GIUSEPPE BETORI, A MAN OF CULTURE AND A BISHOP WHO SUCCEED IN THE DIFFICULT TASK OF MAKING THE FLORENCE PRESBYTERY WELCOME

While a miserable poison dealer states: «Without forgetting that the clergy of Florence is fed up with Betori who has done more damage than anything else», Instead, a question resonates in all of us which, if desired, arouses anxiety in our souls: and then?

- Church news -

.

.

PDF print format article

.

.

Starting from the last week of Advent and followed by the solemnities of Holy Christmas, the Fathers of the Island of Patmos - who before being scholars and publicists are first and foremost priests - were engaged in pastoral activities. Certain solemnities, in particular Holy Christmas and Holy Easter, they are always preceded by sermons, confessions and spiritual directions, today more than ever anything but easy, considering the times of confusion that the Catholic faithful are experiencing on the one hand, we priests on the other hand. We therefore resume our publicity activities on this magazine of ours with the presentation of a very interesting video which we recommend you watch..

At the end of next February Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, Metropolitan Archbishop of Florence, will celebrate his 77th birthday. He has spent many of these years of his life 16 at the head of the Florentine Church, which is coming soon’ to leave in the hands of his successor.

Despite the malicious judgements recently spread by some obscure, painful character who has set himself up as an intransigent judge of the entire ecclesiastical hierarchy (cf.. WHO) and who usually states «we in the Vatican… here in the Vatican…», except not being able to even get close to the entrance gates of that small Sovereign State, among the majority of the Florentine clergy there is the awareness that this Umbrian bishop - despite the limitations of every human being - has truly made a great contribution to his particular Church and to the entire Italian Church. For this reason it will undoubtedly be regretted for the balance, the clarity and theological and cultural depth that he demonstrated in his apostolic service.

Doing a realistic analysis of the last twenty years it will emerge that we have had the opportunity to experiment with two completely different types of bishops. In the past, between the end of the pontificate of the Holy Pontiff John Paul II and the pontificate of the Venerable Benedict XVI we had the season of "professor bishops". Understandable, the crisis of doctrine had generated situations that he illustrated well 14 years ago our Father Ariel S. Levi di Gualdo in one of his books on the analysis of the Church:

«The crisis of doctrine has generated a profound crisis of faith which in turn has given rise to a moral crisis within our clergy» (cf.. And Satan became triune, Editions The island of Patmos, 2010).

On this issue Our Father Ivano Liguori also recently returned with a precise and dramatic article of his:

«From the doctrinal disorientation of the Church to the sin of the priests and the recycling of the laity. Prospect of an intransigent culture which while condemning sanctifies and condemns by sanctifying" (cf.. WHO).

The so-called “professor bishops”, in light of these issues, in themselves they weren't a bad idea, but the results are not always happy, when we began to have people catapulted from a university chair to an episcopal chair at the head of the dioceses, because they are two substantially different professorships. Bishops often lacking pastoral experience who tended to relate to their priests as teachers with students or who transformed assemblies and meetings of the clergy into academic lessons, ignoring, often not understanding at all, the problems that their priests experienced and had to face every day.

At the next change of wind the need for "shepherds with the smell of sheep" began to be invoked, which in itself would not be a bad idea at all, just as that of the "professor bishops" was not. Unfortunately, when ideology undermines behind the apparent good intentions, or if we want real prevention towards the "princely" (!?) Italian episcopate, the results can only be unfortunate. And today we find ourselves with a substantial number of bishops pulled out of Caritas centers or from unspecified "peripheries", only capable of talking about the poor, migrants and the «Church on the move».

Instead of moving forward we were catapulted backwards, in the early seventies, when the sixty-eighters spoke of "forbidden to forbid" and of "imagination in power". On the doctrinal and theological preparation of these bishops all projected into a social system that we have already seen abundantly fail in the various social-welfare and political fields, let us draw a compassionate veil out of Christian charity. In fact, when the President of the Bishops of Italy responds by stating that "the Gospel is not a distillation of truth" (cf.. WHO), there's not much else to add, both regarding the "frontier" or "street" priests, both regarding the "Church going forth" that appears to us, more than "outgoing", on the verge of bankruptcy, proof of this is the fact that for some years we have been trying to resolve the problems by placing all possible and imaginable commissioners under commissionership, with one exception: the Society of Jesus.

Cardinal Giuseppe Betori, perhaps one of the last of a generation now in extinction, he was able to put his science and culture at the complete service of pastoral care. Character at first approach introverted and shy, in his relationships with his clergy he showed great listening and welcoming skills, he was a teacher and a guardian of the faith, not a professor in the chair. He loved his Church and knew how to make himself loved, even by those who welcomed him upon his arrival with that air of condescension, suspicion and distrust typical of us Florentines, that we are historically subjects that are not exactly easy to handle, treat and govern. His homilies, always profound but at the same time clear and understandable, have aroused esteem and respect on the part of the Catholic faithful.

And while a miserable poison dealer states: «Without forgetting that the clergy of Florence is fed up with Betori who has done more damage than anything else» (cf.. WHO), Instead, a question resonates in all of us which, if desired, arouses anxiety in our souls: and then?

Florence, 12 January 2024

.

______________________

Dear Readers,
this magazine requires management costs that we have always faced only with your free offers. Those who wish to support our apostolic work can send us their contribution through the convenient and safe way PayPal by clicking below:

Or if you prefer you can use our
Bank account in the name of:
Editions The island of Patmos

n Agency. 59 From Rome
Iban code:
IT74R0503403259000000301118
For international bank transfers:
Codice SWIFT:
BAPPIT21D21

If you make a bank transfer, send an email to the editorial staff, the bank does not provide your email and we will not be able to send you a thank you message:
isoladipatmos@gmail.com

We thank you for the support you wish to offer to our apostolic service.

The Fathers of the Island of Patmos

.

.

.