The Church v. Berlusconi: ‘Divorce, Italian Style’
September 28, 2011, 8:52 pm
Posted by David Gibson
The Church finally weighs in against the disastrous reign of Italian Playboy-PM (and erstwhile Vatican ally) Silvio Berlusconi. Apparently it was a strip-tease by a young woman dressed as a nun that pushed the vox dei over to the vox populi. And of course Berlusconi’s people aren’t taking it well.
Quote of the day from The New York Times account:
[O]n Wednesday, Umberto Bossi, the leader of the Northern League and a key Berlusconi ally, said that instead of chiding the government, “bishops should say more masses.”
Bossi, indeed. Give me Marcello Mastroianni any giorno.
“Critics like Mario Staderini, a member of the Radical Party who has been fighting to eliminate fiscal privileges for the church, say that the church has treaded lightly in past years to avoid alienating a center-right government that has continued to offer tax breaks for church-owned properties and commercial activities, while supporting Catholic schools and Vatican positions on questions like common-law marriage, living wills and some forms of assisted fertility. All of those practices are illegal in Italy.”
Vero. My guess is that Church leaders will politic with the leading party to come to some balanced actions without public displays. The church likes its privileged status in Italy. That is why it has been quiet about things that it has expressed outrage over in other countries. My take is that Italy does not have a pedophilia problem because Italians have never been foolish enough to trust their children with clergy and religious. In fact Italians invented anticlericalism.
“The public reproaches are perhaps the inevitable response to a Catholic audience ‘that is increasingly intolerant of the ostentation of lifestyles that are shamelessly immoral,’ said the Rev. Antonio Sciortino, editor in chief of the Catholic weekly Famiglia Cristiana.”
So:
a. If there is no “ostentation”, there’s no problem with “shamelessly immoral” behavior?
OR
b. If there is “ostentation”, there’s no problem with behavior that may be “immoral” but not “shamelessly immoral”?
Interesting :-)
Livarsi na petra di la scarpa!
The Italian government could never withdraw the privileges granted to the Church. They were guaranteed by the Emperor Constantine!
Indeed, Anthony, I have seen the original Donatio in the St. Boniface files, no?
That is just a facsimile. The real one is under the pope’s bed for safe keeping. Given your time in Rome, I thought you would have known that, David. To be honest, I am a but disappointed. :)
“But” disappointed?! Alas, won’t be the last time!
In any case, I’ll buy you a copy next time I’m there. 10 Euros at the newsstand under the pope’s window. And by then the Euro may be worth about as much as the real Donatio…
Okay, interesting though occurs: If the Euro goes to hell, so to speak, what happens to the Vatican finances? They are increasingly tied into the international monetary system, and currency is tied to the Euro. Hmmm….
Vatican license plates all begin with the letters SCV to indicate Vatican City State. The ever cynical Romans say the initials stand for “Si Cristo vidisse” – IF Christ could only see.
How could church leaders make up a story like that?
Reading the translation in this morning’s Times story, I concluded that it had been written by a robotic power stationed in Iceland. You cognoscenti: How did it read in Italian?
Berlusconi has long been known as an old satyr.
One wonders if there’s not a lot of curial hypocrisy in the critique.
“In fact Italians invented anticlericalism.”
We’d never know it from you, Bill :-)
It doesn’t matter if the Popes have taken the copy of the Donation of Constantine (and the Isidorean Decretals) to bed every night—they are elaborate fogeries—stamps, beautiful seals and ribbons—but they are forgeries.
Although now I can’t accurately reproduce my grandmother’s rendition of this Calabrese proverb, it very aptly would describe her response on hearing of the Cardinal’s critique of Berlusconi’s lewd and lascivious behavior:
“You made your own bed, now sleep in it.” What are the hierarchs worried about? Being associated with a “moral relativist”? Birds of a feather…
(Nana would usually utter this bitting comment when one of my female relatives would complain about her marriage.)
Berlusconi should cultivate the more appropriate sins of old age. Cf. Rossini’s Peches a la Vieillesse (Sins of Old Age). Perhaps Vatican consultants can also advise.
“Old people are fond of giving good advice. It consoles them for no longer being capable of setting a bad example.”
La Rochefoucauld, Maxim 93.
Unagidon:
“Take the stone out of your shoes.” Italian proverbs are beautiful, evoking the rich history of a people that know how to enjoy life despite misfortune. Luigi Barzini would be proud of you.
“Ad ogni ucello il nido e bello. ” To every bird his nest is beautiful. You can bet Berlusconi likes this saying.
Though not without foundation, this Church blast smacks a bit of the “Look over there. They’re worse.” tactic used at times in child-abuse confrontations. In recent times:
- Cdl. Sepe, Abp. of Naples, has been embroiled in Italian criminal investigation of billion-euro contract scandals occurring when he was responsible for Vatican funding of missions.
- Gay priests show up on TV and Facebook, while the Pope and Vicar of Rome insist they must be out of the priesthood. Prosecutors are investigating the case of the 100 gay clerical contacts found in computer records. The exposes have been reported by a weekly said to belong to the Berlusconi media empire.
- The Vatican Bank’s disregard for EU anti-money-laundering policies, with a possible offshoot of Mafia connection, apparently went on until seizure of 23M euros by Italian authorities caught the Bank’s attention. Its two top authorities were put under investigation.
Diverting attention to civil affairs might well be desirable to the Vatican.
Another proverb on motality, including the Vatican, “On the quiet you can do anything.”
Of course anything then gets poo pooed or diverted.
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