The current nuncio to Washington cannot stand having been driven out of Rome. And he is reacting against his archenemy, Cardinal Bertone. He has many supporters in the curia. And the pope is getting caught in the fray
VATICAN CITY, (Chiesa) January 26, 2012 – The two texts reproduced in their entirety further below are:
– a letter dated July 7, 2011 to Benedict XVI from then secretary general of the governorate of Vatican City-State, Carlo Maria Viganò, now the nuncio in the United States, made public during the broadcast of the television program "The untouchables" on the evening of January 25, on the Italian channel "la 7";
– the statement released on January 26, with regard to this same broadcast, by the director of the Vatican press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi.
Viganò's letter to Benedict XVI was the showpiece of this episode of "The untouchables." It was exhibited together with a sheaf of other letters also written by Viganò to the pope and to secretary of state Tarcisio Bertone. It is logical to presume that the copies of these letters came to the producer of the broadcast, Gianluigi Nuzzi,, directly or indirectly, from the sender rather than from the recipients. The statement from Fr. Lombardi expresses "disappointment over the release of confidential documents," but does not accuse anyone.
The broadcast was given more weight by the fact that three officials of the Holy See took part in it. Two of them were interviewed at their respective residences: Bishop Giorgio Corbellini and Cardinal Velasio de Paolis. One was a guest in studio: the director of "L'Osservatore Romano," Giovanni Maria Vian. The cardinal who was interviewed while having his identity concealed could have been de Paolis himself, recorded without his knowledge while he was speaking off the record.
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The statement ends by calling "unquestionable" the esteem and trust that the pope has for Viganò. This could be a way of asking the churchman, clearly embittered by his removal from Rome, to put aside his own resentment from now on.
On the other hand, the statement could not remind Viganò that it is not permissible for him to complain about the failure to fulfill a promise that he would succeed Lajolo as president of the governorate of Vatican City-State, assuming that such a promise was made to him. Nor could it set out in black and white that such promises cannot be made by someone, like the secretary of state, who does not have the power to do so. Such appointments, in fact, belong only to the pope.
And that's without counting the fact that none of Viganò's predecessors made the leap from secretary to president. Not Bruno Bertagna. Not Gianni Danzi. Not Renato Boccardo, who also had to leave his post prematurely, for the less than glamorous episcopal see of Spoleto-Norcia. And he left without protesting, and without sending letters left and right. With a style quite different from that of the current nuncio to Washington.
Viganò's nephew, Archbishop Carlo Maria Polvani, 47, heads the information office of the secretariat of state that oversees "L'Osservatore Romano," Vatican Radio, and also the press office directed by Fr. Lombardi.
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"WITH DEEP SADNESS AND DISAPPOINTMENT..."
Vatican City-State
Governorate
The Secretary General
To His Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI
Vatican City, July 7, 2011
Most Holy Father,
With deep sadness and disappointment I have received from the hands of the Most Eminent Cardinal Secretary of State the communication of the decision of Your Holiness to appoint me Apostolic Nuncio in the United States of America. In other circumstances, such an appointment would be a reason for joy and a sign of great esteem and trust in my regard, but in the present context, it will be perceived by all as a verdict of condemnation of my work, and therefore as a punishment.
In spite of the great damage to my reputation and the negative repercussions that this provision will provoke, my response cannot be anything but full adherence to the will of the pope, as I have always done during my other than brief service to the Holy See. In the face of this harsh trial as well, I renew with profound faith my absolute obedience to the Vicar of Christ.
The meeting granted to me by Your Holiness last April 4 brought me great comfort, as did the subsequent news that the pope had instituted a special Committee "super partes," charged with clarifying the delicate matter in which I have been involved; and thus it seemed reasonable to me to hope that any provision in my regard would be taken only at the conclusion of the work of the aforementioned Committee, in part so that punishment would not seem to be given to the one who, out of the duty of his office, had brought to the attention of his immediate superior, Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, gravely deplorable actions and behaviors that, moreover, His Excellency Bishop Giorgio Corbellini, deputy secretary general, had in vain repeatedly reported and documented for the same superior – long before my arrival at the governorate – and that, in the absence of action on the part of the same cardinal, he had felt the need to report also to the secretariat of state.
And I was even more saddened to learn, following the audience with the Most Eminent Cardinal Secretary of State last July 2, that Your Holiness agrees with the judgment of my actions in the terms in which this was previewed last June 26 in a blog post by Andrea Tornielli, namely that I am said to be guilty of having created a negative climate at the Governorate, making relations more and more difficult between the secretary general and the heads of the offices, so much so as to make my transfer necessary.
In this regard, I would like to assure Your Holiness that this does not at all correspond to the truth. The other cardinal members of the Pontifical Committee of the Governorate, who know very well how I have acted over the past two years, could inform you with greater objectivity, not having a stake in this matter, and easily prove how far from the truth is the information about me that has been reported to you, which has been the motive for your decision in my regard.
I am also grieved by the fact that, unfortunately having to care personally for an older brother who is a priest, seriously affected by a stroke that is gradually debilitating him mentally as well, I should have to leave right now, when I had expected to be able to resolve in a few months this family problem that so greatly worries me.
Your Holiness, for the reasons presented above, I turn to you with trust to ask you, for the sake of my reputation, to postpone for the necessary time the implementation of the decision you have already made, which at this moment would appear as an unjust sentence of condemnation in my regard, based on behaviors that have been falsely attributed to me, and to entrust the task of exploring the real situation of this matter, which also sees two Most Eminent Cardinals involved, to a truly independent body, for example the Apostolic Signatura. This would allow my transfer to be perceived as a normal replacement, and would also permit me to find a solution for my brother priest more easily.
If Your Holiness would grant me this, I would ardently desire, in honor of the truth, to be able to provide you personally with the elements necessary to clarify this delicate matter, in which the Holy Father has certainly been kept in the dark.
With profound veneration, I renew for Your Holiness sentiments of filial devotion,
in Christ the Lord
+ Carlo Maria Viganò
full article at Chiesa
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