Well, this is interesting. Last month the Argentinian government revealed what purported to be a letter from the Pope to the President of Argentina, and the letter promptly was revealed to be a fake:
“I can’t believe it. This forgery has been done with a lot of malice.”
Go here to read the rest at the Buenos Aires Herald. Tip to governments receiving a purported letter from the Pope: a call to the Vatican to verify the letter before announcing it might be a very good idea indeed!
Surely such a letter, if genuine, would have been delivered through the normal diplomatic channels, that is, delivered to the Argentinian ambassador by the Cardinal Secretary of State, or by the Papal Nuncio to the Argentinian Foreign Secretary?
Under almost any other recent pope, most assuredly. With Pope Francis I can imagine him simply deciding to send a letter to a head of state through ordinary mail.
“I can imagine him simply deciding to send a letter to a head of state through ordinary mail.”
Oh, Dear! Sounds like a recipe for a Dépêche d’Ems, although I suppose it has the merit of plausible deniability.
If the Pope continues to fail to act as the Monarch that he is by virtue of his position as Pope, then these problems will continue to get worse. This idea that he has of having to have the smell of the people, while seemingly laudable for its apparent piety and humility, actually teaches people to disrespect authority.
A letter all in caps and no BS detector went off?
At least Mike it was not on Dukes of Hazzard stationary!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1217529/posts
Yeah!!! This is totally not the pope’s doing. He certainly would have phoned her instead……..
My sister-in-law is Argentinian, now living back in Pasadas looking after her mother after the death of my brother. The Kirchner’s are liars and despicable cheats, and use their henchmen to suppress their people. They are extreme socialists, so why is anyone surprised at this? They will do anything to hold onto power, and in so doing, are turning Argentina into a cesspit.
I remember reading many years ago, that if the Japanese owned or had Argentina as their own land, it would be so prosperous that it would make the USA look like a poor cousin. 🙂