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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Communiqué on the Conclave

Days of silence ...
'...to pray for Pope Benedict, 
to pray that the Holy Spirit enlighten the College of Cardinals, 
to pray for the future Pope, 
trusting that the fate of the barque of St. Peter 
is in the hands of God.'

A Vatican Radio translation 
of a Secretary of State communiqué on conclave, 
issued Saturday, 23 February, 2013:



Communiqué of the Secretariat of State

“The freedom of the College of Cardinals, which alone, under the law, is responsible for the election of the Roman Pontiff, has always been strongly defended by the Holy See, as a guarantee of a choice based on evaluations solely for the good of the Church.

“Over the centuries, the Cardinals have faced multiple forms of pressure exerted on the individual voters and the same College, with the aim of conditioning decisions, to bend them to a political or worldly logic.

“If in the past it was the so-called superpowers, namely States, that sought to condition the election of the Pope in their favour, today there is an attempt to apply the weight of public opinion, often on the basis of assessments that fail to capture the spiritual aspect of this moment in the life of the Church.

“It is regrettable that, as we draw near to the beginning of the Conclave when Cardinal electors shall be bound in conscience and before God, to freely express their choice, news reports abound which are often unverified or unverifiable, or completely false, provoking damage to people and institutions.

“It is in moments such as these, that Catholics are called to focus on what is essential: to pray for Pope Benedict, to pray that the Holy Spirit enlighten the College of Cardinals, to pray for the future Pope, trusting that the fate of the barque of St. Peter is in the hands of God."

 Here is the same text in the original Italian, for those of you who would like to check the one against the other:

COMUNICATO DELLA SEGRETERIA DI STATO

His Eminence Tarcisio Cardinal Bertone
The Secretary of State.

La libertà del Collegio Cardinalizio, al quale spetta di provvedere, a norma del diritto, all'elezione del Romano Pontefice, è sempre stata strenuamente difesa dalla Santa Sede, quale garanzia di una scelta che fosse basata su valutazioni rivolte unicamente al bene della Chiesa.
Nel corso dei secoli i Cardinali hanno dovuto far fronte a molteplici forme di pressione, esercitate sui singoli elettori e sullo stesso Collegio, che avevano come fine quello di condizionarne le decisioni, piegandole a logiche di tipo politico o mondano.
Se in passato sono state le cosiddette potenze, cioè gli Stati, a cercare di far valere il proprio condizionamento nell'elezione del Papa, oggi si tenta di mettere in gioco il peso dell'opinione pubblica, spesso sulla base di valutazioni che non colgono l'aspetto tipicamente spirituale del momento che la Chiesa sta vivendo.
È deplorevole che, con l'approssimarsi del tempo in cui avrà inizio il Conclave e i Cardinali elettori saranno tenuti, in coscienza e davanti a Dio, ad esprimere in piena libertà la propria scelta, si moltiplichi la diffusione di notizie spesso non verificate, o non verificabili, o addirittura false, anche con grave danno di persone e istituzioni.
Mai come in questi momenti, i cattolici si concentrano su ciò che è essenziale: pregano per Papa Benedetto, pregano affinché lo Spirito Santo illumini il Collegio dei Cardinali, pregano per il futuro Pontefice, fiduciosi che le sorti della barca di Pietro sono nelle mani di Dio.

Link: http://press.catholica.va/news_services/bulletin/news/30540.php?index=30540&lang=it

Thanks to Dr. Robert Moynihan

1 comment:

Anne B said...

The translation from the Vatican Information Service (VIS) is a better one, as it is less "sensationalist", the translation given here being the one found in the Report of a journalist, WHO PLAYS DOWN SOME THNGS AND PLAYS UP OTHERS, possibly to give credence to his stories of the moment.

The VIS instead of "regrettable" has "deplorable".

Instead of "trusting" that the "fate" of the Barque of Peter is in God's Hands, the VIS states that we are "CONFIDENT" that God will protect the "FUTURE" of his Church.

The whole tone of the piece is set with the last paragraph; for the Vatican Information Service translates it thus (and if one checks one finds that this is closer to the Italian original, in the present tense):

NEVER BEFORE AS AT THIS MOMENT ARE CATHOLICS FOCUSING ON WHAT IS ESSENTIAL: PRAYING FOR POPE BENEDICT, PRAYING THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT MIGHT ENLIGHTEN THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS, AND PRAYING FOR THE (NEXT) POPE, CONFIDENT THAT THE FUTURE OF THE BARQUE OF PETER IS IN GOD'S HANDS.
(www.visnews.org)


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