Posted on 02/09/2010 7:53:36 PM PST by marshmallow
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican denied Tuesday that it leaked documents that led to the resignation of a prominent Catholic editor, intervening in a tale of ecclesiastical intrigue that has dominated Italian headlines for weeks.
The Vatican No. 2 issued a statement saying reports that Vatican officials leaked the documents were false and that Pope Benedict XVI himself "deplored these unjust and insulting attacks" that were "defaming the Holy See."
The statement — unusual in its line-by-line denial of unsourced rumors — was confirmation that what had been a strictly Italian church scandal had reached the highest echelons of power in the Vatican's Apostolic Palace and that the pope clearly wanted to put an end to it.
The intrigue began last summer, when Il Giornale newspaper published reports based on what it said were court documents saying the editor of Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference, had been involved in a harassment case several years ago with homosexual overtones.
The revelations were initially seen as tit-for-tat retribution by Il Giornale, owned by Premier Silvio Berlusconi's brother, against Avvenire. The Catholic paper had harshly criticized the premier for his purported sex scandals with younger women.
Avvenire's editor, Dino Boffo, admitted he had been fined in a plea bargain agreement — details of which have never been publicly released — but he denied making harassing phone calls. Amid the fallout though, he resigned, saying he wanted to spare his family and the church further humiliation.
Three months later, Il Giornale's editor Vittorio Feltri — who had penned the initial articles — admitted the documents implying a gay angle to the case were false and apologized to Boffo in a front-page letter.
(Excerpt) Read more at google.com ...
BTW: Kudos to the Irish Church for doing a better job at handling pederasty amongst the clergy than the AmChurch (which is, ironically, a direct descendant of the Irish Church).
Sayre's Law states that "In any dispute, the intensity of feeling is inversely proportional to the value of the stakes at issue."
Not that this has the slightest relevance to sleazy lies in the Italian press.
There were supposedly letters given to an Italian newspaper editor, by a Vatican official (or insider of some sort?).
These notes or letters, this same editor later claims were false. Not nonexistent, but somehow 'false'.
So the slant of the article is there appears to be some back-stabbing going on within the Vatican?
You say "the knives are out". The article isn't disagreeing with that, just that all the "knives" are not being wielded by outsiders.
What is in truth happening in the midst of all this hubbub I cannot clearly discern...but I'm speaking here only to what the article's claims seem to be.
The enemy is always busy working, on many fronts, inside and out, and never stops.
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