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World -- Analysis |
Issue Date: November 10, 2006 Who will say no to Benedict? The Regensburg speech show the pope's need for the counsel of others By JOHN L. ALLEN JR. Of all the questions generated by the Regensburg crisis, perhaps the one of greatest long-term consequence for this pontificate, across a range of issues much wider than Catholic-Muslim relations, is the following: Who will say no to Benedict XVI? Its a question only now coming into view, as the immediate need for damage control with the Muslim world and for finalizing the agenda for the popes Nov. 28-Dec. 1 trip to Turkey recede. Ive just returned from two weeks in Rome, taking the temperature, so to speak, of the post-Regensburg climate. Speaking on background, virtually every Vatican official I saw offered some version of the following analysis: The point Benedict made in Regensburg about reason and faith needing each other is an urgent one, and he was both right and courageous to flag it as a special challenge for Islam today. Extreme reactions in some parts of the Islamic world actually confirmed his argument. In the end, the tumult at least put the question on the table. Nevertheless, Benedicts citation of a Byzantine emperors polemical remarks about Muhammad could have been more nuanced. Had it been, some of the violence that resulted -- including attacks against Christian churches and, perhaps, the slaying of an Italian nun in Somalia -- might have been avoided. One senior Vatican official put it to me this way: Had he just inserted a single phrase, saying clearly, This does not reflect my personal opinion, it would have been a different story. All of which begs the obvious question: Why didnt somebody who had read the speech in advance urge him to do just that? At least eight people saw the Regensburg address before its delivery: Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the then-secretary of state; Archbishop Leonardo Sandri, the substitute in the State Secretariat; Archbishop Paolo Sardi, who coordinates the production of papal texts in the State Secretariat; Fr. Federico Lombardi, the Vatican spokesperson; Msgr. Georg Gänswein, the popes private secretary; and the translators. I dont know what any of them might have said to Benedict, but obviously it did not change the outcome. Its not that Benedict is closed to such counsel. A parallel case from his trip last May to Poland makes the point. Then-Vatican spokesperson Joaquín Navarro-Valls read the text of Benedicts May 28 speech at Auschwitz the day before its delivery, and noted that the pope did not use the Hebrew word Shoah in reference to the Holocaust. Fearing that its absence might be taken as a slight, Navarro-Valls sought out the pope, interrupting him at prayer, in order to suggest that Shoah be inserted. According to an official who witnessed the exchange, Benedict responded positively, asking, Where do you think it should go? In the end, he thanked Navarro-Valls for the suggestion, and added a phrase to the speech with the term Shoah. I happened to be standing among Jewish dignitaries at Auschwitz before Benedict arrived, and spoke with Jerzy Kluger, longtime Jewish friend of Pope John Paul II. Kluger had heard about the addition, and said it would be of help to voices in the Jewish world committed to dialogue with Christianity. It shows hes trying, Kluger said. The insertion certainly did not prevent criticism of the Auschwitz speech by those who felt it didnt go far enough, but it was nevertheless an important gesture of sensitivity. This example leads me to believe that had Benedict been offered similar advice by someone he trusts prior to Regensburg, he probably would have taken it. To be fair, Regensburg fell during a time of transition, in which the possibility for this sort of intervention was limited. Sodanos departure had already been announced, and his replacement, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, had not yet arrived. Navarro-Valls had been replaced by Lombardi, who was just beginning to get a feel for the job. Moreover, because Benedict XVI wrote the speech himself, there was no before-the-fact vetting that might occur with texts in which several hands are involved. Beyond these circumstances, there are at least two other reasons why its always difficult to rein in a pope. First, those who work in the Holy See understand themselves to be at the service of the pope, and hence theyre constitutionally disinclined to correct him. The idea is to enter into the popes mind, not to try to spin him. Second, this pope in particular is held in such intellectual awe that theres an even greater psychological reluctance to challenge him; one Vatican official said this week with a laugh that it would feel like Emperor Joseph II saying to Mozart that his score contains too many notes. Yet at the end of the day, even -- perhaps especially -- a pope needs a trusted confidante with the capacity to say, Youre wrong, or You cant say this. The idea is not to prevent the pope from being himself, but precisely to help him achieve his own objectives. Within the circle of those closest to Benedict, a few figures loom as the most likely candidates for this function: Bertone, the new secretary of state; Bishop Josef Clemens, secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity and former private secretary to then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger; Gänswein, the current private secretary; and whoever may succeed Sandri as the substitute, traditionally the popes right arm in day-to-day church affairs. There are question marks about each. Some worry that Bertone lacks diplomatic background, and they wonder if he has the sensitivity it would have required to see the post-Regensburg reaction coming. Yet he has pastoral experience from his Salesian formation as well as his four years as bishop of Vercelli and three as archbishop of Genoa. During his years at the congregation, he was a loyal Ratzinger lieutenant, but he also had his own mind. Sources say that during the Wednesday feria quarta meetings, when the cardinal members of the congregation and the superiors go over cases, the custom was for Ratzinger to make a presentation first, the other cardinals to speak in turn, and then the secretary last. Normally, sources say, Bertone supported Ratzingers position, but there were a few occasions when he forcefully argued for a different approach, and Ratzinger always seemed open to his points. Gänswein does not have the same father/son relationship with Benedict that Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz had with John Paul II, yet time and proximity to the pope will make him a steadily more authoritative figure. Clemens maintains a close bond with Benedict, occasionally arranging dinners on his own initiative for longtime friends and other guests with the pope. The new substitute remains a wild card. Unfortunately, we wont know until much later the extent to which any of these figures, or someone else, steps into the role of filling the popes blind spots, given that their impact will be measured largely in things that dont happen. The fact that theres no applause to be won, however, doesnt make the task any less important -- especially with a pope whose intellect every now and then needs to be leavened by a dash of sensitivity to public reception and the realities of modern sound-bite media coverage. During one of those infamous Roman lunches, a John Paul II intimate recently put it to me this way, speaking about Benedicts inner circle: I hope theres somebody who will have the courage to say, If you give the order, Ill do what you want immediately. But Im obligated in conscience to tell you that its a mistake. Thats a tough thing to say to any boss, and above all to a man regarded as the vicar of Christ on earth. Regensburg illustrates, however, that every so often, somebody has to do it. John Allen is NCR senior correspondent. His e-mail address is jallen@ncronline.org. National Catholic Reporter, November 10, 2006 |
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