Is the new ‘interview’ a further example of Pope Francis’s parallel press office?
By Diane Montagna, LifeSiteNews, January 21, 2020
ROME, January 21, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) — Eugenio Scalfari’s latest “interview” with Pope Francis, which came out at the height of the recent Benedict XVI-Cardinal Sarah book controversy, was a “loose reconstruction” of the Italian journalist’s recollection of the meeting, the Vatican has said.
In the January 16 “interview,” published in the left-leaning Italian daily La Repubblica, 95-year-old Scalfari, who is regarded as Francis’s preferred interviewer, portrayed “From the Depths of Our Hearts” as an opposition campaign launched by Cardinal Robert Sarah against the current pontificate. He also claimed that, for Francis, once Benedict had shown solidarity with him by reportedly denying co-authorship of the book, “the issue with Ratzinger was closed.”
The “interview”
La Repubblica featured its co-founder’s latest “interview” with the pontiff on page 2, with the headline: “Pope Francis: Case Closed with Ratzinger. Scalfari in conversation with Bergoglio after the controversy on priestly celibacy.” ….