Funeral Priebke - Interview with Fr Pierpaolo Petrucci
Marco Bongi
Rev. Don Pierpaolo ,a few days back there was media " storm " relaetd to the funeral of the former commander Erich Priebke , one of the authors of the terrible massacre of the Fosse Ardeatine.We seek to finally dispel the controversy and exploitation. There have been in fact, in those heated days , superficial information. Let us try to clarify.
D.1 - When and by whom have you been asked to celebrate the funeral of the deceased ?
R. On Monday morning, the lawyer appointed by the family to take care of the funeral phoned us to ask our readiness for the funeral set at Tuesday, October 15 , with all the necessary authorizations from the civil authorities . The ceremony was to be celebrated in private and to be a purely religious act , without any emphasis or media or ideological manipulation. For this it was necessary to exercise the greatest discretion we scrupulously observed it .
D. 2 - Why , in front of the ban imposed by the Vicariate of Rome , you have allowed the celebration ? R. The refusal of the vicariate for a funeral tobe grant to a baptized person who has received the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist , whatever were his faults and sins , is not consistent with the law of the Church and to Catholic doctrine . After learning that Priebke had been baptized and received the sacraments , this act(of the Vicariate) we thought was a serious injustice to the deceased and the family. We also wanted there to be a gesture of reparation and respect of equal weight.
D. 3 - Almost all the news organizations have reported that Erik Priebke never repented of his conduct displayed during the Second World War. The press release of the Fraternity instead refers to a Catholic who died after being reconciled with God. Can you explain how things really are ? R. There seems to be a willingness to cultivate hatred by a section of the Press who claim the right to determine who can and who can not be forgiven , dictating laws to the Church. They impose their criteria on who has the right to a religious funeral and decide to expose those who do not want to bend to a media lynching.
Erich Priebke , baptized a Protestant, converted to Catholicism after the war. He converted with his wife and was baptized with his children.During his life he followed Catholic teaching under several priests. During his imprisonment, under house arrest in 2002, he applied for and obtained the chance to attend Holy Mass. Until the end of his life he would regularly receive the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist .
On his return to Italy , during the public hearing before the Military Tribunal of Rome held on April 3, 1996, he read a letter in front of the families of the victims in which he expressed his condolences.He regretted the horrific act of obedience that he had to follow under the circumstances : "I feel from my heart the need to express my condolences for the pain of the relatives of the victims of the Fosse Ardeatine .... As a believer, I have never forgotten this tragic event , for me the order to participate in that action was a great tragedy ... I think of the dead with veneration and I feel united with the living in their grief ."
In his last interview given last July, in the midst of historical considerations is certainly questionable, there are moral considerations of the utmost importance. They are those that affect a priest . When asked by the reporter who asks him if he justifies anti-Semitism , Priebke replies: "No (...) I repeat anti Semitism, is indiscriminate hate (...) as an old man deprived of his liberty , I have always rejected hate. I do not even want to hate those who hated me . I speak only of the right to criticize and explain the reasons for it . "
Marco Bongi
Rev. Don Pierpaolo ,a few days back there was media " storm " relaetd to the funeral of the former commander Erich Priebke , one of the authors of the terrible massacre of the Fosse Ardeatine.We seek to finally dispel the controversy and exploitation. There have been in fact, in those heated days , superficial information. Let us try to clarify.
D.1 - When and by whom have you been asked to celebrate the funeral of the deceased ?
R. On Monday morning, the lawyer appointed by the family to take care of the funeral phoned us to ask our readiness for the funeral set at Tuesday, October 15 , with all the necessary authorizations from the civil authorities . The ceremony was to be celebrated in private and to be a purely religious act , without any emphasis or media or ideological manipulation. For this it was necessary to exercise the greatest discretion we scrupulously observed it .
D. 2 - Why , in front of the ban imposed by the Vicariate of Rome , you have allowed the celebration ? R. The refusal of the vicariate for a funeral tobe grant to a baptized person who has received the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist , whatever were his faults and sins , is not consistent with the law of the Church and to Catholic doctrine . After learning that Priebke had been baptized and received the sacraments , this act(of the Vicariate) we thought was a serious injustice to the deceased and the family. We also wanted there to be a gesture of reparation and respect of equal weight.
D. 3 - Almost all the news organizations have reported that Erik Priebke never repented of his conduct displayed during the Second World War. The press release of the Fraternity instead refers to a Catholic who died after being reconciled with God. Can you explain how things really are ? R. There seems to be a willingness to cultivate hatred by a section of the Press who claim the right to determine who can and who can not be forgiven , dictating laws to the Church. They impose their criteria on who has the right to a religious funeral and decide to expose those who do not want to bend to a media lynching.
Erich Priebke , baptized a Protestant, converted to Catholicism after the war. He converted with his wife and was baptized with his children.During his life he followed Catholic teaching under several priests. During his imprisonment, under house arrest in 2002, he applied for and obtained the chance to attend Holy Mass. Until the end of his life he would regularly receive the sacraments of Confession and the Eucharist .
On his return to Italy , during the public hearing before the Military Tribunal of Rome held on April 3, 1996, he read a letter in front of the families of the victims in which he expressed his condolences.He regretted the horrific act of obedience that he had to follow under the circumstances : "I feel from my heart the need to express my condolences for the pain of the relatives of the victims of the Fosse Ardeatine .... As a believer, I have never forgotten this tragic event , for me the order to participate in that action was a great tragedy ... I think of the dead with veneration and I feel united with the living in their grief ."
In his last interview given last July, in the midst of historical considerations is certainly questionable, there are moral considerations of the utmost importance. They are those that affect a priest . When asked by the reporter who asks him if he justifies anti-Semitism , Priebke replies: "No (...) I repeat anti Semitism, is indiscriminate hate (...) as an old man deprived of his liberty , I have always rejected hate. I do not even want to hate those who hated me . I speak only of the right to criticize and explain the reasons for it . "
Message incomplete
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