Word: benelli
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Intramural exchanges in the higher reaches of the Catholic Church are seldom made public. But recently, the Society of Jesus confirmed that its superior general, the Very Rev. Pedro Arrupe, had sent a letter of apology to a ranking member of the Papal Curia, Archbishop Giovanni Benelli. Arrupe's letter expressed regret for an article in the London Observer by Father Peter Hebblethwaite, S.J., editor of the English Jesuit magazine, The Month. Hebblethwaite had attacked Benelli, who is considered one of Pope Paul VI's closest confidants and advisers, as being "concerned with prestige and pomposity...
...some in the Vatican, the article was viewed as an attack not on Benelli but on his patron, the Pope. Even so, the matter might have ended with Arrupe's letter. Last week, however, Hebblethwaite struck again...
...rules." In point of fact, only three journalists, have had their Vatican credentials lifted in the past 18 years-and only one lost his permanently. Vatican press briefings, moreover, have increased and improved (TIME, Oct. 31). Yet some officials-among them Deputy Secretary of State Archbishop Giovanni Benelli-apparently felt the need to protect themselves against misinterpretation. Explained a Vatican insider: "Journalists today try to write like theologians, getting involved in highly controversial doctrinal matters. Any journalist who behaves irresponsibly in doing this kind of reporting can damage the religious consciences of Catholic readers around the world...
...Young. Almost as interesting as some of the appointments were some of the omissions. An anticipated red hat for rigidly conservative Archbishop Paul Philippe, number-two man in the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, did not materialize. Likewise bypassed was Archbishop Giovanni Benelli, the Pope's celebrated "Prime Minister" (TIME, March 14), who at 47 is probably still too young...
Such rare setbacks do not slow Benelli's frenetic pace. Somehow he even finds time to promote a favorite cause: helping to wipe out illiteracy in underdeveloped nations by upgrading the educational programs of Catholic missions. Last week he flew off to the Ivory Coast to dedicate a new seminary in Abidjan. The trip was expected to take him to other African countries on still another act of service for Paul VI: exploring a possible papal visit to that continent later this year...