Vatican responds to corruption charges [CWN]

[CWN_News]

The Vatican has responded angrily to an Italian television report about alleged corruption inside the Vatican, charging that the broadcast used “questionable journalistic methods” and presented a biased and oversimplified version of the facts.

Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that the show Gli intoccabili (“The Untouchables”) gave a warped view of Vatican affairs, continuing a pattern of “biased coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.” The Vatican hinted that legal action could be taken against the La7 network that broadcast the report.

The televised report had showed a letter to Pope Benedict XVI from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the former secretary of the Vatican city-state governorate, in which the prelate argued that he should not be appointed apostolic nuncio to the US Archbishop Vigano told the Pontiff that he had worked to stop corruption in Vatican business dealings, and his departure from the Vatican administration would “cause confusion and dismay among those who believed it was possible to correct the many problems of corruption and waste.”

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[joeantony]

Hi All,

firstpost.com/world/corruption-scandal-shakes-vatican-as-internal-letters-leaked-195160.html

I found this article quite disturbing. 550, 000 euros for Christmas celebration ?

Joe

 

[bmullins]

I think it’s possibly a little of both? I’m sure there are errors in running an organization as large as the church. Are there wastes of money? Likely in such a large city. All cities have that problem. The problem is they are throwing out large numbers without impact of those numbers. While I shudder at the thought of half a million for a creche, the amount of tourism that that particular practice brings to the city is likely to bring much more money.

I’m sure there are other reasons besides the one above that the fellow was transferred. We do have some things that need to be reformed in the church, and likely always will. But we don’t have a full view of what is going on there by that little snippet

 

[DexUK]

From what I understand pretty much most of the Italian State runs itself on lines that those of Anglo-Saxon administrative backgrounds would consider as highly suspect.

You only have to look at the shenanigans that went on with the Berlusconi government to recognise the type of organisational culture at work when it comes to suppliers, contractors, etc dealing with official clients/customers.

It wouldn’t surprise me if that Italian cultural way of doing business with all its shortcomings was echoed in the Vatican simply because that’s what its administrators are culturally immersed in, so some administrators may instinctively work in ways that aren’t always the most transparent or seemingly just.

People may see ‘corruption’ from one angle where from another it may be viewed as the normal way to do things. Naturally one would assume that the Vatican’s organisation should be spotless and just, but these are human beings at work, with the management being priests whose first concern in life was to become men of the cloth, not chief executives. I would hesitate before throwing a whole load of blame and I would understand why some of these people would feel especially hurt if accusations of corruption were made. That said, airing dirty laundry in the press with unsigned letters and the like is never a good idea.

 

[BVM_1221]

People may see ‘corruption’ from one angle where from another it may be viewed as the normal way to do things. Naturally one would assume that the Vatican’s organisation should be spotless and just, but these are human beings at work, with the management being priests whose first concern in life was to become men of the cloth, not chief executives. I would hesitate before throwing a whole load of blame and I would understand why some of these people would feel especially hurt if accusations of corruption were made. That said, airing dirty laundry in the press with unsigned letters and the like is never a good idea.

But it comes back yet once again to the concept of “cover-up”. Did the Vatican PUNISH someone who seemed to be upsetting the status-quo, rather then deal with the problem? Do you get a feeling of Deja Vu all over again?