More On Wacko Italian Students Protesting Pope Benedict

I posted yesterday on the wild Radicals at Rome's oldest University that is protesting the Pope's visit here at Wacko Leftist Italian Students Pledge-We Shall Not Allow The Pope To Enter!!! Well on the same Ratizinger Forum thread that is in that entry they have posted more updates on the crazy antics of those darn college kids. Here is the latest from the Italian Press. I will again put the comments of the forum commentators in red italics.

BEWARE! THEY ARE OUT TO GET THE POPE!
by RENATO FARINA

More on the scandalous developments at La Sapienza, translated today from Libero:

Ignorance reigns among the so-called scientists of La Sapienza University in Rome. Altogether, 67 professors (out of more than 5,000) wish to prevent the Pope from speaking there, to keep him from even entering the university on Thursday to inaugurate the academic year.

Those who have signed the appeal are almost all physicists who claim that he is an alien, an obscurantist, who has spoken badly of Galileo, and continues to defend a condemnation he made 17 years ago. This last one is an obvious lie, as we shall see.

It was the university rector who had wanted the Pope to speak at La Sapienza. His original idea was that the Holy Father would give the opening lectio magistralis that would set the tone for the academic year.

But with the objections, it appeared that would be giving too much honor to just someone called Ratzinger. And the rector, though still insisting on inviting the Pope, gave in to pressures and has given him fourth place among the the speakers for the day. Preceded by that illustrious graduate of the Normal School at Pisa, Fabio Mussi, now Minister of Research and Universities, by Mayor Walter Veltroni, [and by a professor who will deliver the lectio magistralis on the death penalty].

The Pope, a humble man, has not objected. He has debated men like Habermas, he has been a professor in the best German universities, but he has agreed to follow in the heels of lesser people. Ah, but Mussi and Veltroni, these two 'scienziatoni' [presumed scientists] have all the approval of the protesting professors. [I disagree, however, that Mussi and Veltroni be criticized in this way for something that is not their fault at all!]

Still, the latter have not been content with winning this round. They have also summoned troops to bolster their protest.

Not just leftist students who share their agenda, but also veterans of anti-globalization protests who have been beating all their drums on the Internet to round up more forces to create an anti-Papal show on Thursday. The forces of public order are on alert.

The Pope has not backed down. Cardinal Ruini has assured him of a proper welcome: there will be thousands of professors and students happy to welcome him. Papa Ratzinger will be there. And he won't be in armor.

He is thinking, perhaps, that once again, this is like the early centuries of the church. Saul of Tarsus, whio had become the Apostle Paul, spoke at the Areopagus of Athens, provoking the scorn of supposedly learned men. The Pope sees himself in the same position. The early centuries were a prophecy of the latest ones.

But first, a few observations. Above all, about La Repubblica, the newspaper which has promoted and echoed this desire to cleanse the universities - and therefore, the cultural space - of the presence of the Pope.

Yesterday, it published without opposition unbelievable anti-Papal texts reminiscent of racial purging frenzy. The 'moral' was expressed by one Carlo Cosmelli, who wrote: "The anti-science accusations which this Pope made while he was a cardinal have been repeated in his last encyclical. He is convinced that when scientific truth opposes that which is 'revealed', then the first should give in. This cannot be accepted in a scientific community".

The big lie is evident. This Pope has asked tor the 'widening' of reason (Regensburg, Sept. 12, 2006) and he challenges the questionable uses of science, not the need for it.

But from their earlier statements, these scientists are accusing the Pope on the basis of a speech he made in 1990, when he quoted Feyerabend, who had said, "The proceedings of the Church against Galileo were reasonable and just". [Austrian Paul Feyerabend, 1924-1994, was one of the most famous philosophers of science of the 20th century, who was controversial because he claimed that there is no single methodological rule for scientists, that scientific progress could come only if scientists used the method that best suited their purpose.]

It appears the protestors simply drew the quotation from the Internet without looking at the entire speech in which it was used, nor the entire statement made by Feyerabend. Ratzinger was explaining how even Ernst Bloch and many other modern philosophers had been re-evaluating the attitude of the Church towards Galileo.

[NB: The speech entitled "Crisis of Faith in Science' was delivered by Cardinal Ratzinger at the University of Parma in March 1990 and appears in the book Svolta per l'Europa? Chiesa e modernità nell'Europa dei rivolgimenti (A critical turn for Europe? The Church and modernity in a fast-changing Europe), published in Rome in 1992. Thanks to Lella, who posts the entire speech on her blog (I will translate it later).

Obviously, the protesting scientists should had have the common sense to look up the entire speech and not to base their entire ridiculous protest on an isolated and partial quote picked up from the Internet. And they call themselves scientists!

The entire quotation from Feyerabend cited by the Pope reads in translation: "The Church in the time of Galileo held to reason more than Galileo himself, and took into consideration even the ethical and social consequences of the Galilean doctrine. Its sentence against Galileo was rational and just, and only reasons of political opportunism would legitimize a review of it."

Feyerabend was one of many modern intellectuals the cardinal cited in arguing the need for a serious consideration of science and its implications in today's society.]

But it's not worth the trouble to argue with those who are simply looking for a pretext for their intolerance. It would be enough for us if they just applied the par condicio [Latin term for 'equal status' used to call an Italian law which requires TV stations to grant 'equal time' to political parties during a campaign period].

There is a subset of Christophobia that is dominant in some Italian intellectual circles: it is an almost Neronian hate which is also expressed in a concerned and solicitous love for Muslims, including the extremists.

In June 2006, La Sapienza was one of five Italian universities which signed an agreement to create an Italian-Egyptian academic committee "of comparative studies on the progress of humanistic sciences in the Mediterranean" with the Islamic University of Al-Azhar in Cairo, which is like the Vatican for the world of Sunni Islam.

The agreement was signed in the presence of the Sheikh of Al-Azhar, Mohammed Sayed al Tantawi, considered the supreme theological authority of Sunni Islam. Tantawi has written fatwas to justify Palestinian suicide bombers and to 'sanctify' the death penalty for Muslims who convert to Christianity, and boasts of these openly.

Obviously, for the professors of La Sapienza, it does not matter. Oh no, not even a peep of protest. Al Tantawi, yes. Ratzinger, no!

This is what we have come to in Italian universities. If there had to be a criterion for selecting university professors, they should all be suspended from teaching.

Just imagine! They have already half succeeded in their project - having 'reduced' the Pope to the level of Mussi and Veltroni. Yet they are not content, even with having Ezio Mauro (editor in chief) of La Repubblica on their side. They want to silence him from public discourse altogether.

This was SOP during the Nazi era with persons who thought differently from the regime. Now it is happening in Rome, Italy.

Libero, 13 gennaio 2008

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Today, at least, a news item in Repubblica did give 'equal time' on the issue, quoting politicians on both sides of the fence, even if the headline was still malicious:

The Pope splits the coalition
By GIOVANNA VITALE


ROME - Benedict XVI will inaugurate the academic year at La Sapienza University, a group of professors has signed an appeal to revoke that invitation to someone "who still considers the Church proceedings against Galileo justified", and the coalition [constituting the government of Prime Minister Prodi] is split.

"I am horrified," says Senator Giorgio Tonini of the new Partido Democrata [headed by Mayor Walter Veltroni].

"We are speaking here of Joseph Ratzinger, an illustrious academic who is also the Pope, one of the most respected minds in Europe. For which I am awaiting his speech with great intellectual curiosity, because it will certainly be of the highest level.

"But that there could be professors who want to boycott him, expressing hostility and a refusal to confront him at his level is one of the signs of the tragic crisis in Italian universities."

But the secularist Enrico Boselli says "The decision of the academic Senate [to make the Pope the last of four speakers for the occasion]was correct": but so is the "freedom to optpose i".

"Ratzinger's positions on the limits to be placed on science and research are clear and controversial. So no one should be surprised if unpleasant things are said about the Pope."

That's a euphemism, considering the reception that some student organizations are planning for Thursday: a assault of sound at the Aula Magna [where the Pope will speak], 'magisterial lectures' to be held by comedians like Andrea Rivera and the Osiris Band, and even a 'frocessione' [a play of words, from 'froccio', the Italian term for gay].

Justice Minister Clemente Mastella, a devout Catholic, said: "Stupidity has no horizons nor age. But those who hold different opinions should respect others. Culture is confrontation. Knowledge is not the permanent possession of anyone, but a continuous challenge. Among other things, Joseph Ratzinger is not only Pope and Bishop of Rome, he is also a most distinguished academic."

But the head of a Green Party-Communist coalition in the Senate, Manuela Palermi, said. "I think Benedict XVI should should reflect on this: If a place of culture like La Sapienza objects in this way to his visit, it means that something is wrong somewhere." [Something definitely is wrong with her, because first, the protest comes only from the leftists, and second, because the entire episode itself casts great doubt on whether La Sapienza is indeed 'a place of culture'!]

Senator Paola Binetti, a Catholic, of the Margherita party, said: "It was the Church, many centuries ago, that founded La Sapienza. Reasons of tradition and culture alone justify the Pope's presence there. But even those who do not share his views can certainly use the occasion to listen to some elevated thinking."

An opposition senator, Massimiliano Smeriglio, answered: "The university is the realm of science and secularism. To invite Ratzinger, who is the promoter of an obscurantist politico-cultural offensive, was a mistake."

Repubblica, 13 gennaio 2008

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And a situationer from ANSA today, translated here:


Uproar over the Pope's
university visit


ROME, Jan. 13 (ANSA)- The atmosphere at La Sapienza University is heating up in expectation of a visit by Pope Benedict XVI, who has been invited to attend the inaugural ceremonies for the academic year on Thursday.

An anti-Ratzinger front has been set up by some student organizations and a small group of professors who have said they "dislike the Pope because he is too reactionary" and have signed an appeal asking that the university's 'disconcerting' invitation to the Pope be recalled.

But other student groups and politicians who oppose them have started to make themselves heard. [Gee, I wonder why none of the other 4,937 professors who didn't sign the petition have not been heard from!]]

Parliamentary deputy Francesco Giro, who is also regional coordinator for Lazio of Forza Italia [former Prime Minister Berlusconi's party], has said the anti-Pope initiative "had been set into motion by a small squad of professors from the science faculties" inspired by "the climate of absolute intolerance and ideological fury which has been evident for several years in Rome" for which 'thhose who administer and lead us are responsible".

Student members of Azione Universitaria have made known that "they will welcome Pope Benedict XVI with enthusiasm and warmth at the inauguration of the academic year."

Through their national president Giovanni Donzelli, they also stated: "The doors of the University will always be open for him. But these doors should be closed instead for those professors who, instigating hate and conflict, would transform Italian universities into places of anti-Catholic extremism that would be the envy of Iranian universities."

But some of Papa Ratzinger's critics are animated by other motives. Like the Physics Collective which is among the organizers of the 'anti-clerical week' - four days of protests at La Sapienza which starts tomorrow, Monday, with the showing of the film 'Life of Galileo' at the Department of Physics, and will culminate in the 'assault of sound' which they plan Thursday morning to 'greet' 'Ratzinger, Mussi and Veltroni' at the University's Piazzale Aldo Moro.

"To all those who want a public participatory university and a secular society," says a statement from the group called Facciamo Breccia ("Let us make a breach"), "we propose to make January 17 a day of counter-inauguration...to greet a Pope who is the author of strong cultural retrogression...affirms anachronistic dogmas...attacks free scientific though and proposes obligatory heterosexuality."