Pope film sparks Catholic controversy [filmmakers face state prosecution in Italy]

Bruno Volpe, the Catholic lawyer, has launched suit for defamation against Moretti and the producers under the terms of the Lateran Pact, which extends the same protections to the prestige of the pope as to the Italian president. Mr Volpe said Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope), never mentioned the current Pope by name but it was nevertheless clear that it was a parody of Pope Benedict XVI and dishonoured the figure of the Pontiff in general. Salvatore Izzo, a Vatican expert, branded the work disrespectful and boring in an open letter to Avvenire, the Catholic bishops’ newspaper.

He said Catholics should boycott the film, which opened in Italy on Friday and will be in competition at Cannes.

“Why should we support financially that which offends our religion?” he asked, admitting he had not seen the film.

Antonio Vacca, the bishop of Alghero, described Moretti as “an instrument of Satan for separating man from God”.

Gerardo Pierro, archbishop of Salerno, said the launch of a similar film in an Islamic country would have led to the burning of cinemas and attempts to kill the director for blasphemy. “I think many people take advantage of the traditional meekness of Catholics, which is often confused with foolishness or resignation,” Archbishop Pierro said.

Bruno Volpe, the Catholic lawyer, has launched suit for defamation against Moretti and the producers under the terms of the Lateran Pact, which extends the same protections to the prestige of the pope as to the Italian president. Mr Volpe said Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope), never mentioned the current Pope by name but it was nevertheless clear that it was a parody of Pope Benedict XVI and dishonoured the figure of the Pontiff in general. Salvatore Izzo, a Vatican expert, branded the work disrespectful and boring in an open letter to Avvenire, the Catholic bishops’ newspaper. He said Catholics should boycott the film, which opened in Italy on Friday and will be in competition at Cannes.

Cambridge historian John Pollard, in his recent and superlative book, Money and the Rise of the Modern Papacy: Financing the Vatican 1850-1950, has shown that the papacy as we know it, that is, an institution exercising universal jurisdiction over a global flock, is a distinctly modern creation whose contemporary clout is due in large part to two major developments in the last 150 years: the "Peter's Pence" fund, skillfully exploited to get donations sent directly to Rome; and the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which at a stroke wiped out the Vatican's debt and gave it the freedom to exist independently and thus appoint its own men everywhere -- even when there was no local threat requiring its outside intervention.
-- from the thread A check on new bishops [Is Current Selection Method Flawed?]
The 1929 Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican lays down that an insult to the Pope carries the same penalty as an insult to the Italian President. Prosecution however requires authorisation from the Ministry of Justice.
-- from the thread Comedian Sabina Guzzanti 'insulted Pope' in poofter devils gag [faces state prosecution for insult]

You gotta love a journalist who will start out a story with the lede, “Bruno Volpe, THE Catholic lawyer.” Is there only one Catholic lawyer?

Meanwhile, so far “The Vatican” (it’s not like we’re actually talking about the Pope) has shrugged the movie off, as apparently being relatively inoffensive.

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