Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Inconvenient Memoirs of Cardinal Biffi

Sandro Magister (www.chiesa, November 16, 2010) writes: "ROME, November 16, 2010 – In two days, Italian bookstores will be selling the new expanded edition of the memoirs of Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, 82, Milanese, archbishop of Bologna from 1984 to 2003.

The first edition of the book, released in 2007, made a strong impression. During Lent of that same year, Benedict XVI had called Biffi to preach the spiritual exercises at the Vatican.

That first volume was striking for the judgments in which the cardinal criticized the naïveté of John XXIII, the negative results of Vatican Council II, the silence on communism, the "mea culpas" of John Paul II, and many other things.

This new edition is also certain to make a stir. In reviewing his life, Biffi has added new chapters and new reflections. As always, in his biting, ironic, anti-conformist style.

The additional pages number about a hundred, and three selections from them are reviewed further below: on the aberrations following the Council, on the Church and the Jews, on the ideology of homosexuality."

2 comments:

anon said...

Sounds like bedside reading.

JM said...

Sounds like encouraging reading. Happy to know faithful and non-disingenuous souls are still about the Vatican, unlike, apparently, at L'Observ R!

Also sounds like something calling for an English trans.