LENT BRINGS MIX OF SPIRITUALITY, POLITICS TO VATICAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VATICAN 000044 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/WE (LARREA) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL PGOV SOCI VT SUBJECT: LENT BRINGS MIX OF SPIRITUALITY, POLITICS TO VATICAN REF: VATICAN 0043 VATICAN 00000044 001.2 OF 002 -------------- Summary -------------- ¶1. (SBU) The Lenten season brings with it an atmosphere of increased devotion in and around Vatican City, but politics can play a role in even the most spiritual activities. Governance stalls in the offices of the Vatican MFA and elsewhere in the Curia during the first week of Lent when the pope and his senior staff attend a week-long retreat for prayer and reflection. But business continues in a certain sense on the margins of the retreat as top prelates compare notes on the issues of the day and evaluate up-and-coming stars who have traditionally been chosen to take part in the event as guest preachers. Special English-language masses held every morning at 7am during Lent offer a chance for the spiritual edification of Americans and others in Rome, but also provide a place for many English speakers who wield influence in the Vatican - or hope to in the future - to see and be seen, and talk shop after mass. Traditions such as the Curial Lenten retreat and these Lenten masses offer a window into a Catholic culture in Rome and the Vatican that can't help but influence the Vatican and its policies. End Summary. -------------- Sacred and Profane -------------- ¶2. (SBU) One expects a certain mingling of the sacred and profane even on the foreign policy and governance side of the Vatican. The first week of Lent (the forty-day period preceding Easter) provides ample examples. Pope Benedict XVI and the members of his senior staff (the Roman Curia) spent the first full week of March (the first week of Lent) away from their desks attending the Holy See's annual "spiritual exercises". During this period, there are no papal audiences and no appointments with senior Vatican officials except in the most urgent cases. Working-level personnel continue their duties as usual, but to a large extent, the business of governing the Church and directing its foreign policy is put on hold. Egypt's President Mubarak found this out when he had to make a return trip to Rome to see the pope after his initial visit to the Italian government fell during the week of reflection. �A; -------------- Jockeying for Position -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Even in the context of a retreat for spiritual nourishment, one sees signs of the typical jockeying and gossiping present in any bureaucracy. We understand there was plenty of chatter on the margins of the daily sessions of prayer and meditation about impending changes to the structure of the Curia (reftel). Selecting a preacher for the retreat also has a political dimension. Traditionally the pope has selected the preacher for the Lenten spiritual exercises from the ranks of the "up-and-coming" clergy in Italy or abroad. Being selected as the preacher was a sign of likely advancement within the Church. ¶4. (U) Past preachers who made the most of their opportunity include the late Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, who led the spiritual exercises in 1976 and was elected as Pope John Paul II in 1978, and the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in 1983, who soon became one of the leading figures in the Church and was elected as Pope Benedict XVI in 2005. On several occasions, the preacher selected for the retreat has been raised to the College of Cardinals shortly thereafter. For example, the late U.S. Cardinal James Hickey, the late Brazilian Lucas Moreira Neves, the late Vietnamese Francois-Xavier Van Thuan, and the current Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schvnborn, all received VATICAN 00000044 002.2 OF 002 their red hats after preaching the Lenten Retreat. ¶5. (SBU) Vatican watchers were waiting keenly to see who would be tapped this year, but Pope Benedict XVI made it clear he wasn't playing that game. The pope ended the speculation by selecting a retired cardinal who has already reached the zenith of his career - a sign that this pope intends to focus on the spiritual rather than fuel the rumor mill. -------------- Station Churches -------------- ¶6. (U) The season of Lent signals the beginning of another annual Vatican phenomenon, the English-language station church masses. The American seminary in Rome (the North American College - NAC) sponsors a 7am mass every morning in Lent, each held in a different Roman church. The tradition of making the rounds to these churches - a form of penance given the early start - goes back centuries, but was revived a few decades ago by the NAC. ¶7. (SBU) While most attendees are surely devout, and may well be deepening their spirituality by visiting many of the holiest sites of the city, the Lenten masses are also an opportunity for English-speaking Catholics to see and be seen. A few mornings aside, the congregation is robust; seminarians and lay theology students, male and female religious, diplomats accredited to the Holy See, journalists, and others crowd the pews. Many worshippers wield considerable influence within the Vatican. Some in the media see the masses as good sources of information - while not exactly examples of piety, they have a nose for a story. ¶8. (SBU) The masses are typically concelebrated by twenty or more priests, including Americans working in the Roman Curia. Often, top American bishops or cardinals are the principal celebrants, including the many bishops visiting Rome at one time or another during the six-week period. This Lent, projected celebrants include several American cardinals and visiting bishops with pull in the Vatican. The consistory at the end of March to create new Cardinals will attract even more top churchmen to Rome. On mornings when one of these leading prelates is at the altar, aspiring Vatican up-and-comers among the seminarians or lower-level functionaries around Rome won't hit the snooze button and roll over; they'll be there. On the other hand, at one recent mass a smaller-than-usual crowd nodded perfunctorily through a mass said by a little-known Irish cleric. ¶9. (SBU) Though some attendees rush off to work or studies shortly after the dismissal, and the more pious kneel for a prayer or linger for an inspection of a monument in the church, many gather outside to exchange notes with others from the congregation or with the concelebrants - a chance to pick up and contribute to the latest rumors. When politically-active conservative Catholic icons such as George Weigel or Michael Novak are in town one can also expect to see them at the masses - surrounded by a clutch of admirers after the final blessing. -------------- Comment -------------- ¶10. (SBU) As is often the case at this unique post, it is difficult to separate the religious from the political - and usually unwise to try. Church-centered religious traditions such as the Curial Lenten retreat or the station church masses offer a window into the Catholic culture in Rome and the Vatican - a culture that can't help but influence the inner workings of the Vatican, and its internal and external policies. ROONEY