“Dario Viganò is getting bigger now. No, not that Viganò who is in hiding now!”

As a quondam but not-too-dedicated vaticanista, I watch now the goings on “oltratevere” (see… I can still bring the yiddish when I want to) in a combination of morbid fascination, as with glancing at road kill, and amusement, as with opera buffa.

These are the lenses with which I take in the news today.

You can’t make this stuff up.

Francis named Msgr. Dario Edoardo Viganò as Vice-Chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, with a specific competency in the area of communication.

Remember Dario Viganò?  Not Archbp. Viganò, but the other Viganò?  This Viganò, Dario, doctored up a letter of Benedict XVI so as to give a false impression of approval of a series of books cobbled up in praise of Francis’ theological contributions.  Dario was subsequently eviscerated in the press for his blatant mendacity, then sort of but not quite fired from his post at the Vatican comm’s office.  Immediately a new position appeared, miraculously, and Dario was fired, laterally, into it.  He has now been promoted.

This sort of thing, like road kill, is not the sort of thing you want to see, but you still look it.  And, like opera buffa, all you can do is sit back in enjoy the impending disaster.  It’s all sort of like an episode of Fawlty Towers, come to think about it.

In any event, the official Paradohymnodist here has once again come through.

This is to be sung to the aria “Largo al factotum” from Rossini’s Barber (not Rabbitof Seville.  You know the one… “Figaro… Figaro… Figaro…”.   Remember that “the City… la Città” is most certainly, the Vatican City!

Dario Viganò is getting bigger now.
No, not that Viganò, who is in hiding now.
Pietro Viganò’s not the right Viganò.
Dario Viganò’s running the show.
He is vice chancellor, he is the answerer,
He’s a world traveler, a memo matador.
No one is fancier, or extravascular.
Salome danced for her reward you know.
He’s now factotum de la Città!
He’s now factotum de la Città!
De la Città! De la Città! The whole Città!

Some seriously unctuous maneuvering is going on.

 

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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7 Comments

  1. Benedict Joseph says:

    There is no shame.

  2. Gregg the Obscure says:

    puts me in mind of a line from a pop song when i was a young man: “i used to be disgusted, but now i try to be amused”

  3. Ms. M-S says:

    Well, that rewording will do nicely for Dario Vigano. Will another aria from the same opera, La Calunnia, even have to be reworded for the treatment of the other Vigano?

  4. Charles E Flynn says:

    The nine lives of Msgr. Dario Edoardo Viganò

    Pope Francis has now put Msgr. Viganò into another position that didn’t exist until Francis decided Msgr. Viganò needed to be in it.

    August 31, 2019 Christopher R. Altieri The Dispatch

    https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/08/31/the-nine-lives-of-msgr-dario-edoardo-vigano/

  5. teomatteo says:

    Please Fr Z. do not sully Bugs B. and E. Fudd with the likes of those other two individuals. That pains me.

  6. TonyO says:

    Teomatteo, I sympathize. I love Bugs for introducing kids to some great classical music behind their parents’ backs. I loved the Seville routine long before I ever knew any classical music, but the first time someone played a recording of the overture, I exclaimed “But that’s Bugs Bunny music”, incensed that someone had stolen the music from the cartoon. Now I know better, but using it for this really rankles – unless you think of Vigano as sitting in Elmer Fudd’s place. That’s not so bad.

  7. matt from az says:

    Perhaps the Lord allows human detritus to rise to the top of the Church so that we know who they are out in the open. These men were brought into power mostly by John Paul II and they and their agenda successfully stayed hidden. Under Francis, they feel no need to hide and now we can know who needs a one-way ticket on Pinochet Airlines.
    May the next pope be a man in the mould of Park Chung-Hee or Chun Doo-Hwan.

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