Vatican communications chief resigns after Benedict letter controversy

A key Vatican official has resigned today after mishandling a letter written by former Pope Benedict.

Monsignor Dario Vigano, Prefect of the Secretariat for Communication, has faced sharp criticism this past week for blurring part of a photograph of a letter authored by the former Pope, and for also withholding another section of it to the public.

The letter was written for the March 12 presentation of a Vatican-published 11-booklet series examining the theology of Pope Francis, but Msgr Vigano did not read the full letter publicly, and an image of it sent to the media focused only on part of the letter.

In the letter, Benedict praises the series, saying the books oppose and react to a “foolish prejudice” that Francis is “just a practical man without particular theological or philosophical formation”.

The books rightly show, the former Pope added, that Pope Francis is a man of “profound philosophical and theological formation”, and help demonstrate “the inner continuity between the two pontificates, despite all the differences of style and temperament”.

However, the extracts from the letter originally published by Msgr Vigano omitted how Benedict had not read the 11 volumes thoroughly, owing to “physical reasons” and other commitments, and had noted with “surprise” how one volume of The Theology of Pope Francis series had been authored by a German theologian, Fr Peter Hünermann, who he said had “distinguished himself by leading anti-papal initiatives” and had “virulently attacked the magisterial authority of the Pope, especially on questions of moral theology”.

Although a March 17 statement from the Secretariat for Communication said the original choice to withhold some of the letter’s content was made for reasons of privacy, and that there had been no “intent of censorship”, Msgr Vigano has asked to be “set aside” believing controversy surrounding his work was destabilising the project to reform Vatican communications.

Pope Francis has accepted the resignation, stating: “Following our most recent encounters and after having reflected at length and attentively considered the motivations of your request to make ‘make a step backwards’ from direct responsibility for the Dicastery for Communications, I respect your decision and I welcome, not without some struggle, your resignation.”

There is speculation that Dublin’s Bishop Paul Tighe, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Culture, will succeed Msgr Vigano.