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Father Augustin Shako Yodi<\/strong> responds to Andrea Cionci\u2019s attempt to portray<\/strong> Cardinal Sarah as his supporter: \u201cIt was simple courtesy \u2014 now we will take action.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00abA serious violation<\/strong> and an unjust instrumentalization<\/strong> of Cardinal Sarah\u00bb.<\/i><\/p>\n Speaking with UCCR by phone, Father Augustin Shako Yodi<\/strong><\/mark>, personal secretary to Cardinal Robert Sarah<\/strong>, appeared deeply saddened and outraged by what had happened.<\/p>\n At the center of the matter, once again, is writer and art critic Andrea Cionci<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Yesterday he published a video and several screenshots<\/strong> containing brief replies received in 2022 from Father Augustin himself and Cardinal Sarah, following his persistent requests to send them one of his articles and the book \u201cThe Ratzinger Code\u201d<\/i><\/strong> (ByoBlu 2022).<\/p>\n The gesture is particularly serious<\/strong> because the Roman writer publicly used the Cardinal\u2019s name<\/strong> to portray him<\/strong> as a supporter of his thesis regarding the alleged invalid resignation of Ratzinger<\/strong> and the invalidity of Pope Francis<\/strong>, whom he describes as an antipope and usurper.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Several times we have covered<\/a><\/em><\/strong> this \u201cinvestigation,\u201d according to which Benedict XVI supposedly placed himself in an impeded see<\/strong>, scattering throughout his speeches a series of secret codes to communicate this condition outside the Vatican.<\/p>\n In addition to contesting the validity of Francis\u2019<\/strong> pontificate, Cionci extends the same accusations to the current Pope, Leo XIV<\/strong>.<\/p>\n These are claims that several professional canon lawyers have dismissed<\/b> as \u201cvisibly inconsistent amateur canon law improvisation\u201d<\/i> (Geraldina Boni<\/strong>), \u201ca sensationalist thesis without foundation\u201d<\/i> (Fr. Silvio Barbaglia<\/strong>), \u201cthe product of sick ideas without the slightest theological and\/or juridical basis\u201d<\/i> (Rosario Priore<\/strong>), and \u201ca personal fantasy in the style of Dan Brown\u201d<\/i> (Archbishop Georg G\u00e4nswein<\/strong>, secretary to Benedict XVI).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Stay updated by subscribing<\/strong> to our new channels:<\/p>\n <\/p>\n What happened yesterday, however, crossed an uncrossable line, driven by the frustration<\/strong> that Andrea Cionci himself says he feels due to the lack of support and the absence of responses<\/strong> he has constantly received despite six years of frenetic activity.<\/p>\n On \u201cQuotidiano Web\u201d<\/i><\/a><\/strong> \u2014 an online outlet close to No Vax circles \u2014 and on his YouTube<\/strong> channel1<\/a><\/sup>A. Cionci<\/b>, The emails from Cardinal Sarah to Andrea Cionci: \u201cWe hope your book ENLIGHTENS CONSCIENCES\u201d<\/i>, from the channel Andrea Cionci – Codice Ratzinger, 11\/05\/2026<\/span>, the Roman writer published an email from August 2022 in which Cardinal Robert Sarah<\/strong> responded to his request to send him the book \u201cThe Ratzinger Code\u201d<\/i>.<\/p>\n In the text, the eminent prelate used simple courtesy formulas and customary pleasantries<\/strong>, greeting the recipient \u201cwith my prayer and blessing.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Cionci also published the replies received on the same occasion from Sarah\u2019s secretaries, Fr. Francesco Morena<\/strong> and Father Augustin Shako Yodi<\/strong>, which likewise contained expressions of kindness, gratitude, and blessings.<\/p>\n The Roman writer then used these replies in his own favor<\/strong>: \u201cCardinal Sarah,\u201d<\/i> Cionci writes, \u201cwas blessing a journalist<\/strong> who categorically stated at least 20 times in one article that Bergoglio was an ANTIPOPE.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Attention focused especially on one sentence contained in the email from the Cardinal\u2019s personal secretary, Father Shako Yodi, which ended as follows: the Cardinal \u201cthanks you for your courteous sending, hoping that it may enlighten consciences<\/strong>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n According to Cionci, therefore, Cardinal Sarah<\/strong> supposedly hoped \u201cthat \u2018The Ratzinger Code\u2019<\/strong> would enlighten consciences,\u201d<\/i> referring to a book that describes \u201cthe impeded see of Pope Benedict XVI\u201d<\/i> and \u201cthe heresies of Bergoglio<\/strong> and his tragic antipapacy.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Perhaps aware that he had ventured onto dangerous ground, the writer added: \u201cYour Eminence, if you now wish to sue me<\/strong> for publishing these emails, go ahead: if I am condemned, I will pay what is due.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Cionci finally described the Guinean Cardinal as \u201cone of the few truly Catholic men left<\/strong>,\u201d<\/i> claiming that he is \u201cprobably isolated\u201d<\/i> and offering him \u201call our support<\/strong>: we are ready to defend you wholeheartedly.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n He also wanted to inform him of the existence of \u201can entire army<\/strong> of faithful ready to follow their shepherd,\u201d<\/i> who \u201cwill support you with conviction. The usurpation<\/strong> of the Petrine throne must end immediately.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Having understood Andrea Cionci\u2019s attempt, UCCR<\/strong> immediately got in touch with Father Augustin Shako Yodi<\/strong>, personal secretary to Cardinal Sarah and author of one of the messages published by the writer.<\/p>\n After being informed in detail about the affair, Father Augustin expressed to us in writing his \u201cgreat sorrow\u201d<\/i> over what he describes as a \u201cviolation<\/strong> and unjust instrumentalization of the Cardinal\u2019s name, who merely responded courteously<\/strong>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n In several messages exchanged between him and Andrea Cionci in August 2022, authorization to publish His Eminence\u2019s replies was in fact explicitly denied<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Those exchanges also included the writer\u2019s promise<\/strong> to abide by that decision and his assurance that he would never make public<\/strong> those communications.<\/p>\n During the subsequent lengthy phone call, Father Augustin<\/strong> reiterated to us that \u201cCardinal Sarah explicitly refused authorization<\/strong> to publish the replies, aware that this gentleman<\/strong> would use them as an endorsement<\/strong> for himself.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n The secretary does not accept that a simple courteous reply<\/strong> from Cardinal Sarah should be manipulated<\/strong> in this way.<\/p>\n \u201cCionci knows very well that I have all the emails<\/strong>,\u201d<\/i> he told us, and \u201che was clearly told that he must not publish<\/strong> those replies, and he had promised not to do so.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n For the moment we prefer not to make public<\/strong> the conversations mentioned, out of respect for the privacy of the people involved, while reserving the right to do so should the situation make it necessary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The secretary says he is astonished<\/strong> by the manipulation of those few lines to make it appear that Sarah supported such theses.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only has the Cardinal never endorsed<\/strong> these positions,\u201d<\/i> says Father Augustin Shako Yodi, \u201cbut it would be absurd<\/strong> for him to do so or to cast doubt on Francis\u2019 pontificate.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n With Ratzinger<\/strong>, he explains, the Cardinal had \u201ca great friendship and strong attachment\u201d<\/i> and, at the same time, \u201calso some alleged minor disagreements with Pope Francis<\/strong>, as can be read in his books.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n But obviously \u201che never mentioned<\/strong> theses like those of Cionci.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIt is truly sad and false,\u201d<\/i> Father Augustin repeated sorrowfully, also recalling those who had previously warned him that \u201cmany people instrumentalize<\/strong> the Cardinal\u201d<\/i> against Pope Francis. \u201cBut I have never heard him<\/strong> say anything against Francis,\u201d<\/i> on the contrary, \u201che celebrated in communion with him.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n And yet he would have had every authority to distance himself and denounce his magisterium; instead, he stresses, \u201che stood with him<\/strong>,\u201d<\/i> with Pope Francis.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For Sarah\u2019s secretary, what happened constitutes a serious act of instrumentalization<\/strong>.<\/p>\n For this reason, he intends to move forward \u201cwith His Eminence, and we will proceed through the appropriate channels<\/strong>.\u201d<\/i> Because, he adds, \u201cthis gentleman has instrumentalized not only the Cardinal\u2019s name but mine as well<\/strong>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n A person \u201cwith a Christian heart,\u201d<\/i> he observes, should not go so far, reiterating his conviction that \u201cwe will not stop here<\/strong>: at the moment I do not know what the Cardinal will do, but as far as I am concerned, I will continue through other avenues.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n When asked why the wish \u201cthat it may enlighten consciences<\/strong>\u201d<\/i> was included in the reply to Cionci, Sarah\u2019s secretary recalled that the phrase referred first and foremost<\/strong> to the conscience of the recipient himself.<\/p>\n Indeed, he explains, the Cardinal meant that \u201cthe research\u201d<\/i> of Cionci<\/strong> \u201cand what he is doing, may enlighten his own conscience and that of his readers to understand that it is something untrue<\/strong>.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n Sarah himself, Father Augustin recalls, told him: \u201cThere is no need to explain it to him, but that is what I want to tell him<\/strong>. Write it and stop there.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nThe \u201cRatzinger Code\u201d and canon lawyers<\/h2>\n
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\nAndrea Cionci\u2019s new attempt<\/h2>\n
Cionci was not authorized by Cardinal Sarah<\/h2>\n
\u201cCardinal Sarah stands with Francis\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u201cA serious act, we will take action to protect ourselves\u201d<\/h2>\n
\u201cWhat Cionci does is not truth\u201d<\/h2>\n