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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5457 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Fri Oct 26th, 2007 09:21 pm |
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Cardinal Giacomo Biffi commits his memoirs to a book. And here's a preview: the speech he gave in the closed-door meeting with the cardinals. And also, his critical views on John XXIII, on the Council, and on the "mea culpas" of John Paul II
by Sandro Magister
ROMA, October 26, 2007 – On the eve of his eightieth birthday, cardinal Giacomo Biffi is sending out to the bookstores an extensive autobiographical volume, entitled "Memorie e digressioni di un italiano cardinale [Memories and Digressions of an Italian Cardinal]."
Biffi is remembered above all as the archbishop of Bologna, from 1984 to 2003. But in the book, he reviews his entire life, from his birth in working-class Milan to when he became a priest, then a professor of theology, a pastor, a bishop, and finally a cardinal.
In the foreword, Biffi quotes these words of saint Ambrose, the great fourth-century bishop of Milan, his beloved "father and teacher":
"A bishop can do nothing more perilous before God, and nothing more shameful before men, than fail to proclaim freely his own thoughts."
And sure enough, in the 640 pages of the volume, Biffi's thoughts erupt in complete freedom – pungent, ironic, and anti-conformist.
There is no crucial passage in the Church's life that does not fall beneath his biting, often surprising, judgment.
It is surprising, for example, that he designates as "the greatest pope of the twentieth century" Pius XI, who today is perhaps the most overlooked and forgotten pope.
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Even his silences are eloquent. The book dedicates just a few rare references to Joseph Ratzinger. But there are many hints to let the reader know that Biffi has extremely high regard for the current pope. It is an esteem reciprocated in the invitation extended to him by Benedict XVI to preach, in the Vatican, the Lenten retreat of 2007.
The above excerpts are reposted with permission from Chiesa. The entire article includes Cardinal Biffi's writings on Pope John XXIII, Vatican Council II, and an episode with Pope John Paul II, as well as the speech he delivered at the Conclave which would elect Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict XVI. Click here to read the entire article.
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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