Oh, to be a fly on the wall

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jan 13, 2007

In his excellent Chiesa analysis of the disastrous Wielgus appointment, Sandro Magister took careful note of a statement by the Polish editor of L'Osservatore Romano.

“I don’t know who, but someone has misled Pope Joseph Ratzinger. This is a serious matter, and someone must pay for it, in Poland or in the Vatican.”

Magister also notes a widely circulated quote from Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops:

“When Archbishop Wielgus was appointed, we knew nothing about his collaboration with the secret services.”

The first quote rings true. The second is more problematical, because it's the job of the Congregation for Bishops to dig out the relevant information on episcopal candidates, and the stories about Archbishop Wielgus's collaboration with the Polish secret police were already in circulation when the appointment was announced, and the documentation was already available in the Institute for National Remembrance.

Today the Pope is meeting with Cardinal Re in a private audience. Hmmm. The Vatican announcement did not indicate exactly where the audience would take place, but if there's a woodshed in the apostolic palace...