The Pope’s Private Account is not a scandal

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La Republica alleged that Cardinal Becciu stole 20 million pounds (around 25 million dollars) from the Pope’s private account.

I find it perfectly normal that any sovereign should have a private account and that it should have a large sum on it. I can think of numerous situations in which the Holy Father would need to react rapidly with a cash payment in a cause which could not wait, such as his offer to fly a child to hospital for urgent treatment.
 
Who said the Pope’s private account was a scandal?

From all appearances, the Pope is not spending the private account money on himself, so I couldn’t care less if he has a private account.

I do think it’s wrong for a Cardinal to steal from someone else’s account, if indeed he did that.
 
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Exactly.

But there is a chorus of complaint, beginning with (but not exclusive to) Marco Tosatti
 
The scandal surrounding the Pope’s private account is not about the mere existence of the account, but that a high ranking official other than the Pope was able to gain access to this account and plunder it. In short, the Vatican’s finances are in such a state that not even the Pope’s personal account is immune to being looted by the corrupt.
 
He’s one of the most prominent Vatican journalists in the world. He writes for the Italian national daily La Stampa and for the Catholic Herald. He collaborated with Vigano on the production of his Testimony. He has written several well known books.

Etc etc.
 
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Maximian said:
He’s one of the most prominent Vatican journalists in the world. He writes for the Italian national daily La Stampa and for the Catholic Herald. He collaborated with Vigano on the production of his Testimony. He has written several well known books
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He seems also to deal in crazy conspiracy theories, if this is the chap:

www.marcotosatti.com

SOROS, THE POPE, BLM, THE LEFT. ALL ROADS LEAD TO CHINA…

Marco Tosatti Dear friends and enemies of Stilum Curiae, Agostino Nobile has sent us a very well-documented and interesting reflection on the strange relations that link the left-wing parties, the …
www.marcotosatti.com www.marcotosatti.com
 
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The scandal is that the pope, who has made finance reform a defining platform of his papacy, has corruption in his own personal account. The damage of the scandal is that the pope loses credibility of financial reform and being capable of accomplishing reform and establishing trust. As a faithful Catholic I cannot give any money to the Church that I don’t know exactly where it goes and how it is spent. Which means i tithe or donate much less than I used to.
 
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redcatholic said:
The scandal is that the pope, who has made finance reform a defining platform of his papacy, has corruption in his own personal account. The damage of the scandal is that the pope loses credibility of financial reform and being capable of accomplishing reform and establishing trust. As a faithful Catholic I cannot give any money to the Church that I don’t know exactly where it goes and how it is spent. Which means i tithe or donate much less than I used to.
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Yes I do think that’s a fair point. I just wish the Pope would make better choices of cardinals and curia officials.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
From all appearances, the Pope is not spending the private account money on himself, so I couldn’t care less if he has a private account
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I don’t know this story, but it does occur to me that “the Pope’s private account” may be a misnomer if it is, perhaps, simply an account which requires his authorisation for dispersal. It would be quite normal in any large organisation for the CEO or board chairman’s signature to be required for certain accounts.
 
I would assume that every Vatican official from the Pope downwards has a private account at the IOR (Vatican Bank).
 
Maximian said:
I would assume that every Vatican official from the Pope downwards has a private account at the IOR (Vatican Bank).
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Perhaps, but not with vast fortunes in it. I would imagine an account requiring the Pope’s signature but holding millions of euros would not be “private” in any sense of the word we would recognise. It would be a corporate (as it were) account under his personal control (or supposedly under his control).
 
It is the Obolo de San Pietro.
Peter Pence
That is the account La Repubblica was referring to.

“ Peter’s Pence is the name given to the financial support offered by the faithful to the Holy Father as a sign of their sharing in the concern of the Successor of Peter for the many different needs of the Universal Church and for the relief of those most in need.”

http://m.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/obolo_spietro/documents/index_en.htm

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/secretariat_state/obolo_spietro/documents/index_sp.htm

www.obolodisanpietro.va

Peter's Pence

The Peter’s Pence collection is a gesture of solidarity. Through it, every member of the faithful can participate in the Pope’s activity. It is an activity that supports the most needy and ecclesial communities in difficulty who approach the Apostolic See for help.
www.obolodisanpietro.va www.obolodisanpietro.va

www.repubblica.it

Vaticano, il cardinale Becciu si dimette

Coinvolto nello scandalo dell'immobile di Londra. Il conto bancario, con il quale sono state disposte le operazioni che hanno portato all’acquisizion…
www.repubblica.it www.repubblica.it
 
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Maximian said:
I just wish the Pope would make better choices of cardinals and curia officials.
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Becciu was appointed sostituto by Benedict XVI in 2010. He was responsible for managing the Pope’s affairs, meaning he would have gone to the bank anytime the Pope had banking to do, even if it was not a physical bank; he was probably in charge of handling any transactions like that. This is one of the most influential positions in the Vatican, since he controls what the Pope will see and what he will not see.
 
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