Rome, Italy, Jun 6, 2012 / 17:05 pm
The Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, believes the continued leaking of confidential papal information to the media is "ferocious, biting and organized."
"Attacks have always existed, in all times" he told Italian television station RAI on June 4.
"This time, however, it seems that the attacks are more targeted, sometimes also ferocious, biting and organized."
This is the first time Cardinal Bertone has commented publicly on the so-called "Vatileaks" scandal that has rumbled on since January 2012.
So far, the only person charged by Vatican police as part of the ongoing investigation is the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele. The Secretary of State's statement that the leaks are "organized' seems to suggest that he believes Gabriele was not acting alone.
"What is most sad in this affair and in these events is the violation of the Holy Father's privacy and that of his closest collaborators," Cardinal Bertone said, adding that "these days have not been ones of division but of unity."
Many of the leaked documents appear to have been aimed at embarrassing the Secretary of State rather than Pope Benedict. Nevertheless, the Pope told pilgrims in St. Peter's Square on May 30 how recent events "have caused sadness in my heart" but have never "clouded a firm certainty that despite human weakness, difficulties and trials, the Church is guided by the Holy Spirit."
Cardinal Bertone concurred, describing Pope Benedict as a "mild person, of great faith and great prayer" who "does not allow himself to be frightened by attacks, of any kind, nor by the hard accumulation of prejudices."
The latest batch of leaked papal documents appeared in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica over the June 2-3 weekend. They included a confidential letter written by the American Cardinal Raymond Burke to Pope Benedict in January 2012.
In his correspondence, Cardinal Burke expressed surprise and dismay after receiving an invitation to an event that seemed to be celebrating the Vatican's approval for the liturgies used by the new movement, the Neocatechumenatal Way.
He explained to the Pope that he did "not recall having heard a consultation regarding a particular liturgy for this ecclesial movement" and that "such liturgical innovations" do not seem "coherent with the liturgical magisterium of the pope."
After reading the letter, Pope Benedict attached a handwritten note agreeing with Cardinal Burke's sentiments with the instruction that they should be passed onto the Congregation for Divine Worship.
After the cardinal's letter was sent it emerged that the Vatican's approval only applied to non-liturgical prayers within the Neocatechumenatal Way's catechesis and not to the Mass or other liturgies of the Church.