The restored St Francis Basilica in Assisi is seen shrouded in fog in this November 28, 1999 file photograph. (REUTERS/Paolo Cocco)
Posted on 11/22/2005 5:10:52 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict's decision to turn the screws on Franciscan monks in Assisi -- considered too leftist by some Italian Catholics -- has provoked a political storm in Italy as the country approaches national elections.
Benedict at the weekend issued a rare decree curbing the autonomy of the monks who are the guardians of the body of St Francis and who welcome millions of visitors from around the world to his burial place in the central Umbria region.
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The restored St Francis Basilica in Assisi is seen shrouded in fog in this November 28, 1999 file photograph. (REUTERS/Paolo Cocco)
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The move marked the first attempt by Benedict to discipline a religious order and revoked another decree issued by Pope Paul VI in 1969 which gave the Assisi monks wide-ranging autonomy.
"Now the Franciscans have their hands tied and can no longer be a bridge between the Church and society," complained Livia Turco, a former government minister and member of the largest party in the opposition coalition, the Democrats of the Left.
In the past decades, the monks of Assisi, which is one of the holiest and most visited sites in all Christendom, have been associated with leftist political parties and leftist causes.
The annual Easter season peace march organised by the Assisi monks is frequented by leftist leaders and often boycotted by centre-right politicians.
They have also hosted highly controversial figures such as former Iraqi Foreign Minister Tariq Aziz, Italian communist party leaders and Oscar-winning actor-director Roberto Benigni, a life-long leftist.
DECREE WELCOMED
Senator Maurizio Ronconi of the UDC party was one of the centre-right politicians who welcomed the Pope's move, saying the left had "exploited" the monks politically for years.
Benedict's decree declared that the monks would have to seek the local bishop's permission for any future initiatives.
Commentators said this would deprive the centre-left of one of its most visible platforms ahead of next April's elections, thereby helping the centre-right, which has worked hard to woo the powerful Roman Catholic vote.
Rome Cardinal Camillo Ruini, one of the three men who will monitor the monks, has served notice to the centre-left that it will not tolerate any attempts to enact liberal legislation such as allowing gay marriages or widening abortion rights.
The Pope, who was the Vatican's doctrinal enforcer for nearly 25 years before his election last April, also told the monks that their religious celebrations had to adhere to norms.
This was a reference to inter-religious meetings and prayers which some conservatives in the Church felt went too far because they bordered on syncretism, or blending religious beliefs.
The monks found favour under the late Pope John Paul, who visited Assisi several times and held two of his world peace meetings with other religious leaders there.
Benedict's decree, which prompted a flood of editorial comment, was welcomed by the outgoing bishop of Assisi.
"It's about time," Bishop Sergio Goretti said in an interview in La Repubblica daily, adding that the monks had become "an autonomous enclave" which caused him many problems.
"Sometimes I only found out what the monks were doing when I read about it in the newspapers," he said.
The monks themselves sought to play down the papal curb, saying in a statement they would continue carrying out their duties in the "spirit of St. Francis".
Copyright © 2005 Reuters
The Pope ... also told the monks that their religious celebrations had to adhere to norms.
Wow, what an amazing, authoritative crackdown!
And so it begins.
Is it sinful to be filled with glee at this development?
Poor guy had to watch it up close and personal.
Now Benedict must rein in the Maryknolls and Jesuits.
Cheers for Benedict XVI! May this action of his be the first of many more!
The jesuits may be too far gone.
They may need to be surpressed....again.
I'm putting Glenmary on that list too. They sent me their magazine after I made a contribution at church & it bragged about the secret Masses they were celebrating to keep the illegals in Appalachia from being arrested at church. They'll never get another nickel from us.
This is not good! I'm having so much fun thinking about where he'll strike next that it's just GOT to be an occasion of sin! ;-)
So beginnt der Blitzkrieg von "dem Rottweiler"!
Benedikt, Gott Geschickt!
One of the things I love about Benedict is that as brilliant a scholar and a theologian as he is, the great love he has for Christ ALWAYS shines through, and his tender love for the Church is there as well.
It's not about "Me" to Benedict...it's about Jesus.
One point for Pope Benedict XVI !!!
Catholics need a GOOD LION for a leader in these days!
HAil Mary's continued for the Pope and to St. Francis that his monks may come to realize their jobs are to convert souls to CHRIST--and His Faith!
Illegals in Appalachia?
Mexicans? Why would they go to one of the country's poorest areas?
Just curious.
and Dominicans, and Franciscans, and Benedictines, and IHMs, and so on. This rot has spread to nearly every religious order out there, especially the women's orders. This is a good sign, but there's a lot of work to do for the Pope here. Hopefully good bishops around the world can help assist him by calling to his attention the troublesome orders in their dioceses.
Agricultural, mebbee...I know a lot of Mexicans work doing things like mushroom growing in PA, for instance.
Sad that the Franciscans did this.
St. Francis told priests: "Preach the Gospel. Use words, if you have to."
Maybe now they will return to their original mission -- that is, feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give shelter to the homeless, visit the sick and imprisoned and bury the dead. Simple, innit?
Don't know, but there it was in the magazine a couple of years ago. I was outraged and wrote them a letter telling them to remove me from their mailing list, then set it aside as being too uncharitable. I intended to rewrite it but never got around to it, so I'm still on the list even though they don't get any money from me. I'll try to remember to look at it next time for a repeat of the same garbage, & post it here.
When I lived on the Eastern Shore of VA there were plenty of hispanics there, and that area is dirt poor. Those were mostly agricultural migrant workers living in camps. I don't know what their legal status was.
I didn't know that PA was part of Appalachia.
I wasn't aware that illegals were a problem in Appalacchia.
The 6 million illegal Mexicans ususally go where there are other Mexicans -- the southwest (borders of Mexico) and now Louisiana.
**The decree by the conservative Pope put the monks under control of three people -- the local bishop, a Vatican cardinal, and the head of the Italian bishops conference.&&
I think a lot of people will be happy about this!
Landscape farms ... trees and shrubs for wholesale distribution.
Hispanic workers are all over the country. You are mistaken if you think they are only in TX, AZ and CA...they go where the work is being offered to them. PA, although not exactly in Appalachia, is border to it, in the West. It's just an example of how cheap labor gets used.
I don't approve of the illegality of it. I think that groups that pray for God to bless wrongdoing that leads to exploitation are doing a disservice to the people they think they are reaching out to.
But it is done. Casual labor, agricultural labor, sweatshop work, and in other areas. Done often under the table. But certain segments of the population seem to be addicted to using this type of labor as much as others are addicted to the drugs that get run up from the south.
Excellent news! This should send shivers down the spineless Jesuits and Dominicans.
It is more and more likely Benedict will be known as the pope that saved true Catholicism.
* * * * * * * * * *
The friars of the shrine of St Francis of Assisi, the world-famous centre of inter-religious dialogue and Christian pacifism, have been brought to heel by Pope Benedict XVI.
The mendicant friars, who welcome millions of pilgrims every year to the burial place of St Francis, have at a stroke lost the autonomy that made them one of the boldest and most adventurous institutions in the Catholic Church. Italian commentators on the right and left have hailed the move or roundly condemned it. The daily newspaper La Repubblica called it "a shocking initiative".
The friars were granted autonomy by Pope Paul VI in 1969, and the picturesque shrine of the saint in the Umbrian hills has since become renowned for its annual peace marches, drawing thousands of participants, and for two Assisi peace conferences, in 1986 and 2002, which caused outrage among conservative Catholics.
The first conference in particular, which saw the participation of native American and African animists as well as Muslim, Jewish and Buddhist leaders, still rankles with the conservatives. At the time the current Pope, then Cardinal Ratzinger and John Paul II's theological adviser, said of the meeting, "this cannot be the model" for ecumenical dialogue.
Vittorio Messori, a conservative Catholic commentator, said: "The Church has a long memory. Joseph Ratzinger has had an account to settle with the friars of Assisi since the inter-religious meeting of 1986. Now he has fixed it."
He went on: "Ratzinger has not forgiven the Franciscan community for the excesses of the first day of prayer of the religious leaders with [Pope John Paul II]. It was a mockery, as many said, that forced the hand of the Pope, and it was the friars who broke the agreement they had made. They went so far as to allow African animists to slaughter chickens on the altar of the basilica of Santa Chiara, and American redskins to dance in the church."
Other conservatives remembered bitterly the visit to Assisi of the nominally Christian Tariq Aziz, foreign minister to Saddam Hussein, in February 2003, part of a last-ditch attempt to halt the imminent Iraq war.
But others were dismayed by the Pope's decision to put Assisi under the control of the local bishop, a cardinal, and Cardinal Ruini, the fiercely conservative head of the Italian Bishops' Conference. "The fort of dialogue has fallen," lamented Livia Turco, a former minister and member of the opposition Democrats of the Left. "Shorn of their autonomy ... the Franciscans have had their hands tied and will no longer be the bridge between the Church and society."
The friars themselves were more diplomatic. "One Pope gives, the next takes away," said Fr Vincenzo. "When we decided to invite Tariq Aziz, one meeting was enough. Now who knows what we would have to do."
But what about that invitation, extended to the right-hand man of a bloody dictator? "Whoever arrives among you, friend or enemy, thief or brigand, welcome him with goodwill. That is the rule of St Francis, and that's what we follow."
Yee, haw, it's high noon, bubba!
Holy *)(&*&^%&%$#%^! In that case, it's high time these boys were reined in.
I agree. Also "Yippee," "Whoop-whoop-whoop," and "Yee-haw!" (to use the redneck spelling :-).
What a liar.
I hope not, 'cause I'm kinda gleeful myself 8-)
It's all becoming clear now...
I heard that Benedict back in the old days was very very unhappy about the 1986 meeting,and that Dominus Iesus was written in part because of the feeling that any path to God was ok.
If you haven't read that document, you can read it here:
http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFUNICI.HTM
Thanks!
Pope Benedict's first encyclical is due in 16 more days... Yee-Haw!
http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=40365
Looking forward to it.
Not only a liar, but totally irrelevant authority.
The dude didn't "arrive among" them . . . they INVITED him. That's a whole different question.
"That is the rule of St Francis, and that's what we follow use to try to provide cover for our illicit actions when we get caught.
There, that's more accurate.
Awesome!
Above left: Animists; right: Buddhists;
Lower left: Sikhists and Hinduists; right: Tenrikyian and Shinto rituals.
Yep. It is one thing to welcome people for the glory of God, and it's another thing to compromise that glory because you are making God seem irrelevant.
After all, St. Francis is the one who told his followers when seing a cross or even a church to kneel down and say, I adore thee O Christ.
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