Rome, Italy, Feb 3, 2009 / 10:38 am
Sandro Magister, the Vatican expert of the Italian Magazine L'Espresso, will publish a story on Wednesday analyzing the internal circumstances that led to the Vatican's decision on lifting the excommunications of the four bishops from the Society of Saint Pius X, including the now infamous Bishop Richard Williamson.
In tomorrow's story, Magister claims that because of serious "management errors," "the lifting of the excommunications from the Lefebvrist bishops looks more and more like a double disaster, one of government and one of communications."
The Vatican specialist claims that despite the fact that Pope Benedict seems to be the one "most exposed" to the media fallout, neither he nor his closest collaborators are to blame for the flap. To that end, Magister reveals some aspects of the process that led to the Pope's decision to lift the excommunications and the situation the bishops of the SSPX would still be in without the Pope’s declaration.
Nevertheless, according to the Vatican expert, none of this complexity was reflected in how the Vatican handled the announcement, and as a consequence, “the popular version divulged by the media, about the decree of the Church of Rome simply seemed to welcome the Lefebvrists back in it bosom."