"Holy At Last"

For those interested in the people and personalities who make up the court of Benedict XVI, the current Vanity Fair contains a very notable profile on Princess Gloria von Thurn und Taxis.

(...and where'd you hear about her before?)

Many of you love TNT, as she's affectionately known, for her Christmas gift of the ermine mozzetta and camauro to her longtime friend, now Pope. The even-more-legendary blue tracksuits, too, are said to be her doing.

The piece draws a broad sweep, from Gloria's wild-child past, her role in the resurrection of the dynasty's fortunes, into her evolution as papal confidante. (As an example of the article's depth, the Institute of Christ the King, Sovereign Priest -- a favored cause of the furstin's -- comes up... and at several points, no less.)

You'll have to buy the mag for more -- the text isn't available online -- but here's a money quote straight from the princess on how she views the Pope's liturgical mind:

"[Ratzinger] understood that the Second Vatican Council had gone too far, and that now we had a happy-clappy situation with guitars and drums and people gathering around the altar and yelling. The cardinal felt that people who believed in the old traditions needed to have an existence in the Church, too."

Coming from someone who probably knows what Ratzi thinks better than his own Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, it makes for a very. interesting. statement.

-30-