Cardinal Bertone: Parting Comments
CNS carries the story of the exit of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, who has been the Vatican secretary of state. What struck me about his speech was his stress on the continuity between the pontificate of Pope Benedict XVI and its continuity with that of Pope Francis.
"What stirred our passion with Pope Benedict XVI was to see the church understand itself deeply as a communion, and at the same time speak to the world, to the heart and to the intelligence of all with clarity of doctrine and a high level of thought," the Cardinal said. The retired pope "suffered greatly on account of the ills that plagued the church, and for this reason he gave her new legislation in order to strike out decisively the shameful phenomenon of pedophilia among the clergy, without forgetting the initiation of new rules in economic and administrative matters," he said."I see today in Pope Francis not so much a revolution but a continuity with Pope Benedict XVI even with their differences…
"What stirred our passion with Pope Benedict XVI was to see the church understand itself deeply as a communion, and at the same time speak to the world, to the heart and to the intelligence of all with clarity of doctrine and a high level of thought," the Cardinal said. The retired pope "suffered greatly on account of the ills that plagued the church, and for this reason he gave her new legislation in order to strike out decisively the shameful phenomenon of pedophilia among the clergy, without forgetting the initiation of new rules in economic and administrative matters," he said."I see today in Pope Francis not so much a revolution but a continuity with Pope Benedict XVI even with their differences…