Dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Bernardin Gantin, has publicly apologised for writing the preface to an Italian edition of a book of Vatican anecdotes.
He said that when he wrote the preface to Nino Lo Bello’s The Incredible Book of Vatican Facts and Papal Curiosities, he thought the book “would have given rise to smiles”.
Instead, he said, the book lacked respect for the Vatican “and especially for the person of the supreme pontiff”.
The book was originally published in English by the Redemptorists’ Liguori Publications in Missouri.
The cardinal said he wrote the introduction “after having read only a few pages of the manuscript” out of friendship and his trust of the Italian publisher, Ancora.
