Bookgate: Reality Wins

Reality taught the “Vatican Bizarro World” a good lesson today.

Ignatius Press said that they will print and market the book as joint authorship Cardinal Sarah/ Pontiff Emeritus Ratzinger. Why? Because these are the facts, the reality on the ground, as evidenced by several letters of Cardinal Sarah and all the internal correspondence of the publisher.

So, why all the ruckus? To look like the idiots they are, all three of them.

Francis, who has allegedly put Benedict/Gaenswein/both under pressure to “recant”, looks like a perfect nincompoop: the clamour around the book only helped to make known to more people that Benedict actually published a book going against Francis, and approved every part of it.

Gaenswein looks like an idiot, for making claims destroyed by… reality in a matter of hours. At his age, you would expect that he knows better than to lick Francis’ boots for the sake of a smokescreen, so soon dissolved.

Benedict looks like… a Benedict. A guy that tries to talk tough, and then shuts his mouth when it is clear that his tough talk actually puts him in a difficult spot. At 94, you would think his fear to be poisoned is quite limited. Actually, at 94 one could almost “hope” to be poisoned for the faith. Very “cheap” martyrdom, if you ask me. Not pleasant, I agree. But a Pope should actually embrace the possibility.

I am still awaiting Benedict’s statement that he is nothing to do with Gaenswein’s initiative. My suspicion is that I will wait forever. This makes Benedict an accomplice of Francis and Gaenswein, both of whom he clearly put before Christ and His Church.

I would like that someone would explain this to me: how is it that when Francis does not correct anyone (say: Eugenio Scalfari) attributing outlandish stuff to him, we all consider Francis responsible for what he has not corrected, but the same metre never seems to apply to Benedict? Why must a man so obviously “there” with his head (though obviously very frail physically now) be exempted from avoiding scandal to be spread in his name? He can communicate at anytime with anyone, apparently?

In the end, reality always wins. In this case, Francis’ “spitted-flecked nutty” made three people look bad, but did not change the legal and factual reality on the ground.

Refreshing, for once, to see a publishing house publicly – if implicitly – rebuke two Popes and an Archbishop. It will teach them to take reality more seriously in future.

As for Benedict: boy, what a shame. At his age, and clearly in full possession of his faculties (read the letters to Cardinal Sarah), he offers this show of betaness.

Sad. So sad.

If Catholics had been told, 100 years ago, that, one day, a Pope would try to have his authorship of truth removed when the truth turned out to be offensive, they would have considered it the circus trick of the year.

This is now a circus we have to live with every day.