The B16 Tsunami?

John Allen has a nice piece on a couple of related changes that B16 has made in recent days.

The first is that he released a motu proprio stripping the Assisi Franciscan shrine of the autonomy it has enjoyed (and some would say, abused) for the last few decades. Now it will have to coordinate its initiatives "with pastoral aspects" with the local bishop and others.

Why’s this?

Some argued that it’s a way of muzzling the normally left-leaning Franciscans ahead of expected Italian national elections in 2006. Others, such as Italian Catholic writer Vittorio Messori, suggested that the roots of the motu proprio reached back to 1986, and a summit of religious leaders John Paul II hosted in Assisi. Horror stories have long circulated about what happened — including Buddhists putting smoking prayer-sticks in front of the Tabernacle in one church, and African animists slaughtering chickens in another.

An official of the Congregation for Bishops told NCR Nov. 23, however, that such interpretations are off-base.

“We had been studying the canonical situation in Assisi for years, and this document was prepared under John Paul II. The new pope had almost nothing to do with it, except for signing it. The idea that this is a ‘restoration’ by Ratzinger is absurd,” this official said.

I’ve kept checking the Vatican web site the last few days to read the text of the motu proprio to see what tea leaves might be read from it, but they haven’t put it up yet. (Typical. Absolutely typical.)

The outgoing bishop of Assisi is a big fan of the change. After the change was made he publicly expressed frustration with finding out from the press what the Franciscans were doing.

As diplomatically as the motu proprio is likely phrased, it’s clear that this was a smackdown on a group perceived to be acting in a rogue manner.

Fortunately, the Franciscans have pledged to comply with the change.

Allen brings up something else of interest in connection with this: Who the new bishop of Assisi is.

Sorrentino had been the secretary at the Congregation for Divine Worship since August 2003, meaning just 27 months. The previous occupant of the job, Archbishop Francesco Pio Tamburrino, served for four years, from April 1999 to August 2003. Both put in less than the normal five-year term.

Some have construed Sorrentino’s departure as the first wave of the curial “tsunami” expected under Benedict XVI.

Whether that tsunami emerges remains to be seen. What seems clear, however, is that Sorrentino’s transfer is more than a routine reassignment. Both Sorrentino and Tamburrino were nominations from the Secretariat of State, and both embodied a “softer,” more flexible stance on liturgical questions than the prefects they served: Cardinal Jorge Medina Estévez in the case of Tamburrino, Cardinal Francis Arinze in the case of Sorrentino.

“What the Secretariat of State was probably after was balance,” a Vatican source said Nov. 21.

It’s not clear whether that kind of “balance,” however, is what Pope Benedict XVI wants, since over the years he has been supportive of efforts to restore greater reverence, sobriety, and traditional forms of expression in worship. In November, the pope sent a letter to the Vox Clara Commission, created to advise the congregation on liturgical translation in English, in which he affirmed Liturgiam Authenticam, the congregation’s 2001 document that demanded greater fidelity to Latin originals.

On the other hand, some sources say the problem with Sorrentino was not always content, but style.

Those sources say that Sorrentino was a highly scrupulous secretary, wanting to be well informed and to hear multiple points of view before making decisions. Some believe that occasionally translated into gridlock. This was a particular liability, sources say, since the congregation’s prefect, Arinze, is one of the most-traveled Vatican officials, giving lectures and conferences in various parts of the world. Given that, sources say, it’s especially important to have a secretary who can make the trains run on time.

In general, observers believe that under Benedict XVI, the Secretariat of State is likely to play a less prominent role in filling positions such as that vacated by Sorrentino. Such decisions are more likely to come from the papal household, or at least to be subjected to a greater degree of review by the pope.

Personally, I’m heartened by the idea that the Secretariat of State will be playing a lesser role. For too long the Secretariat of State has served as the most important dicastery at the Holy See–more important even than the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith–which makes no sense. Christ sent the Church to preach the faith, not to be a state. Adding to this the political overlay that is bound to come from a dicastery devoted to matters of state, it’s heartening to hear that a different dynamic is expected to be at work.

GET THE STORY.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live." View all posts by Jimmy Akin