Author of "The Dictator Pope" Quotes Cardinal: "90% of the book is incontrovertible"
Henry Sire: What I am most pleased at is that the book was immediately noticed in high ecclesiastical circles. One cardinal, who knows the Vatican well, has said, “90 per cent of the book is incontrovertible.” This is a reflexion of the concern that is felt at the way in which Pope Francis is governing the Church.
Gloria.tv: Which reaction did you expect the least?
Henry Sire: I am told by a friend that he knows of at least three people who have been brought to traditional Catholicism by reading my book. I didn't expect that, because I wrote the book from a doctrinally neutral point of view, so that all parties in the Church would take it seriously. However, it should be clear that the only antidote to what is happening these days is a pope who understands his office in a traditional way, as an office subject to law and justice and as a trust for the preservation of the deposit of faith.
Gloria.tv: Why did you publish the book anonymously?
Henry Sire: I published anonymously because I wanted to avoid the reprisals that are all too familiar under the present pontificate. I fear these not only for myself but, more seriously, for those whom the Vatican may choose to associate with me.
Gloria.tv: Why did you decide to reveal your name?
Henry Sire: I always assumed that my identity would be discovered fairly soon. In any case, when I signed a contract for the printed book I understood that it was necessary to reveal who I am for the purpose of publicity and marketing.
Gloria.tv: Have you received many attacks on your person?
Henry Sire: So far, the worst I have suffered is being accused of being a traditionalist.
Gloria.tv: Did you receive “discernment, accompaniment and mercy” from those close to Pope Francis?
Henry Sire: It is too early to speak of a reaction from the Pope or those close to him.
Gloria.tv: You write that money from the Peter’s pence went to Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Is this a rumour or do you have hard evidence?
Henry Sire: It is more than a rumour. The story rests on the word of well-known figures within the Vatican's financial offices. But there are journalists who are pursuing the story, and we can expect concrete details to be published before long.
Gloria.tv: The Order of Malta suspended you because of the book. What does this mean?
Henry Sire: Since January 2017, when the Pope forced Grand Master Festing to resign, the Order of Malta has been under the thumb of Baron Albrecht von Boeselager, who was reinstated as Grand Chancellor at the same time. He owes his position to the Vatican's support, and naturally he could not allow a member of the Order to publish such a criticism of Pope Francis without punishment. The process to suspend me was initiated by him.
Gloria.tv: Why is this move illegal?
Henry Sire: The Order's laws prescribe a certain procedure for suspending and disciplining a member, and it has not been followed. It is ironical that such illegalities have been committed by Baron Boeselager, who ousted the Grand Master a year ago by protesting at the supposed illegalities in his own suspension.
Gloria.tv: Albrecht von Boeselager who distributed condoms and abortive hormones wasn’t suspended from the order. What went wrong with the Knights of Malta?
Henry Sire: In the first instance, the mistake was due to a lack of proper doctrinal guidance in the charitable works of the Order, a defect that the Grand Master was trying to correct. But the real reason why the Grand Master was disavowed by the Holy See was to do with a large donation which was due to come through a compromise negotiation which Baron Boeselager promoted, and which was threatened by his dismissal. The Vatican itself and at least one high ecclesiastic were to benefit by this compromise, and that was more important to them than a question of the Church's moral teaching.
Gloria.tv: What has remained of the Order of Malta after the recent coup?
Henry Sire: The Order has not suffered in its work or in its personnel, but it now has no effective leadership apart from its Grand Chancellor, and he has seized the opportunity to promote a series of so-called “reforms”. These are mainly to do with maintaining and even extending the secularisation in the Order's management which was already too evident in recent years, and which Grand Master Festing tried to resist.
Gloria.tv: You have suddenly become very famous. Will you write another book like “The Dictator Pope”?
Henry Sire: No. When I started to write the book I was already 67 and what I was looking forward to was retiring soon. I certainly had not envisaged anything like such an exacting task lying ahead of me. However, I felt that if somebody with the privileged knowledge that I had was not prepared to speak out, the Church would continue to be abused by the false media image that characterises the present regime. But my work is done now: I have said what I know, and my book is only one of many that are beginning to come out exposing the real character of Pope Francis.
