Bishop, in Cardinal Martini's circle, predicted Pope Benedict would resign, a year before he did
Archbishop Bettazzi: "The Pope is thinking of resigning".
The Vatican: "Plot hoax, but Church under attack"
On Un giorno da pecora (A day like a sheep), the former Bishop of Ivrea gives his interpretation on the alleged attempts to attack Ratzinger, published in the newspapers. "He is tired. It could be a media manoeuvre to prepare for his resignation'. Father Lombardi, spokesman for the Holy See: "The plot, a story not to be taken seriously at all".
Pope Ratzinger is thinking of resigning. This is the opinion of Monsignor Luigi Bettazzi, former Bishop Emeritus of Ivrea, expressed today on the Radio2 programme Un Giorno da Pecora.
The Monsignor does not believe that there is a plot to kill Pope Ratzinger, as speculated by the press. "No, I don't think so. Had it been the previous Pope I would understand, but this Pope here seems to me so mild, religious. I would not find reasons to attack him'.
Bettazzi, however, has another theory, somehow related to the news. "I think it's a system to prepare for the eventuality of the resignation. In order to prepare for this shock, because the resignation of a Pope would be a shock, they start throwing the conspiracy thing out there."
But does Ratzinger really intend to resign? "I believe so," says the cardinal, "even if they have denied it. An old Cardinal, however, used to tell me: if the Vatican denies it means it is true..." And the reasons for the Pope's resignation would be traced to fatigue. "I think he feels very tired, just look at him, he is someone who is used to studies," Bettazzi explains. "And faced with the problems that there are, perhaps also faced with the tensions that there are within the Curia, he might think that these things will be taken care of by the new Pope," Monsignor Bettazzi concludes.
On the affair of the alleged plot against the Pope, the Vatican spokesman, Father Lombardi, intervened: 'It is a story that does not deserve to be taken seriously,' he explained. A long response to the indiscretions that have involved the Vatican in the form of confidential documents that have ended up in the newspapers. "Serious information," says Father Lombardi in the note released by Vatican Radio, "should be able to distinguish issues and understand their different meanings. It is obvious that the economic activities of the Governorate must be managed wisely and with rigour; it is clear that the Vatican Bank and the financial activities must fit correctly into the international norms against money laundering".
"These," he explains, "are clearly the Pope's indications. While it is clear that the story of the plot against the Pope, as I have said from the beginning, is a rant, a folly, and does not deserve to be taken seriously". "Today," the Jesuit goes on to note, "we must all keep our nerves in check because no one can be surprised at anything. The American administration has had Wikileaks, the Vatican now has its leaks, its leaks of documents that tend to create confusion and bewilderment and to facilitate a bad light being cast on the Vatican, on the government of the Church and more widely on the Church itself".
"Therefore, calm and cool-bloodedness," the note further states, "and much use of reason, something that not all media tend to do. These are documents of a different nature and weight, born at different times and in different situations: another are discussions on the best economic management of an institution with many material activities such as the Governorate; another are notes on legal and regulatory issues under discussion and on which it is normal that there are different opinions; another are rambling memos that no person with a head on his neck has considered serious, such as the recent one on the plot against the Pope's life. But so be it; putting it all together serves to create confusion'.
Cathcon: Martini not Montini!!!!
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