The founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio busies himself at the center of the Italian political scene, with the apparent blessing of Benedict XVI. But the performance has its disturbances offstage. The curtain is raised on them here
by Sandro Magister
ROME, January 10, 2013 – Every time Benedict XVI speaks out against marriage between homosexuals, he is immediately besieged with criticism. But the last time he did so, in the annual pre-Christmas address to the curia, this did not happen. Everybody silent. Acting as shield for the pope was the chief rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, whom he cited in support of his own ideas. And none of the opinionists on the other side felt like taking aim against a luminary of European Judaism, in addition to the head of the Catholic Church. In effect, the French case is teaching a lesson beyond its borders, in the battle for and against what the Church calls “nonnegotiable principles,” central among which is marriage between man and woman.
