"Perge modo et qua te ducit via dirige gressum," said Venus to Aeneas.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Today on Bilerico: "We Can Forgive, But Can We Forget?"
While I was writing this, I was remembering the story about that fascinating queen cardinal from the first half of the twentieth century, Rafael Merry del Val. He wanted to become pope. He had an Italian rival. He did everything he could to kill the career of his rival but the guy kept getting promoted. When the pope died and the cardinals voted in a new pope, the winner was not Cardinal Merry del Val but his rival! There is a ritual immediately following the election of the new pope before the cardinals exit the Sistine Chapel. Each cardinal kneels before the new pope and kisses his open palms. When Merry del Val knelt before his rival, the new pope whispered "We can forgive but we cannot forget."
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4 comments:
I don't doubt your word for a second about Merry del Val's sexuality. He's always intrigued me. However, to satisfy my curiosity, do you have any links or further comments that would confirm this?
Dear edfu,
Somewhere on a bookshelf faraway, I think I have a bio of Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val y Zulueta. I'll ask the bad laamb to check for it. I don't remember what it is called, but it may be titled all or part of his laughable saying "Give me souls! Take all the rest away!". Laughable because he displayed an inordinate interest in "the rest".
Seminaries had great libraries. Despite the attractions of Rome, I'd spend many a night wandering the stacks and acquiring the truth about Church history. I learned much more that way than I ever did at the Gregorian.
Could it be this?
Give me souls; a life of Raphael Cardinal Merry del Val. Westminster, Md.: Newman Press, 1958
Don, That could be it. I think the dust cover is red and white with a photo of Mary in his finery.
I think I have it somewhere in Connecticut.
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