Author:
Publication: Zenit.org
Date: September 6, 2005
Part of Benedict XVI's Talks With
Intellectuals, Says Auxiliary Bishop
An auxiliary bishop of Rome explained
why Benedict XVI granted a private audience to Italian journalist Oriana
Fallaci.
The Pope's meeting with the 76-year-old
journalist -- who has stirred controversy since Sept. 11, 2001, because
of her pointed criticisms of Islam -- took place discreetly Aug. 27 in
the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, in the hills south of Rome.
News of the audience was revealed
days later by Italian news sources -- neither Fallaci nor the Vatican
press office had made it public.
The press gave extensive coverage
to the papal audience, since in her book, "The Force of Reason," Fallaci
described herself as a "Christian atheist" and accused the Church -- the
Pope at the time was John Paul II -- of "favoring and benefiting Islam."
On other occasions, Fallaci acknowledged
her admiration for Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI) because
of his defense of the foundations of European culture and of the Christian
roots of the Old World.
"Interpreter of our times"
Today, in an interview with the
newspaper Il Corriere della Sera, Auxiliary Bishop Rino Fisichella clarified
the motives for the papal audience with Fallaci.
"That the Pope should receive Oriana
Fallaci and talk with her should not surprise anyone, unless they have
evil intentions," Bishop Fisichella told the newspaper.
"She is an interpreter of our times,
raises a sign of alarm on a danger, and asked to speak with the Pope in
a reserved way," he said. "The Pope accepted. There is nothing more to
it."
Although Fallaci "is not a believer,
she has reflected much -- as she said in a recent interview -- on Cardinal
Ratzinger's invitation to nonbelievers to behave 'as if God existed.' A
'brilliant' invitation, as she described it," added Bishop Fisichella.
The 54-year-old prelate, who is
also rector of the Lateran University, said that the journalist's meeting
with the Pope did not have a political character.
"It is set in a cultural horizon.
It forms part of the meetings with learned men and women that Cardinal
Ratzinger always had and that Benedict XVI will continue to have," said
the auxiliary bishop. "Meetings of many kinds: public debates, like the
ones he had with Jürgen Habermas and Paolo Flores d'Arcais; co-authored
publications, like the one he had with Marcello Pera, president of the
Italian Senate; and private meetings which have remained reserved, as this
one with Fallaci should have been."
The meeting was of a private character,
the bishop continued, "because that's as she requested it."
Bishop Fisichella expressed the
hope that Fallaci, "a brilliant writer and extraordinary journalist, will
include Benedict XVI in the list of the great personalities she has interviewed."
