I am now blogging on the Catholic Herald website. Thank you for reading Anna Arco’s Diary.

In this Curial turn-around–which places a Canadian at the top of a curial department dominated by Italians–other important posts have also been filled and people shifted across departments.
Archbishop Rino Fisichella, a controversial figure who headed the Pontifical Council for Life as well as being the rector of the Lateran University has been moved to the Pope’s new department the Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelisation, while Don Enrico dal Covolo, S.D.B takes over as Rector at the Lateran and Mgr Ignacio Carrasco de Paula, the Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy for Life, is taking over as head.

Mgr Carrasco de Paula is a medical doctor as well as a prominent moral theologian and bioethicist. He is a member of the Opus Dei, which reminds me of this John Allen Jr article from 2001 about the Opus Dei in the Vatican.

He held a personal friendship with Jérôme Lejeune, the French pro-life pedeatrician and first president of the Pontifical Academy for Life who discovered the link between chromosome abnormalities and Downs Syndrome. The Spaniard is 73-years-old and was ordained to the priesthood in 1966. Here are a couple of interviews he did (unfortunately both in Spanish).

The first is on the anniversary of Humanae Vitae in which he speaks about contraception, children and marriage and defends the 1968 document by Pope Paul VI. In the second, he speaks of the most important themes in bioethics, which he identified as the moments at the origin of human life and at its end. In the third interview, in English, he speaks about the Human Genome Project and the new frontiers of genetics. He is also the director of the Institute of Bioethics in the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery “Agostino Gemelli” at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Rome and an advisor to the World Medical Association.

Fr dal Covolo is an Italian Salesian (Like Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Benedict XVI’s Secretary of State) who is turning 60 in October and made his first vows in the order in 1973 He was ordained at the age of 31 in 1979. A professor of ancient Christian literature and an expert on the Church Fathers, Fr dal Covolo led the Papal retreat this year.

He joined Pope Benedict’s former department as a consultor to Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith in 2002 as well as being a consultor to the Congregation for the Clergy. He is a member of the Pontifical Council for Historical Sciences and Postulator General for the causes of saints of the Salesian Family and is also on the Commission for Sacred Archeology. Here is an interview he did with Zenit about vocations.

Meanwhile the Swiss newspapers have said that the Diocese of Basel has confirmed that Bishop Kurt Koch is going to Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Alluding to the crisis of clerical abuse and to the persecution the Church has faced during its history, Benedict said (NB this is my very rough translation from Italian): “If we think of the two millenia of the history of the Church, we can see that, as the Lord Jesus had foreseen, there were not missing for the Christians the tests which in some periods and places took on the character of real and actual persecution.

“This, however, despite the suffering which provoke us, does not constitute the most grave danger for the Church. The greatest damage in fact, it suffers from those who pollute the faith and the Christian life of its members and community, attacking the integrity of the mystical Body, harming it in its capacity of prophecy and testimony and dulling the beauty of its face.”

The Italian press have been reporting this and Rocco Palmo has now posted the full official version on his blog.

After Cardinal Sodano made a surprise speech at Easter criticising the media’s reports about abuse as “idle gossip”, Cardinal Schoenborn publicly accused the former Secretary of State of having deliberately obstructed an investigation into accusations of child abuse against Cardinal Herman Groer of Vienna. In today’s meeting, Pope Benedict seems to have done several things: he has reminded Cardinal Schoenborn that the disciplining of members of the hierarchy is the responsibility of the Pope, he has clarified Sodano’s controversial comments about “idle gossip” and has brought the two men together. Interesting.

VATICAN CITY, 28 JUN 2010 (VIS) – The Holy See Press Office released the following communique early this afternoon:

“(1) The Holy Father today received in audience Cardinal Christoph Schonborn O.P., archbishop of Vienna and president of the Austrian Episcopal Conference. The cardinal had asked to meet the Supreme Pontiff personally in order to report on the current situation of the Church in Austria. In particular, Cardinal Schonborn wished to clarify the exact meaning of his recent declarations concerning some aspects of current ecclesiastical discipline, and certain of his judgements regarding positions adopted by the Secretariat of State – and in particular by the then Secretary of State of Pope John Paul II – concerning the late Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, archbishop of Vienna from 1986 to 1995.

“(2) Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, and Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. were subsequently invited to join the meeting.

“In the second part of the audience certain widespread misunderstandings were clarified and resolved, misunderstandings deriving partly from certain statements of Cardinal Christoph Schonborn, who expressed his displeasure at the interpretations given to his words.

“In particular:

“(a) It must be reiterated that, in the Church, when accusations are made against a cardinal, competency falls exclusively to the Pope; other parties may have a consultative function, while always maintaining due respect for persons.

“(b) The word ‘chiacchiericcio’ (gossip) was erroneously interpreted as disrespectful to the victims of sexual abuse, towards whom Cardinal Angelo Sodano nourishes the same feelings of compassion, and of condemnation of evil, as expressed on various occasions by the Holy Father. That word, pronounced during his Easter address to Pope Benedict XVI, was taken literally from the pontifical homily of Palm Sunday and referred to the “courage that does not let itself be intimidated by the gossip of prevalent opinions”.

“(3) The Holy Father, recalling with great affection his own pastoral trip to Austria, via Cardinal Christoph Schonborn sends his greetings and encouragement to the Church in Austria, and to her pastors, entrusting the journey to renewed ecclesial communion to the celestial protection of the Blessed Virgin, so venerated at Mariazell”.
OP/ VIS 20100628 (370)

Update:

The Archdiocese of Vienna is reporting the meeting between Cardinal Schoenborn, the Pope and Cardinal Sodano under the headline “Cardinal Schoenborn informs the Pope about the Church in Austria” and the first paragraph of the story reads:

“The Viennese Archbishop and chairman of the bishops’ conference personally informed Pope Benedict XVI about the ecclesial developments of the last months. Several “misunderstandings” were cleared in conversation with Cardinals Sodano and Bertone.

Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn reported to Pope Benedict XVI about the current situation of the Church in Austria on Monday, June 28, 2010. The archbishop of Vienna and the chairman of the Austrian bishops’ conference requested to report to the Pope personally about the developments of the past months. At the same time the Cardinal also wanted to outline the “exact significance” of a number of his statements to questions of Church discipline and to aspects of the handling of the Papal secretary of state with reference to “Causa Groer”.

“At this meeting the Holy Father remembered with great warmth his pastoral visit in the year 2007 and asked Cardinal Schoenborn to convey “his greeting and encouragement” to the Catholic Church in Austrian and her shepherds. He entrusts the Church in Austria to the advocacy of the Mother of God who is so dearly revered in Mariazell.”

Meanwhile Rocco Palmo has more background on Whispers in the Loggia and Fr Zuhlsdorf over at What Does The Prayer Really Say? offers his analysis.

My 20-week scan found that the baby’s heart was not beating. We decided to induce the delivery. The next day, at 1pm, we went to the clinic. They gave me pills that would start the contractions.

I decided not to take painkillers, as I realised that this was going to be the only effort, the only sacrifice, one of the only physical interactions, that I would have with the baby, although he was dead.

There had been some doubt about whether the Pope would visit the Oratory because of controversies within the Birmingham Oratory community, but it is an obvious stop for the Pontiff because Newman lived there in his final years. It holds his library as well as the relics that were found when grave was opened in 2008.

A spokesman for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales said that the visit’s organisers had asked Birmingham City Council for the use of Cofton Park for Newman’s beatification on September 19. He said that, while the details still had to be worked out with the City of Birmingham, they hoped that at least 80,000 people would be able to attend.  The site is near Rednal, where Newman’s Oratorians had a house and where the Fathers of the Oratory were later buried. Cardinal Newman’s grave is there.

The spokesman said: “Cofton Park will have more historical resonance, because it is next to Rednal. The Oratorians used to take their recreation in Cofton Park.  What is important is that it enables a visit to the Birmingham Oratory. If it all works out, the Pope will make a private visit to Newman’s rooms.

“After lengthy discussions with the Vatican, we were hoping for something with close historical references. And Cofton is our preferred venue in Birmingham.”

Coventry Airport had been touted as the original venue for the Pope to beatify Newman and organisers were hoping the venue would fit 200,000 people.

The spokesman said: “Coventry was being discussed in good faith but as the detail of the planning became more apparent and the Pope was keen on something with more historical references and links to Newman the attraction to moving it to Cofton Park became more apparent.”

Both Longbridge car factory and the seminary at Oscott had been reported as possible venues for the beatification. This week, a Vatican team scouted out locations in and around Birmingham Archdiocese.

Some