Sandro the Prolific

Capping a week of mind-blowing flow, Magister rides again with a piece on Monday's encounter with the priests at Introd.

Of the addresses delivered until now by Benedict XVI, one stands out as entirely special. The pope did not write it, but improvised it, speaking off the cuff. He made his remarks behind closed doors during his vacation in the Alps, at the little church of Introd, in the presence of the bishop and priests of the diocese of Aosta. It was not released by the Vatican press office, but appeared two days later, on July 27, in "L'Osservatore Romano" and on the website of the Holy See, exclusively in Italian, in a transcript from the tape recording.

It is an address of great interest, because it permits getting a live reading on some of the questions closest to the heart of Joseph Ratzinger. They are the questions on which his reflections emerge spontaneously, on which his vision is clear, with startling features. And there are questions for which he admits to not having definitive answers.

As for the last part, let us remember the sage words, "Il Papa non e' un oracolo" -- and don't dare render the last word as "prophet."

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