Pope has 'pruned dead branches' in Vatican: Secretary

markomalley · #1 Jun 10, '12, 3:40 am

From AFP:

Pope Benedict XVI's private secretary on Friday defended the pontiff's leadership against revelations in leaks of Vatican papers, saying he had "pruned dead branches' in the Holy See.

"He has succeeded in doing what few people believed possible in such a short period of time: revitalise the Church at a difficult time," Archbishop Georg Gaenswein said in a text published by the Catholic weekly Avvenire.

"He has given life to ancient traditions in the Curia (papal court at the Vatican by which the church is governed) and at the same time he has pruned dead branches," the loyal aide wrote. "His courage is significant. Benedict XVI is not afraid of confrontation and debate," he said.

An online preview of the article they reference can be seen here (in Italian).

Samuel63 · #2 Jun 10, '12, 5:30 am

Thank God for our great Pope. I am glad to hear he is cleaning up the vatican from the inside and notice he is appointing better bishops in the US. For the dissenters in our audience, this is a moder day blitzkrieg. Hurray!

Crescentinus · #3 Jun 10, '12, 5:44 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samuel63

Thank God for our great Pope. I am glad to hear he is cleaning up the vatican from the inside and notice he is appointing better bishops in the US. For the dissenters in our audience, this is a modern day blitzkrieg. Hurray!

Agreed. God bless the Holy Father for cleaning the Vatican!

While he's cleaning, the mainstream media will make all sorts of idiotic reports (such as the one with a certain group of nuns being "persecuted" by the Vatican for *insert reason here*). What they don't realize is that he will never kowtow to them!

ByzCathCantor · #4 Jun 10, '12, 6:00 am

I remember thinking that Blessed JP II was going to be a tough act to follow. I also remember feeling as if the Cardinals had made "the safe choice". Of course, the media had already formed an opinion of Cardinal Ratzinger from his long years of service in the CDF.

What a great joy it has been to have Pope Benedict XVI as our Holy Father. I do agree wholeheartedly with most of what was stated in the article. The Pontiff's deep faith and humanity have shown through time and time again. He has asked us to dare to experience God's love in these modern times. It is in a way a continuation of the exhortation of his predecessor, to "be not afraid", but emphasizing faith in an increasingly secularized modern world.

We have indeed been blessed to have him as our Pontiff. May God grant him many more happy, healthy and blessed years in Christ's vineyard!

onjac · #5 Jun 10, '12, 7:53 am

We're certainly very blessed to have Pope Benedict as our Holy Father. I've always admired him for his quiet but deep and unwavering faith. May we have many healthy and happy years with him!

Dirt · #6 Jun 10, '12, 10:17 am

This:

From The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, Ch. 13

"[16] But blessed are your eyes, because they see, and your ears, because they hear. [17] For, amen, I say to you, many prophets and just men have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them, and to hear the things that you hear and have not heard them. [18] Hear you therefore the parable of the sower. [19] When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, there cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart: this is he that received the seed by the way side. [20] And he that received the seed upon stony ground, is he that heareth the word, and immediately receiveth it with joy.

[21] Yet hath he not root in himself, but is only for a time: and when there ariseth tribulation and persecution because of the word, he is presently scandalized. [22] And he that received the seed among thorns, is he that heareth the word, and the care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choketh up the word, and he becometh fruitless. [23] But he that received the seed upon good ground, is he that heareth the word, and understandeth, and beareth fruit, and yieldeth the one an hundredfold, and another sixty, and another thirty. [24] Another parable he proposed to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seeds in his field. [25] But while men were asleep, his enemy came and oversowed cockle among the wheat and went his way.

[26] And when the blade was sprung up, and had brought forth fruit, then appeared also the cockle. [27] And the servants of the goodman of the house coming said to him: Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field? whence then hath it cockle? [28] And he said to them: An enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him: Wilt thou that we go and gather it up? [29] And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. [30] Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn. "

Scripture from http://www.drbo.org/index.htm

cerad2 · #7 Jun 10, '12, 10:37 am

So the church has been revitalized? Wow, I really need to start reading my memos.

Dirt · #8 Jun 10, '12, 10:49 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by cerad2

So the church has been revitalized? Wow, I really need to start reading my memos.

It's a start. All of this did not happen overnight, nor will the reform occur that way. Prayer, Patience, more patience.

Prague · #9 Jun 10, '12, 12:51 pm

May God have mercy on us and let our Pope be with us for more years. We know at his age, his time on earth may be far too short to accomplish all that he is hoping to do.

JimR-OCDS · #10 Jun 10, '12, 2:09 pm

Well keep in mind, the cheer leader is the Pope's private secretary.

We'll see how things actually work out on all these leaks.

Jim

jilly4ski · #11 Jun 10, '12, 6:25 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by JimR-OCDS

Well keep in mind, the cheer leader is the Pope's private secretary.

We'll see how things actually work out on all these leaks.

Jim

Except for all that we know, the vatileaks people are the pope's detractors and their information is as reliable as the private secretary's.

JimR-OCDS · #12 Jun 11, '12, 7:39 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by jilly4ski

Except for all that we know, the vatileaks people are the pope's detractors and their information is as reliable as the private secretary's.

Maybe, maybe not.

If Obama's secretary came out in support of him after a scandal, would you support the secretary and discard the accusations of others in his cabinet?

I'm not saying the leaks are valid, but they have support from other known scandals inside the Vatican.

Jim