John Allen Receives a Mild Rebuke for His Speculation on Who the Vatican Supports for US President

From Cardinal Martino...



As reported in Allen's Word for Rome in NCR:

Your e-mail message, received here on 15 October, left me as confused as

the original article, published on 8 October. You wrote that your "analysis was

based on wide conversations with people at all levels, along with a reading of

the public record." And I have to wonder, "To whom did you speak, and what did

you glean from that 'public record?"



While I have made statements against the war in Iraq it would be

inappropriate for me, any member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

or any other official of the curia to make statements in favor or against any

particular political candidate.



I believe that your article did grave damage to the understanding of

your readers. They have been led to believe that certain offices and officials

within the Roman Curia have actually committed themselves to support one

candidate over the other. While I am certain that many have personal opinions

about particular candidates, these could never be an official reflection of or

interpreted as the position of all those who work within a certain congregation,

pontifical council or the Secretariat of State nor that of the offices

themselves.



To say that a particular office was more supportive of President Bush

or Senator Kerry is a sort of accusation that those working within an office

have taken sides in the partisan politics of the democratic process. Nothing

could be further from the truth, at least as far as this pontifical council is

concerned. At the same time, this pontifical council cannot and will not remain

silent in the face of positions taken or policies espoused by any politician or

political candidate, especially when those issues touch upon subjects that fall

within the competencies and responsibilities of the Council for Justice and

Peace.



As far as public statements are concerned, some issues may indeed

outweigh others. However, it must go without saying that the Pontifical Council

for Justice and Peace will never shrink from its responsibility to preach the

message of the Gospel or call attention to those situations in the world where

the tenants of justice and peace are violated.