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Vatican leaks scandal
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Vatican leaks scandal
In 2012 Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi published letters from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò in which he exposed corruption that caused the Holy See to pay increased prices for contracts.
During the following months, the situation intensified as documents were leaked to Italian journalists, revealing power struggles inside the Vatican due to its efforts to implement greater financial transparency and comply with international norms to fight money laundering. In early 2012, an anonymous letter made newspaper headlines for its warning of a death threat against Pope Benedict XVI. The scandal increased in May 2012 when Nuzzi published a book entitled His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI consisting of confidential letters and memos between Pope Benedict and his personal secretary, a controversial book that describes the Vatican as riven with jealousy, intrigue and factional fighting. The book reveals details about the Pope's personal finances and includes tales of bribes made to procure an audience with him.
The scandal was first revealed during late January 2012 by a television program named The Untouchables (Gli intoccabili), broadcast in Italy by La7, and increased during May 2012 when Gianluigi Nuzzi published a book entitled His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI consisting of confidential letters and memorandums.
Among the documents were letters written both to the Pope and to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, by then apostolic nuncio to the United States, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, complaining of corruption in Vatican finances and a campaign of defamation against him. Viganò, formerly the second-ranked Vatican administrator to the Pope, allegedly asked not to be transferred for having exposed corruption that cost the Holy See artificially high contract prices.
An anonymous document described a conversation with Cardinal Paolo Romeo of Palermo, Sicily, in which he allegedly predicted the Pope would be dead within twelve months. According to John L. Allen Jr., none of the information leaked seemed "especially fatal". "It's not so much the content of the leaks, but the fact of them, which is the real problem".
The Vatican investigation of the leaks worked along several tracks, with Vatican magistrates pursuing the criminal investigation and the Vatican Secretariat of State an administrative investigation. In March 2012, Pope Benedict appointed a commission of cardinals to investigate the leaks. The three cardinals appointed by Benedict acted in a supervisory role, examining more than the narrow criminal scope of the leaks and interviewing much of the Vatican bureaucracy; they purportedly discovered a sex and blackmail scandal. They reported directly to the Pope, and could both share information with Vatican prosecutors and receive information from them, according to Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi. The group was directed by Cardinal Julián Herranz Casado, an Opus Dei prelate who headed the Vatican's legal office as well as the disciplinary commission of the Vatican bureaucracy before retiring.
On 30 May 2012, Pope Benedict made his first direct comments on the scandal in remarks at the end of his weekly general audience. He said the "exaggerated" and "gratuitous" rumours had offered a false image of the Holy See, commenting: "The events of recent days about the Curia and my collaborators have brought sadness in my heart. ...I want to renew my trust in and encouragement of my closest collaborators and all those who every day, with loyalty and a spirit of sacrifice and in silence, help me fulfill my ministry."
On 26 July, Pope Benedict held a meeting of the commission of cardinals. Also in attendance were the chief of the Vatican police, the judges involved with the case, and representatives of the Vatican Secretariat of State, according to a report from Federico Lombardi.
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Vatican leaks scandal
In 2012 Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi published letters from Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò in which he exposed corruption that caused the Holy See to pay increased prices for contracts.
During the following months, the situation intensified as documents were leaked to Italian journalists, revealing power struggles inside the Vatican due to its efforts to implement greater financial transparency and comply with international norms to fight money laundering. In early 2012, an anonymous letter made newspaper headlines for its warning of a death threat against Pope Benedict XVI. The scandal increased in May 2012 when Nuzzi published a book entitled His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI consisting of confidential letters and memos between Pope Benedict and his personal secretary, a controversial book that describes the Vatican as riven with jealousy, intrigue and factional fighting. The book reveals details about the Pope's personal finances and includes tales of bribes made to procure an audience with him.
The scandal was first revealed during late January 2012 by a television program named The Untouchables (Gli intoccabili), broadcast in Italy by La7, and increased during May 2012 when Gianluigi Nuzzi published a book entitled His Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI consisting of confidential letters and memorandums.
Among the documents were letters written both to the Pope and to the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, by then apostolic nuncio to the United States, Italian Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, complaining of corruption in Vatican finances and a campaign of defamation against him. Viganò, formerly the second-ranked Vatican administrator to the Pope, allegedly asked not to be transferred for having exposed corruption that cost the Holy See artificially high contract prices.
An anonymous document described a conversation with Cardinal Paolo Romeo of Palermo, Sicily, in which he allegedly predicted the Pope would be dead within twelve months. According to John L. Allen Jr., none of the information leaked seemed "especially fatal". "It's not so much the content of the leaks, but the fact of them, which is the real problem".
The Vatican investigation of the leaks worked along several tracks, with Vatican magistrates pursuing the criminal investigation and the Vatican Secretariat of State an administrative investigation. In March 2012, Pope Benedict appointed a commission of cardinals to investigate the leaks. The three cardinals appointed by Benedict acted in a supervisory role, examining more than the narrow criminal scope of the leaks and interviewing much of the Vatican bureaucracy; they purportedly discovered a sex and blackmail scandal. They reported directly to the Pope, and could both share information with Vatican prosecutors and receive information from them, according to Vatican spokesman the Reverend Federico Lombardi. The group was directed by Cardinal Julián Herranz Casado, an Opus Dei prelate who headed the Vatican's legal office as well as the disciplinary commission of the Vatican bureaucracy before retiring.
On 30 May 2012, Pope Benedict made his first direct comments on the scandal in remarks at the end of his weekly general audience. He said the "exaggerated" and "gratuitous" rumours had offered a false image of the Holy See, commenting: "The events of recent days about the Curia and my collaborators have brought sadness in my heart. ...I want to renew my trust in and encouragement of my closest collaborators and all those who every day, with loyalty and a spirit of sacrifice and in silence, help me fulfill my ministry."
On 26 July, Pope Benedict held a meeting of the commission of cardinals. Also in attendance were the chief of the Vatican police, the judges involved with the case, and representatives of the Vatican Secretariat of State, according to a report from Federico Lombardi.