Protecting
Pope Francis: The hurdles, and the threats, are significant.
On Pope Francis' Secret Service: Confronting the ISIS Threat (Corriere Della Sera, Italy)
"Pope
Francis wanted to make a stop in Kurdistan, an area bordered by Syria, Turkey,
Iraq and Iran. He intended to issue an appeal from there on behalf of Middle
East Christians being massacred by Islamic fundamentalists. The secret service
stopped him. … He's not a very 'manageable' pope. ... It seems that even his
entourage jokes with him about death threats. 'Holy Father, haven't they killed you yet today?' - they ask him, overcoming their reverence to express really acute fears. ... Argentine priest Juan Carlos Molina told him,
'Watch out, they could kill you.' … Francis replied: 'That would be the best
thing that could happen to me. They could also kill you.' These weren't words
of resignation. He seemed to be saying, simply put, that one must be prepared -
even for martyrdom."
In August 2014 while returning from his trip to South Korea,
Pope Francis wanted to make a stop in Kurdistan, an area bordered by Syria,
Turkey, Iraq and Iran. He intended to issue an appeal from there on behalf of
Middle East Christians being massacred by Islamic fundamentalists. The secret
service stopped him, recounting for him the dangers that his program change
represented. The episode resurfaced this autumn, as fears for his safety have
imperceptibly come to a head. Perhaps it's just a reflection of the West's
psychological and geopolitical disorientation. Is it the videos of hostages
beheaded by the butchers of ISIS - the acronym for "Islamic State of Iraq
and Syria" - which is now outpacing al-Qaeda in its cruelty; and in addition
to proselytizing in Europe, fuels fears of an attack on a pontiff that has
united in prayer Catholics, Jews, Muslims and Orthodox Christians?
To
the specter of subversive action by Islamic fundamentalists is added the ghosts
of the attack by Turk Ali Agca on Pope John Paul II in May 1981 among crowds
right in the middle of St. Peter's Square. Doubts about whether something like
that could happen again have hung in the air since the former Jorge Mario Bergoglio became pope. His decision to live in Casa
Santa Marta, highly symbolic, creates uncertainty. It is a hotel, albeit a
unique one, inasmuch as, it must be noted, it receives deliveries of pasta,
bread, meat, etc. from outside. It is a small place, where under heavy
surveillance people always come and go, separated from Italy only by the walls
that open onto the Via
diPortaCavalleggeri. And so, in theory, the danger is
heightened. Add to that the audiences in which the pope seeks to meet and spend
time with as many people as possible.
Armored cars and
plain-clothed agents
In short, some cause for concern is justified, because above
all, Pope Francis lives with a touch of impatience over security measures. The
Vatican police know something about this, since they initially struggled to
persuade the first Argentine pontiff to accept a minimum of preventive
protection.
"Would you like to climb into an armored car?!" This is how
they say he responded to their first routine offer of protection. During his
visit to the Parish of the Immaculate
Conception on the outskirts of Rome in December 2013, he said from the
pulpit: "If you think there is something disturbing about this visit, it
is perhaps the excessive security; please know that I do not agree with it … I
agree with you." And when a few months later he decided to visit a
Protestant friend at Caserta, a town in Campania [a district south of Rome, of
which Naples is the capital] it wasn't easy to get him to understand that using
a car instead of a helicopter would entail major problems: a congested
motorway, a police escort and road blocks. In the end he took a small
helicopter.
He's not a very "manageable" pope, although he has
become accustomed to living with the imperatives of protection, and to
accepting them. It seems that even his entourage jokes with him at times about
death threats.
Posted By Worldmeets.US
"Holy Father, haven't they killed you yet today?"
- they ask him, overcoming their reverence to express
really acute fears. "Jorge, are they protecting you enough?" his
Argentine compatriots shout to him during audiences, under the restless gaze of
undercover agents with earphones strategically placed at a distance around him
- even in the churchyard of St. Peter's Square. The pope has imposed a model of religiousity that means pulverizing all barriers between
the "pope-king" and his subjects: a style that has made him a legend
to the crowds, and a potentially an "easy" terrorist target.
The
black flag over the obelisk
On the other hand, Dabiq, ISIS' online magazine [below], disseminated starting
this July in various languages in Europe, put a photomontage on its digital
cover in October 2014. It shows a picture of St. Peter's Square with the
obelisk topped by its black flag under the title: The Failed Crusade. ISIS promises not to stop its jihad, the holy
war of Islam, "until we are under the olive trees of Rome, after we
destroy the filthy house called the White House." The name of the magazine
is highly symbolic. Dabiq is the Syrian village where in 1516 the Ottomans
defeated the Mamluks,
ending history's last caliphate - and its threats are taken seriously.
At Western embassies in Rome there is a certain anxiety.
Among diplomats there are exchanges of impressions that give substance to the
darkest scenarios. But the Italian and Vatican secret services appear more
cautious. Analyzing Dabiq
magazine, the feeling in the intelligence services is that with its
pronouncements, ISIS is talking firstly to the communicating within the Muslim
world, to impose Sunni supremacy over the hated Shiites and gain recognition as
the only serious enemy of the West. But there are no clues of sensational
attacks being prepared on the part of the terrorist group. The only fear is
that some European affiliate by way of imitation is preparing a do-it-yourself
action: perhaps using a drone flying above St. Peter's Square during a papal
audience. "For now" they explain, "the risk is not of a major attack,
but of atomized subversion."
The ties to Santa
Marta
This is similar to information circulating in anti-terrorism
study centers from Washington to London. We examined documents and reports
discussing threats to the pope. But they are still not considered serious
enough to validate the thesis of a sophisticated plan being incubated or a
concrete threat. The feeling of analysts is that for now, the focus of ISIS is
on assassinations in Mesopotamia,
and doesn’t extend beyond its religious and geographical boundaries - even if
it exhorts its followers in Europe to strike, and the number of English and
French terrorists "recruited" by the organization brings shivers. But
the pontiff continues with his life as usual. One of the things that people who
work with him point out is that he wants to be master of his own life and
agenda, and is jealous of his freedom.
American Cardinal Timothy Dolan
once explained in an interview that Francis will have to get used to the
restrictions necessary to ensure his personal safety just as he had resigned
himself when he was president of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops. But it isn't clear how much the pope has really adapted to all this.
An Italian cardinal who is very familiar with Casa Santa Marta has for some
time argued that sooner or later, something is likely to happen to encourage
the pope to move into the papal apartments in the Vatican Palace - those
occupied by his predecessors which are empty today as they are identified with
intrigue, scandal and "Vatileaks": the theft of confidential
documents from Benedict XVI,
carried out by his butler. But Francis doesn't appear either perturbed or
frightened by what is happening. He is disturbed by the persecutions and
massacres of Middle East Christians, and never ceases to remember the victims
of terrorism. He has just condemned the latest attack on a Jerusalem synagogue.
But he isn't concerned about the risks he runs personally, nor does he intend
to change his residence or habits.
The newspaper La Nación of Buenos Aires reported that Juàn Carlos Molina, an Argentine priest who
is part of an organization battling drug trafficking, El Sedronar,
had a 40-minute conversation with the pope on November 12. They sipped hot tea
together from a single straw - a typical Argentine custom, and Molina recounted
having told the pope, speaking informally as friends like many priests do who
have known him since he was archbishop of Buenos Aires: "Watch out, they
could kill you." Francis replied: "That would be the best thing that
could happen to me. They could also kill you." These weren't words of
resignation. He seemed to be saying, simply put, that one must be prepared -
even for martyrdom.
To
the specter of subversive action by Islamic fundamentalists is added the ghosts
of the attack by Turk 
