June 09, 2012: German Catholics upset about media attacks on Pope Benedict over the
“Vatileaks” scandal can now show solidarity with the German-born pontiff by sending
pre-printed postcards bearing the message “We are with you!” Benedict, 85, has
criticized press coverage of the scandal that began in January with the leaking of
confidential documents alleging corruption, mismanagement and cronyism in the awarding
of contracts in the Vatican. Germany’s ‘Pro-Papa’ group said it wanted to do “something
more than praying” to support Benedict, who has expressed “sadness in my heart” over
the scandal rocking the Church. “Anyone can download the postcard template with
Benedict’s image and the preprinted solidarity message ‘Pope Benedict, we are with
you!’ and then send it to the Holy Father,” the head of the group, Sabine Benedikta
Beschmann, told Reuters. Around 1,000 people have downloaded and sent the postcard
since the launch of the initiative a week ago, she said. It is not the first time
Pro-Papa has rallied support for Benedict, who was known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
before he became pope in 2005. In 2010 the group organized a rally of 10,000 people
in Germany to back him after a sexual abuse scandal. “We did not want to dispute the
seriousness of the abuses but only to say that the attacks against the pope and against
Catholics made by the press were unbearable,” Beschmann said.