Radio Maria President, Fr. Livio Fanzaga To Critics Of Pope Francis: "Like It, Swallow It – Or Get Out!…"

The Mercy of Radio Maria

by Marco Bongi

“Recently it was necessary for me to do 'a cleanup' with the programme-hosts at Radio Maria. I had to make someone get down from their cathedra and sit them at a school-desk…because it must be very clear: like it, swallow it – or get out…”

It is about 9am on Thursday, March 13, 2014. Not even 24 hours have passed since Professor Mario Palmaro’s funeral. With these words, so full of mercy, Father Livio Fanzaga comments on the news of the day, especially about the first anniversary of Pope Francis’ election.

He carries on commenting with a logic all of his own; about the pastoral ineffectiveness of condemnations; about the need to present the beauty of the Christian life without manifesting sharp judgments; about the importance of the pastoral reflection which the Bishops are engaged in concerning matters of the family.

The contrast between the two parts of his talk (which has been already obvious anyway in all occasions [now] with the new direction [of the Radio]) today appears to be particularly strident. A punch in the stomach takes away my serenity for the rest of the day.

I am thinking of the luminous example of Mario Palmaro, about his splendid and courageous Christian figure, about his faithful perseverance right to the end of his earthly existence. I am thinking about some of the things he wrote in his last letter to the editor of “La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana”, when he mentioned that he hadn’t been able to sleep one night towards the end, when he wondered why Catholics were not capable of shouting their indignation from the roof-tops because of the doctrinal drift of contemporary pastors.

Thinking like this – I am almost on the verge of tears.

But then the “affable” voice of Padre Livio continues his tirade. He moves on to comment a recent book written by the first Argentine Bishop of the Bergoglio era:

“Even in Buenos Aires Cardinal Bergoglio didn’t enjoy the sympathy of the traditionalists . And it’s also the same today here in Italy…dear friends…they are the rigorists, the ethicists, the traditionalists, in a nutshell – Christian ideologists. No need to be surprised. Let’s carry on peacefully, following our Pastors…”

Condemnations, judgments, sentences… what are you saying! The prohibition of such stances is only for the enemies of God, not for good Christians at all!

For them Mercy is “like it, swallow it - or get out!”

Rorate Caeli