Wednesday, January 11, 2006
FRANCISCAN MINISTER GENERAL DEFENDS ASSISI
Assisi has attracted media attention since Nov. 9, when Benedict XVI published a letter entrusting the pastoral activity of the city's basilicas to the bishop of the local diocese.
The Holy Father's letter, issued on his own initiative, also streamlined the autonomy that both the Friars Minor and Conventuals had had since 1969 when Pope Paul VI published a similar document.
In the editorial in Fraternus Nuntius, Father Giermek observed that some observers regarded Benedict XVI's decision as a way of "punishing the Franciscans," years after the 1986 interreligious meeting for peace convoked in Assisi by Pope John Paul II. According to some media sources, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger had been opposed the 1986 event.
[snip]
Father Giermek wrote: "Authentic lies have been published by some individuals who, despite the fact they knew the truth, have however reproached (to give an example) the friars for having authorized or allowed ritual abuses during the religious ceremonies of some delegations."
Ok. But Benedict--Cardinal Ratzinger--refused to attend the 1986 Assisi event. So if we take Father Giermek at his word, what does that say about Benedict?
