![\"binocolo](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/binocolo-spie-vaticano-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/h4>\n<\/h4>\nTwo books, entitled Avarice<\/em> by Emiliano Fittipaldi, a journalist with the Italian weekly newspaper L\u2019Espresso<\/em>, and Way of the Cross<\/em> by Gianluigi Nuzzi, a panelist on the Italian television talk show Mediaset<\/em>, both published in early November in Europe, claim to reveal that the donations received by the Holy See \u201care not all applied to works of charity.\u201d<\/p>\n According to an Agence France-Presse<\/em> (AFP) report dated November 3, 2015, Avarice<\/em> cites as an example \u201c200,000 Euros diverted from a foundation affiliated with the Catholic hospital Bambino Ges\u00f9<\/em> (\u2018Child Jesus\u2019) to finance the renovation of the apartment of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, former second-in-command [head of the Holy See Secretariat of State] at the Vatican.\u201d According to Emiliano Fittipaldi, a total of 400 million Euros have been diverted from the funds of Peter\u2019s Pence for various needs of the Curia.<\/p>\n Way of the Cross<\/em> also sifts through the collections taken up by the Vatican, which in 2012 amounted to 53 million Euros. In the opinion of Gianluigi Nuzzi, this sum \u201cmust\u201d be placed at the Pope\u2019s disposal to support, among other things, the Church\u2019s activities in the world, \u201cparticularly on behalf of the most deprived.\u201d According to the Italian journalist, most of it was used to make up for the structural deficit of the Holy See because of its \u201cincreasing payroll expenses,\u201d \u201cworks assigned without competitive estimates,\u201d \u201can undervalued real estate patrimony,\u201d etc. He says that there was even \u201ca bank account still open in the name of a deceased pope.\u201d The November 11 issue of Le Monde<\/em> reports that the book depicts \u201ca State adrift, troubled by a violent confrontation between the Pope, aided by a small team of ecclesiastics and laymen, and a Vatican administration jealous of its prerogatives and sitting on its little secrets and big privileges.\u201d<\/p>\n These many disclosures recall the \u201cVatileaks\u201d affair that caused a scandal in 2012 during the pontificate of Benedict XVI. This time documents were stolen, not from the Pope\u2019s office by an unfaithful majordomo, but from the Vatican\u2019s bank accounts by persons appointed by the Pope himself for the purpose of reforming its finances. On November 2, 2015, the Holy See\u2019s Press Office announced the arrest of two former members of the Commission to reorganize the economic-administrative services of the Vatican (COSEA). These two suspects are accused of having divulged accounting documents. The persons in question are Francesca Chaouqui, an external consultant of the Vatican, who was described by the Canadian website La Presse<\/em> on November 3 as \u201cseductive and indiscreet.\u201d Released and under house arrest, this Moroccan citizen of Italian descent had been recruited because of her \u201cexperience in auditing firms and in the field of communications.\u201d The other individual suspected of having divulged information is Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda, a 54-year-old Spanish prelate \u201cclose to Opus Dei,\u201d according to all the media reports. He has been incarcerated since November 1.<\/p>\n Francesca Chaouqui<\/p><\/div>\n The journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi are also the object of an investigation for complicity in the diffusion of confidential documents, which is a crime in Vatican City, as codified by a law passed in July 2013. This law stipulates that \u201canyone who illegitimately procures or reveals information or documents whose diffusion is forbidden is liable to between six months to two years of imprisonment, or to a fine of between 1,000 and 5,000 Euros.\u201d<\/p>\n Monsignor Lucio Angelo Vallejo Balda<\/p><\/div>\n On November 4 the Holy See published a series of communiqu\u00e9s to present its version of the facts. In a long note delivered to journalists, Fr. Federico Lombardi stated that \u201cmost of the revelations are in reality information that is already known\u201d and they concern an important \u201ccollection of data and information started by the Holy Father himself\u201d with a view to reflecting \u201con the reform and improvement of the administrative situation of the Vatican and of the Holy See.\u201d The director of the Press Office added that \u201cthe purposes of the Peter\u2019s Pence funds are varied.\u201d Although \u201cthe Pope\u2019s charitable works for the poor are certainly one of the essential aims,\u201d he emphasized, the Supreme Pontiff can \u201chimself evaluate the urgent needs and the way to respond to them.\u201d Now \u201cthe Pope\u2019s service includes also the Roman Curia,\u201d Fr. Lombardi declared, but also \u201chis initiatives outside the Diocese of Rome, the communication of his Magisterium\u2026, supporting 180 papal diplomatic representations throughout the world…\u201d<\/p>\n Emiliano Fittipaldi<\/p><\/div>\n Moreover, the denials and the adjustments made by persons incriminated in the two books have multiplied. Thus the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal George Pell, responded in a communiqu\u00e9 issued on November 6, detailing the expenses of his dicastery for the year 2014, starting from its creation in March of the same year. According to the prelate, these include \u201coperational costs, including expenses for setting up\u201d the Dicastery, namely \u201cfurniture and computers as well as salaries.\u201d The communiqu\u00e9 deplores \u201cseveral false and erroneous allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n For his part, Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, President Emeritus of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, who is accused of living in a 445-square-meter [4,780-square-foot] apartment at the Vatican, explained, in remarks quoted by the November 10 issue of La Croix<\/em>, that it was in fact a 250-m2 [2,690-ft2] flat and that he \u201clives there with two nuns.\u201d \u201cThere is nothing luxurious inside\u2026. It is not up to the journalists to gauge my style of poverty,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The niece of John Paul I, Pia Luciani, denounced \u201cveritable hoaxes\u201d in an article that appeared in the daily newspaper Il Mattino di Padova<\/em> and was reprinted by APIC on November 9. According to Gianluigi Nuzzi, a current account exists at the Vatican showing a balance of more than 110,000 Euros in the name of Albino Luciani, who was Pope for 33 days in 1978 \u2014 a sum that allegedly had not been returned to the pontiff\u2019s family after his death. \u201cMy uncle never had personal bank accounts\u201d nor \u201cmoney in the bank,\u201d Pia Luciani retorted.<\/p>\n Accused by Emiliano Fittipaldi of living in a 500-square-meter [5,380-square-foot] apartment with a large terrace, which allegedly had been renovated by the Foundation of the Vatican\u2019s pediatric hospital Bambino Ges\u00f9<\/em>, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone responded as early as November 5 in the columns of the Italian daily newspaper Il Corriere della Sera<\/em>: \u201cThe Governorate [of Vatican City] presented me with 300,000 Euros of expenses: I paid with my savings for an apartment that is not my property and will remain the Governorate\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n Gianluigi Nuzzi<\/p><\/div>\n Cardinal Bertone assures his readers that he \u201csaw nothing\u201d of the 200,000 Euros that the Foundation of the Holy See\u2019s hospital supposedly paid for the work on his apartment, and he gave them to understand that the Vatican administration itself had presented the invoices to the Foundation. \u201cI categorically deny having given instructions or having authorized the Foundation to make any payment whatsoever,\u201d he added. He also explained that \u201cthe apartment measures 296 square meters [3,180 square feet],\u201d that it was a property \u201cuninhabited and abandoned for years\u201d and that it had been assigned to him \u201cwith the approval of Pope Francis and the superiors of the Governorate.\u201d He recalled living there not alone but with a community of three nuns and a secretary.<\/p>\n Pope Francis is not called into question by the two published works; quite the contrary: Gianluigi Nuzzi presents, in his investigation, a transcription of audio recordings that show \u201cthe Pope\u2019s firmness with regard to excessive expenses\u201d according to a November 5 APIC report. Thus, on the occasion of a meeting that was held on July 13, 2013, Pope Francis allegedly addressed the members of the Commission for the reorganization of the Vatican\u2019s economic-administrative services (COSEA), which he had just formed: \u201cAnd he showed his interlocutors, who were in charge of restoring order to the finances of the small State, that he was determined,\u201d according to APIC, which repeats in part the remarks published by the journalist. \u201cIt is necessary to clarify better the finances of the Holy See and to make them more transparent,\u201d he supposedly said, before stating that \u201cthe number of employees has increased too much. This creates a large expense of money that can be avoided\u2026. There are some expenses, the origin of which is not clear in the procedures. This is seen in the balance sheets\u2026. I think that it is necessary to continue in greater depth the work of clarifying the origin of the expenses and the forms of payment.\u201d<\/p>\n Cardinal Velasio De Paolis (CNS photo\/Paul Haring) (Nov. 24, 2010)<\/p><\/div>\n Questioned on this subject by the daily newspaper Le Monde<\/em> on November 3, Gianluigi Nuzzi declared that \u201cthere are on the one hand the Pope and the lay and religious experts with whom he has surrounded himself to reform the Church, and on the other hand the Curial system that is opposing Francis by legal means, such as inertia, and by illegal means, such as thefts or intimidation.\u201d<\/p>\n As Rapha\u00ebl Zbinden remarks in his press review for the Swiss Catholic web portal (cath.ch) on November 5, \u201cthe press in general does not seem to doubt the veracity of the information contained in these works.\u201d It seems to be established that \u201cthe Vatican is prey to utter financial or moral incompetence.\u201d This poor image of the Holy See is generally associated with an \u201cold guard\u201d of prelates who \u201cbenefit in particular from luxurious residences, rented at bargain rates, if not for free\u201d as the November 4 issue of Lib\u00e9ration<\/em> suggests. The leftist daily newspaper is indignant about the \u201cfinancial turpitude of the Roman Curia,\u201d its \u201cluxurious advantages\u201d and its \u201cmuddles, corruption and incompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n Fr. Federico Lombardi (CNS photo\/Paul Haring) (Aug. 13, 2012) See GABRIELE-TRIAL Aug. 13, 2012<\/p><\/div>\n The newspaper Le Monde<\/em>, cited by APIC on November 5, summarizes the situation as follows: Two camps are openly confronting each other: on the one hand the austere, frugal managers gathered around Francis, on the other hand the big spenders, who are accustomed to purple robes, lace and ceremony.\u201d Rapha\u00ebl Zbinden concludes from this that many media outlets are thus conveying the image of a \u201cwhite knight\u201d Pontiff, who is considered thoroughly honest and eager to have done with \u201ca muddle (that) was a common style of management at the Vatican.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Pope, who wants to bring the Church back to being very close to the poor, must face a camarilla<\/em> [clique] in cassocks who know very well how to safeguard the advantages that they have won,\u201d Le Monde<\/em> again writes. Lib\u00e9ration<\/em> even recalls the virtues of Pope Francis who \u201cno doubt to set an example\u201d has chosen to \u201clive in a modest, 50-square-meter [540-square-foot] apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone<\/p><\/div>\n But then, \u201cWhat do we want to do?\u201d asks the Vaticanist Giuseppe Rusconi at his website Rossoporpora<\/em>, and reprinted by the website Beno\u00eet-et-moi<\/em> on November 8. \u201cFollow this borrowed [i.e. conveniently assumed] populism that is surging, evict a few cardinals and send them to a hotel (at a cost that would not be negligible)? Redesign the apartments, dividing them up into four or five parts\u2026?\u201d And he warns: \u201cBe careful not to interpret the \u2018poor Church\u2019 (in the sense of \u2018sober\u2019) as a \u2018barefoot Church,\u2019 as desired (openly or surreptitiously) by all who aim to divest the Church of her symbolic elements that are useful in identifying her socially.\u201d And the Spanish friar and blogger Fray Gerundio de Tormes asks very pertinently, on November 6, 2015: \u201cIf people want transparency in economic affairs, why do they not want it on doctrinal subjects?\u201d\u2014as the Final Report of the Synod on the Family has unfortunately shown.<\/p>\n (This article originally appeared on the website<\/em> Documentation Information Catholiques Internationales, no. 325, November 20, 2015)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There may be two sides to accusations of misappropriation \u00a0and waste Two books, entitled Avarice by Emiliano Fittipaldi, a journalist with the Italian weekly newspaper L\u2019Espresso, and Way of the Cross by Gianluigi Nuzzi, a panelist on the Italian television talk show Mediaset, both published in early November in Europe, claim to reveal that the donations […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":334,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1606,1538,1607,1540,1541,143,1608,83,1547,1609],"yoast_head":"\nAn Investigation is Started<\/h4>\n
The Holy See\u2019s Response and Many Denials<\/h4>\n
![\"L'avarizia](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Lavarizia-di-Emiliano-Fittipaldi-191x300.jpg\")
![\"via](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/via-crucis-Book-196x300.jpg\")
The Supreme Pontiff is Spared<\/h4>\n
Who Benefits From This Press Campaign?<\/h4>\n
![\"Francesca](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Francesca-Chaouquimons-199x300.jpg\")
![\"Lucio](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Lucio-Angelo-Vallejo-BALDA-241x300.jpg\")
![\"Emiliano](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Emiliano-Fittipaldi-200x300.jpg\")
![\"Gianluigi-Nuzzi_gal_portrait\"](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Gianluigi-Nuzzi_gal_portrait-300x215.jpg\")
![\"Cardinal](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/De-Paolis-x-219x300.jpg\")
![\"Jesuit](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/LOMBARDI-11549-235x300.jpg\")
![\"18.07.2007](\"https:\/\/insidethevatican.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/Bertone-x-218x300.jpg\")