MICHELA CESCON FILMOGRAFIA

With all due respect to the vebrnaele memory of Blessed Pope John Paul II, I must say that it is rather difficult for me to imagine that the late pope simply didn't want any of the liturgical novelties he presided over for decades to happen, and that they were all just foisted upon him by his Master of Ceremonies (a claim I have often heard and read). If the pope did not approve of what was going on at his own liturgies (not to mention everywhere else), then why did he consent to all of it? Not just once, or twice, but consistently, for over a quarter of a century? I cannot imagine that it was just a matter of the pope allowing Archbishop Marini to get away with doing things that were contrary to his own liturgical sensibilities. Why would the pope allow his MC to publicly contradict his actual wishes over and over again? That makes no sense to me. At some point, early on, he would have told his MC that he did not approve of what was going on and would have given instructions to begin correcting things. I have to believe that Pope John Paul II's liturgical vision for the Church was accurately revealed by the liturgies he celebrated. I don't believe his true vision was hidden by them. The alternative supposition that Bl. John Paul II was actually a liturgically traditional pope who was just a helpless puppet and victim of a sinister MC is just unrealistic, to me. So for that MC to come out in a book and write, you know, the pope himself wanted all of this, doesn't necessarily strike me as sour grapes as much as it strikes me as well stating the obvious. I never imagined otherwise.