If The Vatican's Main Spokesman Doesn't Know What the Pope's Doing, Who Does?

Catholic Culture ^ | 7/20/15 | Phil Lawler

[marshmallow]

Don’t let the understated headline fool you. There’s dynamite in this CWN headline story.

It’s not big news that the director of the Vatican press office admits he is “confused” by Pope Francis. We’re all confused. Join the club, Father Lombardi.

But when the Vatican’s chief spokesman reveals that he doesn’t know what’s on the Pope’s schedule—and no one else knows, either, except the Pope himself—that’s astonishing. Indeed all of the remarks by Father Federico Lombardi, as quoted in an otherwise unremarkable article in National Geographic are eye-opening. The papal spokesman limns a picture of a leader who doesn’t give clear directions, doesn’t communicate with his staff, and (at least in diplomatic affairs) doesn’t have a strategic vision.

“No one knows all of what he’s doing,” Lombardi says. “His personal secretary doesn’t even know. I have to call around: One person knows one part of his schedule, someone else knows another part.”

The job of a spokesman is to make his boss look good. These comments by Father Lombardi definitely do not make Pope Francis look good. What’s happening here?

•Has the frustration at the Vatican reached such a level that Father Lombardi feels that he can make critical comments about the Pontiff, knowing that other Vatican officials will back him? Or…

•Is Father Lombardi himself frustrated enough so that he’s willing to risk his job? Or...

•Does the papal spokesman—who knows the Pope much better than you and I do—feel confident that Pope Francis won’t be unhappy with the comments in National Geographic?

But what those remarkable quotes say about Father Lombardi is a secondary issue. What’s really important is what they say about Pope Francis.

By all accounts, the conclave that elected Pope Francis was looking for someone who could reform the Vatican, bringing......

[marshmallow]

The magazine reported:

After meeting with a world leader, the former pope would emerge and rattle off an incisive summation, [Father Federico] Lombardi tells me, with palpable wistfulness: “It was incredible. Benedict was so clear. He would say, ‘We have spoken about these things, I agree with these points, I would argue against these other points, the objective of our next meeting will be this’—two minutes and I’m totally clear about what the contents were. With Francis—‘This is a wise man; he has had these interesting experiences.’”

Chuckling somewhat helplessly, Lombardi adds, “Diplomacy for Francis is not so much about strategy but instead, ‘I have met this person, we now have a personal relation, let us now do good for the people and for the Church.’”

Confusion is occurring not only in matters of daily logistics and diplomatic strategy, it's also theological which is why so many of us are biting our finger nails over the upcoming October Synod.

The real question raised by all of this, however, is not addressed; is this "confusion" the work of a well-intentioned dufus or is something more sinister afoot?

[metmom]

Already posted by the exact same title 17 articles ago, yesterday.

Easy to find in a search.

[Cicero]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/3314489/posts

[Seruzawa]

I’m begging to suspect that the Pope is on psych drugs. That would explain much.

[Blue Highway]

I'm still wondering why all of a sudden is he coming to the white house September 23rd when this will have been only the third time a pope has done such.

Also why is there an observatory on Mount Graham in Arizona (ancient Indian holy land) that is owned and operated by the Vatican and why the lens on the binoculars are called LUCIFER?

[Ransomed]

Because Catholics needed something to take everyone’s attention away from the actual conspiracy: Albino Assassin Monks.

Freegards

[mlizzy]

Had not heard of that so I looked it up. Here’s a link for others “not in the know”: http://www.wnd.com/2013/01/what-the-devil-scientists-tap-power-of-lucifer/

[Mrs. Don-o]

From what I've read, the German (and non-Catholic) scientists who developed this binocular telescope describe it as a "Large Utility with Camera and Integral Field Unit for Extragalactic Research." Initials = LUCIFER. They went with it as a kind of multilingual pun in honor of the bureaucrat who OK'd the funding, a Herr Teufel ("devil") --- common surname in Germany.

And besides, "Lucifer" (L., "bearer of light") was long used as a name for Venus when it appears in the morning sky. It wasn't originally a Biblical term. The Bible was not written in Latin.

OK everybody, you can kinda smooth-out your panties now.

[Salvation]

The Pope is an astute thinker, and like all Jesuits, tries to get people to think too.