sábado, 27 de febrero de 2010

Crítica a mi libro 'The Entity' en Los Ángeles Times

On reflection, though, mitigating considerations arose, such as the reputation of the publisher, the respectability of the author's acknowledgments, and the thoroughness of his notes, bibliography, list of archives consulted, and index. Was the Vatican II of Pope John XXIII sabotaged because it was attempting to address imaginary problems? Was its demise suicide or ecclesiastical assassination? As I read on, it became clear that "The Entity" was no sensational Vatican expose; the author never ventured into the private lives or sexual preferences of the Popes; their mistresses, male lovers, or illigitimate children were beneath notice. Frattini was a responsible journalist who dared to disclose political skeletons too long hidden in the cloak of taboo and pontifical secrecy, often with the tacit aid of secular authorities whose interests this served. Readers can benefit from the following reviewer's comments: "The Holy Alliance, later 'The Entity', a secret spy service, has been used by the Vatican for over five centuries to carry out its will. Forty popes have relied on it to carry out their policies. Yet it has played a hitherto invisible role while it has been involved in de-Christianisations and schisms, revolutions and dictators, colonialisations and expulsions, persecutions and attacks, civil wars and world wars, assassinations and kidnappings. For the first time in English, Eric Frattini tells the comprehensive tale of this sacred secret service and its involvement in the killings of monarchs, poisonings of diplomats, financing of South American dictators, protection of war criminals, laundering of mafia money, manipulation of financial markets, provocation of bank failures, and financing of arms sales to combatants even as their wars were condemned, all in the name of God. As remarkable as it is powerful, the history of this organisation that holds the motto 'With the Cross and the Sword' will shock and amaze." If the above is not enough, Frattini recounts how the Wikipedia Scanner reveals Vatican rewrites of articles to whitewash its image. He details Vatican attempts to besmirch the reputation of Amnesty International because its stance on the protection of women is at odds with Vatican ideology on abortion. But the Vatican is an organization, Frattini notes, which has canonized such intolerant agents of injustice and self-interest as Popes Pius V and X, formally declaring them saints. Perhaps the most telling part of Frattini's account is how the activity of The Entity (The Holy Alliance) just about ceased during the pontificate of John XXIII, one of the very few popes to put the Gospel ahead of his church, only to resume again during the pontificate of Paul VI, when the Gospel (and Vatican II) was put into the back seat to accommodate the banking interests of the Vatican and aggrandize its kingdom of this world. What emerges at the end of the long dark tale are the outlines of a political organization (the Vatican) masquerading as the church which it has gained control of (the Roman Catholic Church) and maintaining that control by any means it can in the name of a gospel which it does not understand, and a Jesus in whom it does not believe, to perpetuate the kingdom of this world which it has created. Such a kingdom brought Jesus to the cross and the grave; but Jesus lives, while that kingdom has crumbled. It is a pity so little of Frattini's work is available in English!

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