Click to ENLARGE. From ‘Google News‘. Original at the ‘America Magazine‘.
I cracked up laughing when I saw this. Being appointed a nuncio isn’t always a good thing. It all depends on what COUNTRY you are assigned.
No guarantee that Ganswein will be sent to any SWANKY posts such as the U.S., France, Australia, or even Japan. China wouldn’t be too bad either. But, the pope could also send him to a war zone, a country in economic despair or outer-mongolia.
Basically what the pope has done is yank Ganswein out of the COMFORT of being in Germany. Now, as a nuncio, he can send him to Ukraine, Zambia or Nicaragua. Ganswein is NOT going to be happy.
Just a few days ago I wrote (in my latest book) that one of the most effective punishments that a pope can deal a cardinal is to make him ‘Nuncio to Outer Mongolia‘. And then, this, today. LoL.
Francis, in his dotage, is cranky. Aren’t people calling him vindictive?
In his recent spate of interviews he made clear that Ganswein was a thorn in his side. So, now he is going to settle scores.
What we have to now watch for is WHERE will be send Ganswein.
Per then ‘Cardinal Ratzinger‘ their initial connection was a mutual love for music, in particular the piano. They played the piano to each other & together. He referred to her as his muse. Way before he became pope, she moved into his apartment in Rome. It was rationalized as her being his housekeeper. She was, always, way more than that; the muse part closer to the truth. When he became pope she moved to the Papal Apartments and was officially part of the papal household. As started in the (way too brief) Wikipedia entry she even had a post in the crucially important ‘Secretariat of State‘.
She was his collaborator & confidante & has been openly credited as having edited the books he published during their association. She was in essence, the ‘Benedict XVI’ equivalent to “Pius XII’s“, ‘Popessa‘, ‘Pascalina Lehnert’, though their relationship probably wasn’t as long as the 41-years that Lehnert devoted to ‘her pope’.
During Benedict XVI’s papacy, Stampa was adept at keeping a low-profile vis-a-vis the media though she got implicated in the ‘Vatileaks‘ debacle.
She was never mentioned, as far as I know, as being a part of the ex-pope’s household in the converted monastery. She might have been, & it was kept secret.
For a decade or more Benedict had two very close confidantes both living with him — Stampa & his (other) secretary Georg Ganswein. Given that he was male, Ganswein never needed to be kept out of sight. Well it is well known that Georg was with the ex-pope right to the end & played a key role in the funeral. But then there was also these two ladies in black who sat in the front row, alongside Ganswein at the St. Peter’s Mass & at the private ceremony in the crypt. I am sure one of them was Stampa.
Click image to access the full article on ‘Yahoo News‘. Google for more coverage.
The most basic definition of an antipope is a person of standing (i.e., one of prominence) who is actively in opposition to the reigning pope (in this case ‘Francis‘).
A January 9, 2023 UPDATE & CLARIFICATION.
[Based on the Jan. 9, 2023 comments by ‘Mark’ let me update & clarify the above statement. Per Mark an antipope MUST ‘actually CLAIM’ the papacy (as opposed to being in (open) opposition to the pope — WITH a following). The CLAIMING part has not always been the case. Some of the NEW LIST of early antipopes, e.g., ‘Natalius‘, never claimed to be pope per se. They just vehemently opposed the pope & HAD A FOLLOWING. I think we could all agree that a person who creates enough of a SCHISM, whether or not he actually did so by claiming to be pope, could (or should) qualify as an antipope. That was the criteria for some of the early popes. They split the Church.
Now note I never said the ex-pope was an antipope.
Title says ‘borderline‘. Doesn’t say he crossed it.
Also, I say ‘… class the ex-pope an outright antipope is …‘.
So, that part is clear. I have never (as yet (at least)) never said the ex-pope was an antipope.
The ex-pope Benedict XVI, whichever way you try to rationalize it, is an anomaly.
With the ex-pope it wasn’t a question of whether he ever tried to RECLAIM the papacy, more a question of whether he, 100%, relinquished his role as pope! Think about it. Though he resigned/retired he tried to look & be like ANOTHER pope. The media repeatedly talked about the ‘Two Popes’. There is even a widely watched movie, released in 2019′ called ‘The Two Popes‘. So, he didn’t have to claim to be pope, he continued to be VIEWED as one & he never REALLY tried to put a stop to that. He continued (v. irregularly) to insist on wearing white. He (ludicrously) maintained his regnal name. He insisted on staying on at the Vatican. He ‘promised’ that he would spend his retirement in prayer & meditation. That, alas, was not the case. One could even say he lied! So … This is an ex-pope whose background, behavior, motives & actions will get increasingly more scrutinized in the future. He was NO SAINT. 100 years from now, if people still care, I have a feeling, that his retirement will get deemed by some to have been antipopish. Time will tell.
The ex-pope had a following that refused to accept his resignation. That created a MINOR schism.
There is now talk that the more conservative Catholics (mainly in the U.S.) will peel off — i.e., another potential schism.
The ex-pope, one way or another, indubitably, created tension & problems for the reigning pope. Ganswein words CONFIRM THAT.
So, bottom line, I feel very justified in calling this ‘borderline antipopish‘.
END OF UPDATE.
Well it was never a secret that the ex-pope, renowned for being an arch-conservative & a scholarly theologian, didn’t always see eye-to-eye with the much less educated Francis, with his liberal tendencies. Now Georg Ganswein, in his book (to make another quick-buck) amply confirms this. It is even said, that he writes that they ‘butted heads‘.
That is antipope territory for sure.
The only reason that one wouldn’t class the ex-pope an outright antipope is that his criticism & opposition to Francis was muted in public, i.e., they butted heads privately trying to keep the gory details of their disagreements away from the media & public. If not for that ex-pope Benedict XVI would sure qualify as a modern day antipope.
