rivista anarchica
anno 41 n. 366
novembre 2011


church and power

What is a name
by Carlo Oliva

Have you noticed that Cardinal Bagnasco, secretary of the Italian Episcopal Conference, in publicly criticizing the behavior of Berlusca, he never mentioned the name? We try to explain why.

 

“What ia a name?”asked Juliet in the famous balcony scene (II, 2), explaining to herself that what we call a rose, even if it was called in another way, however, would retain its sweet perfume. He might have added that even Berlusconi, if not called Berlusconi, would be the same man who is morally questionable, though, a young girl well born, would never have used the same name of the minister of the government that has defined in no uncertain terms its president a womanizer, even holy. And it is useless to explain to me that Juliet, for obvious reasons, Berlusconi could not have known, because in these matters is the concept that counts and quotes are specially made for expenses. However, the name of the current president of the board is also of great interest in themselves must think, for several reasons, including Cardinal Bagnasco. Perhaps this is why at the end of September, in his speech at the opening session of the Permanent Council of the CEI, that of "licentious acts" and "improper relationships" in politics, was careful not to make the name of the person of such acts and relationships, the unanimous opinion of observers, is the main protagonist. He said, you remember, that "chasing each other with sad concern, stories which, if proven, to detect different levels lifestyles hardly compatible with the dignity and decorum of institutions and public life", that in Italy " There is a moral issue "that" was not invented by the media "and that we - as a result - clearing the air" because the new generations do not remain poisoned, "but a name that had a name, praised Deo, would not let pulled out of anyone. They say sin, you know, but not the sinner, or at least the church does not say when the sinner is rich and powerful, because when any sin is a poor devil has never hesitated to mention only the name and last name family status, before and after the case of the Bishop of Prato. Not bad, however, as to who and what the bishop was referring to have understood all, so much so that "Republic" the next day was able to dedicate full-page "The bishops against Berlusconi" and the "Courier", while without going to so much talked about in the bolt of the second page of "implicit attack on the prime minister" and refers to the next page in three columns on the "bitterness of the Knight".

cardinal Bagnasco and Silvio Berlusconi

While legitimate and understandable

All right, then? Can we really please us, to quote another title of the newspaper Via Solferino, "a net that stores the message axis between the CEI and Berlusconi"? I would not seem insatiable, but I just have not managed to convince me. Among those implicit and explicit attacks continue to perceive a certain palpable difference. Than explicit, for example, you can not withdraw, except perhaps inviting the bishops to do their job and not to drive its beak into secular matters, which, apart from the usual Bossi, who can say what he wants, that both The bay is not anyone, I do not think that members of the majority (and, for that matter, those of the opposition) are particularly prone to do. Faced with the implicit, however, there are a thousand ways to wriggling. In fact, the followers of Berlusca have used them all, starting with the ineffable Maurizio Lupi, that in these things, notoriously, is a teacher, according to which "each of us must be an examination of conscience, of course" but the words of Bagnasco not be exploited, because his was, yes, "a clear call," but an appeal involving "anyone who has political responsibility" because "morality is an emergency that does not concern only mica Berlusconi" and the moral question " is not just a problem of sexual acts ", so much so that" in no passage of the speech is written Bagnasco 'Berlusconi' ", in fact. Even Maurizio Sacconi, moreover, said that "the words of Bagnasco, while legitimate and understandable, in danger of being exploited" and Osvaldo Napoli has annotated that "the bishops have criticized the man nor the Berlusconi Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi" , but only "called the political class to conduct a sobriety and the sense of measure that applies to everyone." morality, ultimately, is what drew the best of all pious Formigoni, according to which "each of us must ask for forgiveness from God, "about which it is hard not to agree with him, but as a political project seems a bit 'faded.

Hall of CEI Permanent Council

Warning mafia-style

It is unlikely that the Cardinal did not include the day of his inaugural address, the possibility of these and similar loopholes: no better than a prince of the church may know the difference between condemning a given individual and warn "anyone". Hence the need to ask the reasons for his choice, in the sense that if the President of the Italian bishops had wanted to attack the government and his chief nothing would prevent him to do so by name and surname, if he preferred not to do it, nobody the could have forced, but the decision to limit, so to speak, half attack, a generic response to a reprimand logic that goes some way explored. The fact is that no one has the impression that the bishops are really tired of this government, as most of the other Italian citizens. Over the years we have had very much and still expect to have. Few have noticed that in the same place where Bagnasco held its inaugural lecture, he talked a lot of law on living wills and the need to approve it expeditiously. And there are several other pending disputes, including - thorny - sull'Ici on the church property and, more generally, the participation of the clergy to the sacrifices demanded by the crisis in the country. Now, there are no particular reasons to fear that a possible alternative government would reserve a treatment different from the church, but why take chances? It is always best to rely on friends, and always follow established practice and it's unfortunate that the increasingly embarrassing behavior berlusconeschi make an identification with the center. To which someone may have decided to venture a call to order, an invitation to give a set a reminder on the firepower of the hierarchy and those who have ears to hear will understand of course. Sometimes doing something or not to make a name can mean the difference between the severe warning of a shepherd of souls and a more facile warning in mafia-style.

Carlo Oliva