“L’Osservatore Romano” is the Pope’s daily newspaper. Last July 1st it reached 150 years of age under the direction of Giovanni Maria Vian, who took over the reins in 2007.
With this historian and journalist as guide, the newspaper entered into a new era, with female collaborators and an internet page included. A project that does not appeal, at least to some Latin American Catholic milieus.
“Reverend father: with all due respect I would like to inform you that the article by Maurizio Fontana on July 19th constitutes not only an offense to the dignity of four Latin American communities of people, it once more demonstrates that L’Osservatore Romano is off center and unrealistic”.
With these words Christine de Marcellus Vollmer expressed her frustration to the director of the Vatican’s newsroom, Federico Lombardi.
Motive? A sports article published by the papal newspaper on the Copa América 2011, the biggest continental soccer tournament. The criticism could go unnoticed if it were not for the author: an adviser for the Pontifical Academy for Life and pro-life activist who, in 2005, was elected by the magazine “Inside the Vatican” as one of the 10 notable Catholics in the United States.
Vollmer, Venezuelan by birth, in his email, claimed that the columnist described the arrival of the Venezuelan national team to the semifinal of this competition as “a disappointment” and added: “the truth is that for this country that is ruined, divided and living the distress of the uncertainty of the political effects of the terminal cancer afflicting (Hugo) Chávez, it was the blessing of a day of unity in joy of recapturing its positive identity as a nation and to recall that, with effort, it is always possible to rise up from below”.
Furthermore he regretted the “derogatory remarks” with which Fontana treated both Peru and the “fallen”, Argentina and Brazil, concepts that he characterized as “unworthy of the newspaper that the world considers the voice of His Holiness the Pope”.
“Those who already know realized that it is not like that, since L’Osservatore Romano is promoting Harry Potter on which His Holiness has already made a pronouncement, warning of its harmful effects for the faith. It would seem destined for self-destruction. I hope, father, that you interpret this message as constructive criticism from one who is a consistent servant of the Church”, he finished off.
This criticism has not been the first nor the last directed against the contents published by the Roman daily. In Latin America the memory of the “scandal of the Brazilian girl” still remains vivid, triggered by an article by the archbishop Salvatore “Rino” Fisichella in this publication.
In the text, dated March 15, 2009, the then president of the Pontifical Academy for Life filed an appeal on compassion for the physicians that “allowed” a nine year old child “to live” on whom they performed an abortion of twins.
The intention of the text, apparently commissioned by the Vatican Secretary of State, was to respond to a campaign of the French press that had the bishop of Olinda and Recife, José Cardoso Sobrinho, being prosecuted because he recalled the Catholic doctrine with regard to abortion and excommunication.
The results could not be worse. Like in his article Fisichella affirmed that the physicians responsible for the interruption of the pregnancy “do not deserve to be excommunicated”, just like others. This sentence unleashed a tremendous controversy that involved feminist groups and pro-life Catholics.
The controversy escalated so much in tenor that it extended beyond Latin America and even required Benedict XVI to order the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith the publication of a note to clarify that nothing had changed in the canonical sentences in effect against the killing of babies in the mother’s womb.
Episodes likes this have repeated themselves. For example, a text from L’Osservatore that praised the first 100 days of the government of Barack Obama in the United States or the note that mentioned the death of the Nobel prize winner in literature, José Saramago, were highly criticized. Also pieces dedicated to themes considered “popular” like the music of the Beatles, the Harry Potter movies or soccer were not liked.
A special case constituted the notice, on November 20, 2010, of various paragraphs of the book-interview of the Pope with the German author Peter Seewald, “Light of the world”. An extract taken out of context in which Joseph Ratzinger referred to the use of condoms in extreme cases caused the worst crisis with regard to communication of the current pontificate. So much so that some Spanish Catholic commentators accused the Vatican daily of being a “sensationalist tabloid”.
But to say about the director Vian all these uncomfortable contents have their logic, first of all because – contrary to that which may be thought - L’Osservatore Romano is not an “official newspaper”, although it receives explicit instructions (although few) both from the pontiff and the Secretary of State of the Vatican.
“In this century and a half of history it has dealt with everything. It does not deal specifically with theater, sports or finances, but nothing prevents it from doing so. At the beginning of the 20th century in fact it published serial novels, in order to get through to more readers. I think that a small newspaper, but of enormous influence, should deal with that which is of interest to people”, he explained during a lunch with journalists at the head office of the Foreign Press Association on May 5, 2010.
He specified that, despite being the only newspaper of the Holy See, L’Osservatore Romano “it is not an official daily” that, in certain cases, does present itself with official status when documents are published in it that come into effect at the time of its appearance in the newspaper.
“It should be known that only the part entitled ‘Our information’ has official status, that is to say the papal hearings and appointments . Having said this, the Secretary of State who is our editor on behalf of the Pope, is quite happy that we do our work and we are very happy to help the Secretary of State to do his”, he pondered.
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