A Whirlwind Week in Rome and at the Vatican

Pope Francis greets Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in historic moment at Consistory Mass in St. Peter's Basilica. February 22, 2014. Credit: Osservatore Romano
Pope Francis greets Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI in historic moment at Consistory Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica. February 22, 2014. Credit: Osservatore Romano

It has been a whirlwind week in Rome and at the Vatican.  On one side of the Tiber River a Prime Minister was abruptly shoved out off office and another one stepped in,  Italy now has its youngest Prime Minister ever, 39 year-old Matteo Renzi.  Renzi’s cabinet is also strikingly young and of the total of 16 ministers, eight are women, a first in Italy.

On the other side of the Tiber two Popes attended a Mass together for the first time in history, Pope Francis created 19 new Cardinals and the College of Cardinals began tackling some major social questions.  Whew.  My head is spinning.

I will start with the Vatican.  Pope Benedict XVI stepped down one year ago leaving the Vatican on February 28, 2013 and promising to remain “hidden from the world” and that he would give his “unconditional reverence and obedience” to the future Pope.

See Blog posts: The Pope Resigns, Goodbye Pope Benedict XVI and The Last Days of Pope Benedict 16

Pope Benedict has been living in a monastery inside the Vatican and has more or less remained “hidden from the world”, but yesterday he emerged from a side door in Saint Peter’s Basilica, dressed in white and sat with the Cardinals.

Pope Francis greeted him warmly at both the beginning and the end of the service.  As Pope Francis approached, Benedict bowed slightly and removed his white skull-cap. Francis’ clear warmth and respect towards Benedict appears to me to be a sign of his total self-confidence.  Someone more insecure might be less enthusiastic about his predecessor taking part in such an important event.  Likewise, I think it is an indication of Benedict’s genuine sincerity and humility that Francis doesn’t need to worry about the Pope Emeritus plotting to undermine his power.

The historic event was Pope Francis’ first consistory during which he created 19 new “princes of the church” raising them from Bishops to Cardinals.  I spoke to Robert Mickens, the Vatican correspondent for the Catholic newspaper “The Tablet” earlier this week and he said Pope Francis’ choices were indicative of his desire to reach out to the periphery, to the margins.  He chose six cardinals from Latin America, two from Asia and two from Africa.  We spent the week running around after these Cardinals-to-be.  It was hard not to be charmed by Chibly Langlois, the handsome 55-year-old from Haiti, the first ever Cardinal from the poorest country in the world.  I briefly spoke to the future Cardinal from the remote island of Mindanao in the Philippines, Orlando Quevedo and was stuck by his simplicity and humility.  There is also an interesting new Cardinal from Seoul, South Korea, Andrew Yeom Soo-Jung whose great grand-parents were executed during anti-Catholic persecutions on the Korean Peninsula.

Gammarelli, one of the shops in Rome that makes clothing for Popes, Cardinals, Bishops and Priests. Photo by Trisha Thomas
Gammarelli, one of the shops in Rome that makes clothing for Popes, Cardinals, Bishops and Priests. Photo by Trisha Thomas

There was far too much going on at the Vatican this week to adequately discuss in a blog post.  Let me just say that for two days — on Thursday and Friday– the Cardinals met to discuss some troublesome questions facing the church in preparation for a summit on the family to be held at the Vatican in October.

The meeting follows Francis’ decision to do a worldwide survey of Catholics on questions related to church teaching on marriage, sex and issues such as birth control and communion for divorced Catholics.  The results in Europe and the US have been clear,  according to John Thavis, Vatican analyst and author of “The Vatican Diaries,” “it is interesting, these surveys have shown in fact that many Catholics are not following church teaching, especially when it comes to things like birth control.  It is almost so obvious that no one has to say it, and yet very few times has that been said here at the Vatican”

However, it is not clear that the results have been similar in Asia and Africa.  Orlando Quevedo, the Cardinal-elect from the Philippines told me they are not seeking change on these social issues but would like to see a more “pastoral approach” towards church teaching.

In addition to the meetings on the thorny social questions, Pope Francis’ team of Cardinals known as the C8, who are advising him on cleaning up the Vatican bureaucracy were in Rome this week hearing from the commission studying the Vatican Bank and rumors were flying all week that there will be some major changes there, although nothing was announced.

Earlier in the week I interviewed Italian journalist Maria Antoinetta Calabro’ whose book “Le Mani Della Mafia” (The Hands of the Mafia) recounts in incredible detail the relationship between the Mafia and the Vatican bank over the course of decades.  She told me that Pope Francis has to do something about the Vatican Bank.  That is something that is at the top of his agenda.

Once again, during his Mass with the new Cardinals yesterday, the Pope showed his intention in changing the atmosphere at the Vatican, he told them, “a Cardinal enters the Church of Rome, not a royal court.  May all of us avoid, and help others to avoid, habits and ways of acting typical of a court: intrigue, gossip, cliques, favoritism and preferences.”

The Vatican Seen Past the Tiber River, Rome, Italy Credit: www.tourist-destinations.com
The Vatican Seen Past the Tiber River, Rome, Italy
Credit: www.tourist-destinations.com

Now a quick jump over to the other side of the Tiber….

On February 13th — in what was more or less an intra-party coup, the mayor of Florence and Secretary of the Democratic Party Matteo Renzi led his party in a vote against their own party’s Prime Minister Enrico Letta.  Without his own party’s support Letta was forced to submit his resignation.

Yesterday Matteo Renzi was sworn in as Italy’s youngest ever Prime Minister.  His cabinet is made up of a surprisingly small 16 people, eight of them women, a first in Italian history.

New Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks to reporters at Rome's Quirinale Palace, February 21, 2014
New Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi speaks to reporters at Rome’s Quirinale Palace, February 21, 2014

Renzi is a political dynamo, full of energy and determination, but his experience is limited to Mayor of Florence.  His greatest strength at the moment appears to be his ability to communicate.  He is telegenic, with his boyish good looks and quick one-liners, he is winning and convincing on TV.  He is a frequent and effective tweeter — inventing catchy hash-tags for his followers to re-tweet.

Italians are hoping that his incredible self-confidence and decisiveness might be the key to resolving Italy’s enormous problems.  The country has 12.7 percent unemployment and youth unemployment is floating around 40-percent.  The economy is stagnating and so is the political system which desperately needs electoral reform.  Renzi will have to face Silvio Berlusconi’s party in opposition in parliament and the divisive Five-Star Movement lead by explosive populist leader Beppe Grillo, head of the Five-Star Movement.

Renzi has not arrived in the Prime Minister’s office through national elections and his first test will be how his party does in the European Elections in May.  He also has little international experience and it will be interesting to see how he handles the Italian turn at the EU presidency from July 1st to December 31st of this year.

Despite his lack of experience, it appears to me that Italians are eager to pin their hopes on the youthful, enthusiastic Renzi.

His first test comes tomorrow with a confidence vote in parliament.

12 thoughts on “A Whirlwind Week in Rome and at the Vatican”

    1. That’s a nice way to tie the two sides of the Tiber together. I was thinking as I was writing the post that one of the reasons that Pope Francis is able to change things at the Vatican and institute reforms is because he was elected by the Cardinals so he has a mandate of sorts. That is something Renzi does not have. He has not been elected by the Italian people although they do seem eager to support him. (The Pope also doesn’t have to deal with a parliament or an opposition so it is a little easier to make reforms)

  1. Thanks for opening these windows for us, and I hope you offer us more about both Renzi and the Vatican in the weeks ahead.
    My instinct, which is born of experience in churches, denominational politics, and what I know of Vatican history, is that Benedict cannot possibly be that pure or that meek, after a lifetime of heavy hitting political manipulation within Vatican City. And that Francis knows he is better off having Benedict where he can see him than where he cannot. Benedict has given a few press statements, defending his papacy, and I think will be tempted to defend it in other ways – one of the new Cardinals, I heard, is a German, very conservative, and head of the Doctrinal Office. That was Benedict’s old position, and this is a new red hat on Benedict’s team. I am pleased that Francis nominated ten from marginal areas, but what are their politics? Someone, maybe Thavis, should be chasing that story. And what about the other 9? I hope for more of a house cleaning.
    The conversation about social issues may be too soft, coming to no clear new directions, instead encouraging kindness and prayer, both of which are rarely part of institutional behavior, even in ecclesiastical life. Dan Brown is not exaggerating in his portrayal of Vatican political intrigue, and the woman whose book you cite, about the Mafia, is saying this is so.
    Renzi, your new PM, is indeed a breath of fresh air. Perhaps he will do more real house cleaning for the people of Italy than will happen in Vatican City for the people of the Church of Rome. I hope that is not so, for Pope Francis has been a true heart and greatly appealing, and has a real chance to bring change – but it will not be change if it is soft and mushy like a greeting card, rather than written, voted, and implemented by the Vatican.
    I don’t envy either man his work, and do pray for both of them, courage, grit to stick to their commitments, and zeal for change.

    1. Nancy — you offer so many good insights and ask so many good questions. I suppose I am being too naive about Benedict’s presence this week at the Consistory Mass. I did have a good look at the German you mention, Cardinal Mueller who has taken over the Doctrinal office. He stood for about 15 minutes planted in front of a line of photographers and cameramen (too far for yelling questions) in his long elegant cardinal robes belly to belly deep in conversation with Cardinal Marx. There was something arrogant about him that immediately turned me off. The Nicaraguan Cardinal Leopoldo Jose Brenes Solorzano with his friendly smile and long gray curls was much more appealing. John Thavis is the former bureau chief for Catholic News Service in Rome and the team he left behind has already done an excellent series of background pieces on each one of these men. As far as the Vatican Bank is concerned, the day after I wrote the post the Pope announced he was making a new Economic Secretariat that will be responsible for all economic and bureaucratic functions at the Vatican. He has named Australian Cardinal Pell as the Prefect. (I have interviewed Cardinal Pell before and he doesn’t seem to me to be the ideal choice — not sharp and tough enough. You need to be tough to take on the Vatican Curia. But that is just my impression). I wish I could have written more about Maria Antonietta Calabro’ and her book — she has done a vast amount of research and has documentation and details showing everything from how the famous Monsignor Scarano (known as Monsignor 500 because he always used 500 euro notes) was carrying suitcases full of millions of euros in cash in and out of Italy in recent years back to the Italian banker Robert Calvi hanging dead off the Blackfriar’s Bridge in London in 1982. Calvi was known as “God’s Banker” for his close ties to the Vatican bank. I guess all that should be a future post. Finally on the social questions — it will be interesting what comes out of the summit on the Family in October at the Vatican. At the first meeting last Thursday Cardinal Kasper, considered to be someone pushing for change was chosen by the Pope to give an opening speech which lasted two hours — when he came out, he spoke briefly to reporters and said, “I do have not to propose changes, there are no changes in the doctrine, it is not possible, marriage is fundamental for the church, we cannot give up this doctrine and nobody wants it, it’s a question how to apply doctrine in concrete difficult and complex situations, that’s the only question.”
      Exactly what does he mean by that. Go figure. Things move slowly at the Vatican. I also couldn’t help thinking as I watched the men file into their meeting on the family that some female voices were needed in the discussion.

    1. Italy definitely could use some positive change. I have not yet met Renzi in person, but I admire his energy and determination. The Ministers he has chosen are very inexperienced which I find a little worrying. I agree that Italy definitely needs to get some new blood into politics, but I hope these new ministers are up to the job.

  2. Thanks for an interesting post about two subjects I am very interested in. I felt when I signed up for your blog that I would appreciate your being a journalist. I do! Since I taught journalism for many years I was interested to read your work. Thanks again

    1. Thank you Joan, I am honored that as a journalism teacher you like my blog. At one point I was going to try to stick in occasional pointers for wannabee journalists like — make sure you always buy and read the local newspapers wherever you are, they often have interesting and useful information, or talk to everyone from the taxi driver to the super-market cashier, people often have important information to share. But then I gave up. It was too much to try to teach in all my posts. However, maybe I will do a couple of posts on journalism skills. Might be fun. What do you think?

  3. I would definitely enjoy that. I don’t know enough Italian to read the Rome papers, but I try the headlines and do read the “International Herald Tribune.” Seems to me I read that the name is changing to, but I can’t remember for sure.

  4. Trisha I still hope and pray that divorced Catholics like myself may be ‘allowed’ to take communion some time soon. I know the Catholic doctrine says we may take communion provided we are celibate and don’t remarry but realistically – that’s unrealistic.
    My sister’s parish priest has gone against doctrine and told her (she is divorced/remarried) that she is obviously committed to her faith so to go ahead and take communion with her children.
    I hope this law changes soon so we can participate fully in Mass without guilt or without our Parish Priest going against church teachings.

    What a great post Trisha! Thank you

    1. Kathy — great to hear from you. I often think of you when these debates come up. There are so many people in your boat and I am convinced that the tide is turning in your favor (not to drag out the metaphor) at the Vatican. I am hopeful for you.

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