Sorry, Benodette, but you're basing your reply on gossip and the usual press reports ...
Basically, you have no evidence for or against her relationship with the Pope and you know it. You are just depending on press reports that took a few remarks, her presence packing the Pope's books, and have spun them into a fantasy.
NewPerspective, I hope you will not mind if I point out that you have also based your own comments
on news reports? I suppose the thing we should observe is that we should place greater reliance on the truly reputable reports ... which is far more than I
can say for this Spiegel article.
Now, I really don't think there is any disputing the comments of Msgr. Georg Ratzinger himself, as well as of Frau Agnes Heindl, concerning Dr. Stampa; these are first-hand comments, and were reported in the, shall we say, reputable press. Also, it is difficult to dispute video footage of Dr. Stampa entering the former apartment of Cardinal Ratzinger, as well as the photographs of her by the side of Msgr. Ratzinger - written press reports such as this lamentable example from Spiegel can be disputed, but photographic evidence is another matter altogether. As for her taking care of transferring his books - well, as a person with a lifelong love of books, I can tell you right now that if my mother and I ever had to move to another house, I would want to be the one to pack up my books; if I did not have the time to do so, the only person I would want to touch them is my mother, and even then I worry that she'll pack up a history book with the theology books and inadvertently throw my arrangements into disarray. To me, the fact that Cardinal Ratzinger - whose love for books is legendary - entrusted his library to Dr. Stampa's capable hands during the transfer of his personal effects to the Apostolic Palace, speaks volumes about his confidence in her as both a capable and efficient assistant, and as a friend who understands him well.
Let's address the comments of Msgr. Ratzinger. It is true that Dr. Stampa does not read to the good Monsignor on a daily basis, and everyone knows that she resides in Rome, and not in Regensburg - naturally, Msgr. Ratzinger would have someone else to perform this task in Regensburg. Be that as it may, it has been extensively reported that it is Dr. Stampa who attends to his needs while he is in Rome, and the very fact that he has spoken of her reading to him - and this is a task that is usually performed by family members; it is, in fact, something I did for my father when he became paralyzed after a stroke - is evidence of a bond of affection and friendship that may certainly be more familial in nature than that of an employer-employee relationship. The fact that she accompanies Msgr. Ratzinger to Castel Gandolfo, where the Pope is in a much more private setting than at the Vatican, speaks volumes about her bond with the Ratzinger brothers. Msgr. Ratzinger could quite easily have asked any one of the Memores Domini women to read to him while he is there with the Pope (or for that matter, when he is at the Vatican) - but it was Dr. Stampa who performed this task, and that tells me how close her relationship is to both of the Ratzinger brothers. I lost my only sister almost 18 years ago, but her closest friends continue to be a part of my life, and have indeed become my good friends also.
The statements of Msgr. Ratzinger's housekeeper, Frau Heindl, are also worthy of consideration. This is a woman who has been in Msgr. Ratzinger's employ - and most probably, in his confidence as well - for quite a number of years. It can be presumed that she is well aware of the Ratzinger brothers' famous desire for privacy, and that she would not so readily make any statements about their private life and their friends; that she should make such a positive statement about Dr. Stampa can well be taken as evidence of her high regard - and most certainly the Ratzinger brothers' esteem - for the lady.
Benodette is right - we should be grateful that the Pope has such a trusted friend, who shares his interests, respects his privacy, cares about his brother, and ultimately has both brothers' welfare at heart. Now, if Benodette's conclusions may be a "fantasy", I daresay that it is a far more logical, to say nothing of plausible,"fantasy" than the ridiculous "vision" conjured up by Alexander Smoltczyk of the "Madame de Pompadour of the Vatican", don't you think?
However, extremely good and saintly men can also have terrible judgment in whom they choose to have around them or whom they profess to admire. Just look at Pope John Paul II's attachment to and public expressions of love for Fr. Marcial Maciel. I'm not saying that something similar is the case with Pope Benedict and Ms. Stampa; however, I'm not putting it in the realm of the utterly impossible that Joseph Ratzinger may have some people around him who are not what they seem.
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So you can perhaps understand why, without knowing much more about a person's character, I'm not so eager to rush to the defense of someone who happens to be associated with bishops who like and admire and support them.
Rcesq, I quite understand your thoughts. May I say, however, that there is most assuredly a world of difference between the case of Ingrid Stampa, who was very much - and continues to be - a part of the Ratzinger brothers' lives for more than fifteen years and who lived and worked in very close proximity to Joseph Ratzinger himself, and that of Fr. Marcial Maciel, who - notwithstanding the great esteem John Paul the Beloved had for him - was definitely not in the company of that beloved Pope 24 hours a day for quite a number of years. I daresay it was not very difficult for Fr. Maciel to conceal the truth about himself from John Paul because of, among other things, the great physical distance between them. Dr. Stampa, on the other hand, was very much a part of Cardinal Ratzinger's household and private life (as well as that of his brother) for at least 14 years prior to his election - it goes without saying that he clearly knew her, and her character (with all its virtues and flaws), very well indeed.
Please do not think, however, that I am excusing what Bishops Niederauer and Soto did (and I do think that the process for evaluating the qualifications of candidates for the episcopacy should definitely be improved, and I can never shake the sensation that my skin is crawling and my stomach is about to reject my lunch (or dinner) whenever I read something about the sex abuse scandals) - or that I disagree with you. I do ask, however, that some consideration be given to the fact that there is still something to be said for being able to vouch for the character of someone you work with seven days a week, and often for almost 24 hours a day, for close to a decade and a half - that was the situation of Cardinal Ratzinger and Dr. Stampa. I think I'll take his word - as well as that of his brother - for it, as far as Dr. Stampa's character is concerned.
That being said, I must say that I certainly have had many long years of experience in working with a boss who had people around her who were not above back-stabbing each other to gain her favor - and these were the people who were supposedly her friends. For almost two decades, I have worked in a large and very complex organization where politics is very much the name of the game, and believe me, I have seen my share of back-stabbing, rumor-mongering, sycophancy and influence-peddling - in recent years, it has become much worse.
However, I have also learned in all my years in this organization, that those people who were truly my boss's friends in every sense of the word, and who really gave a damn about her, were the people who, like Dr. Stampa, preferred to be discreet, low-key and quietly loyal; these are the people who silently carried out her orders, who didn't name-drop her name in other offices of the organization, who didn't involve themselves in office politics, and who didn't back-stab other people in her circle. They were also the people who, although they knew many, many details of her private life, never spoke about what they knew to other people - they protected her privacy, and protected it faithfully and resolutely. So, you'll forgive me if I defend the good Doctor - we may not know everything there is to know about her, but what we do know sounds very much like the handful of decent people I have had the privilege of calling my trusted friends in an organization that most people would be forgiven for calling the "snake pit".
I have no doubt that Pope Benedict is as you describe -- a model of probity, modesty and virtue. Very likely a candidate for sainthood when he gets called to meet the Lord.
And that, my friend, is one of the primary reasons why I defend both Dr. Stampa and the Pope; whatever else we may not know about her character, I think that we know enough about both of them to be disgusted - I know I am - at the very idea of her being referred to as "Madame de Pompadour of the Vatican", and all that that title implies about her relationship with the Pope. Whatever else some people may say about Dr. Stampa, given the very nature of who and what Madame de Pompadour was, this "title" that has been so thoughtlessly attached to Dr. Stampa is most definitely an insult - and a particularly ugly one at that - to the Pope, as well as to her. Everyone knows who Madame de Pompadour was: a courtesan - and everyone knows the nature of her relationship with Louis XV. By attaching this "title", along with all its scandalous and prurient implications, to Dr. Stampa, should we presume that Alexander Smoltczyk is implying that there is a similar relationship between her and the Pope? Can anyone honestly say that Benedict XVI, who is quite palpably a man of great saintliness and holiness, and a paragon of dignity, integrity and decency, could ever be in such an indecent relationship?
I could probably stomach "The First Lady of the Vatican", because there are at least instances in history when a First Lady was not a wife, but a daughter, a sister or a niece - there are quite a few precedents for this in US history, as well as in the history of my own country. But "Madame de Pompadour of the Vatican"? I can't believe that Smoltczyk would be as ignorant of history as that!
It's a cheap shot, a very cheap shot indeed.
Apart from anything else, the Apostolic Palace is crawling with people and it is very unlikely that anyone could have some really private time in
there. In any case, how safe can you get? If a lady is playing the violin or the viola da gamba surely she is fully occupied. Those four laywomen could be much
more problematic - they could all pounce at once when GG is out! Surely the Pope should have proper nuns in full habit and wimples taking care of his
apartment. But four laywomen, and in makeup too - "it ain't fittin', it just ain't fittin'."
). I do believe that he would instinctively
observe all the norms of propriety, especially in his household, and would certainly expect the people in it to do the same, don't you think?
