FRUSTRATION AT ROMAN BUREAUCRACY

The final step of the approbation process was to present the brief, a document to be signed by the Pope. Eugene hoped to get this done before Easter, but had fallen into the hands of a petty bureaucrat monsignor who prevented the case from going forward. Eugene’s frustration is evident as he lets off steam to Tempier:

The brief of which the text lies soporifically on the desk of Mgr. Capaccini, whom I cannot budge either verbally or by writing…
This is a misfortune which puts me off until after Easter, perhaps even for the signature of the brief. In the meantime, I am continually making useless trips which weary both mind and body. For if this blessed Mgr. Capaccini had taken the text to Arch. Marchetti in the course of the week, they would by now be putting the finishing touches to it and the Pope would be signing it tomorrow…
… My dear, we have to look after ourselves. Mgr. Capaccini decidedly does not wish to move. Yesterday I climbed up to his third floor apartment for nothing. His servant advised me to return this morning at seven o’clock but the embarrassed valet told me his master had left for an audience with the Pope. I took care not to believe him, it was not true. You can imagine what that means when, after having been told yesterday evening that I should return this morning, I found this fine response ready for me. This Mgr. Capaccini is a Prelate di mantellone, that is, second class, an adventurer who makes himself out to be someone because he is employed at many things…. and as he apparently has other matters on hand, deliberately neglects ours without troubling himself about the wrong thus done to us.
I will spare you all the other trips that I have already made this morning, and those which I am going to make soon before my sorry dinner, so as not to throw in the towel, and try, even with little hope, every means in order to get the better of this devious man whose dealings I will quietly speak of only after I have got my chestnuts out of the fire …
… So once more we see our affair going forward but Holy Week is too close for us to hope that it will be expedited before Easter. I will count myself very fortunate if the Pope can sign it before then, because I am always fearful he will fall sick and when the Holy Father so much as takes to his bed, that makes a delay of two or three months.

Letter to Henri Tempier, 16 March 1826, EO VII n. 230

 

“For the bureaucrat, the world is a mere object to be manipulated by him.”     Karl Marx

This entry was posted in LETTERS and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to FRUSTRATION AT ROMAN BUREAUCRACY

  1. Eleanor Rabnett, Oblate Associate says:

    Poor Eugene – he received Papal approval on February 17th and here it is a month later and his business is still not finished. He waits and runs after a lesser man, who must give him this brief that is to be signed by the Pope but Eugene is unable to actually meet with him. One wonders what Mgr. Capaccini’s problem is – does it make him feel more powerful to have others waiting on him, running after him. Does he not care of the possible hardship and sorrow this could cause others? Perhaps he is not in agreement with the approbation which Eugene and this new congregation have received from the Pope, the Church. Eugene and his brief seem of little consequence to him.

    I ask myself if I have been the agent of another losing heart because I am ‘too busy’ or ‘too important’ to deal with them. Perhaps I have let another drop off of my radar because of a slight, or some other minor detail. But perhaps more importantly I also dare to ask myself this morning has this ever happened to me? Have I ever found myself in a position similar to where Eugene was? I might fear that it is real in my life but the risk of saying it outright – even if only to myself – is great because then I will have to admit to being rejected in a sense, or betrayed; to being insignificant in the eyes of another, of little or no value. Then I would have to receive the excuses and to stand tall and true without giving in to the temptation to ‘get even’.

    Again I find myself a little surprised at how easy it is to relate to Eugene’s experiences in some ways. The word ‘kin’ comes to mind. A sense of we are all in this together – the waiting, the journey, personal and together. Thank you God that we do not have to walk it alone.

  2. Jack Lau, OMI says:

    “My dear, we have to look after ourselves.”
    What a great line; both affection for his brothers and reality.
    Let us remember this line for our own well being and that of each other.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *