LETTER FROM ROME:Who was the source of a smear that led to the resignation of the editor of a church-affiliated newspaper?
IS THE spirit of Lucrezia Borgia still alive and well in the Vatican?
The question asks itself in light of recent events that may, or may not, be linked to the Holy See.
During his weekly audience in Paul VI Hall last week, Pope Benedict XVI said something while recalling the figure of San Domenico de Guzmán, founder of the Dominican order, that prompted a minor flurry among Vatican watchers:
“Is not the temptation represented by power and by careerism, is not this a temptation from which even those who have a leading role in the government of the church are not immune? . . . We all know how, in civil society and sometimes in the church, things do not go well because many of those who have been entrusted with a responsibility work for their own good and not for that of the community.”
What was the pope talking about? Was this an indication of the line he will take with the Irish bishops when he meets them next week in the Vatican?
Or was it a not-so-thinly veiled reference to disturbing events much closer to home? Namely, the speculation that last summer the Holy See and the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) became involved in a dirty tricks war in which the former used the editor of the Berlusconi family daily, Il Giornale, to damage the latter.
We are talking here about events of last September, events which surfaced again in the Italian media last week.
Dino Boffo, editor of the daily L’Avvenire, the newspaper controlled by the CEI, was forced to resign last September after Il Giornale’s editor, Vittorio Feltri, published an article that claimed Boffo was “a renowned homosexual” who had furthermore been fined for harassing the wife of an alleged lover.
Long after Boffo had resigned, Feltri admitted the claims were based on false documents and offered his belated apologies.
However, the plot thickened when Feltri and Boffo met for an alleged fence-mending lunch in Milan last week.
Media reports claim Boffo was understandably curious to know just who had provided the “dossier” on him.
Feltri, according to some reports, confirmed that it had come from an authoritative figure in “the Catholic world”, hinting at someone in the Holy See.
Feltri has since denied these reports, saying merely: “All that I know is that the person who gave me this information was a trustworthy person from the Catholic community.”
In reality, Vatican observers speculate that Boffo may have become caught in the crossfire between the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and the president of the CEI, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco.
At stake, to some extent, was the question of who speaks loudest and with most authority on behalf of Italian Catholics. In plotting the resignation of Boffo, who was close to Cardinal Bagnasco, the secretary of state was scoring a major blow against a rival cardinal. Or so the theory goes.
Not surprisingly, given the fuss generated, the Holy See press office finally issued a statement yesterday, rejecting suggestions that Cardinal Bertone was in any way involved in the dismissal of Boffo.
The Vatican’s denial, however, does not exclude Feltri’s claim that his informant was a “trustworthy person from the Catholic community”.
Needless to say, senior Curia figures such as Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, deny such speculation, branding it “unthinkable” and suggesting that a finger was pointed at the Holy See to disguise the real source of the “dirty dossier”.
It would be tempting to conclude that this whole Borgia-like tale was nothing more than idle gossip bandied about by idle journalists, were it not for one consideration.
Boffo was forced to resign after a summer when his paper had been critical of Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, calling on him to issue a “clarification” of his alleged involvement with call girl Patrizia D’Addario and to explain reports of parties involving numerous young women at his private residences in Rome and Sardinia.
And remember, the allegations against Boffo were made by Il Giornale, the Berlusconi family newspaper (nominally owned by Berlusconi’s brother, Paolo).
Are we suggesting that someone in a high position in the Catholic Church was willing to form an alliance with Berlusconi to eliminate a mutual enemy? Even for those addicted to conspiracy theories, is this one not too farfetched?
What remains, however, is that Boffo was forced to resign, essentially because he was alleged to be a “renowned homosexual”.
Furthermore, what do we make of reports that Pope Benedict himself has asked his advisers for clarification on the Boffo affair?
Asked to comment on the matter last week, Fr Federico Lombardi, the Vatican’s senior spokesman, said: “It’s obvious that the pope knows what’s going on.”
But not all Vatican commentators are so sure that the pope has his finger on this particular pulse.
Writing in Rome daily La Repubblica last week, theologian Vito Mancuso commented: “The principal problem remains, however, and that is that today more than ever the decisive criteria for a successful career in the church is not spirituality or nobility of soul but rather servility.
“The main requirements of future church leaders are not their ability to spread the gospel or be charitable but rather to be obedient at all times.”