A few days ago I got a note from a reader that, on the Vatican website, it was no longer possible to access the documents of Pope Ratti, Pius XI (1922-39). Immediately, I thought, “AH HAH!” “Ah hah! …”, what? … wasn’t exactly clear, but I thought, “AH HAH!”
Pius XI wrote hard hitting stuff that didn’t mince words. I’ve done a couple of podcasts about his documents, including about Mortalium animos, which concerns ecumenism. Was that why he was removed? Hmmmmm…. conspiracy.
Since discovering this mysterious lacuna, I occasionally checked the Vatican website to see if Pius XI’s would be reinstated, if perchance their disappearance was just another tech mess up. It’s, by the way, ironic that he wasn’t any longer in the archive, considering that this is Pope Ratti we are talking about. He was a librarian and was often found hanging out in the archive. Get it? And then he was not to be found in the archive. Get it? It was even more ironic that, during Ratti’s hiatus you defaulted to John XXIII!
Well, he’s back!
My view as I write…
Here’s an explanation of what happened to Pius XI over the last few days.
As future Pope Pius XIII, We assure you that, whether you are a dead Pope, an alive Pope, or even now a retired Pope, being a Pope is not easy. Sometimes you just need a vacation. In view of my future difficult pontificate, while I… while We have the chance We are now hanging out at Lago di Garda. We hope Our future predecessor was able to get a little rest in a nice spot like this. Now that the present guy has decided that Popes won’t stay at Castel Gandolfo – that’s a mistake, by the way, and We teach that with future infallibly with retro force – Popes will need to be creative about where they hang out for R&R.
Heck, if there are enough retired Popes at once, perhaps We could get a time share somewhere!
Anyway, welcome back Pius XI! It’s great to have you back “on the job” again.
Everyone should listen to your wonderful Mortalium animos, especially as we close in on 2017.
