The media are going to be given a lot of "help''
Archbishop Georg Gänswein’s “Nothing but the Truth: My Life Beside Pope Benedict XVI” is being published this month by the Piemme imprint of Italian publishing giant Mondadori, according to a press release.
Former Pope Benedict personal secretary's book promises to expose 'dark maneuvers'
“Today, after the death of the pope emeritus, the time has come for the current prefect of the papal household to tell his own truth about the blatant calumnies and dark maneuvers that have tried in vain to cast shadows on the German pontiff’s magisterium and actions,” the press release said.
Specifically, the publisher said Gänswein would address the “Vatileaks” scandal, in which Benedict’s own butler leaked his personal correspondence to a journalist, as well as clergy sex abuse scandals and one of the enduring mysteries of the Vatican, the 1983 disappearance of the 15-year-old daughter of a Vatican employee, Emanuela Orlandi.
The book appears to be just part of what is shaping up as a postmortem media blitz by Gänswein, including the release Monday of excerpts of a lengthy interview he granted Italian state-operated RAI television last month that is to be broadcast Thursday after the funeral.
According to the excerpts published by La Repubblica newspaper, Gänswein recounted how he tried to dissuade Benedict from resigning after the then-pope told him in late September 2012 that he had made up his mind. That was six months after Benedict took a nighttime fall during a visit to Mexico and determined he no longer could handle the rigors of the job.
“He told me: ‘You can imagine I have thought long and hard about this, I’ve reflected, I’ve prayed, I’ve struggled. And now I’m communicating to you that a decision has been taken, it’s not up for discussion,’” Gänswein recalled Benedict saying.
"Dark maneuvers" in Rome, I am shocked, I tell you, shocked!
ReplyDeleteI am sure Archbishop Ganswein was a good and loyal friend to Benedict.
I see that he is the titular archbishop of Urbs Salvia, so I was curious and looked it up. It is located in eastern Italy. It is a large archaeological park, the pictures are very lovely. Would be an interesting place to visit. But it has zero people living there. It is unclear why it needs an archbishop, or why someone in basically a diplomatic or admin post needs to be an archbishop. But I guess that is a custom, I know they used to give retired prelates titular sees.
The battle over Benedict's legacy has commenced in earnest.
ReplyDeleteI was idly speculating the other day that there will be a contingent who would wish to see Benedict, who by all accounts was a formidable theologian, declared a Doctor of the Church. And that movement would be repugnant to another sector of the church. And the deal they would work out would be that Benedict and Francis would be declared Doctors at the same time.
ReplyDeleteYa heard it here first.
There are a lot more doctors of the church than I thought, I counted 36 in the article I read. One of them is even a deacon, St. Ephrem
DeleteI think surprisingly few of them are popes. I'm only thinking of one, Gregory the Great. Now I'll have to hit Google to find the list.
DeleteDang it, I see Leo the Great also is on the list of Doctors. (I'm not upset that he's on the list; just mad at myself for not remembering.)
DeleteI wish we would stop canonizing Popes. It reminds me of the Roman practice of deifying Emperors.
ReplyDeleteI didn't think we needed another Saint John, or Saint Paul. I don't think we need another Saint Benedict or Saint Francis.
I don't think any of these popes are in their league.
They should wait a century or more before canonizing anyone. Or making them Doctors of the church.
DeleteIn the meantime, it’s interesting, but not surprising, that Ganswain has prepared well for this moment and is ready to go to boost his retirement assets by selling his book and lining up lots of interviews. Wasting no time in monetizing his years of close association with Benedict and his insider knowledge of “dark maneuvers” and conspiracies.