A Vibrant Holy Week for the Vatican Aristocracy

Ratzinger gets the Easter vigil, to Sodano goes the “Urbi et Orbi,” to Ruini the Palm Sunday procession... These ceremonies unveil the power structure. But John Paul II is still at the helm

by Sandro Magister

The choice of the word "Aristocracy" is a poor one, I think. I know of no faithful, committed Catholic who would view the hierarchy as an "aristocracy".

I noticed this bit in the article, of which I was unaware:

Now more than ever, the leading Vatican authorities are teaming up. There is a comparison to be made with the last years of Pius XII, a pope who concentrated power in himself to such an extent that he didn’t even name a secretary of state. When he fell ill, he let everything fall apart: it is no accident that the following conclave, from which John XXIII finally emerged, was the longest and most confused of the century. It’s different with Pope Wojtyla. He has always entrusted ordinary governance to others, and it’s still that way. There are just a very few things, all his own, that drive this pope. World Youth Day is one of these. The next one will be in Cologne, Germany in August, and he wants to be there at all costs. In the meantime, he has asked that for Palm Sunday on March 20 the young people begin to fill up Saint Peter’s Square. (my emphasis)

More here.