"The Document That Put Ratzinger on Top"

The following article by Marco Tosatti, titled, "The Document That Put Ratzinger on Top," appeared in the Italian newspaper La Stampa last Friday (April 22). If the story it tells is true, it gives some grounds for hope that the will for reform may be taking root in places where it can make a difference.

A confidential but highly detailed document on the situation of the Church -- and especially the situation inside the Church -- circulated among the cardinals over the past few days, making a vivid impression and probably contributing indirectly to the choice of Joseph Ratzinger as the successor of Pope John Paul II. "I put my hand here after reading it, because I was afraid my heart would give out on me," one cardinal told us. It is an unsigned document, consisting of about ten sub-parts, which provides a picture of the situation of the clergy in various countries of the world, particularly Europe, Africa, and North America. We were not told who the author was, but certainly it was someone viewing the Church situation from a privileged vantage point, and very much an insider's one.

The "lack of integrity" of too many priests is put in stark relief: violation of the rules of celibacy, obviously, but not only that; problems tied to money, problems with the use of the faithful's contributions, and problems concerning the confessional as well. One example cited was the case of two young priests, guilty of violating the secrecy of the confessional and for that reason reduced to the lay state for thirty years by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. "Time was when the secrecy of the confessional was an impregnable rampart," remarked the aforementioned cardinal. It is likely that this document was the basis for erstwhile-Cardinal Ratzinger's seemingly harsh interventions.

The first of the series occurred during his reflections accompanying the Stations of the Cross on Good Friday, the reflection on Jesus' third fall under the weight of the cross. The Pope's theologian-friend wrote: "Ought we not call to mind how much Christ has to suffer in His own Church? ... How many times we celebrate only ourselves without so much as taking Him into consideration! ... How much filth there is in the Church, even among those who, by virtue of their priesthood, ought to belong entirely to Christ! How much vainglory, how much self-complacency! How little respect we show the Sacrament of Reconciliation, in which He awaits us to raise us up again every time we fall!"

It was a reflection in which he spoke of the Church as a "boat on the point of sinking, a boat taking in water on all sides. And also in Your field we see more darnel than wheat. To see the vesture and visage of Your Church so filthy throws us into confusion. Yet it is we ourselves who have soiled them! It is we who betray you time and time again, after all our lofty words and grand gestures."

Two days later, near the Vatican, Cardinal Ratzinger met on the street a retired curial monsignor who asked him the reason for giving what seemed a discouraging reflection. "We must pray much, we must pray much," answered Benedict XIV, "You weren't born yesterday; you understand what I'm talking about; you know what it means -- We priests! We priests!" he concluded in a tone of pleading, adding, "Remember the prayer to the Sacred Heart, in which we ask particular pardon for the sins of priests. I know it hurts to say the boat's taking in water from every side, but it's true, it's true. We priests ..."

Struck by the manner in which Ratzinger said, "we priests, we priests," the monsignor recognized his inner suffering and asked him nothing further.

Last Monday the dean of the College of Cardinals, Joseph Ratzinger, during the first act of the conclave, the Missa pro eligendo pontifice, gave the same cry of alarm in another form: "How many winds of doctrine we have known in recent decades, how many ideological currents, how many ways of thinking… The small boat of thought of many Christians has often been tossed about by these waves -- thrown from one extreme to the other: from Marxism to liberalism, even to libertinism; from collectivism to radical individualism; from atheism to a vague religious mysticism; from agnosticism to syncretism, and so forth. Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error."

At the end of the Mass many of the those present, including some of the cardinal electors, broke into applause. According to our source, this served as a "first ballot" indicating those in favor and those against, who kept both hands tightly gripping their Mass booklets. But the bleak picture of the situation within, and the need for a Pontiff able to grasp the helm of the Barque of Peter and keep hold of it, removed the reservations of many respecting the candidacy of Benedict XVI.

UN CARDINALE: DOPO AVERLO LETTO HO MESSO LA MANO SUL CUORE, AVEVO PAURA CHE SI FERMASSE Il documento che ha favorito Ratzinger «Clero in pericolo: violazione del celibato e confessioni non rispettate»

22 aprile 2005

di Marco Tosatti

CITTÀ DEL VATICANO. Un documento riservato ma molto dettagliato, sulla situazione della Chiesa, e soprattutto «nella» Chiesa, è circolato fra i cardinali nei giorni scorsi, creando una grande impressione; e, probabilmente, contribuendo in maniera indiretta alla scelta di Joseph Ratzinger quale successore di Giovanni Paolo II. «Ho messo la mano qui, perché avevo paura che si fermasse il cuore, dopo averlo letto», ci ha detto un porporato. È un documento senza intestazione, di una decina di cartelle, che presenta un quadro sulla situazione del clero nei Paesi del mondo, soprattutto in Europa, Africa e America del Nord. Non ci è stato detto chi ne fosse l’autore; ma certamente qualcuno che era nella posizione di avere un punto di osservazione privilegiato, e molto interno, sulla Chiesa. E anche su Roma.

Si metteva in rilievo la «mancanza di coerenza» di troppi sacerdoti. Violazione delle regole del celibato, certamente, ma non solo; problemi legati al denaro, l’uso dei soldi dei fedeli, e anche le confessioni. Si portava come esempio il caso di due giovani sacerdoti, colpevoli di violazione del segreto confessionale e per questo posti allo stato laicale per trent’anni dalla Congregazione per la dottrina della fede. «La segretezza del confessionale una volta era un baluardo inespugnabile», ha commentato il porporato. È probabile che questo documento sia alla radice degli interventi apparentemente così severi, dell’ancora cardinale Ratzinger.

Il primo della serie è avvenuto durante le meditazioni della Via Crucis, il venerdì Santo, alla nona Stazione, quella della terza caduta di Gesù sotto il peso della croce. Scrisse il teologo amico del Papa: «Ma non dobbiamo pensare anche a quanto Cristo debba soffrire nella sua stessa Chiesa?...Quante volte celebriamo soltanto noi stessi senza neanche renderci conto di Lui!...Quanta sporcizia c’è nella Chiesa, e proprio anche tra coloro che, nel sacerdozio, dovrebbero appartenere completamente a Lui! Quanta superbia, quanta autosufficienza! Quanto poco rispettiamo il sacramento della riconciliazione, nel quale egli ci aspetta, per rialzarci dalle nostre cadute!».

Era la meditazione in cui si parlava della Chiesa come di «una barca che sta per affondare, una barca che fa acqua da tutte le parti. E anche nel tuo campo di grano vediamo più zizzannia che grano. La veste e il volto così sporchi della tua Chiesa ci sgomentano. Ma siamo noi stessi a sporcarli! Siamo noi stessi a tradirti ogni volta, dopo tutte le nostre grandi parole, i nostri grandi gesti».

Due giorni dopo il cardinale Ratzinger incontrò per strada, vicino al Vaticano, un monsignore di Curia ormai in pensione che gli chiese il perché di una meditazione così apparentemente sconfortante. «Dobbiamo pregare molto, dobbiamo pregare molto - gli rispose Benedetto XVI - tu hai i capelli bianchi, capisci di che cosa parlo, sai che cosa vuol dire. Noi sacerdoti! Noi sacerdoti!», concluse in tono di deprecazione. E aggiunse: «Pensa alla preghiera che si recita per il Sacro Cuore, quella in cui si chiede perdono specialmente per i peccati dei sacerdoti. So che fa male dire che la barca fa acqua da tutte le parti, ma è così, è così. Noi sacerdoti...».

Il monsignore rimase impressionato dal modo in cui diceva «noi sacerdoti, noi sacerdoti», ne capì la sofferenza interiore, e non chiese altro. Lunedì scorso il decano del Collegio cardinalizio, Joseph Ratzinger, durante il primo atto del Conclave, la «Missa pro eligendo pontifice» ha ripetuto, in altra forma, lo stesso grido di allarme: «Quanti venti di dottrina abbiamo conosciuto in questi ultimi decenni, quante correnti ideologiche, quante mode del pensiero... la piccola barca del pensiero di molti cristiani è stata non di rado agitata da queste onde e gettata da un estremo all’altro: dal marxismo al liberalismo, fino al libertinismo; dal collettivismo all’individualismo radicale; dall’ateismo a un vago misticismo religioso; dall’agnosticismo al sincretismo e così via. Ogni giorno nascono nuove sette e si realizza quanto dice San Paolo sull’inganno degli uomini, sull’astuzia che tende a trarre nell’errore».

Alla fine della messa molti fra i presenti, anche fra i cardinali elettori, hanno applaudito. Secondo il nostro interlocutore è avvenuta allora una prima «conta» fra i favorevoli e i contrari, che tenevano stretto il libretto liturgico fra le mani. Ma il quadro desolante della situazione interna, e la necessità di un Pontefice in grado di prendere e tenere il timone della barca di Pietro ha fatto cadere le riserve di molti sulla candidatura di Benedetto XVI.

Reminds me of Don Bosco's vision....

http://www.theotokos.org.uk/pages/fatima/donbosco.html

On 30 May 1862 Don Bosco at his 'Good Night' talk told his boys, and the young clerics he was training, about a dream he had dreamt a few nights previously: he actually described it as a parable or allegory. Strictly speaking a parable is a general story with a deeper meaning, but one in which the points of the story may not all be significant, while in an allegory every detail is important and meaningful. In the case of Don Bosco's dream it is difficult to know just how significant each point is. After some preliminary remarks he went on to describe what he had seen:

"Try to picture yourselves with me on the seashore, or, better still, on an outlying cliff with no other land in sight. The vast expanse of water is covered with a formidable array of ships in battle formation, prows fitted with sharp spear-like beaks capable of breaking through any defence. All are heavily armed with cannons, incendiary bombs, and firearms of all sorts - even books - and are heading toward one stately ship, mightier than them all. As they try to close in, they try to ram it, set it afire, and cripple it as much as possible.

"This stately vessel is shielded by a flotilla escort. Winds and waves are with the enemy. In this midst of this endless sea, two solid columns, a short distance apart, soar high into the sky: one is surmounted by a statue of the Immaculate Virgin at whose feet a large inscription reads: Help of Christians; the other, far loftier and sturdier, supports a [Communion] Host of proportionate size and bears beneath it the inscription Salvation of believers.

"The flagship commander - the Roman Pontiff [the Pope]- seeing the enemy's fury and his auxiliary ships very grave predicament, summons his captains to a conference. However, as they discuss their strategy, a furious storm breaks out and they must return to their ships. When the storm abates, the Pope again summons his captains as the flagship keeps on its course. But the storm rages again. Standing at the helm, the Pope strains every muscle to steer his ship between the two columns from whose summits hang many anchors and strong hooks linked to chains.

"The entire enemy fleet closes in to intercept and sink the flagship at all costs. They bombard it with everything they have: books and pamphlets, incendiary bombs, firearms, cannons. The battle rages ever more furious. Beaked prows ram the flagship again and again, but to no avail, as, unscathed and undaunted, it keeps on its course. At times a formidable ram splinters a gaping hole into its hull, but, immediately, a breeze from the two columns instantly seals the gash.

"Meanwhile, enemy cannons blow up, firearms and beaks fall to pieces, ships crack up and sink to the bottom. In blind fury the enemy takes to hand-to-hand combat, cursing and blaspheming. Suddenly the Pope falls, seriously wounded. He is instantly helped up but, struck down a second time, dies. A shout of victory rises from the enemy and wild rejoicing sweeps their ships. But no sooner is the Pope dead than another takes his place. The captains of the auxiliary ships elected him so quickly that the news of the Pope's death coincides with that of his successor's election. The enemy's self-assurance wanes.

"Breaking through all resistance, the new Pope steers his ship safely between the two columns and moors it to the two columns; first to the one surmounted by the Host, and then to the other, topped by the statue of the Virgin. At this point something unexpected happens. The enemy ships panic and disperse, colliding with and scuttling each other. Some auxiliary ships which had gallantly fought alongside their flagship are the first to tie up at the two columns.

"Many others, which had fearfully kept far away from the fight, stand still, cautiously waiting until the wrecked enemy ships vanish under the waves. Then, they too head for the two columns, tie up at the swinging hooks, and ride safe and tranquil beside their flagship. A great calm now covers the sea."

At this point Don Bosco asked one of the priests present for his views. He replied that he thought that the flagship symbolised the Church headed by the Pope, with the ships representing mankind and the sea as an image of the world. The ships defending the flagship he equated with the laity and the attackers with those trying to destroy the Church, while the two columns represented devotion to Mary and the Eucharist.

He did not mention the death of the Pope and neither did Don Bosco in his reply, in which he agreed with what the priest had said, while adding that the enemy ships symbolised persecutions:

"Very grave trials await the Church. What we have suffered so far is almost nothing compared to what is going to happen. The enemies of the Church are symbolised by the ships which strive their utmost to sink the flagship. Only two things can save us in such a grave hour: devotion to Mary and frequent Communion. Let us do our very best to use these two means and have others use them everywhere."

Not surprisingly this contents of this dream amazed all those listening, and four of those present wrote down what they had heard. Two wrote the next day, 31 May and two some time later, but all four narratives agree substantially. Such small differences as were found can be explained on the basis that it is impossible to get every detail when remembering and writing a spoken narrative.

"Every day new sects are created and what Saint Paul says about human trickery comes true, with cunning which tries to draw those into error."

Pope Benedict XVI is sounding apocalyptic. We should all take heed:

“But know this, that in the last days, dangerous times will come....” (2 Tim. 3:1).
“For there will come a time when they will not endure the sound doctrine; but having itching ears, will heap up to themselves teachers according to their own lusts, and they will turn away their hearing from the truth and turn aside rather to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4).

"Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,[a]’ and will deceive many. 10At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people." (Matthew 24: 4-5, 10)
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