Pope has no plans to reverse Vatican II reforms, says Cardinal Bertone

Vatican City, Aug 28, 2009 / 08:06 am

The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, said this week that the reports of supposed plans to roll back changes to the Church’s liturgy that began with the Second Vatican Council “are pure fabrication.”

In an interview with L’Osservatore Romano, the cardinal was asked about the “reservations” or “fears” of some who think the Holy Father is going “against” Vatican II, when the reality is actually the opposite.

In order to understand Benedict XVI’s manner of governing the Church, Cardinal Bertone explained, one has to consider his own personal history as a protagonist in the conciliar and post-conciliar Church. Other items to note are: his inaugural speech as Pope, his speech to the Roman Curia on December 22, 2005 and the changes he has personally called for, enacted and patiently explained.

Cardinal Bertone noted several key points of the Council that the Pope has constantly promoted, including fostering “a more understanding relationship with the Orthodox and Eastern Churches” and entering into dialogue with Judaism and Islam. These efforts, the cardinal said, have been met with responses unseen up to now.

After noting the positive relationship the Pope has with the bishops, Cardinal Bertone said that when it comes to the reform of the Church, “Benedict XVI has called us back to the source of the Word of God, to the evangelical law and the heart of the Church’s life: Jesus, who we know, love, adore and imitate.”

The Vatican's Secretary of State also pointed out that the Pope has given the Church a great gift with his book “Jesus of Nazareth,” in which he reminded us that his desire is “to make Christ the heart of the world.”

Cardinal Bertone noted the tendency in the secular media to ascribe to the Pope, or to the Vatican, the responsibility for everything that happens in the Church or that is said by any member of the local Churches, institutions or ecclesial groups, “and this is not right.”

It would be more accurate, he said, to attribute to each person responsibility for his or her own actions or words, “especially when they patently contradict the teachings and example of the Pope.”

The way that the media covers such cases depends on reporters and media professionals having good intentions and a love for the truth, Bertone observed.