teaching; since teaching the truth is another way of glorifying God. Concerning the question about the Chinese Government and the Holy Catholic Church, I have seen many different opinions among Catholics about this. Some people have extreme positive view that the Chinese government and the Church will come to a closer acceptance of each other these days, and would mean – in this context – continuous diplomatic relations between the two countries are coming soon; however, on the side of the Chinese Catholics, we still have some questions that should be borne in mind.

I have spoken to a handful of people regarding their Catholic faith and their opinion about China and the Holy See during the lockdown. First, concerning religious life, a priest explained to me that although the local government has stopped all kinds of religious activities, he still celebrated Mass at a parishioner’s home several times. He invited friends, trustworthy people; therefore he did not have to worry about Holy Mass being reported to the local government. Thus, some people are still able to participate in the sacrament of Holy Communion. However a Mass at home is not a common thing in China; only in a few places Mass is celebrated this way.

Also, in order to avoid the local government’s raids, some priests were

Stephen Wong and his daughter, Amanda, participate in an online Mass at their home March 8, 2020, after the Diocese of Hong Kong temporarily suspended public Masses in churches, following the COVID-19 outbreak. (CNS photo/Tyrone Siu, Reuters)

celebrating Mass at 3 or 4 in the morning on Sunday. Also, some priests set up a kind of prayer group via social media tools, enabling people to pray and read the Bible every day.

You can see that the Catholic tradition continued during the pandemic and even grew stronger at this time.

Additionally, other sacraments were administered by priests to their local groups. The same happened to my other friends, they have had a similar experience regarding their Catholic life during this time and although they cannot go to Mass every Sunday they tried to follow the Papal Mass (online) every day, during Lent and Easter season and combined it with daily prayers.

Rumor had it that the Pope was planning a trip to Wuhan, China. Here, I think it is most important to consider the question in a prudent way. We may ask whether it is the perfect time for his

visit. There are many issues that could cause an inconvenience between China and the Vatican before and after his visit, and if we do not consider these issues prudently, greater obstacles may arise in the relationship between the two countries in the future. Among them we must consider: First, the cultural difference between these two countries: China has a long history; however the history of the Christian tradition in the country is relatively young. For example, many Chinese do not know the distinction between the Roman Catholic Church and the Protestant community. Therefore to make a Papal trip fruitful, the Chinese government should provide a sufficient preparation of the people. It would be fruitful to provide clear instructions about the history of the Catholic Church in China. Most of Chinese people would then see the Papal visit before an informed background.

Second, speaking for Chinese Catholics, there is no doubt that we are longing to see His Holiness stepping onto Chinese soil; it would be a great encouragement for our Catholic faith, since we have been under persecution for a long time. Thus, in order to have a successful and fruitful diplomatic visit, it is necessary to clarify certain confusions between the Holy Catholic Church and the Chinese government beforehand – in a prudent way.

We hope that through the power of Divine providence, good fruits will come out of a possible visit and that all things will happen according to the Lord’s will.

Theresa Li is the pen name of a young Chinese Catholic teacher in Beijing, China. She reports on the current status of Catholics amid the pandemic in her country as she is experiencing it.m

JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 21

DOSSIER THE CHURCH AND THE LOCKDOWNS

DISTRIBUTING THE EARTH’S GOODS DURING A PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS

“UNIVERSAL DESTINATION OF GOODS” IS ALWAYS THE UNDERLYING IMPERATIVE

n BY THOMAS STORCK

Distribution of supplies during the coronavirus outbreak in Bangladesh

I

n her long existence, the Catholic Church has confronted not only hostile empires, barbarians and dictators, but also the diseases and plagues afflicting mankind. And in both her doctrine and her praxis we can discover some fundamental principles for how we as Catholics in the 21st century should respond, socially and economically, to the present coronavirus crisis.

First, however, we should recognize that due to uncertainties about the Coronavirus and its future course, although the Church’s social doctrine principles are clear, their application may not always be so.

Underlying all the Church’s social doctrine is a perennial truth, expressed by St. John Paul II this way in Centesimus Annus, no. 31: “God gave the earth to the whole human race for the sustenance of all its members, without excluding or favoring anyone. This is the foundation of the universal destination of the earth’s goods.”

But the earth, for the most part, does not offer us those goods without some effort on our part.

“Through work man must earn his daily bread,” wrote John Paul at the beginning of his encyclical Laborem Exercens.

But right now, due to restrictions and business closings, many cannot work. How are people to earn their daily bread?

“Work” does not mean that each and every person must work at any particular moment. “Wealth... must 22 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

be so distributed amongst the various individuals and classes of society that the common good of all...be thereby promoted” (Pius XI, Quadragesimo Anno, no. 57).

The common good at this time clearly seems to demand that provision be made for those simply unable to work. Thus, aid to small businesses, expanded unemployment benefits, income supplements, such as the stimulus checks being distributed in the U.S., are necessary at this time, and if not continued too long, pose no great inflationary danger.

Of course, the role of charity, practiced by individuals who are able, is a grave duty.

We should note that many “essential workers” are exposed to greater risk. At least in some cases, additional hazard pay seems an entirely appropriate demand of charity, if not justice.

Pope Francis even spoke at Easter about the world’s “informal workers” — those who work under the table, who do odd jobs, and others who therefore have no job protection or security at all — and what society

can do to provide them with some sort of support, recognizing the dignity even of such simple work.

Catholic social doctrine is also concerned with political authority. How do we approach government decisions with which we do not agree?

Both Sts. Peter and Paul are quite clear: absent commands contravening divine or natural law, we must respect civil authority as “instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).

Pope Leo XIII echoed this in his 1890 encyclical Sapientiae Christianae, no. 9, saying Christians “recognize some likeness and symbol as it were of the divine Majesty, even when it is exercised by one unworthy.” Expressing disagreement is one’s right; disobeying legitimate authority is not.

The principle of universal destination of goods for the well-being of all mankind, the principle of solidarity and fraternity, the God-given role of public authorities in caring for the common good — these are what should underlie our response to the coronavirus, and indeed, are what should determine our thinking and our policies at all times.

Thomas Storck has written widely on Catholic social teaching, and most recently authored An Economics of Justice & Charity (Angelico Press, 2017) and translated Liberalism: A Critique of Its Basic Principles and Various Forms by Louis Cardinal Billot, S.J. (Arouca Press, 2019). His writings can be found at www.thomasstorck.org.m

“ESSENTIAL” CATHOLIC ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES DURING LOCKDOWNS n BY MICHAEL SEVERANCE

T

he COVID crisis is more than a health catastrophe.

It is also a human wealth calamity in the making. Rash management of the ongoing pandemic by elected and unelected authorities has created an economic emergency across nations and on many levels. In efforts to dam up floods of contagion, leaders have rushed to brick up businesses that they view as “non-essential.”

As concerned Catholics, this should prick our moral consciences more than just a little.

Are we now turning against what the Church has traditionally taught us about fundamental principles of human work, free association, and voluntary exchange, without which humans cannot flourish? Have we forgotten what the Church has taught us about dangers of massive debt and not affording a subsidiary role to private citizens to manage their local problems?

Obviously, the faithful, while quarantined, are not able to earn their daily bread. They are not on a spiritual retreat from an idolatry of money, but prevented from serving their vocations in civil society. Should the economic lockdown continue for much longer, the trade-off will be nothing less than depression of economies — and of souls — as suicides, domestic violence, and substance abuse skyrocket alongside unemployment figures reaching 36 million in the United States and millions more thrown back into abject poverty in developing countries.

Such planetary misery is understandable in light of what Catholic Social Teaching says is, in fact, essential

The Angelus by Jean-François Millet, 1858-1859, Museum d'Orsay in Paris

COVID LOCKDOWNS HAVE VIOLATED MANY FIRST PRINCIPLES OF CST Let’s look at some of the most glaring incongruities involving private property, subsidiarity, distributive justice, and the vocation of work.

and universal to human flourishing economically.

WHAT ARE THE CATHOLIC SOCIAL TEACHING “ESSENTIALS”?

Indeed, Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is not just about the just economic order. There are broader areas it addresses (religious freedom, life, education, etc.) that are fundamental to human happiness. However, economic justice is pivotal. The Church’s social encyclical tradition, in fact, began with Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum (1891) with a heavy focus on private property, considered the sine qua non of any just and prospering political-economic community.

For the Church, among the most important economic essentials are “liberties”: the freedoms of movement and association.

Other essentials involve “responsibilities”: stewardship, subsidiarity, and the rule of law.

Then there are essential “limitations” on prudential issues of debt, taxation and welfare.

Finally, the Church has always discussed the supreme dignity of work.

Private property Government ordinances to shutter commercially-owned private property are the most blatant contradictions to CST. COVID lockdowns have not led to government seizures of privately owned assets, as could happen if essential industries were to become nationalized. Violations of CST are, instead, tied to free, responsible use and access to private business properties. The contention ultimately boils down to dutiful and rightful stewardship of personallyowned assets.

In COVID lockdowns, political leaders have treated non-cooperative business owners with contempt, as if they are not smart enough to protect themselves. As they returned to reopen businesses, proprietors have been arrested, jailed, fined, even have had their licences revoked. Leo XIII, in Rerum Novarum, criticized state oppression and suspicion of “mischievous” use of private property, saying that “transferring property from private individuals to the community, [because of what is judged to be] the present mischievous state of things [is] emphatically unjust, for they would rob the lawful possessor, distort the functions of the State, and create utter confusion in the community.” (RN, n. 4) JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 23

DOSSIER THE CHURCH AND THE LOCKDOWNS

Subsidiarity Catholic teaching’s emphasis on trusted responsible management of privately owned assets is the basis for its principle of subsidiarity. According to the Catechism, subsidiarity means: “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good.”

(CCC, n.1883) This was echoed in Quadragesimo Anno when in 1931 Pope Pius XI insisted that subsidiarity “one should not withdraw from individuals and commit to the community what they can accomplish by their own enterprise and industry.”

(QA, n. 79) Catholic social teaching would ask, of course: if individuals are able to steward responsibly their own homes and families, then why not their own businesses and any localized issues that negatively affect them?

The pat response is that public health is a higher good than private business. Yet, this is a red herring. All problems, especially public problems, can be managed at local and private levels. They should be symbiotic with local government, which should focus on “creating favorable conditions for the free exercise of economic activity.”

(Centesimus Annus, n. 15).

Subsidiarity keeps one-size-fitsall government directives at bay, recognizing that a Manhattan barber must steward his shop differently than a small town barber, each using particular prudence and local experience to manage his affairs.

Distributive Justice Distributive justice is a lynchpin for its discussion of welfare, taxation, and debt. In understanding the Church’s social teachings on distrib24 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

utive justice, we learn from the American bishops’ pastoral letter Economic Justice for All: “Distributive justice requires that the allocation of income, wealth, and power in society be evaluated in light of its effects on persons whose basic material needs are unmet. [As the] Second Vatican Council stated: ‘The right to have a share of earthly goods sufficient for oneself and one’s family belongs to everyone.’”

Therefore, Catholic social teaching asks us not just to identify unmet needs generally but also to evaluate remedies, case by case, “in light of its effects on persons.”

So how do we apply distributive justice, for example, in a lockdown that has caused unemployment of 36 million in U.S. while national coffers are $25 trillion in debt? What effect will more public debt for increased welfare distribution have on individuals — and future generations?

For Catholic social teaching, it is not merely a question of whether we must find some way to help the unemployed (we must), but whether the state should be distributing stimulus and welfare checks to impoverished citizens when its coffers are already empty. Logically, giving implies having.

There can be no distributive justice without the resources to give away. Yet, the government’s coffers have never been more stressed; indeed the government has had to borrow, and print “fiat” money, to fund $2.7 trillion in bailouts.

Catholic social teaching has traditionally spoken out against over-indebtedness as putting a nation’s sovereignty at risk, particularly in developing economies.

Paul VI says in Populourm Progressio that such nations “risk being overwhelmed by debts whose repayment swallows up the greater part of their

gains.” (n. 54). In Laudato Si’, Francis decries “the foreign debt of poor countries [that] has become a way of controlling them.” (n. 52) But the same principle applies to developed countries. Debt must never become so high that a nation becomes controlled by the countries, or individuals, to which they owe billions, as John Paul II affirmed in Centesimus Annus.

Dignity of Work What is most essential to the Church’s socio-economic teachings is this: work is fundamental not only for procuring sufficient material well-being, but for the health of the soul. The most impassioned defense of the supreme dignity of human work is found in John Paul II’s Laborem Exercens: “Through work man must earn his daily bread and contribute to the continual advance of science and technology and, above all, to elevating unceasingly the cultural and moral level of the society within which he lives in community with those who belong to the same family. And work means…any human activity … which man is capable and to which he is predisposed by his very nature, by virtue of humanity itself….

From the beginning therefore [man] is called to work. Work is one of the characteristics that distinguish man from the rest of creatures.” (LE, preface) In this crisis, the worst injustice of all is simply not working, that is, not serving one’s unique vocation in the world.

For many, being without work in lockdowns, human life is not much higher than that of animals.

Sheltering in place for workers can be a cage of inhuman existence; shutdowns of work have shut down many workers’ souls.

Michael Severance studied at the Ignatius Institute at the University of San Francisco. He is Operations Manager of the Acton Institute in Rome.m

THE VIRUS BETWEEN FAITH AND MEDICINE REFLECTIONS BY A MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN CATHOLIC MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, PART 2

n BY THOMAS W. MCGOVERN, M.D.

In Part 1, Dr. McGovern discussed the first two “pillars” of Catholic Social Teaching: (1) respect for human life and (2) seeking the common good. This month he discusses the last two”pillars”: (3) solidarity and (4) subsidiarity. As a doctor, he then reflects on how Catholic doctors are implementing these “pillars” during the COVID-19 pandemic

3. SOLIDARITY Solidarity is a kind of social charity — simply put, we believe that “your good is my good.”

Solidarity becomes especially important now — when the chronically ill, the elderly, the immune-compromised, and other vulnerable populations are at increased risk; all Catholic healthcare professionals and policy makers must re-commit to the Catholic vision of the “other” as “another I.” Whereas most physicians take care of individual patients, public health physicians “care for” populations of patients.

At a Vatican medical conference in 2018, I first learned that clinical care of patients by their doctors only contributes to about 10% of health care outcomes.

Between 20-30% is determined by genetics, and a whopping 60-70% is determined by public health measures — patient behaviors, social circumstances, and environmental exposures — which should reflect “solidarity” between members of society.

We physicians are experiencing greater understanding of our poorest patients through the experience of our own underemployment and limits on social interaction and travel — an experience that can encourage greater solidarity with those we treat.

When will public Masses return?

Once public health authorities determine that the risk is low enough to allow large public gatherings:

COVID-19 cases and deaths must decrease for several weeks first.

We only return to “normal social interaction” in one of three ways: herd immunity through natural infection, herd immunity through vaccination, or a blockbuster drug that effectively treats the disease.

Herd immunity happens when enough people in a population are immune to an infectious disease that it can no longer spread. It is estimated that 50-70% of the population will need to be vaccinated or have antibodies from prior infection to stop the spread of COVID-19. Until that happens, we can expect repeat waves of infection as we loosen restrictions.

Blockbuster drugs against viruses are rare, and vaccine development and deployment is expected to take 12-18 months.

That puts the achievement of herd immunity some time in mid-to-late 2021 — unless researchers determine there is widespread asymptomatic infections occurring, leading to large numbers of people with antibodies. Until then, some form of social distancing will likely remain.

4. SUBSIDIARITY The principle of subsidiarity teaches that the smallest, most local level of society capable of handling a problem should handle it—beginning with the competent individual and his or her family, and from there proceeding to higher levels of government. This principle should still prevail in times of health crisis.

One example of subsidiarity is being practiced by nursing homes which allow patients to decide if they want to stay put or take a risk by leaving the nursing home to be with family — which many do.

As we climb the ladder of organizational size, we have seen individual hospitals and practices determine their own policies without undue governmental pressure.

Individual states, and in some cases, municipalities, have issued “shelter-in-place” or “stay-at-home” orders without the force of the federal government.

Finally, with national economic collapse and millions of newly unemployed, only the federal government could have enacted the Payroll Protection Plan that will likely save many small business, including medical practices, from closure.

It’s a joy and a privilege for Catholic physicians to bring the healing of Christ to the sick while we strive to uphold Catholic social teaching in our work. Pray for us as we pray for and care for our patients.

Thomas W. McGovern, MD is a Fort Wayne, Indiana Mohs Surgeon who serves on the national board of the CMA and co-hosts Doctor, Doctor, the official podcast and radio program of the CMA. Doctor, Doctor is found on numerous podcast platforms and on EWTN radio and Sirius XM 130 at 11 a.m. ET on Saturdays.

More than 25 COVID-related shows are available.m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 25

DOSSIER THE CHURCH AND THE LOCKDOWNS

COVID-19 AND THE EUROPEAN UNION MIGHT THE PANDEMIC SPELL THE END OF THE HEGEMONY OF GLOBALISM AND OF THE SUPPRESSION OF EUROPE’S CHRISTIAN ROOTS?

n BY GIUSEPPE RUSCONI

One of the many disturbing gargoyles that look down from the Cathedral of Notre Dame on the city of Paris, France.

Opposite page, Ursula von der Leyen, the current President of the European Commission. Her difficult task is to keep the European Union together while assuring peace, prosperity and liberty for all of of Europe’s nations

T

he crisis — due to the spread of the coronavirus — that we are facing today is also a crisis of globalization, in the sense of the planetary demolition of every border with the intention of making the most of every opportunity for greater freedom, profit and, presumably, consequent well-being. It is a representative of a sort of unique mode of thought, of a universal “religion” based on peace, justice, care for the environment — and the creation of a Paradise on earth.

This present pandemic, however, makes everyone understand that man is a limited being. His body can be destroyed by a very small particle called Coronavirus. His space — as can now be seen in many nations of the world — can be limited to his house or apartment. His knowledge depends on the often divergent opinions of virologists and other scientists, who in fact are leading policy for many governments. His elementary rights (typical of a democracy) of freedom, such as freedom of movement, of 26 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

meeting, of worship, of demonstration, are subject to restrictions of considerable size and indefinite time.

Ah, the negative side of globalization! (There is also a positive side, but this is not the place to go into its characteristics.)

It is enough to look at the unpredictably tragic consequences of the move to China of many small and medium enterprises; and of the employment in Lombardy, Italy, in the areas of Bergamo and Brescia, together with those of Lodi, Cremona, Piacenza, of hundreds of thousands of Chinese, which made those cities among the most fiercely affected by the pandemic.

It is a global crisis, because it afflicts the whole world: at this writing, Covid-19 has already officially infected (but the figures could be much higher) over one and a half million people and the dead are about 100,000. If we consider in detail the cost to each single nation, we will notice that the pandemic — born in China and probably kept hidden by the communist regime

for alleged reasons of political-economic opportunity for a few weeks — is now most serious in the United States, Brazil, Russia, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, France, Germany, Iran, while China is less seriously affected — if the data out of china may be relied upon.

Even Switzerland (penalized by the fact of bordering in particular with Lombard and Piedmontese Italy, France, Germany) has been seriously affected.

As you will notice, there is a majority in this ranking of European countries, all, except for Switzerland and — until recently — Great Britain, belonging to the European Union (EU).

One may then wonder what the EU bodies have done so far to put a stop to the spread of the virus and to financially support the countries most directly involved. The answer is disheartening. As an entity, the EU has done little so far. The fruit of the interminable meetings that the Eurozone states (19, those that have adopted the euro as their currency) and the EU as a whole (27

states, after the abandonment of Great Britain) have done for week has been meager. After days of strong disagreements between the Southern front (led by Italy, Spain, France and Portugal) and the Northern front (led by Germany, but with a very aggressive Netherlands, Austria and Finland) a sort of downward compromise was found in the night of April 10, so that 200 billion euros of the SaveStates Fund (called Mes) could be used by members in need of help, but only if used to cover the health costs related to the spread of Covid-19. Other measures were announced in the economic sphere, for a total of another 300 billion, while as early as March 20 the European Commission had decided to suspend the strict rules of the so-called “Stability Pact,” allowing each EU government to “pump into its economy everything it needs” to face the crisis.

Beyond the measures announced after a very laborious birth, what is impressive is that almost all the countries involved have closed in on themselves out of a survival instinct; they have blocked borders and restricted the rights of fundamental freedoms.

And every country has returned, so to speak, to being “sovereign,” aiming primarily to defend its own welfare.

One might say: “But wasn’t this the European Union, unleashed for months — indeed years — against the bogeyman of sovereign parties, often identified with populism, fascism, xenophobia, racism? Was this not the European Union that wanted to be led by a Babelic majority, including socialists, greens, liberals, a large part of the populace, so as not to leave room for ‘sovereignists’?”

Yes, precisely this, even until just a few weeks ago, because in Brussels there was an absolute desire to reach an agreement on support for the nations most in difficulty from the pandemic, motivating it, among other things, with the statement: “We must not fail, because otherwise the sovereignists will

take advantage of it to attack us with their campaigns.” It is worth noting here the absence of any kind of human sensitivity and solidarity in their decisions.

In this contingency, unfortunately, the European Union has shown, more than ever, to be an alliance of pure convenience, and to have abandoned the original ideals embodied by politicians such as Jean Monnet, Alcide De Gasperi, Robert Schumann, Konrad Adenauer — ideals that looked, yes, to the beneficial effects of an economic union, but first of all to the creation of a spirit of European solidarity supported by Christian values.

In reality, the painful story of the non-recognition of the JudeoChristian roots of the Continent, 16 years ago, already testified to a degradation of the sense of community solidarity.

Now, by closing each state in its shell, the image of a real and concrete European community of ideals and practices is likely to fade more and more. On the continent a wind predominates today which

pushes us to rethink intensely our own roots, our belonging, our homeland — which in itself is certainly not negative. The Europe of the homelands is that of strong identities. It is the Europe of patriotism, which is, however, different from nationalism. Patriotism is love for the country and does not imply feeling superior to the surrounding world or even despising it, but interacting with it in a positive sense.

Nationalism, especially if aggressive, instead risks being transformed into a pure product of a people’s selfishness, with all the consequent risks.

It is especially true that the European Union was forced by the pandemic to reevaluate feelings of identity and belonging that had been banned by its political, administrative, cultural and media elites.

When the recovery starts (if it starts) — and it will be long and tiring — nothing will be the same as before. And perhaps, in this time of anxiety and pain, even the political bureaucrats of Brussels will have had the opportunity to reflect deeply on the fate of the continent, drawing those conclusions that would make the European Union more human and therefore closer to the needs and hopes of the peoples that make it up... and thus abandoning even the senseless policies of cultural homogenization that instead tear man’s heart and mind, reducing him to a weak individual, ready to be enslaved. There is therefore an opportunity for EU leaders to re-convert to true human values: wasting it would be a crime for which our children and grandchildren would pay the heavy consequences.

Giuseppe Rusconi is a Swiss Catholic journalist in Rome and author of the Catholic blog rossoporpora.org.m

JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 27

ESSAY

WOMEN IN SEMINARY FORMATION: THE PROMISE AND THE CHALLENGE THE MARIAN PRINCIPLE IN THE CHURCH AND THE VALUE OF THE FEMININE GIFTS

n BY DEBORAH SAVAGE, PH.D., St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity

Women religious from around the world were in Rome at the 2019 Vatican summit on protection of minors: (from left) Maltese Sister Carmen Sammut, head of the International Union of Superiors General; German Holy Spirit Sister Maria Hornamann; Sister Veronica Openibo of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus; and Indian Sister Monica Joseph, head of the Congregation of Religious of Jesus and Mary. (CNSphoto/Joshua J. McElwee, Global Sisters Report) Bottom, Marc Cardinal Ouellet, head of the Vatican’s Congregation of Bishops

S

urely one of the most pressing questions faced by the universal Church in our present era is what one might call the “woman question.” What role is woman called to occupy in the ecclesial structure of the Church? It can be a loaded question, especially when, as it so often has, it takes on the cast of a dispute about power. But if we are ready to put that behind us, the question becomes one of tremendous promise. For it opens the door to an exploration of the distinct gifts that women bring to both the Church and the world — and to the recognition that those gifts have not yet realized their fullest expression. There is a sense of untapped potential, of a vocation not yet fully lived. Clearly the Church is searching for a concrete way to proceed. One can almost feel the world holding its breath: how will the Catholic Church respond?

Though word has not yet reached the majority of the faithful, one important response surfaced recently, a hint that the outline of a critically significant development may be underway. In an interview with Donne Chiesa Mondo (Woman, Church, World), a monthly magazine published by L’osservatore Romano, Marc Cardinal Ouellet, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation of Bishops, offers us what is surely an essential starting place: 28

INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

women, he states, are indispensable in the important task of forming men for the priesthood. In the course of the interview, he declares unequivocally that “women can participate in formation in many ways: in teaching theology and philosophy, and spirituality. They can be part of the team of formators, especially for discerning vocations.” But beyond that he points out, “we need the opinion of women, their intuition, their ability to grasp the human side of the candidates, their degree of emotional or psychological maturity.” Women are needed not merely for their functional expertise, but for their particular “sensitivity to the person.” Women are needed because they bring “a humanizing factor which favors the balance of the personality and the affectivity of the man.” Without their presence in the formation process, the man is put at risk; he may lack the balance and integration so essential to his priestly life.

The full significance of Cardinal Ouellet’s extensive comments will take time to unfold; no doubt they will generate much discussion and even some controversy.

For now, let us take note of the fact that his proposal does not represent a mere administrative solution. He is quite emphatic that this “is not only a question of promoting women…” At stake is something much more funda-

Linda Ghisoni, Undersecretary for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, one of the highest-ranking women in the Vatican, was present at the February 21, 2019 Summit Against Sexual Abuse. Bottom, Deborah Savage, Ph.D., Professor at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity

mental: his conviction that what women would bring to such a mission is an influence that, in a very real sense, only a woman can offer. Women must be “an integral part of all training” not in order to satisfy an abstract quota or political agenda – but because woman herself is needed to insure that future priests are fully human - real men who are prepared to serve as spiritual fathers to God’s people, and to return all souls to Christ.

That the prefect of the Congregation of Bishops holds such views is most certainly a harbinger of great hope for the Church. For his comments also reflect a profound grasp of the two principles that are said to serve as the superstructure of the Catholic Church: The ApostolicPetrine principle and the Marian principle. Clearly the most visible is the Apostolic Petrine dimension, manifest as it is in the public activity of her hierarchy, both sacred and mundane. This is the “active” principle, or, as the former Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger has put it, the “masculine principle.” It is this aspect that tends to get most of the public ‘s attention. For in our current intellectual climate, Cardinal Ratzinger goes on to say, characterized as it is by a onesided emphasis on activism, “only the masculine principle seems to count.”

The result has been a deeply flawed understanding of the nature of the Church. In the eyes of the culture at large, she has become merely another “manufactured item,” reducible to an organizational chart and a power structure, offering just another career opportunity. But the Catholic Church is not an instrument of our own making; she is a sacred reality, reflecting the nature of a sacrament. Her visible structure is an external sign of an inner reality.

Though to the world the Apostolic-Petrine principle appears to be the primary element driving the Church’s mission, it is in fact secondary to it.

For the institution of the priesthood is preceded by the definitive event of human history: Mary’s “Fiat.” The Church is not characterized in the first instance by activity, but by receptivity. This is its Marian dimension, which can be said to be at the heart of the Church, that which keeps its life blood flowing. Both principles are essential to sustaining the Body. But without the capacity to receive the Word of God, the body has no life.

Cardinal Ouellet echoes the thought of the Holy Father and both of his predecessors when he states that,

as the first to follow her Son, Mary is in fact “superior to Peter, because…she is the mediator of the gift of the Word Incarnate to the world.” The “form of the Church is feminine because faith is the reception of the Word, reflecting a fundamental reception of grace, which is inherently feminine.” The Marian principle points to Mary as the repository of the Word, the center of gravity of the Church. As always, it is the inner reality that gives meaning to the external sign. And it is this truth that may illuminate the gift that woman is to the Church.

For the past twelve years, it has been my great privilege to teach in a major seminary, a grave responsibility I share with my fellow professors and formation faculty. In that capacity, I have served as a professor, an academic adviser, as a member of the admissions committee, and as a full participant in the formation process. There is no question that the insights I have had into the needs of the men we work together to form have helped to shape their futures. Because I am present in the admissions interview, we know from the very start what the candidate’s response to women might be — a matter of some significance, given the predominant presence of women in parish life. My mostly male colleagues welcome my comments; they listen to them and value them. As women often are, I am more attuned to the non-verbal cues that illuminate a man’s inner life and struggle, a subtext that is frequently richer and more powerful than their words or overt actions.

Equally important, the impact I have had in the classroom surely goes beyond the intellectual formation my courses seek to provide.

More women in the classroom would give them the opportunity to testify to the “functional expertise” of which women are capable and without which they would not be qualified to teach. Their presence would ensure that our seminarians experience a fuller range of woman’s capacities and competence. The classroom is a place to explore the important questions of life’s meaning and end, very human questions that transcend the differences between the sexes.

But the seminarian needs not only teachers; he needs witnesses. And there is no substitute for the living example of a woman who is seeking to embody the spirit of the Gospel, motivated by the love of truth, and inspired by the profound beauty of the Church’s faith and teaching.

Men preparing for the priesthood need the witness of JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

29

ESSAY THE ROLE OF WOMEN

And here we come to the challenges. It would be foolwomen who are grateful to them for answering God’s ish to pretend that none exist, though space does not percall, who affirm them in their desire for holiness, and mit an exhaustive list. But the starting place is to realize who encourage them along their sometimes arduous that while both man and woman are under the sway of path.

Original Sin, its manifestations appear in particular ways Such women are crucial in the formation of priests for each. And this is the lens through which to seek a because the seminarian needs to be called out of the reldeeper understanding of each other. Man forgets that he ative safety of a male-only world and into one of relationloses his place in the scheme of things if he fails to recall ship with the Other. Without this invitation, it is too easy the fact that all authority, including his own, comes from for him to get trapped in the sterile constraints of an enviGod. Woman continues to bristle ronment in which, as Cardinal Women at the Foot of the Cross, an under what appears to be man’s deterRatzinger warns, “only the masculine 18th-19th century ivory carving in France mination to dominate her, forgetting principle counts.” This is perhaps the that she is a daughter of God and worprimary factor that led to the deadly thy of love and respect. And so she clerical mentality so evident in our fights for her place rather than simply current situation. taking it. Our history is peppered with Indeed, Cardinal Ouellet himself examples of the effects of these realiacknowledges the element of truth in ties. They have led us to distrust each the claim that the abuse crisis would other, though, as Cardinal Ouellet not have risen to such dramatic levels argues, men are more fearful of had women been more involved in the women than women are of men. The formation (and lives) of priests. He psychologists tell us that this is due to points out that “man is an emotional man’s need to differentiate himself, to being” and in the absence of “interacstand apart from woman, to become a tion between the sexes,” he will find THE ROLE OF WOMEN real man. This is a legitimate and necways to compensate for this lack of IN THE CHURCH essary desire and woman must honor relationship — for example, with an Early in 2019, several women it. But it is almost impossible for him unhealthy relationship to food. But it can also express itself in the exercise seminary professors co-authored to achieve without her influence.

The sensitivity women have to perof power, or in closed relationships, the document Sharing a Spirit of Discernment: Recommendations which, says the Cardinal, can lead “to from US Women Seminary Profes- sons that Cardinal Ouellet points to is manipulation and control,” to the sors, a substantive reflection on not meant to affirm a kind of romantidegrading of conscience, and finally – guidelines for priestly formation. cized or sentimental notion of the “feminine genius.” He cautions us to sexual abuse.

The document was prompted by Cardinal Ouellet’s insights here are the abuse crisis and was submitted explicitly to avoid the tendency that of critical importance if we are to heal to the Vatican in February 2019 some have shown—to go “from misogyny to mythologizing” this ourselves from this tragedy. It would (See: https://bit.ly/3bt1XxF). idea.

That women notice things that It is also included in the forthbe hard to deny that women often have coming book: Clerical Sexual men do not is simply a fact. That they a finely tuned radar for personal safety, both her own and those of others, Misconduct: An Interdisciplinary possess a kind of “genius” that men whether they are her children – or her Analysis (Cluny: June 2020) Jane do not is a reality known to anyone with a mother. students. And in this regard, the fact Adolphe, Ronald Rychlak, eds.

But this is not to claim that women that women operate outside the cleriare superior to men or that men are cal chain of command actually without their own gifts. Men have a “genius” as well, a becomes an asset to the ecclesial community. It gives set of gifts desperately needed in an era that has forgotten them a certain freedom that provides a valuable outlet for the importance of fatherhood. Both men and women are the frank discussion that is easily sidestepped when the needed to fulfill the tasks of human living as they work tendency is to avoid conflict within the brotherhood. together to pursue the Church’s social vision. Pope St. As men know all too well, women are not afraid of John Paul II tells us that the complementarity of man and conflict; they like to talk things out. And when that fearwoman is what gives them their mission, which is to crelessness is exercised, not in a power struggle, or out of a ate, not only human families – but human history itself. misplaced need for recognition or control but, instead, The future of the Church and of mankind may depend on toward the authentic good of the community, the priestly each of us inviting the other into a fuller expression of our community will have an important ally in the common common humanity.m struggle with the persistent effects of the fall from grace.

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COMMENTARY

IS CDF SURVEY A VEILED ATTACK ON SUMMORUM PONTIFICUM?

IT MAY BE IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY; BUT A TRADITIONAL MASS DEFENDER OFFERS POSSIBLE SCENARIOS

n BY PETER A. KWASNIEWSKI, PH.D.

A

A Summorum Pontificum pilgrimage in 2019 draws near St. Peter’s

letter dated March 7, 2020, sent from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to every bishop in the world, requested their cooperation in completing a nine-question survey on the implementation of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum — Pope Benedict’s June 2007 Apostolic Letter authorizing freer use of the Traditional Latin Mass — in their dioceses. The letter and survey were leaked via the popular traditionalist blog Rorate Caeli on April 23, 2020.

It may seem surprising that the CDF is on the letterhead until we realize that all questions concerning the socalled “Extraordinary Form” of the Roman rite were entrusted to the quondam Pontifical Council Ecclesia Dei, which was folded into the CDF by Pope Francis on January 17, 2019. A rumor spread in the days after the Rorate post that the Fourth Section of the CDF, comprising former employees of the PCED, was not consulted in the matter, but this rumor appears to have no solid basis.

The letter indicated that the survey was desired by the Holy Father “who wishes to be informed about the current application of the aforementioned document.” The responses are to be returned by the last day of July. The questions themselves range from purely informational (e.g., the first, “What is the situation in your diocese with 32

INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

respect to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite?”) to more probing (the fourth: “Are the norms and conditions established by Summorum Pontificum respected?”) to nervous in sound (the fifth: “Does it occur to you that, in your diocese, the ordinary form has adopted elements of the extraordinary form?”) to downright “leading” in nature (“If the extraordinary form is practiced there, does it respond to a true pastoral need or is it promoted by a single priest?”— as if the motu proprio had not established the right of every priest to use the 1962 Missale Romanum according to his free choice).

It is easy to see this survey as a thinly-veiled attack on Summorum Pontificum, and that, indeed, is suggested by the nature and tone of many of the questions. It’s as if the questions were drafted by the Bishop of Boise and then revised by a committee from the USCCB, all exercising maximum self-control. Conservative and traditionalist bloggers have tended to see it as a way of initiating the dismantling of privileges won under Pope Benedict XVI, probably on the assumption that he will soon die and the way will be clear to undo his legacy. The Italian professor of theology Andrea Grillo of Sant Anselmo in Rome — an outspoken progressivist who not long ago issued a surly screed against the CDF decrees that modified the

The Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage in 2020 is scheduled for October 23 to 25. The Pontifical Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Robert Sarah, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments

1962 missal and its rubrics, and managed to get about 200 people to sign it — has made no effort to hide his jubilation at what he considers a promising first step in a long-overdue purge of the “state of liturgical exception” that he thinks has undermined the renewal sought by Vatican II. (When he can point to any signs that can be plausibly interpreted as renewal, I might take an interest in what he has to say.)

The majority of bishops who respond (60%, even 80%?) will probably give anemic and generic answers, like “we don’t have much of a pastoral need for it” and “it exists in one small place at 2 pm on alternating Sundays and no one has complained about it” and “the three seminarians currently studying for the diocese (possibly two; it depends on whether the third returns) are more interested in providing pastoral care for a diverse People of God than in spending time on a cultural hobby.” There will certainly be an appreciable minority of extremely negative responses; one could already make a speculative list of certain bishops who are sure to lay it on thick. The Pope, if he wanted, could side with that faction, as he has sided with minority progressivist factions at recent synods.

Nevertheless, one may reasonably predict a minority who will submit very favorable responses to the survey — bishops who have noticed how the Latin Mass parish in their dioceses is a thriving center of Catholic life and who may have experienced warm hospitality upon a pastoral visit. This minority’s reports could put the brakes on an extreme “crackdown,” especially if, as some rumors have it, the Pope was motivated to create the survey because of positive experiences he has had recently with traditional priests who struck him as amiable, wellbalanced, and outward-looking. The largest number of positive responses will come from the USA, which, unfortunately, will not be an advantage in the sight of the present anti-American Vatican regime. It is not impossible that the survey is intended to throw a bone to skeptics of the traditional Mass by making it seem that the Vatican is keenly attending to the “problem,” when the intention all along is to quietly stick the results in a drawer and leave things alone.

In the end, should those of us who love the usus antiquior be nervous? No, not really. If Summorum Pon-

tificum were negated, it would not change one bit the logic of Benedict XVI’s argument, which is based on natural and divine law, not on ecclesiastical law: “What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.” Nota bene: not “should not be forbidden,” but “cannot be forbidden.”

Hence, although I would expect some clergy to fall into line with an attempted suppression of the old rite, I would expect many others to continue celebrating it — perhaps, in some cases, going underground — as they would recognize that the Holy See had overstepped the bounds of its authority. In the period immediately after the Council, the Holy See took advantage of the general ecclesiastical0 confusion and an exaggerated Jesuitical conception of obedience to impose demands ultra vires — beyond the limits of office. These days, especially thanks to the blindness-curing papacy of Francis, it will not be so easy to snap fingers in Rome and expect the world to dance the tango.

A sort of absentee-father phenomenon which has afflicted the hierarchy for a long while, and now, in some ways, the papacy, has left most lower clergy and laity with the attitude: “I’m on my own and I’ve got to do what I can to live the Faith — not much help is coming from elsewhere.” The resulting free pursuit of tradition, contrary to the designs of its would-be undertakers, perfectly illustrates the fate of the wicked according to the Psalms: “They dug a pit in my way, but they have fallen into it themselves” (Ps 57:6 [56:7]). “We know that to them that love God, all things work together unto good, to such as, according to his purpose, are called to be saints” (Rom 8:28).

Short of further leaks, we cannot know exactly why this survey was issued, and why at this particular time; but in my view, it is not a moment for inconsolable pessimism or naïve optimism. As usual with Vatican politics, there are almost certainly several factions hoping to make the most of this opportunity, for good or for ill. It is best for us to pray that God’s holy will be done, that His enemies be thwarted, and that the generous and salutary provisions given to us by Pope Benedict XVI will not only remain in force but someday see further expansion.m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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COMMENTARY

A RESPONSE TO HARVARD SCHOLAR’S PROPOSED HOMESCHOOLING BAN HOW DOES CATHOLIC TEACHING ANSWER THE FEARS OF ANTI-HOMESCHOOL CRUSADERS?

n BY WILLIAM EDMUND FAHEY

A

re homeschoolers a danger to society? Homeschooling parents may wryly reply to such an absurd question, “No, but they are a menace to our family.” Yet the question is seriously entertained by lawyers, activists and politicians. In June of this year, legal scholar Elizabeth Bartholet planned an invitation-only conference entitled “Homeschooling Summit: Problems, Politics, and Prospects of Reform.” The summit was to be held at Harvard University’s Law School where Bartholet is the Wasserstein Public Interest Professor of Law and the Director of the School’s Child Advocacy Program. Its goal: To set forth legal and political strategies for the reform of homeschooling.

What Bartholet and her colleagues envision is spelled out clearly in her 2020 Arizona Law Review article, “Homeschooling: Parents Rights, Absolutism vs. Child Rights to Education & Protection.” In this and an interview published in the May-June issue of Harvard Magazine, Prof. Bartholet states succinctly what “reform” means: “a presumptive ban on homeschooling.”

While respectful of parental “beliefs” and “convictions,” she sees parental-directed education as “essentially authoritarian,” and contends that all reasonable parents should be willing to give over their children to publiclyaligned and regulated school system for six or seven hours a day. Should Catholics be disturbed or is this merely the hysteria of an isolated academic?

While it would be easy to dismiss Bartholet’s proposi34

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tions for an effective ban on homeschooling as an unimaginable situation, one that would align American practice with countries like Cuba and North Korea, the reality is that homeschooling is illegal in modern democratic states like Germany and the Netherlands, and that anti-Christian Blaine provisions continue to carry legal power in the majority of U.S. states. Ironically, knowledge of the Catholic teaching on education might have actually diffused some of Prof. Bartholet’s concerns and afforded her an opportunity for reflection.

The concerns of Prof. Bartholet and her allies were anticipated nearly a century ago by Pope Pius XI in his encyclical Divini illius magistri, commonly called “On Christian Education” (hereafter Divini).

Promulgated on the last day of 1929, Pius XI’s Divini sets forth the classical position on parental, social, and Church rights and duties with respect to the goal of Christian education: “preparing man for what he must be and what he must do here below.” It is a project that involves the student, the parents, civil society, and the Church.

Because the education of a Christian treats the sublime end for which a person is created, it would be abhorrent to surrender education to secular authorities — even a school that allowed embedded religious instruction for part of the day. Divini answers directly the concerns that Elizabeth Bartholet raises. First, she fears that parents are unqualified to teach since they receive no training or oversight.

Pius makes careful distinctions in this regard.

The parents, because they are the natural origin of the child’s life, have both a right and duty to ensure the education of their child. Canon Law codifies this as follows: “Parents are under a grave obligation to see to the religious and moral education of their children, as well as to their physical and civic training, as far as they can…”

The parents’ right is inviolable because of their obligations as stewards over the child within the first community of natural relationships — the community of birth — and this right “cannot be destroyed or absorbed by the State,” according to Pius.

It is interesting to note that the Church has always promoted formal schooling.

The reason is stated clearly by Pius XI: “the family of itself is unequal to the task” of a complete education, because it is not a complete society unto itself. Hence, Pius states “it was necessary to create that social institution, the school.”

Pius XI’s ideas were developed subsequently by Pius XII and Paul VI, culminating in Gravissimum educationis (1965) and sections 2221-2231 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. All consistently defend the grave obligation and right of parents in educating their children.

Under normal circumstances, a Catholic school is promoted — for social reasons and for the reality of teaching as a vocation. As Pius had noted earlier, “many parents have little or no preparation, immersed as they are in temporal cares.” In other words, while agreeing with Bartholet that biological status does not guarantee the particular teaching skills, the Church teaches that parents participate with the Holy Spirit and Church authorities in youth formation.

However, “When the parents are found wanting either physically or morally, whether by default, incapacity or misconduct,” Pius states, “it belongs to the State to protect the rights of the child.”

A careful reading of this text and knowledge of the Catholic tradition clarifies matters raised by Bartholet, points to some common ground, and may disarm critics who accuse that home education leads to isolation or abuse. Further, the contention, voiced by Bartholet and others, that home education is largely a project of Christians — “extreme religious ideologues” — who want to withdraw from society, would be challenged.

The Catholic tradition is one of robust engagement. It is a tradition that, as Pius says, grants that the State should take steps “to secure that all its citizens have the necessary knowledge of their civic and political duties, and a certain degree of physical, intellectual, and moral culture.”

Yet, it must not use its power to establish “any monopoly” in education that would undermine the prior and higher rights of the Church and the family.

Again, patience and humility may have shown Bart-

holet that the Christian educational tradition was a welcome bulwark against the very abuses she has dedicated her life to fighting. Pius XI, following Leo XIII, argued that any intellectual culture and training could be injurious to a young person if not grounded in “proper religious and moral instruction.” Does Prof. Bartholet, who claims to respect the beliefs of parents, accept what the Catholic Church has always understood as her very mission: “Teach ye all nations” (Matt. 28:19)? This is not a private “conviction” and it is certainly not a domestic form of “authoritarian control.”

What verges on authoritarianism is Prof. Bartholet’s recourse to the requirements of that form of schooling she accurately calls “compulsory education.” It is very true that Pius XI had stated unequivocally, “The education of youth is precisely one of those matters that belong both to the Church and to the State.” But where he argued for a “well-ordered harmony,” Bartholet sees instead a threat, with non-specialist, non-state teachers as leading to “real dangers to children and to society,” “near-absolute parental power,” and other such inflammatory visions. Her recommendations of political, legal, and financial curtailment are not just against homeschoolers, but also private and parochial schools. She judges parents to be providing a contentious, ideological formation, but does not see it as a usurpation of domestic life and the tradition of associative societies to limit family and religious formation only to that the period from “infancy to kindergarten;” after which state-regulated overseers should guide the child towards his enfranchisement within secular society.

Furthermore, Bartholet’s educational vision with its limitless “alternative perspectives” robs children of the normative formation needed not only for the intellect, but the will. Ultimately, said Pius, the child becomes “a slave of his own blind pride and disorderly affections.”

In response to the Harvard Law School summit on homeschooling, Thomas More College held its own summit, which set forth the difficulties in Bartholet’s position and offered a variety of perspectives by speakers such as Princeton University’s Professor Robert George and the State of New Hampshire’s Commissioner for Education Frank Edelblut. The presentations are all available for free online (https://thomasmorecollege.edu/2020/05/whoowns-your-children-home-education-in-an-authoritarian-age/ ). At time of writing, the Harvard conference has been indefinitely suspended.

William Edmund Fahey, Ph.D., is the president of Thomas More College of Liberal Arts in Merrimack, New Hampshire.m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

35

EDUCATION

A BOLD VISION FOR CATHOLIC HIGHER EDUCATION: TRUTH, INNOVATION, EVANGELIZATION

n BY RICHARD LUDWICK*

Views of the college dormitory and of the campus. Center, a statue of Christ at the center of the campus

A

s I write this, the most virulent pandemic in more than 100 years sweeps the globe.

COVID-19 haunts communities and countries, bringing fear, isolation, death, and grief on a scale not seen since World War II. The human family is at once separated, yet ironically united in common practices that seek to stave off the virus. Those not sick, nervously watch the reports and dread whether or when the “spike” will impact their communities. For most, anxiety and a hope that disappoints fill the future.

The pandemic and its human response provide both context and metaphor to grasp the challenges ahead for Catholic higher education. As we start the third millennium of Christian life, secularization and anti-religiosity are sweeping the cultures in many parts of the world. Often characterized by moral relativism and consumerism, the communities and countries where such archetypes can proliferate may have surging suicide rates (especially among youth), abortion and euthanasia, and vulnerable community members with record levels of mental illness, loneliness, and despair. Although the specific forms may be novel, 36

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The home page of the St. Thomas University website, dedicated to facing the pandemic emergency.

Below, students meet with a professor Opposite, Richard Ludwick, President of the University of St. Thomas since 2017

these afflictions of our human family are not new. Throughout each Christian millennium, the Church has innovated and prevailed over much worse. We will answer the call this time, too, and here’s how: Catholic higher education will help lead the way.

Catholic higher education must answer the call with two imperatives. It must uphold an innovation legacy of more than 2,000 years and it must be the New Evangelization’s cultural catalyst for the modern world. In the former instance, these institutions will endeavor to vivify the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus Himself gives the Great Commission (Matthew 28:20). In the latter instance, they will respond, in a particular way, to the direct calls of the last three Holy Fathers.

Catholic education over the millennia has been remarkably innovative. The Lord Jesus’ teachings speak for themselves. Saint Paul used letters to teach and inspire in what may be considered an early example of distance education.

The writings of the early Church Fathers further establish the continuity of Catholic thought. The monasteries of the

“Dark Ages” have been credited with keeping learning alive during a period of societal disruption. Universities themselves were products of the Catholic Church. Almost all early advances in science (Copernicus, Kepler, etc.) were made by Catholics. Moving to more recent times, the United States saw significant proliferation of Catholic colleges and universities in the 19th and 20th centuries in particular, many led by religious women. In the current age, Catholic universities are found on every continent (except Antarctica) and in cyberspace. This litany of educational advances over time always compels and gives new energy to Catholic higher education.

Inspired by that beautiful legacy of innovation over the millennia, we now seek to emulate it. With the Holy Spirit, we can craft compelling modes for higher education. We have for our use tools never before conceived to educate students from all communities. Augmented reality, virtual labs, cyber classrooms with students from around the globe are just a few of the assets at our disposal. The challenges of cost, disability, distance, language and culture can be overcome. Even the COVID-19 pandemic that closed most American university campuses cannot stop education from happening online.

The aim of Catholic higher education, regardless of modality, is truth. The means matters much less than the human connection in the pursuit of truth. As St. Pope John Paul II writes in Fides et Ratio, “Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth—in a word, to know himself—so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.” It is that understanding and connection with the divine that distinguishes Catholic higher education from all others.

Pontifical attention to, and urgings on, culture and Catholic higher education abound over the last three papacies. St. Pope John Paul II spoke often about the role culture plays in human and societal composition. In 1982, he shared with the faculty at the University of Coimbra in Portugal: “Culture is for man. He is not only the creator of culture, but he is also its principal beneficiary. In the two meanings, fundamental to the formation of the individual and to the spiritual formation of society, culture has as its aim the realization of the person in all his dimensions, with all his abilities. The primary objective of culture is the development of man as man, man as person, or rather, each man as a unique and unrepeatable example of the human family.”

As the author of the apostolic constitution on Catholic universities, the great saint wrote in 1990 about science and technology and a Catholic university’s role vis-a-vis the

individual and society: “…Catholic Universities are called to a continuous renewal, both as ‘Universities’ and as ‘Catholic.’” For, “What is at stake is the very meaning of scientific and technological research, of social life and of culture, but, on an even more profound level, what is at stake is the very meaning of the human person.” (Ex Corde Ecclesiae 7) Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI spoke on what is particular for a Catholic university in the Church’s primary role of evangelization, “The Church’s activities stem from her awareness that she is the bearer of a message, which has its origin in God himself: in his goodness and wisdom…” He went on to say,”…only in the mystery of the Word made flesh does the mystery of man truly become clear (cf.

Gaudium et Spes, 22).” (Speech at Catholic University of America, 2008) And Pope Francis wrote in his first apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium: “Universities are outstanding environments for articulating and developing this evangelizing commitment in an interdisciplinary and integrated way. Catholic schools, which always strive to join their work of education with the explicit proclamation of the Gospel, are a most valuable resource for the evangelization of culture.”

Culture and evangelization are key themes of the recent Holy Fathers, and each one—St. Pope John Paul II, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, and Francis—has urged Catholic universities to play key roles in the New Evangelization.

The New Evangelization should not be confused with proselytizing. It is primarily friendship, dialogue and accompaniment. As the Church has shifted after the Second Vatican Council from an institutional Church to a missionary Church, it is incumbent upon Catholic universities to exercise their rightful role in the New Evangelization. How that manifests itself in each institution will likely offer the variance and distinct beauty that is the mosaic of Catholic higher education worldwide.

Catholic universities are special gifts of the Holy Spirit.

The women and men, religious and lay, that serve the Church, their students and humanity have responsibilities and receive graces for their work. University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, is a Catholic university founded by the Basilian Fathers (CSB) in 1947. It is faithful to the Magisterium and serves a student population that reflects the coming demographics of the Catholic Church in America.

It seeks to innovate as it educates students for an eternity with God and for the opportunities in the current culture. *Richard L. Ludwick, J.D., D.Ed, became the ninth president of the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas, on July 1, 2017. He had previously served as president of the Independent Colleges of Indiana, as well as provost at St. Gregory’s University in Oklahoma.m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

37

ANNIVERSARY

SEVEN YEARS LATER...

POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI AT 93

STILL WORKING “FOR THE GOOD OF THE CHURCH AND HUMANITY” WHILE LIVING A HIDDEN LIFE — n BY WILLIAM DOINO, JR.

W

AND SUPPORTING HIS SUCCESSOR The helicopter carrying Pope Benedict XVI flies past St. Peter’s Basilica as it leaves the Vatican for Castel Gandolfo, Italy, February 28, 2013. “I am a simple pilgrim who begins the last stage of his pilgrimage on this earth,” the Pope said at the close of his papacy (CNS photo/Alessandro Bianchi, Reuters)

hen Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI resigned seven years ago, in February of 2013, it caused a sensation — both inside and outside the Church.

Catholics of every age, never having witnessed a papal resignation, were stunned; while many in the media seized the unexpected moment to assail Benedict’s orthodoxy (yet again), and campaign for a more “modern” Pope.

As reality set in, concerned Catholics wondered aloud what the transition would mean for the stability and authority of the papacy. Their anxieties were only heightened when dissident Catholics envisioned a radical new post-Benedict era, which would usher in a “Catholic revolution.”

Perhaps the calmest, and most sensible, statement made at the time, came from the Metropolitan Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins: “We do not have this sort of event happening every day. But at the same time, we know that the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1983 makes provision for the resignation of the Pope, if he becomes incapacitated or, as with Benedict XVI, if he believes he is no longer able to effectively carry out his official functions as head of the Roman Catholic Church due to a decline in his physical ability. This is not the first time that a Pope has resigned. In fact, we have now had no less than three, including Pope Celestine V in 1294 and Pope Gregory XII in 1415. Pope Benedict XVI was not forced into taking this decision. As he said in his own words, he acted with ‘full freedom,’ being conscious of the deep spiritual implication of his action… By his deci38

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sion, the Holy Father has acted gallantly and as such we must commend and respect his decision.”

Thankfully, most Catholics have; just as they joyfully welcomed the election of Pope Francis, as the new Vicar of Christ, on March 13, 2013.

Since then, however, even though he is no longer Pope, Joseph Ratzinger’s life has been anything but uneventful.

He continues to grant occasional interviews; published a powerful reflection on the roots of the abuse crisis ; contributed an elegant essay to Cardinal Sarah’s book defending priestly celibacy.

And, just recently, issued a series of striking warnings against relativism and political correctness, for a new authorized biography of himself, by long-time German collaborator, Peter Seewald. (Entitled, Benedict XVI: A Life, it is a two-volume work, exceeding 1,000 pages.

The first part will be published in English this fall, after which ITV will review and discuss it at length).

Among the statements Pope Emeritus made — provoking headlines throughout the world — were these: “A century ago, anyone would have thought it absurd to talk about homosexual marriage.

“Today, those who oppose it are excommunicated from society.

“It’s the same thing with abortion and creating human life in the laboratory. It was only natural for people to fear the spiritual power of the anti-Christ.

“The real threat to the Church… is in the global dictatorship of purportedly humanist ideologies.”

Not surprisingly, these declarations set off a firestorm

Pope Francis greets Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI during an encounter for the elderly in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican September 28, 2014, a year and a half after the retired Pope’s resignation (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

of criticism against the former Pontiff, especially among the liberal intelligentsia. But his comments were hailed by the Catholic faithful, not to mention many others who embrace the Judeo-Christian heritage.

As Melanie McDonagh, one of Great Britain’s most respected commentators, noted: “There is nothing untrue in his observation that the reaction to gay marriage a century ago would have been incomprehension; ditto the creation of new life in test tubes—as satirized in Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. And these unprecedented developments are now sacrosanct, in the sense that is not now allowable, not socially acceptable, to suggest they are wrong and damaging. To take exception to these new norms results in a range of social censure, from online lynching to deselection as candidate for political parties. These things used not to be specifically religious matters; they still aren’t, but it is now almost entirely religious people — Muslims as well as Catholics — who will articulate them.”

The heated reaction to the Pope Emeritus’ observations, concluded McDonagh, simply “proves his point: the humanist ideologies have taken over the culture, and it’s not a worldview that welcomes dissent.”

The former Pope’s detractors say that by speaking out so loudly, he has not only broken his promise to remain “silent” after he retired, but tried to upstage Francis, who is the real Pope and holds much more “enlightened” views. The critics are wrong on both counts.

To begin with, the Pope Emeritus never promised to remain “silent” after his resignation. What he said, in the final weeks of his papacy, is that he would resign as Pope and “serve the Holy Church of God in the future through a life of dedicated prayer;” that he would remain close to Catholics “even if I am hidden from the world;” and pledged his “unconditional reverence and obedience” to the new Pope — promises he has kept, and none of which are incompatible with periodic reflections and statements, sustained by a life of prayer, about the challenges faced by the Church. Furthermore, in his very last declaration as Pope, on February 28, 2013, Benedict XVI said he “would still — with my heart, with my love, with my prayers… and with all my inner strength, work for the common good and the good of the Church and humanity” — something that would obviously be impossible if he never penned or said another word after resigning.

Lest anyone doubt that the Pope Emeritus is acting in

cooperation with Pope Francis, one need only point out that Francis himself, shortly after he became Pope, personally invited the freshly retired Pope Emeritus to cowrite Francis’ first encyclical, Lumen Fidei, which highlights many classic Catholic teachings, and was broadcast throughout the world.

As for Francis supposedly having more “enlightened” (read progressive) views than Benedict, that claim has been debunked repeatedly, notably by Professor Paul Kengor in a series of well-researched articles for Crisis and the National Catholic Register, documenting how both men have consistently and unequivocally denounced abortion, euthanasia, same-sex relations and gender ideology — to start the list.

It should also be noted that Francis repeated and endorsed his predecessor’s most famous statement after becoming Pope.

In an article entitled, “Francis Vows to Press Benedict’s Fight vs. ‘dictatorship of relativism,’” John Allen commented: “For those tempted to draw an overly sharp distinction between Pope Francis and his predecessor, the new Pope offered a clear reminder that [while] he may have a different style than Benedict XVI… on substance, he’s cut from much the same cloth.”

Given the fundamental principles Francis and the Pope Emeritus share, no one should depict the latter as any kind of threat or rival to the reigning pontiff.

Much less should they try to censor him.

In an appeal entitled, “Do Not Let a Brilliant Thinker Like Benedict Fall Silent,” Daniel Hitchens, the new editor of The Catholic Herald in London, wrote, “Many Catholics attribute their conversions, at least in part, to his meditative and sharp-witted writings; many nonCatholics have found in his work a cogent critique of modernity.”

For her part, McDonagh, agrees.

The Pope Emeritus, she says, is “one of the most intelligent” men ever to sit on the throne of St. Peter — and also one of the bravest, for he “tells the truth as he sees it.” She continues: “In an age where emotional sincerity is more highly rated than intellectual integrity, this hasn’t made him popular. But popularity can be too dearly bought.”

Inside the Vatican looks forward to Seewald’s new biography on Pope Emeritus Benedict, and highlighting the lasting insights of his great pontificate.m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

39

NEWS VATICAN

“HIS MODESTY, HIS HUMILITY” Christocentrism, the revival of the Church, the recognition of the beauty of the Latin Mass — in these ways Benedict XVI has “paved the way for the Church of the future.” An interview with Peter Seewald, biographer of Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI

n BY DR. JAN BENTZ

P

eter Seewald’s monumental new biography of Benedict XVI, which will be published in English in November 2020, pays homage to an unparalleled personality and Pope who has left a lasting mark on the Church. Inside the Vatican had a chance to interview Seewald about his last conversation with Benedict, his theology, and the colossal task of writing his biography.

Inside the Vatican: Mr. Seewald, your new book is a pretty “hefty” tome—how long have you worked on it?

PETER SEEWALD: I began with the work in 2012 when Benedict XVI was still Pope. It was important to me to show the life of Joseph Ratzinger in a historical context.

With some disruptions, I would say, I have worked on it for about five years altogether.

What sources did you use for gathering information?

SEEWALD: The information is based on archival and book research and interviews with about 100 witnesses. Additionally I used the information from the interview books I have published with Ratzinger as Cardinal, as Pope and as Pope Emeritus. Last but not least, I could ask Benedict XVI himself for biographical information in countless sessions, especially to understand his resignation.

Did you speak with Benedict for the last additions?

SEEWALD: No. My book is not an 40

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authorized biography but an independent biography. But I gave the Pope Emeritus some chapters to read before publication. I wanted his opinion. He emphasized to me the section on the encyclical “With Burning Concern,” published in 1937, was striking. He wrote to me: “This is an extraordinary chapter of specific information about the historical context, about its presence in my live and finally about the encompassing meaning of the persecuted Church.” If he liked all chapters, I cannot say. My goal was to give access to a work irreplaceable for Church and society, and to take the reader on a journey of historical and spiritual

Peter Seewald and the cover of his new biography of Benedict XVI, to be published in English in November 2020

importance. The legacy of Benedict XVI is not facing the past but faces the future. You will discover in the teachings of Ratzinger, which stem from a most broad experience and most profound depth of spirit, pointers for the future of Church and society.

How was his physical condition and health during your last visit with him?

SEEWALD: In the end he was physically very frail. He found it difficult to speak, but his mind was still wide awake, and his phenomenal memory hadn’t left him. I found it remarkable when he hesitated during my last questions and said, “to answer would inevitably be interference in the work of the current Pope. Everything in this direction, I had to and I want to avoid.”

Contrary to the criticism that he would intervene in current affairs as a “shadow Pope,” Benedict XVI, in reality, always showed the most diligent care, that there would be no grounds for such an accusation. He literally affirmed: “My personal friendship with Pope Francis has not only remained, but has continued to grow.”

What should we associate above all with Benedict XVI? SEEWALD: Ratzinger’s theology was so fully developed early on that he no longer had to change, but only to unfold it. “My basic impulse was,” he explained in one of our interviews, “to expose the actual core of belief under all incrustations and to give this core new strength and dynamism.” This impulse was a

continuous constant element of his life. He never worked to develop his own teaching. Like his fellow theologians, such as Henri de Lubac, he saw himself as a modern, progressive theologian who fought for a renewal of the faith. The search for the modern, he believed, should never lead to an abandonment of the timelessly valid. Ratzinger was instrumental in driving the modernization push through the Council, but he was also one of the first to warn against reinterpreting what the Second Vatican Council really wanted.

In addition to his commitment to an unadulterated liturgy, the decisive factor for this Pope was his recourse to the Church Fathers and his relation to Christ. He consistently referred the phenomenon of Church and Christianity back to the figure of Jesus.

In addition to the readmission of the Traditional Mass, his pontificate was marked above all by his Jesus trilogy.

None of his predecessors on the Petrine Chair had dared to undertake such a task, and in fact no one was better suited for it than Pope Benedict. His Christology was urgently needed in the face of the destruction and falsification of Jesus’ image and message.

What in your opinion is the greatest creative originality of Ratzinger’s theology?

SEEWALD: Ratzinger has a personal overview of historical experiences from the beginning of the 20th century in the Weimar Republic to the Digital Age. He knows the situation of the Church in different epochs: as a “people’s Church” (Volkskirche), as a “persecuted Church” under dictatorship and as a “Church of crisis” as we experience it in the present. With his contribution to the social debate, he faced the challenges of the secularized world early on. Already at the

(CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano via Reuters)

reasonable, communicates something by resonating in the heart.

It was important to him to point out the personal God with whom one can and must have a personal relationship in order to remain in the following of Christ.

His modesty, his humility, the ability to simply express complicated things without depriving them of their substance and his intimacy in the service that you can feel have inspired millions of people, even those who were previously distant from the Church and faith.

end of the 1950s, he insisted that the Church be should be “detached from the world” (Entweltlichung), which almost cost him his career.

He had learned from the Nazi era: the institution alone is of no use if the people in it are not there. The task is therefore not to be able to connect to the world, but to revitalize the faith internally. In the future, the faith will depend on a core of determined believers, on whom others can then rely.

I was always moved by the way he tried to live the synthesis of thought, faith, and action in his personal dealings. Above all, he has shown that belief and reason are not opposites, but are related strands of knowledge. I think Ratzinger’s writings always contain a message that, beyond what is

Can you share a detail or story with us that amazed you?

SEEWALD: Ratzinger’s biography is characterized by interruptions and trials, in which also often failure lurked — and then again twists of fate that make Ratzinger appear rising like a phoenix from the ashes. He always did things that nobody had dared to do before him.

Not least through the act of resignation, through which he cleared the way for a fresh force. One of the chapters tells, for example, of Ratzinger’s unknown health handicaps and his exhaustion after the death of his sister. Above all, I was surprised by his willingness to suffer. He was never vindictive or held a grudge. Even his harshest critics he did not describe as enemies, but at best as “non-friends.”l

Above, his fellow Bavarians received the news of Benedict’s election in 2005 with enthusiasm.

Below, Pope Benedict XVI leaves the Vatican for Castel Gandolfo on February 28, 2013

JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

41

SCRIPTURE

GOD’S SIGNS

God’s self-revelation through signs, and the unity of Scripture

n BY ANTHONY ESOLEN

B

iblical scholars have long agreed that there are four ancient sources for the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. They have labeled them J, for the Jahwist, who names God with the tetragrammaton IHWH; E, for the Elohist, who names God Elohim; P, for a Priestly source associated with the religious reforms under King Josiah, and D, for the postexilic Deuteronomist. They generally agree that the sources were using texts and traditions that were ancient indeed, and the Bible itself mentions historical books that we do not have. These scholars are by no means always certain how to assign every verse.

I am not going to dispute the theory here. What strikes me, when I read Genesis, is not that it is a patchwork, but that it is a staggeringly unified whole, with each incident reflecting in a variety of ways upon every other. It is like an epic written by a master poet.

We who believe that the Bible as we have it is the word of God must, it seems to me, approach it as a whole, of course allowing for development within the whole, as God’s self-revelation to the children of Israel was not a set of theological theorems shining in intellectual splendor, but an intensely personal story of divine light dawning upon human darkness.

Much of the sense of unity is softened in translation. Let me give an example. When God creates the great luminaries in the heavens, the sun and the moon and the stars, the sacred author, said to be P, says that God set them there to be signs, to mark seasons and days and years (Gen. 1:14). It is a sword to the heart of the pagan astral systems, that made the lights out to 42

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Close-up of the mosaic of Creation in the Duomo of Monreale (just outside of Palermo, Sicily).

Opposite, The Offerings of Abel and Cain, mosaic in the Cappella Palatina in Palermo

be divine. Here they are creatures, no less than grasses and fruit trees are, which God has already made. Light and warmth already do their work. Now God gathers them up into distinct lights, whose chief role is liturgical. Just as creation is all oriented toward the seventh day, the Sabbath rest, so the heavens mark time for yearly and seasonal feasts.

The Hebrew for sign is ’oth. The next time we meet it, it is in the context of a feast. It is harvest time, and Cain and Abel have made offerings to the Lord. Cain has offered of “the fruit of the ground,” and Abel of “the firstlings of his flock and the fat thereof” (4:3-4).

God accepts Abel’s offering but does not accept Cain’s. We are not told why. Perhaps Cain did not make his offering from a generous heart. When Cain goes away disgruntled, God reproaches him rather gently, advising him to do well and not ill. But Cain takes Abel aside and murders him. It is the first bloodshed, and it is followed not by the first plea for leniency. “Every one that findeth me shall slay me,” says Cain. So the Lord says that whoever slays Cain shall be punished sevenfold, and he “set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him” (14-15). The Hebrew for mark is the same ’oth.

This second text, they say, is from J, the Jahwist, but what we ought to say is that one mind has made the sources, whatever they may have been, into one. The word that pointed to the beautiful signs in the heavens, signs for the worship of God, “the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained,” as the Psalmist says (Ps. 8:3), now points to a sign of alienation, like an indelible blemish. Cain is, literally, a marked man. He will not be murdered, but he will always be known as a murderer. So does evil divide and make small.

God alone can obliterate such a mark, the dye of blood and sin. That is accomplished ultimately by Christ and in Christ, but in the meantime God does turn the mark against itself. For when the children of Israel await the tenth plague of Egypt, the death of the firstborn, they are to eat the first Passover, and to splash their doorposts and lintels with the blood of a yearling ram, unblemished, so that the angel of death will pass them by. “And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are,” says God to Moses (Ex. 12:13). The Hebrew for token, again, is ’oth.

We may well think here of the most important sign God promises to give to his people, as faithless as they so often are. It is promised to the wicked king of Judah, Ahaz, who was apostate in every conceivable way, sacrificing his son to Moloch (2 K. 16:3), robbing the temple to bribe the king of Assyria to come to his help (8), and ordering the chief priest to refashion

the altar according to what the Assyrians do (10). The Lord speaks to Ahaz through the prophet Isaiah, saying, “Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above” (Is. 7:11). Ahaz declines, with a show of piety. He will not ask. To which the Lord replies: “Is it a small thing for you to weary men but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (13-14). The Hebrew for sign, here too, is ’oth.

It is the smallest and most intimate sign of all, and the greatest, beneath all depths and beyond all heights.

Anthony Esolen, Ph.D., is a faculty member and Writer-inResidence at Magdalen College of the Liberal Arts in New Hampshire. Dr. Esolen is a renowned scholar and translator of literature, and an author of multiple books and hundreds of articles in both Catholic and secular periodicals.m

Join us ffor or V Virtual irtual Pilg Pilgrimages rimages St. F Frrancis collected stones and began to rebuild the physical church around him, which was in fact crumbling - the stones were falling out.

Todaay our “ living stones” are also stressed and challenged, tempted to leave the church, tempted to fly from the faith, to yield to the blandishments of a society which honors pleasure and flees from sacrifice and self-control.

Amazing encounters! Bishop of Assisi leads you on pilgrimage in Assisi and gives a spiritual reflection of the cross that spoke to St. Francis.

Intimate, Spiritual and Beautiful!

We want to gather up ourselves, and others, in a collection of “ living stones”” to rebuild the Church intoo a living bodyy,, globally, of people striving to love our families, our neighbors - as Christ taught us to - in search of holiness of body and mind, in search of justice and fairness in human affairs, in search of sufficiency in economyy, of peace with all men, of proffound joy, and of a happy death.

So, with realism, in the spirit of Francis, of his stripping himself of all he owned and entrusting himself to the Bishop of Assisi instead of to his own father, the merchant Pietro Bernardone, we begin again go ffol ollow Christ, in order to “see” His “salvation.”

And that means, really, to sec ourselves. F For or if each of us has this treasure, that surpassing knowledge of who Christ is, though w wee be “earthen vessels, vessels of clay,” then, when we see each otherr,, when w wee see each other’s Faith, we are already seeing our salvation.

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JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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THE INTERIOR CASTLE

MARY’S HOLY COMMUNION AND OURS QUOTATIONS ARE FROM IOTA UNUM, BY ROMANO AMERIO, AND MOTHER OF OUR SAVIOR AND THE INTERIOR LIFE, BY REVEREND REGINALD GARRIGOU-LAGRANGE, O.P.

REFLECTIONS ON THE CONTEMPLATIVE RICHES OF THE MASS

n BY A HERMITESS

The Grieving Madonna with the Symbols of Christ’s Passion

by Allesandro Allori, Uffizi Gallery, Florence, Italy

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t the consummation of a Mass, the communicant is invited to enclose himself in the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, and also to have the Eucharistic Heart enclosed within his own heart. This must have been the way Our Lady was all the time, and especially with regard to receiving her Son and Lord in Holy Communion during the days of her exile on earth. Fr. Reginald GarrigouLagrange writes: “Her love of God, like an intense thirst, was accompanied by a sweet suffering which ceased only when she died of love and entered on the union of eternity. Such was her desire of the Eucharist. Jesus for His part desired most ardently to consummate Mary’s holiness, to communicate to her the overflowing riches of His Sacred Heart.”

“If He could suffer in glory, He would suffer from the resistance we offer to the same desire He has in our regard. But He found no resistance in Mary. And so He was able to communicate Himself to her in the most intimate way possible for two lives to be fused into one on earth: Jesus’ union with Mary was a reflection of the sanctifying union of the Word with the Sacred Humanity, an image of the communion of the Three Divine Persons in the one infinite Truth and the one limitless Goodness.”

The “sweet” suffering of longing to receive God in Holy Communion is a suffering for which one must 44

INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

pray. God will grant it, but this is a prayer not many will be prepared to make. This sweet suffering of desire rarely satisfies the emotions and senses, and mostly causes pain to our lower faculties. Resistance to the advances of Divine Love in Holy Communion comes about whenever there is an absence of holy awe for Holy Communion. Attachment to personal feelings, personal interests, personal opinions, and other pettiness is a sure way to forget holy awe when approaching the communion rail. Our Lady had none of these attachments.

Instead, an effort to shun these worldly attachments to focus on consuming the God-man in the flesh, will make one become like Our Lady in her Holy Communions. “Mary became again the pure living tabernacle of the Lord when she communicated—a tabernacle which knew and loved; one a thousand times more precious than any golden ciborium; a true tower of ivory, house of gold, and ark of the alliance.”

Again, Our Lord may not find too many “takers” for His invitation to the degree of mutual vulnerability required for a “holy” Communion. The good effects in the soul are enough to scare away many who want to keep their lives as comfortable as possible. “What were the effects of Mary’s communion? They surpassed anything St. Teresa recounts of transforming union in the Seventh Mansion of the Interior Castle.

Transforming union has been compared, in its power

dispose themselves to this degree are proportionately to transform the soul in some way into God by knowlrewarded with a similar intimate vulnerability of edge and love, to the union of fire with a piece of iron, Divine Love. or that of light with the air it illumines. Rays of superThe Eucharist is “the highest expression of God’s natural warmth and light came forth from the soul of power in human creatures, who are enabled to perJesus and communicated themselves to Mary’s intelform the miracle of transubstantiation [i.e. the priest], lect and will. Mary could not take the credit to herself who receive a pledge of their eschatological glorificafor the sublime effects they produced in her. Rather tion, and who are strengthened in all their own moral did she give praise on their account to Him who was energies.” The Holy Communion of the priest must be their principle and end. As our Lord taught, ‘He that almost as special (private and intimate) as that of Our eateth me, the same also shall live by me; he who eats Lady. His “enclosure” at the altar, facing the tabernamy flesh lives by me and for me, just as I live by my cle, far from excludes his flock in the Communion, but Father and for my Father.’ It is no small undertaking, here again, takes them up” with himself. The Commuand it is not for the weak of heart. nion of the priest is efficacious for himself and others The dark night of faith is the spiritual apparatus to the degree that he can focus only on the mysterious with which to receive the Eucharist. It is the “consumreality before him. mate expression of the sacred… The mystery of the “The Eucharist is the highest expression of the real presence of the historical individual who is Jesus divine wisdom because here God has established a Christ, in the midst of His Church, does not take away marvellous way of communicating Himself sacrafrom the structure of the created or uncreated Being, mentally in the form of food, over and above his selfbut rather adds something to both.” communication in creation, in In Our Lady, both at the the Incarnation, and through Incarnation and in her Comgrace. Just as human nature munions, the very Presence of exists without a person in the the Hypostatic Union entered Incarnation, because that into her and effected His very nature has been taken up into own power, wisdom, and a divine Person, so in the love. And in Holy CommuEucharist the accidents connion, that power, wisdom, and tinue to exist without their love is communicated to the proper substance, because devout communicant. they are sustained miracu“That presence is in fact the lously by the substance of highest expression of the Christ’s Body.” The Incarnadivine power because it contion in the womb of the tains the great miracle of Immaculate, the communicaTransubstantiation, that is, of the persistence of the acci- The Miraculous Mass (scene from the life of St. Martin), a fresco tion of God in her soul by

by Simone Martini in the Basilica of St. Francis, Assisi grace at her own conception, dents of bread and wine withstill cannot surpass the wonders of her own Holy out their metaphysical substance, and contains too the Communions up until her own Dormition. One would mystery of the simultaneous presence of the same be remiss in not recalling this fact in stirring up these body in many places.” The interior life of the nonsame sentiments at the next opportunity to assist at ordained is only nourished superficially by touching Mass. with ones’ own un-consecrated hands the Body of Our “Lastly, the Eucharist is the highest expression of Lord. Mary touched Him at His birth, throughout His divine love, because desiring to communicate Himearthly life, and finally embraced His crucified Body. self to his creature in every possible way, the Infinite But she had a unique privilege of familiarity then.

Love that had already communicated itself in creHow must she have received Holy Communion from ation, in the Incarnation and through grace, now comthe Apostles? municates itself in a new way, as man feeds on the There is a certain vulnerability necessary in receivbody of Christ and in a mysterious manner takes on ing our Lord – kneeling down, head back, tongue out, divinity. The eucharist adds too to man’s love because like a child receiving its mothers’ milk. As the Introit man is enabled to respond to God’s infinite Love with for Low Sunday says: “As newborn infants, desire the a love that runs through an infinity of space, to pour rational milk without guile…” This “rational” milk is itself out and be dissolved in the Beloved.”m the milk for the soul. Catholics who can debase and JUNE-JULY 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

DEMETRIUS AND NESTOR: OCTOBER 26 AND 27

hristian soldiers faced tough decisions in the Roman army. Mandatory worship of idols was only the beginning of their troubles; they also faced criticism from their co-religionists concerning their very profession! How, after all, does one square military duty with that pesky command, “Thou shalt not kill?” A number of soldiers gave up their lives on account of the former conundrum, notably the forty martyrs at Sebaste in 316 AD. Still, the resolution of the second point was very much under discussion for many years.

Enter Demetrius. In the army at Thessaloniki, Demetrius, of noble birth and admired for his virtue, had attained high rank despite his Christianity; for some time, Christians were actually tolerated in Thessaloniki and no one bothered to ask them to offer incense to the pagan gods. Demetrius made no secret of his religious belief and in fact had persuaded a number of his men to join the Faith; many civilians too became his disciples! Christianity began to thrive in Thessaloniki, in large part due to the efforts of Demetrius.

But it so happened that Emperor Maximian stopped over in that city after successful campaigns in the Eastern Empire around 306 AD. He ordered gladiator games and entertainments to celebrate his success. A part of the festivities were to be public offerings to the gods; every soldier was ordered to take part. Of course, Demetrius refused and was interned in a malodorous latrine until he would renounce the Faith.

Among other entertaining spectacles, Maximian constructed a platform surrounded by upthrust spears.

A large gentleman by the name of Lyaios, a favorite gladiator slave belonging to Maximian, would challenge all comers to a wrestling match. The loser would be thrown upon the lances to die a miserable death. If there were no challengers, Maximian would simply or-

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der a Christian arrested and pit him against the giant.

Given his size and profession, no one was able to best Lyaios; many Christians met their deaths impaled upon the lances.

Enter Nestor, one of Demetrius’ most faithful soldier converts. Nestor was appalled at the behavior of Lyaios and the Emperor; he took it into his head to challenge the giant and thus protect the Christians of the city. Nestor visited Demetrius in his latrine and asked his advice. Demetrius, no doubt prompted by the Holy Spirit, approved the project and prophesied Nestor’s victory. Nestor indeed overcame Lyaios and ended his bloody career on the infamous spears. The enraged Maximian immediately ordered the execution of Nestor by beheading. Hearing that Demetrius had blessed Nestor’s feat, a squad of executioners were also dispatched to the latrine, there to end the glorious life of Demetrius. The Christians of Thessaloniki carefully preserved the relics of Demetrius; he became the special patron of that city. To this day, his bones exude a miraculous oil much prized for its healing properties.

Theologians studied these events carefully and began to formulate a Christian doctrine concerning military service. They took special note of Nestor’s motivation in challenging Lyaios; he was placing his life on the line to protect his fellow Christians. The death of the giant was merely an unfortunate necessity in that effort. Thus was born the tradition of military service as a form of laying down one’s life for one’s neighbor. One notable statistic deriving from this understanding: during World War II, the population of the United States was roughly 25% Catholic, yet fully 33% of the armed forces practiced the Faith! The tradition of the honorable Christian warrior was made possible by the valor of Demetrius and Nestor.m

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Spirituality

BY FATHER EL MESKEEN*

ONLY THROUGH PRAYER CAN HE RULE OUR HEARTS

ORTHODOX PRAYER, PART 5 CONTINUING OUR PRAYERFUL EXAMINATION OF THE BOOK ORTHODOX PRAYER, BY MATTA EL-MESKEEN, COPTIC MONASTIC REFORMER AND SPIRITUAL FATHER OF THE MONASTERY OF ST. MACARIUS, WE LOOK AT EXCERPTS FROM CHAPTER ONE: REFLECTION ON THE EFFICACY OF PRAYER

hrist is the true light that illumines the mind of man. This comes about when man accepts, through prayer, to live according to the truth and commandments of Christ. Christ is the vanquisher of the devil, the old serpent. He is thus able to bruise his head, defeat his counsel, and foil his seduction of man. This can be carried into effect only by prayer. For through prayer there now exists a true, constant, and intimate bond between man and Christ. Therefore, without a life of prayer with Christ, there can be neither life nor kingdom nor light nor victory over the devil.

Prayer is an effective power that brings us into contact with the Christ who is actually present within us. He is the source of every power, blessing, and life: “Whom God made our wisdom, our righteousness and sanctification and redemption” (1 Cor 1:30). He who does not use the power of prayer never makes contact with the Christ who is within him. He thus lives alienated from God’s wisdom. He remains deprived of his righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. However hard we may try to know Christ without prayer, we would only know him as a Savior of people, a Redeemer of others, a Sanctifier of saints, a Justifier of sinners. We would remain deprived of all these gifts and graces. We will not receive them unless we first receive Christ through prayer within our lives.

We should first make him at rest in our hearts so he may live with us. He should share everything with us and manage all our affairs.

Christ will never unite with one’s thought, emotions, will, or senses unless he first unites with one’s soul. So man should first open his whole being in prayer that Christ may rest within his soul...

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Christ becomes king over man’s soul through man’s frequent prayer and the outpouring of his self.

He becomes the true center of its being and movements. At that stage, man will never find rest in anything except in Christ alone, where the image would rest in its own likeness.

Since the soul has been created for immortality, it will thus find in Christ, when it unites with Him, its ultimate joy. Through His existence, He consummates its own existence and immortality: “For this reason we must first beg of God with struggle in the heart through faith that he grant us to discover his riches, the true treasure of Christ in our hearts, in the power and energy of the Spirit.

“In such a way, first, by finding the Lord to be our help within us and our salvation and eternal life, we may be of help and profit to others also, insofar as it is possible and attainable, by drawing upon Christ, the treasure within, for all goodness of spiritual discourses and in teaching the heavenly mysteries.

“Thus the goodness of the Father was pleased to wish to dwell in every believer who asks this of Him. “Christ says: ‘He that loves me, he will be loved by my Father and I will love him and I will manifest myself to him’ (Jn 14.21). And again: ‘I and my Father will come and make our mansion in him’ (Jn 14.23). Thus the infinite kindness of the Father decreed; thus the incomprehensible love of Christ was pleased. Thus the ineffable good of the promised Spirit. Glory to the ineffable compassion of the Holy Trinity...” (St Macarius the Great, Homilies 18.6, 7, in Maloney, Intoxicated with God: The Fifty Spiritual Homilies of Macarius)m

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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

East-West Watch

BY PETER ANDERSON

CHRISTIAN UNITY THROUGH MONASTICISM small rural community of n March, 1924, Pope Pius Chevetogne, approximately XI wrote a letter, Equidem 100 kilometers southeast of verba, to Abbot Stotzingen, Brussels. It was not until head of the Benedictine Or1951 that Beauduin, who had der, saying that the Order been in exile in France, was should establish monasteries allowed to visit and then rethat have Christian unity, esjoin the community that he pecially with the Russian Orhad founded. thodox, as their special While in France, Beauduin interest. The letter was due in The Abbey of Chevetogne in France with two churches, Latin and Byzantine had been able to renew his part to the urging of a Belgian long-term friendship with Archbishop Angelo Ronprofessor at the pontifical university of Sant’ Ancalli, who had been made Apostolic Nuncio to selmo in Rome, Benedictine Father Lambert BeauFrance at the end of 1944. A year before becoming duin. Stotzingen was not enthusiastic about the idea, Pope in 1958, Cardinal Roncalli publicly acknowlbut Beauduin was able to convince Cardinal Mercier edged that Beauduin’s approach to ecumenism was of Malines (Mechelen) to support the creation of a the correct one. Dom Beauduin died in 1960 and was Benedictine “Monastery of Unity” at Amay-surnot able to see the Second Vatican Council’s adopMeuse, Belgium in December, 1925. tion of his prophetic view of ecumenism.

The monastery was unique in that it had two sepToday, the legacy of Dom Beauduin continues at arate choirs of monks, one of the Latin rite and one Chevetogne, now recognized as an abbey. At the of the Byzantine rite. Although the monks of both abbey, there are two churches, Latin and Byzantine. choirs were Catholic, the concept was that the comIn the Byzantine church, the eastern liturgy is celemon monastic life would enable the two traditions brated in Church Slavonic and occasionally in to understand and appreciate each other better. In a Greek. The eastern liturgies are regularly livesense, the monastery would be a laboratory in which streamed, and excellent CDs of the singing of the the greater understanding gained would facilitate a Byzantine choir have been recorded. closer bond with the Orthodox.

The community since its founding has published Beauduin firmly believed that the monastery was a scholarly ecumenical journal, Irénikon. The abbey not an instrument to proselytize the Orthodox but to has a library of approximately 250,000 volumes speunderstand them better. However, this was contrary cializing in Eastern Christianity and Church unity. to the prevailing approach of the Catholic Church at For decades, the community has had one of its memthat time, which was to convert the Orthodox to bers on the Joint International Commission for TheCatholicism. In 1931 an apostolic visitor from Rome ological Dialogue between the Catholic and informed the monastery that its exclusive function Orthodox Churches. was to train Benedictines for the founding of At the present time the community has approxiCatholic monasteries in Russia. Beauduin’s ecumately 30 monks, half observing the Byzantine rite menical approach of promoting a form of unity with and half the Roman rite. The abbey also has an OrRome which did not involve absorption by Rome rethodox monk who is an oblate and whose home sulted in a Church court exiling him from his native parish is in Brussels. The abbey has facilities for acBelgium in 1932. However, in many ways the monks commodating up to 40-50 guests. One interesting at the monastery continued to adhere to Beauduin’s item produced by the monks is incense. More inforecumenical approach. mation relating to the community can be obtained In 1939, the monastery moved to its current locafrom its website, monasteredechevetogne.com.m tion, an area of mixed farms and woods near the

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NEWS from the EAST

SVETLANA KASYAN, RECOVERED FROM CORONAVIRUS, PLANS CATHEDRAL CHARITY CONCERTS

BY BECKY DERKS

epidemic today. We will organize donations and fundraising online. The proceeds will go to doctors who do their duty, despite low salaries and sometimes lack of technical equipment,” the source said.

Pope Francis called Svetlana Kasyan his favorite singer, repeatedly received her with her husband in Rome, and even promised to visit her Moscow apartment. The Pope elevated the singer to the dignity of a Lady of the Order of St. Sylvester and gave her fragments of the Shroud of Turin. (Credo)

Russian opera singer and one of Inside the Vatican’s Top Ten people of 2019 Svetlana Kasyan was discharged in April from a Moscow clinic, where she spent about two weeks battling a coronavirus infection. “The virus was defeated, but pneumonia remains. Now we will con- Pope Francis has bestowed the Order of Saint Sylvester upon tinue to be treated at home. Svetlana Kasyan, a Russian-Armenian opera singer. She thus We are prescribed two became the world's first woman to be honored with the pontifical award on May 2, 2019. Here she is with her husband, Leonid weeks of compulsory quar- Sevastianov, and their daughter, Natalia. The photo was taken in antine,” Leonid Sevastianov, Domus Santa Marta, the Pope’s residence, in July 2019 the singer’s spouse, head of ROMANIA: ORTHODOX CHURCH BLASTS the World Old Believers Union, who was also hosPOSTERS OF DOCTORS AS SAINTS pitalized with a similar diagnosis, told Interfax (inRomania’s Orthodox Church on April 29 crititerfax.ru) on April 8. cized a billboard campaign showing doctors dealing Kasyan could have become infected in one of the with the coronavirus epidemic as saints with halos Old Believer churches of Moscow after talking with shaped like the virus. parishioners, one of whom was infected with the According to a Church spokesman, the “blasphecoronavirus. According to Sevastianov, the disease mous” campaign created by international advertiswas quite difficult; they had to take strong drugs ing agency McCann that treat malaria, which Worldgroup in conjunction caused hallucinations; howwith local artist Wanda ever, mechanical ventilation Hutira is “a visual abuse of was not required.

Christian iconography.”

After the quarantine, The campaign is Kasyan planned to return to “marked by bad taste fed performances, including a by ignorance and a hideous charity concert, either in the ideology that only knows Moscow Catholic Cathedral how to caricaturize Christiof the Immaculate Concepanity,” said spokesman tion or in the Lutheran Vasile Banescu.

Cathedral of Peter and Paul.

The posters, which The singer would like to could be seen this spring in perform opera arias to the Bucharest, the Romanian accompaniment of the orcapital, were also offensive gan. “The concert will be to doctors who “do not given in honor of the docthink of themselves as tors who are fighting the www.InsideTheVatican.com t Urbi et Orbi Foundation is a project of Urbi et Orbi Communications t 202-536-4555

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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

saints ... and do not ask for pub- The Holy Fire once again descended in the Church of the edicule, and a large lampada the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on Easter 2020 and thirty-three candles were lic worship,” Banescu said, carried into the tomb. Then the claiming that the campaign Patriarch entered and began to promotes “a dystopian vision wait. Those present continuof the situation caused by the ally prayed for the granting of pandemic.” the Fire until the time of its In response to the criticism, appearing.

Bucharest officials said they The Holy Fire is delivered would ask the posters to be to various Local Orthodox taken down.

Churches around the world.

While the Catholic Church This year, according to a new in Romania did not take an ofdecision between the Romanficial position on the campaign, ian Orthodox Church and the Serban Tarciziu, spokesman Romanian Ministry of Internal for the Archdiocese of Affairs, the Orthodox faithful Bucharest, told local media were to be able to receive the that he appreciated “the atHoly Fire at home, as a form tempt to illustrate a beautiful of Paschal joy and consolation during this time of idea in the visual style” of some religions. (Click on quarantine.

Detroit) Parish employees and volunteers were responsible for maintaining proper sanitary measures during the HOLY FIRE HAS DESCENDED IN CHURCH OF distribution. Ministerial employees were also to disHOLY SEPULCHER IN JERUSALEM tribute the Holy Fire to hospitals and quarantine cenThe Holy Fire once again descended in the Church ters. of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, as seen on the live stream on the Facebook page of the Jerusalem Patriarchate.

PATRIARCH KIRILL’S EASTER MESSAGE TO His Beatitude Patriarch Theophilos III of HEADS OF NON-ORTHODOX CHURCHES Jerusalem entered the church a little after 1:00 PM His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All (6:00 AM Eastern), and after vesting and processing Russian has sent Easter greetings to heads of nonthrice around the Lord’s Tomb, he entered the Tomb Orthodox churches. Among the addressees are Paitself at 1:45 PM (6:45 AM). triarch Tawadros II of the Coptic Church, Pope The Holy Light descended at about 1:50 PM (6:50 Francis of Rome, Patriarch Mor Ignatius Aphrem II AM Eastern), after only five minutes. of the Syrian Jacobite Church, Supreme Patriarch Normally, after the Fire’s descent the Patriarch and Catholicos Karekin II of All Armenians, Catholipasses the holy gift to the faithcos Aram I of Cilicia, CatholiEaster 2020 in Russia: ful, though the ceremony was “Orthodox Easter behind closed doors in response to the cos-Patriarch Mar Gewargis II appeal of Patriarch Kirill” celebrated without parishioners Sliva of the Assyrian Church of and pilgrims this year due to the East; Maronite Patriarthe coronavirus pandemic. chate Bechara Boutros CardiThe descent of the Fire was nal al-Rahi; Metropolitan preceded by a complex cereBaselios Mar Thomas Paulose mony: The doors of the SepulII of Malankara, Patriarch chre were sealed with a large Abune Mathias of Ethiopia, wax seal as a sign that its inand others. spection had finished, and in it The message states: was found nothing that would I cordially salute you on allow the Patriarch of Jeruthe Radiant Easter of the Lord salem to light the fire by any and address to you the life-asordinary means. serting greeting: Shortly before the arrival of CHRIST IS RISEN! Patriarch Theophilos, the seal Today the great feast of was removed from the door of feasts has come, according St. page 50

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John Chrysostom, the banquet of faith and the richness of goodness. The rising of the Saviour from the dead has destroyed the stronghold of hell and dissipated the darkness of sin. Let us rejoice on this wonderful day, for through the resurrection the human race has been granted eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 6:23).

Sharing the joy of the feast with those who are near and who are far, let us join efforts to assert in society the unchanging moral values, help those who suffer from injustice, who are persecuted or endangered by the spreading coronavirus infection.

I wish you spiritual and physical strength and God’s help in fulfilling your lofty ministry, and to your flock I wish peace and welfare. + Kirill Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (mospat.ru)

Suceava county has recorded almost a quarter of all COVID-19 cases confirmed in Romania and the highest number of victims. (Basilica.ro) NEW RUSSIAN ORTHODOX MILITARY CHURCH ENCOUNTERS CONTROVERSY OVER MOSAICS OF GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS

Intricate mosaics depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and other high-ranking officials will not be put on display in a new Russian Orthodox military church, officials confirmed May 1. The grandiose wall decorations faced objections from the Kremlin.

Another mosaic of former Soviet leader Josef Stalin has also been met with criticism but has yet to be officially removed from the church.

An image of the mosaic, which showed Putin alongside Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister PATRIARCH DANIEL Pope Francis meets with Patriarch Daniel during the Sergei Lavrov, was first made THANKS POPE FRANCIS Holy Father’s apostolic trip to Romania in May 2019 public in Russian media in late FOR MEDICAL EQUIPMENT April. While the Kremlin has DONATED TO SUCEAVA not publicly commented on the mosaic, the decision HOSPITAL to remove it apparently came from Putin himself.

Daniel thanked Pope Francis in a letter sent on The church is to mark 75 years since the Soviet April 23 for the medical equipment donated to the St victory in World War Two. John the New Hospital in Suceava.

Its entrance steps are forged from melted-down The donation, consisting of five lung ventilators, hardware seized from Nazi troops.

200 overalls, 900 FFP2 masks, and 5,000 sanitary The new church was supposed to be unveiled on masks, was offered on the feast day of Saint George the May 9 anniversary of the victory, but the coronthe Trophy-bearer, Pope Francis’ name-day. avirus epidemic put all Russia’s Victory Day plans on Suceava county has been the hardest-hit in Romahold, as critics around the world questioned the nia by the new coronavirus pandemic, which is wisdom of connecting the Orthodox Church so why it has also been referred to as Romania’s closely with the military.m Lombardy.

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

HOLY SMOKING IN PIAZZA MASTAI

n BY JOHN BYRON KUHNER*

lexander Stille, in his book The Future of the Past, likened walking through Rome without Latin to watching an opera without knowing the libretto. The music, the art, the beauty are just as much yours without the words; but you miss some of the human element of the whole: the drama, the characters, the jokes and incongruities that make us fully ourselves.

Latin humanizes the marbled halls and fluted columns of the past. And you stumble into stories you might otherwise pass by. When I studied at Fr. Reginald Foster’s free summer Latin sessions in Rome, I frequently walked through Trastevere on the way up the Janiculum Hill where classes were held. And on those walks I became familiar with one of the most unusual papal inscriptions in Rome.

One of the glories — and oddities — of papal rule in Rome is that it brought the Popes down to a very human level. The Pope was the mayor, in effect, of a large, very

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The palazzo on Piazza Mastai built by Pius IX as a tobacco processing house. Below, a detail of the Latin inscription on the front

human city. Have a problem with taxes? Ultimately, the Pope was the person in charge of taxation. Garbage on your street? Blame the papal sanitation services. Your neighbor open a new restaurant that makes noise all through the night? Take the problem to the papal government. Popes had to have policies for the intimate details of people’s lives, and as policies changed, people found their lives changed. The lives of Romans were very much bound up with each succeeding pontiff.

And so, when I passed through the Piazza Mastai one day (Mastai is the family name of Pope Pius IX, Giovanni Maria Mastai, who lived from 1792 to 1878, and was Pope from 1846 to 1878, for 32 years) the Latin inscription I found there brought me to a standstill.

Could I really be reading this?

PIUS IX P M OFFICINAM NICOTIANIS FOLIIS ELABORANDIS A SOLO EXTRUXIT ANNO MDCCCLXIII

Pius IX. Below, the medal struck in 1977 for the 50th anniversary of the Autonomous Administration of the State Monopolies

“PM” is short for Pontifex Maximus, the Latin word for Pope, so the whole reads: “Pius IX constructed this workplace from the ground up in 1863, for the processing of nicotine leaves.”

Nicotine leaves? Yes, that’s what it says, foliis nicotianis, leaves from the plant nicotiana, presumably Nicotiana tabacum, the commercial tobacco plant.

And sure enough, when I did a little research, I found that I had stumbled onto Pius IX’s cigar factory.

As head of state, Pius IX had to find sources of revenue. Elsewhere in Italy, the government had decided to maintain a monopoly on the production and sale of tobacco, and Pius thought this an idea worth copying. The upper Tiber Valley had proven suitable for tobacco cultivation — for centuries there had been a tiny independent Italian republic called Cospaia in the valley which produced almost nothing else — and Pius had no particular desire to send his tobacco to the factories of unified Italy, which was threatening to invade and abolish the Papal States entirely.

The cigarette only began to become popular in the 1880s, and I suspect that the factory was originally for the production of cigars. They also probably produced snuff — dried, ground tobacco leaves which could be directly inhaled.

Pius IX is known to have possessed a snuff box, which he once sold off at auction to raise money.

The Church has had a varied relationship with tobacco. As “the one vice not known to the ancients,” there was never any clear Church position on tobacco.

Some early Popes appear to have condemned it, although their condemnations perhaps refer only to the use of tobacco during Mass, which is still forbidden.

But by the 18th and 19th centuries it appears to have become generally acceptable, and many Popes have smoked or used snuff, right up to Benedict XVI, who occasionally used to smoke cigarettes (Marlboros by preference).

Francis, on the other hand, recently banned tobacco sales in Vatican City’s commissary, saying through a spokesperson that “no profit can be legitimate if it puts lives at risk.” Pius, of course, did not have access to the same scientific studies.

To return to the Latin inscription: Pius boasts that he built the structure a solo, “from the ground up,” which

is true: there was nothing but soil here.

The area was still agricultural when Pius decided to develop it, mostly little kitchen gardens and orchards which produced food for Rome.

There is a church right on the other side of the factory called La Madonna dell’Orto — the Madonna of the Garden — which preserves the memory of those gardens. And he calls the building an officinam (in the accusative, as the thing he built), which means any workplace, though when talking about a facility for processing tobacco leaves, I think we’d call it, in our more specific English, a “factory.”

It’s a rather nice building for a factory, with a grand pedimented facade held aloft by eight Doric pilasters, a fact not lost on the Italian government, which, after appropriating it from Pius IX, eventually made it into a government office building. It now houses the Agency for Customs and Monopolies.

It became an Italian government building only seven years after its completion, in 1870, when the forces of unified Italy invaded Rome. Pius IX boycotted the city, becoming by his own sentencing a “prisoner of the Vatican.” And so this inscription became the last great municipal inscription of papal Rome, the final time the Popes spoke in stone as the sovereigns of the whole city. It seems odd and endearing that the inscription should be for such a humble purpose as the adorning of a cigar factory.

And it’s something which seems outlandish to any student of Classical Latin. I never thought when I was learning the language of Caesar and Cicero that someday I would be reading the Latin inscription on a papal cigar factory.

But that’s one of Latin’s secrets: beneath all that patina of age and the luster of antiquity, you find that people are people, and their concerns tend rather toward the quotidian. The ancient Romans concerned themselves endlessly about paving, plumbing and pay. Pius IX was the longest-serving Pope, but his biggest contribution to the Roman cityscape came from his effort to make a few extra bucks selling pontifical cigars. *John Byron Kuhner is the former president of the North American Institute of Living Latin Studies (SALVI), and the editor of In Medias Res, the Paideia Institute’s online journal.m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

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Of Books, Art and People

THE UFFIZI BEFORE, DURING, AND AFTER COVID 19

n BY LUCY GORDAN

Above, a 1601 print showing Florence based on a 1557 original printed by Hieronymus Cock (1518-1570); below, the printer, Hieronymus Cock, left, and Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie, a Swedish statesman. Bottom, Eike Schmidt, Director of the Uffizi Gallery, in front of Sandro Botticelli’s Primavera (Spring)

he Uffizi Galleries in Florence are a conglomeration of two museums and a public garden: the Uffizi itself (in a building designed by Vasari in 1560 for Cosimo I de’ Medici to accommodate the “offices” of Florence’s magistrates), the Palazzo Pitti (the Medici’s main residence across the River Arno), and the Palazzo’s splendid 16th-century gardens known as “Boboli” after the original owners of their land. With over 4 million visitors a year, it’s the most popular museum complex in Italy. Among its most famous works of art are: Botticelli’s Primavera, The Birth of Venus, and Adoration of the Magi; Michelangelo’s The Holy Family; Leonardo da Vinci’s The Annunciation and the Adoration of the Magi; and Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch and his portrait of Pope Leo X, now on loan to “Raffaello,” the exhibition on in Rome (see “Of Books, Art, and People,” May).

The Uffizi complex was closed from March 8 until May 29 because of Covid 19, but the security squad continued in-house to protect the artworks from theft and through climate control. During the first week of closure the two museums were sanitized. There was no need to worry about chem-

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54 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

ical damage to the paintings because they’re all protected by special state-of-the-art non-reflective glass. The administration and all its curators worked from home keeping daily records of their activities and holding weekly meetings via the internet. No one lost his or her job.

Starting on March 10, the Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, and the Boboli Gardens changed from being a conventional museum conglomerate to a virtual one by setting up video virtual tours added daily on its Facebook account in Italian (many with English subtitles). They were hosted by German-born Eike Schmidt, since 2015 the Uffizi’s first foreign director, or department curators. These tours are free. Facebook’s followers increased by 50,000 since March 8 (https://www.facebook.com/uffizigalleries/video).

At the end of April the Uffizi activated on the museums’ site a live virtual tour (https://www.uffizi.it/ mostre-virtuali/uffizi-virtual-tour): with just a click, it’s possible to walk through 10 perfectly digitalized halls of the Gallery. Maybe in the future the Uffizi could consider charging for programs on-line.

But, for now, charging for digital contents would be against the Uf-

mous for her botanical works in tempera and watercolfizi’s founder’s principles. For in 1737 Anna Maria ors. She worked at several European royal courts, but Luisa de’ Medici, the last Medici heiress, via the agreeher primary patrons were the Medici. ment known as Patto di Famiglia (Family Pact), donatAlso the already well-attended “Ai piedi dei dei” or ed the family’s art collections to the city of Florence for “At the feet of the gods” in the Palazzo Pitti’s Museum public use, education, and tourism. In 1765 they were of Costume and Fashion has reopened. It shows the hisofficially opened to the public, formally becoming a tory of shoes and sandals from ancient sculptures to the national museum in 1865. Hence the Uffizi belong to sandals worn by Liz Taylor in Cleopatra, Charlton Hethe people of Italy. ston in Ben-Hur, and Russell Crowe Also during lockdown Schmidt in The Gladiator. announced the purchase from an Scheduled for fall openings are antiquarian map dealer in La Jolla, Stories of Painted Pages. Medieval California, of a very rare print of a Manuscripts and Illuminations Repanoramic view of Renaissance covered by the Carabinieri’s FloFlorence dating to 1601. rentine Cultural Heritage ProtecThe earliest known view of Flotion Unit and the first monographic rence, called “Florence in Chains” exhibition ever devoted to Florenbecause of a chain drawn around its tine Giuseppe Bezzuoli (1789frame, was by Francesco Rosselli 1855), a protagonist of 19th-century and dates to 1482-90. Its only surpainting. The sculptures of Horatio viving copy is in Berlin.

Greenough and Hiram Powers and The prototype of the Uffizi’s landscape paintings by Thomas view was first etched in Antwerp by Cole will be displayed in a special brothers Lucas and Jan Van Doetesection devoted to young American cum, then printed in 1557 by the Above, Garzoni's Little Dog with Chinese Cup. artists who attended Bezzuoli’s Flemish painter, etcher, and pubBelow, statue of ancient Roman foot courses at Florence’s Accademia di lisher Hieronymus Cock (1518-70).

Belle Arti. In recent years the Uffizi Its only surviving copy once behas bought five of his paintings. longed to the Swedish statesman March’s closure cost the Uffizi Count Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie some 10 million euros in lost en(1622-86) and has been in the Natrance fees in these two months. If tional (formerly Royal) Library of closure had lasted longer, the Uffizi Sweden since 1780. would have had to postpone its arInstead, this newer Uffizi print chitectural and layout modernizadates to 1601, because, in 1600 tions. Because of its huge number of when Cock’s widow Volcxken visitors, the Uffizi is luckier than Diercx died, the famous engraver many smaller, less-visited museums Philip Galle, once Cock’s associate in Florence. Fortunately, in 2018, it and then executor, retained many of was agreed that all State museums would donate 20% of Cock’s copper engraving plates. He sold them to anoththeir proceeds to smaller, less-visited museums. er Dutch engraver, Paul van der Houve, who’d settled While most famous for its Italian Renaissance paintin Paris. Hence Van der Houve “edited” the plate and ings, the Uffizi houses art from all over the world, in the Uffizi’s unique view is dated Paris, 1601. Otherwise particular Islamic countries, sub-Saharan Africa, and it’s the same as Sweden’s. Visible are Giotto’s bell towChina, many works having been diplomatic gifts to the er, the Duomo (Cathedral), Palazzo Vecchio, Palazzo Medici, important collections of ancient Greek and RoPitti, Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce. Missing is man sculpture, Spanish paintings and drawings, and exthe Uffizi building (in 1557 Cosimo I de’ Medici had cept for the Hermitage, the largest collection of Dutch not yet commissioned Vasari to build it). and Flemish paintings outside the Low Countries.

As for temporary exhibitions The Greatness of the Schmidt doesn’t expect a huge deluge of visitors during Universe in the Art of Giovanna Garzoni opened on 2020, rather that the visitors will be Florentines and May 29. Garzoni (1600-1670), prominent during the Italian nationals. Hopefully the foreign visitors will be Baroque period, started her career painting religious, able to return in 2021...m mythological, and allegorical subjects, but became faJUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 55

THE END EXCERPTS FROM LORD OF THE WORLD

“He is there...”

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) Chapter V, Part I There was an exclamation, then silence, as a tall, beautiful girl with flushed face and shining grey eyes came forward and stopped, followed by a man whom Percy knew at once from his pictures. A little whimpering sounded from the bed, and the priest lifted his hand instinctively to silence it.

“Why,” said Mabel; and then stared at the man with the young face and the white hair.

Oliver opened his lips and closed them again. He, too, had a strange excitement in his face. Then he spoke.

“Who is this?” he said deliberately.

“Oliver,” cried the girl, turning to him abruptly, “this is the priest I saw—-” “A priest!” said the other, and came forward a step. “Why, I thought—-” Percy drew a breath to steady that maddening vibration in his throat. “Yes, I am a priest,” he said.

Again the whimpering broke out from the bed; and Percy, half turning again to silence it, saw the girl mechanically loosen the clasp of the thin dust cloak over her white dress.

“You sent for him, mother?” snapped the man, with a tremble in his voice, and with a sudden jerk forward of his whole body. But the girl put out her hand.

“Quietly, my dear,” she said. “Now, sir—-” “Yes, I am a priest,” said Percy again, strung up now to a desperate resistance of will, hardly knowing what he said.

“And you come to my house!” exclaimed the man. He came a step nearer, and half recoiled. “You swear you are a priest?” he said.

“You have been here all this evening?”

“Since midnight.”

“And you are not—-” he stopped again.

Mabel stepped straight between them.

“Oliver,” she said, still with that air of suppressed excitement, “we must not have a scene here. The poor dear is too ill. Will you come downstairs, sir?”

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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.

Percy took a step towards the door, and Oliver moved slightly aside. Then the priest stopped, turned and lifted his hand. “God bless you!” he said simply, to the muttering figure in the bed. Then he went out, and waited outside the door.

He could hear a low talking within; then a compassionate murmur from the girl’s voice; then Oliver was beside him, trembling all over, as white as ashes, and made a silent gesture as he went past him down the stairs. ***** The whole thing seemed to Percy like some incredible dream; it was all so unexpected, so untrue to life. He felt conscious of an enormous shame at the sordidness of the affair, and at the same time of a kind of hopeless recklessness. The worst had happened and the best—that was his sole comfort.

Oliver pushed a door open, touched a button, and went through into the suddenly lit room, followed by Percy. Still in silence, he pointed to a chair, Percy sat down, and Oliver stood before the fireplace, his hands deep in the pockets of his jacket, slightly turned away.

Percy’s concentrated senses became aware of every detail of the room—the deep springy green carpet, smooth under his feet, the straight hanging thin silk curtains, the half-dozen low tables with a wealth of flowers upon them, and the books that lined the walls.

The whole room was heavy with the scent of roses, although the windows were wide, and the night-breeze stirred the curtains continually. It was a woman’s room, he told himself. Then he looked at the man’s figure, lithe, tense, upright; the dark grey suit not unlike his own, the beautiful curve of the jaw, the clear pale complexion, the thin nose, the protruding curve of idealism over the eyes, and the dark hair. It was a poet’s face, he told himself, and the whole personality was a living and vivid one. Then he turned a little and rose as the door opened, and Mabel came in, closing it behind her.

She came straight across to her husband, and put a hand on his shoulder. “Sit down, my dear,” she said. “We must talk a little.

Please sit down, sir.”

The three sat down, Percy on one side, and the husband and wife on a straight-backed settle opposite.

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

The girl began again. “This must be arranged at once,” she said, “but we must have no tragedy. Oliver, do you understand? You must not make a scene. Leave this to me.”

She spoke with a curious gaiety; and Percy to his astonishment saw that she was quite sincere: there was not the hint of cynicism.

“Oliver, my dear,” she said again, “don’t mouth like that! It is all perfectly right. I am going to manage this.”

Percy saw a venomous look directed at him by the man; the girl saw it too, moving her strong humorous eyes from one to the other.

She put her hand on his knee.

“Oliver, attend! Don’t look at this gentleman so bitterly. He has done no harm.”

“No harm!” whispered the other.

“No—no harm in the world. What does it matter what that poor dear upstairs thinks? Now, sir, would you mind telling us why you came here?”

Percy drew another breath. He had not expected this line. “I came here to receive Mrs. Brand back into the Church,” he said.

“And you have done so?”

“I have done so.”

“Would you mind telling us your name? It makes it so much more convenient.”

Percy hesitated. Then he determined to meet her on her own ground.

“Certainly. My name is Franklin.”

“Father Franklin?” asked the girl, with just the faintest tinge of mocking emphasis on the first word.

“Yes. Father Percy Franklin, from Archbishop’s House, Westminster,” said the priest steadily.

“Well, then, Father Percy Franklin; can you tell us why you came here? I mean, who sent for you?”

“Mrs. Brand sent for me.”

“Yes, but by what means?”

“That I must not say.”

“Oh, very good…. May we know what good comes of being ‘received into the Church?’”

“By being received into the Church, the soul is reconciled to God.” “Oh! (Oliver, be quiet.) And how do you do it, Father Franklin?”

Percy stood up abruptly. “This is no good, madam,” he said.

“What is the use of these questions?”

The girl looked at him in open-eyed astonishment, still with her hand on her husband’s knee.

“The use, Father Franklin! Why, we want to know. There is no church law against your telling us, is there?”

Percy hesitated again. He did not understand in the least what she was after. Then he saw that he would give them an advantage if he lost his head at all: so he sat down again.

“Certainly not. I will tell you if you wish to know. I heard Mrs. Brand’s confession, and gave her absolution.”

“Oh! yes; and that does it, then? And what next?”

“She ought to receive Holy Communion, and anointing, if she is in danger of death.”

Oliver twitched suddenly.

“Christ!” he said softly.

“Oliver!” cried the girl entreatingly. “Please leave this to me. It is much better so.—And then, I suppose, Father Franklin, you want to give those other things to my mother, too?”

“They are not absolutely necessary,” said the priest, feeling, he did not know why, that he was somehow playing a losing game.

“Oh! they are not necessary? But you would like to?”

“I shall do so if possible. But I have done what is necessary.”

It required all his will to keep quiet. He was as a man who had armed himself in steel, only to find that his enemy was in the form of a subtle vapour. He simply had not an idea what to do next. He would have given anything for the man to have risen and flown at his throat, for this girl was too much for them both.

“Yes,” she said softly. “Well, it is hardly to be expected that my husband should give you leave to come here again. But I am very glad that you have done what you think necessary. No doubt it will be a satisfaction to you, Father Franklin, and to the poor old thing upstairs, too. While we—- we—” she pressed her husband’s knee—”we do not mind at all. Oh!—but there is one thing more.”

“If you please,” said Percy, wondering what on earth was coming.

“You Christians—forgive me if I say anything rude—but, you know, you Christians have a reputation for counting heads, and making the most of converts. We shall be so much obliged, Father Franklin, if you will give us your word not to advertise this—this incident. It would distress my husband, and give him a great deal of trouble.”

“Mrs. Brand—-” began the priest.

“One moment…. You see, we have not treated you badly. There has been no violence. We will promise not to make scenes with my mother. Will you promise us that?”

Percy had had time to consider, and he answered instantly.

“Certainly, I will promise that.”

Mabel sighed contentedly.

“Well, that is all right. We are so much obliged…. And I think we may say this, that perhaps after consideration my husband may see his way to letting you come here again to do Communion and—and the other thing—-” Again that spasm shook the man beside her.

“Well, we will see about that. At any rate, we know your address, and can let you know…. By the way, Father Franklin, are you going back to Westminster to-night?”

He bowed.

“Ah! I hope you will get through. You will find London very much excited. Perhaps you heard—-” “Felsenburgh?” said Percy.

“Yes. Julian Felsenburgh,” said the girl softly, again with that strange excitement suddenly alight in her eyes. “Julian Felsenburgh,” she repeated. “He is there, you know. He will stay in England for the present.”

(Next month, Chapter V continues)m JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN

57

VATICAN WATCH

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

APRIL MONDAY 6

MALTA COURT AUTHORIZES SEIZURE OF €29 MILLION IN VATICAN BANK ASSETS A Maltese court has authorized the seizure of assets belonging to the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), commonly called “the Vatican Bank.” The garnishment order was issued last month, allowing three companies involved in a lawsuit against the bank to seize €29.5 million in assets.

Two Malta-based investment companies, Futura Funds Sicav and Futura Investment Management, along with Luxembourg-based Courgar Real Estate, have been embroiled in a years-long court battle with the IOR over millions of euros which the Vatican bank agreed to invest with the firms, before withdrawing from the deal.

At issue is a 2013 investment plan involving the purchase of a property in Hungary — the Budapest Exchange Palace — for development and resale. According to Futura, the IOR originally said it would commit €47 million euros to the project but only delivered €14 million.

Futura argued in the lawsuit that, following a change of leadership at the IOR, the bank had reneged on the project and wanted to go back on its legal commitment to invest.

The judgement by the Maltese court was made March 13 and represents the balance of the investment owed by the IOR and “material damages suffered by Futura Fund and Futura IM” according to a statement from Futura released to the financial news website Expert Investor and reported April 6.

WEDNESDAY 8

POPE SETS UP NEW COMMISSION TO STUDY WOMEN DEACONS Pope Francis has established a new “Study Commission on the Female Diaconate” as a follow-up to a previous group that studied the history of women deacons in the New Testament and the early Christian communities.

Cardinal Giuseppe Petrocchi of Aquila will serve as president of the new commission and Father Denis Dupont-Fauville, an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will serve as secretary, the Vatican 58 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

said April 8. Pope Francis named 10 other members of the commission.

None of the 12 were part of the Commission Pope Francis established in 2016 to study the historical facts about the women referred to as deaconesses in the New Testament and about the role of women deacons in the early Church.

SUNDAY 12

POPE FRANCIS’ EASTER BLESSING: MAY CHRIST DISPEL THE DARKNESS OF OUR SUFFERING HUMANITY In his Easter blessing, Pope Francis called on humanity to unite in solidarity and look to the risen Christ for hope amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“Today the Church’s proclamation echoes throughout the world: ‘Jesus Christ is risen!’ – ‘He is truly risen,’” Pope Francis said on April 12.

“The Risen Lord is also the Crucified One … In his glorious body he bears indelible wounds: wounds that have become windows of hope. Let us turn our gaze to him, that he may heal the wounds of an afflicted humanity,” the Pope said in an nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica.

“Today my thoughts turn in the first place to the many who have been directly affected by the coronavirus: the sick, those who have died and family members who mourn the loss of their loved ones, to whom, in some cases, they were unable even to bid a final farewell. May the Lord of life welcome the departed into his kingdom and grant comfort and hope to those still suffering, especially the elderly and those who are alone,” he said.

WEDNESDAY 15

VATICAN CREATES COMMISSION TO ADDRESS CORONAVIRUS AFTERMATH The Vatican is creating a commission, at the request of Pope Francis, to provide local aid and tackle issues related to the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement released April 15.

The commission has been formed “to express the concern and love of the Church for the whole human family in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, above all through the analysis and reflection on the socio-economic and cultural challenges of the future and the proposal of guidelines to face them,” according to the announcement.

Opposite page, mosaic in the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare Nuovo in Ravenna: Procession of the Holy Virgins and Martyrs.

Below, Pope Francis, in this period of pandemic, looks out from his window onto a completely empty St. Peter’s Square

FRIDAY 17

POPE PENS EDITORIAL ON JOY IN THE TIME OF CORONAVIRUS Like the women at the tomb whose sorrow turned to joy after the Resurrection, Christians also are called to be joyful witnesses to Christ’s victory over death amid the coronavirus pandemic, Pope Francis said.

In an editorial published April 17 by the Spanish magazine, Vida Nueva, the Pope said that those who take part in “the Lord’s passion, the passion of our brothers and sisters, even living our own passion, our ears will hear the newness of the Resurrection: we are not alone, the Lord precedes us on our journey by removing the stones that paralyze us.”

“If there’s one thing we’ve been able to learn in all this time, it’s that no one is saved alone,” he wrote. “Borders are falling, walls are crumbling and all fundamentalist discourses are dissolving before an almost imperceptible presence that shows the fragility of which we are made.”

THURSDAY 23

POPE POSTPONES INTERNATIONAL EUCHARISTIC CONGRESS IN BUDAPEST Pope Francis, the Pontifical Committee for International Eucharistic Congresses and local organizers have agreed to postpone by one year the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, the Vatican announced April 23.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the travel and assembly of large groups of faithful, the Pope, the papal committee, congress organizers and the bishops of Hungary decided to hold the congress in Budapest in September 2021, instead of this year.

The announcement came a few days after the Vatican announced the next World Meeting of Families would be pushed back until June 2022 and the next international gathering for World Youth Day would be postponed to August 2023.

POPE DONATES RESPIRATORS, MEDICAL EQUIPMENT TO HOSPITALS ON NAME DAY To mark his name day, the feast of St. George (“Jorge” means “George” in Spanish), Pope Francis gave the gift of medical supplies to several countries reeling from the coronavirus pandemic.

The Pope, who was born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, donated respirators, masks and protective eyewear on the April 23 feast of his namesake, St. George, Vatican News reported.

Five new respirators were to be delivered to a hospital in Suceava, Romania, the epicenter of the outbreak in the country. The Pope will also donate two respirators to a

hospital in the southern Italian city of Lecce and three to hospitals in Madrid, the report said. The donation “is a beautiful sign that falls on this particular day in which the Holy Father doesn’t receive a gift but gives a gift to others,” said Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner.

The medical equipment, he added, is “a hug from the Pope during a difficult situation for the whole world.”

THURSDAY 30

VATICAN CONFIRMS “INDIVIDUAL MEASURES” TAKEN AGAINST STAFF IN FINANCIAL INVESTIGATION The Holy See has announced that new “measures” have been taken against officials at the Vatican Secretariat of State as part of ongoing investigations into financial dealings at the curial department.

In a statement sent to journalists April 30, Holy See press officer Matteo Bruni said that in response to “some questions from journalists,” he could confirm “that individual measures had been arranged for some employees of the Holy See, at the expiry of those adopted at the beginning of the investigation of financial and real estate investments of the Secretariat of State.” The release confirms that a months-long Vatican investigation is ongoing, aiming to dig into complicated financial transactions and investments made by officials at the secretariat over a period of years.

MAY FRIDAY 1

VATICAN CONDEMNS RELIGIOUS VIOLENCE IN RAMADAN STATEMENT In a statement marking the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Vatican condemned an increasing spate of attacks on churches, synagogues and mosques around the world.

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue in the Council’s “Message for the Month of Ramadan” on May 1 wrote that “recent attacks on churches, mosques and synagogues by wicked persons who seem to perceive the places of worship as a privileged target for their blind and senseless violence” are to be condemned.

He cited the 2019 joint statement of Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar on human fraternity, which stated that such attacks are “a deviation from the teachings of religions as well as a clear violation of international law.”n JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 59

PEOPLE B

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BECKY DERKS with G. Galazka, CNA and CNS photos

n POPE APPROVES FOUNDATION PROMOTING EXAMPLE, WORKS OF POPE JOHN PAUL I

Pope Francis approved the establishment of the John Paul I Vatican Foundation to preserve and promote the writings, thinking, example and study of “The Smiling Pope.”

The Pope also appointed as the foundation president Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, who, like Pope John Paul, is from Italy’s northern Veneto region.

The Vatican made the announcement on April 28.

Born Albino Luciani in 1921, Pope John Paul I served only 33 days as Pope, from August 26 to September 28, 1978, dying at the age of just 65, shocking the world and a Church that had just mourned the death on August 6 of St. Paul VI. St. John Paul II said his predecessor’s importance was inversely proportional to his brief pontificate, and Cardinal Parolin said this Pope “was and remains a point of reference within the history of the universal Church.” (CNS) n RETIRED POPE, CELEBRATING 93RD BIRTHDAY, IS WELL, SECRETARY SAYS

Retired Pope Benedict XVI “is well,” although the coronavirus pandemic restrictions meant he received no visitors on April 16, his 93rd birthday.

“Thank God, all of us in the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery are well,” Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the retired Pope’s personal secretary, told Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops. The retired Pope, the archbishop and a group of 60 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

BLOOD OF ST. JANUARIUS LIQUEFIES IN NAPLES UNDER LOCKDOWN

The liquefaction of the blood of the early Church martyr St. Januarius occurred amid the coronavirus lockdown, leading the Archbishop of Naples to bless the city with the miraculous relic.

“Dear friends, I have a big announcement to make: even in this time of coronavirus, the Lord through the intercession of St. Januarius has liquified the blood!” Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe said May 2.

Cardinal Sepe, the Archbishop of Naples, offered a Mass via video livestream from the Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary to celebrate the recurring miracle, and then used the relic of the liquified blood to bless the city.

“How many times our saint has intervened to save us from the plague, from cholera. St. Januarius is the true soul of Naples,” he said in his homily. (CNA) consecrated women who care for the Pope Emeritus live in the former monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

Usually for his birthday, Pope Benedict is joined by his older brother, Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, who turned 96 in January, but Archbishop Gänswein told Vatican News that, this year, the two spoke on the phone. Monsignor Ratzinger’s call was just one of many birthday calls the retired Pope received. Despite the lockdown, Gänswein told Avvenire April 16, the day would be “more festive” than usual in the monastery. And, he told Vatican News, it would feature the singing of Bavarian folk songs.

(CNS) n MURDERED NIGERIAN SEMINARIAN WAS KILLED FOR ANNOUNCING GOSPEL, KILLER SAYS

A man claiming to have killed the murdered Nigerian seminarian Michael Nnadi (photo) has given an interview in which he says he executed the aspiring priest because he would not stop announcing the

Christian faith in captivity.

Mustapha Mohammed, who is currently in jail, gave a telephone interview to the Nigerian newspaper Daily Sun May 1. He took responsibility for the murder, according to the Daily Sun, because Nnadi, 18 years old, “continued preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ” to his captors.

According to the newspaper, Mustapha praised Nnadi’s “outstanding bravery,” and that the seminarian “told him to his face to change his evil ways or perish.”

(CNA) n GRAND MASTER OF THE ORDER OF MALTA DIES AT 75

The Grand Master of the Order of Malta Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre died early April 29 at the age of 75. He had been in treatment for throat cancer in Rome in recent months. He is remembered by the Order of Malta for his kindness, appreciation of the arts, and charity towards

the poor and disabled.

Pope Francis sent a condolence message to the Order of Malta April 29, describing Dalla Torre as “a zealous man of culture and faith,” and remembering “his dedication to the most suffering.” (CNA) n IRAN SENTENCES CHRISTIAN CONVERT TO 10 LASHES FOR “DISTURBING PUBLIC ORDER”

Iran has sentenced a 21-year-old Christian woman to prison and lashing for “disturbing public order,” after she protested the destruction of a passenger jet by the military.

Mary (Fatemeh) Mohammadi, a 21-year-old Iranian convert to Christianity, was arrested on January 12 after taking part in antigovernment protests that followed the shooting down of a passenger jet, Ukrainian Air Flight 752, by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard (IRG). Iran announced several days after the incident that the IRG mistakenly shot the plane down, resulting in the deaths of all 176 people on board the flight.

In an Instagram post on April 22, Mohammadi said her sentence of three months and one day in prison is suspended for one year. She was also sentenced to 10 lashes.

Mohammadi said she has been tortured in prison and suffered “terrible conditions” for “protesting against the slaughter of human beings.” She said she did not appeal her sentence “because the appeal courts have turned into affirmative tribunals.” (CNA)

fice January 20, the Vatican said.

Cardinal Parolin also named a new vice-director, Federico Antellini Russo (photo). The two men will run the watchdog group, which combats money laundering, along with AIF President Carmelo Barbagallo, who was appointed after the abrupt departure of René Brülhart in November 2019. (CNA)

The Vatican has named a new director for its internal financial watchdog authority.

In a statement April 15, the Holy See press office said that the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin had appointed Giuseppe Schlitzer as director of the Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF). He succeeds Tommaso Di Ruzza, who completed his five-year term of of-

In the coronavirus pandemic, the sick and dying cannot be denied the sacramental assistance of a priest, Cardinal Robert Sarah said in an interview April 9.

Speaking to French magazine Valeurs actuelles, Sarah said that during the coronavirus emergency “priests must do everything they can to remain close to the faithful.”

“They must do everything in their power to assist the dying, without complicating the task of the caretakers and the civil authorities,” he continued, “but no one has the right to deprive a sick or dying person of the spiritual assistance of a priest. It is an absolute and inalienable right.”

In the interview, the Guinean cardinal, who is Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, said he believed many priests had rediscovered their vocation to prayer amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “If priests cannot physically hold the hand of each dying person as they would like, they discover that, in adoration, they can intercede for each one,” he said, adding that he hoped the sick and isolated would feel connected to their priests through prayer.

(CNA)m

n NEW DIRECTOR NAMED FOR VATICAN FINANCIAL WATCHDOG AUTHORITY

CONTAGIOUS PRAYER: MAP APP TRACKS VIRAL ROSARIES DURING COVID-19

Like a lot of people, Mike Del Ponte found himself getting upset seeing the daily map updates tracking the spread of COVID-19. So he and a few friends decided to create a different map, tracking a different kind of spread: the spread of prayer and hope.

Launched on April 28, The Map of Hope is a platform where people post their prayer intentions, and offer a rosary for someone else. Users tag their location, which places a dot on the map. The more people praying in an area, the bigger the dot grows.

In less than a week, The Map of Hope charted more than 4,800 prayer intentions, spanning all 50 states in the US and over 130 countries.

The site also contains instructions on how to pray the Rosary, links to live recitations of the Rosary, and information about miracles attributed to the Rosary.

Del Ponte, who is involved with startups in Silicon Valley, joined up with his friends Joe Kim and Joanna Hernandez and worked out the details of the website. (CNA)

n CORONAVIRUS VICTIMS HAVE “INALIENABLE RIGHT” TO PRIESTS’ HELP, SAYS CARDINAL SARAH

JUNE-JULY 2020 INSIDE THE VATICAN 61

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

n BY MOTHER MARTHA

Stefano Navarrini illustration

he non-profit Association Ospitalità Religiosa Italiana (Italian Religious Hospitality) (www.ospitalitareligiosa.it), headquartered at Via Molina 10 in Varese, a city in Lombardy northwest of Milan, tel. 327-3842841, counts some 4,000 “religious places to stay” in Italy, with a total of some 287,000 beds. These include guesthouses, holiday houses, B&Bs, campsites, hostels, and hermitages, convents and monasteries which open to visitors on vacation and to students.

Of these “stays,” 1,818 with 113,356 beds are administered directly by religious personnel; 1,487 with 123,985 beds belong to a religious order but are run by lay people; 189 with 13,157 beds belong to non-profit Christian associations and 447 with 36,301 beds are run by lay people for profit but specialize in accommodations for religious groups. Of all these, 817 have facilities for the disabled, 1,209 for sports activities and 1,120 for meetings. Many are particularly appropriate for families and several accept pets.

No other country, not even Spain, offers similar “religious” hospitality. They are found in all 20 regions of Italy with the largest number, some 600, logically in Lazio, the province of Rome, with many in Rome and several within walking distance to Vatican City. I’ve described a few in my “Food For Thought”: Want a Cheap Room Near the Vatican? Try Via Monte del Gallo,” ITV, February 2015. Others nearby that I can recommend and that are also on O.R.I.’s website are Centro Boemo Velehrad at Via delle Fornaci #200; Emmaus Hotel at Via delle Fornaci #25; and Holiday Home Santa Maria alle Fornaci at Piazza Santa Maria delle Fornaci #27. Farther afield: Villa San Giovanni at Via del Casale di San Pio V, #1 and Hotel Santa Prisca at Largo Manlio Gelsomini #25.

After Lazio comes Lombardy with 381, Tuscany with 361, and Emilia Romagna with 342. Look into: Albergo Sacro Monte, Via Salvatore Bianchi #5, Varese; Holiday House Oblate Sisters of the Assumption, Borgo Pinto #5, Florence; and Hotel Palazzo Galletti Abbiosi, Via di Roma #140, Ravenna.

The Association’s multi-lingual (Italian, English French, Spanish, Portuguese, and German) state-ofthe-art website lists them all. Each entry has a photo-

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62 INSIDE THE VATICAN JUNE-JULY 2020

graph and icons of all the services offered as well as a description of nearby transportation and tourist attractions. Most “stays” include breakfast and Wi-Fi and accept credit cards. Thus you only need to make a few clicks to check out and book the “stay” that best fulfills your needs. There’s even an entry with a list of the O.R.I. “stays” that have never closed during lockdown.

Sadly, but predictably, in mid-May I received an alarming press release from Fabio Rocchi, the Association’s President. Its headline was: “Religious hospitality in Italy is on its knees, and this time not for prayer.” The bad news is that only half of website’s entries (not yet specified which ones) will definitely reopen this summer. One in three is waiting to see how the covid-19 pandemic evolves before making a decision. About 200 have decided not to reopen in 2020 and another 100 not to reopen ever again.

The entries’ economic loss is estimated to have been 5 million euro a day during the lockdown, which not only damages access to affordable tourism, but more importantly diminishes the finances of the many Church-supported schools and charitable parochial groups in Italy but also in the Third World that receive contributions from these “religious stays.”

Yet the press release is not totally pessimistic. The good news is, that in spite of their overwhelming lost income and the expenses of sanitizing their premises, all of the “religious stays” that are definitely reopening have decided not to lay off any of their employees and not to raise their prices. In fact, many have decided to lower their prices even if three-quarters of them expect to lose between 40 and 90 percent of their income in 2020.

Needless to say, it is well known that tourism is one of Italy’s main industries, the country’s petroleum. It accounts for c. 12% of its GDP and c. 13% of its total national employment. In 2019 it contributed 40 billion euro to the economy, 6% more than the year before.

Rocchi’s press release is undoubtedly an attempt, with the help of us journalists, to gain the government’s attention, intervention and protection for religious tourism. If you can, come to Italy... m

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