Assails Verbal Attack on Pope
VATICAN CITY, MAY 3, 2007 (Zenit.org).- A Vatican spokesman, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, says a comment referring to Benedict XVI at a traditional May Day concert was an irresponsible act.
The traditional concert is sponsored by Italy's labor unions and held outside of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.
Andrea Rivera, one of the presenters on Tuesday, said, among other things, "The Pope does not believe in evolutionism," because "the Church has never evolved."
Father Lombardi said Wednesday, on the television news of the Italian state broadcaster, that "the irreverent comments directed at the Pope and the Church during the May Day concert were clearly an act of irresponsibility. It is right to say so, and the trade union representatives were right to dissociate themselves" from those comments.
Wednesday's edition of the semiofficial Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, criticized the comments by saying "it is a contemptible and terroristic act to throw stones, this time even against the Pope, while feeling protected by cries of approval from an easily excitable crowd."
Father Lombardi, agreeing with both Giorgio Napolitano, president of Italy, and Cardinal Tarciso Bertone, Vatican secretary of state, clarified: "It would be as well for all of us to seek to diffuse tensions and to re-create conditions for serene dialogue in our society.
"In this way, it is right that what was an evident act of foolishness should not become a tragedy and an opportunity to reignite huge conflicts."
Code: ZE07050315
Date: 2007-05-03