Vatican secret speech revealed

The Vatican insider Sandro Magister has done it again. This time, the journalist for the Italian daily L’Espresso gives his readers a glimpse into Cardinal Biffi’s forthcoming autobiography and reveals the speech the cardinal delivered at the Conclave to the future Pope Benedict XVI.

On Friday, Magister’s article entitled, “Before the Last Conclave: ‘What I Told the Future Pope’” will explore the autobiography of Cardinal Giacomo Biffi which is set to hit bookstores in time for his 80th birthday (June 13). The book is called, "Memorie e digressioni di un italiano cardinale [Memories and Digressions of an Italian Cardinal]."

Biffi’s legacy is mostly tied to his years as the archbishop of Bologna (1984 to 2003), but according to Magister, “he reviews his entire life, from his birth in working-class Milan to when he became a priest, then a professor of theology, a pastor, a bishop, and finally a cardinal.”

The Vatican watcher goes on to call Cardinal Biffi's memoirs “obligatory reading for those who want to survey the current conditions of the Church from a viewpoint that is outside of the standard interpretations, and at the same time authoritative.”

Magister’s article includes the cardinal’s strong judgments on John XXIII, Vatican Council II and its repercussions, the "mea culpas" of John Paul II and the previously secret speech that Cardinal Biffi made to the future Pope Benedict XVI.

To view Sandro Magister’s article go to:  Chiesa