I didn’t think he’d have a column this week, but here you go – The Word From Rome. Italian politics, Opus Dei:

Here’s an intriguing sidebar from the Italian elections: A numerary of Opus Dei, meaning a celibate who lives full-time in an Opus Dei center, was elected to the national Senate … from the center-left.

As such, Senator-elect Paola Binetti, 63, defies the image of a monolithic hard-right political climate within Opus Dei.

To be sure, when it comes to "culture of life" issues, Binetti yields to no one in her defense of "Catholic" positions. A medical doctor, university professor, and former president of the "Association for Science and Life," Binetti helped spearhead last summer’s campaign against the in-vitro fertilization referendum. She has also irritated fellow members of Prodi’s coalition by her dogmatic opposition to changes to Italy’s restrictive law on abortion.

Yet on most other issues, Binetti’s agenda skews to the secular political left. She campaigned for policies favoring "the poorest and the most excluded," greater levels of social development, expanded health care for the most vulnerable families, the emergence of a strong Europe capable of defending peace in global affairs, and a clear option for the Third World, especially Africa, in favor of "reducing unacceptable inequalities."

Historically, Opus Dei has had a profile as conservative and male-dominated. Irony of ironies, Binetti’s victory means that two of the most visible Opus Dei politicians in the world — Binetti in Italy, and Ruth Kelly, the Minister of Education in England — are now women who belong to center-left parties.

He addresses the Tridentine Liturgy question, bringing up a point that stuck in my head earlier this week, but I never mentioned. Teach me to hold back. Namely: How odd it would be to come out with some document that would function as an enormous distraction during Holy Week. How un-Benedictlike:

I spoke with one Vatican official this week who said that while he had no inside knowledge about a document, he found the rumors difficult to believe.

"Whenever there have been meetings about this among the cardinals, it’s not just that there’s division," he said. "The overwhelming majority is against it [universal permission to celebrate the old rite]. It’s not like it’s fifty-fifty."

This source pointed out that just two weeks ago, in Benedict’s closed-door meeting with cardinals, the bulk of cardinals who spoke were against such a move.

"If it were up to Castrillon Hoyos, it would already have happened," the source said, referring to Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, head of the Ecclesia Dei Commission for traditionalist Catholics.

"But Benedict is trying to operate on the basis of consensus, and there’s just no consensus," he said.

Another senior Vatican official said simply, "It is not a theme that is yet mature."

Given the way Benedict XVI has played his cards close to the chest on other matters, it’s possible that a document is in the works without most of his key advisors knowing about it. But so far, on this issue, what we have is a lot of smoke in search of a fire.

An interview with the rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute on the Gospel of Judas nand some other matter, elsewhere in NCR(eporter)