Lombardi: “the Vatican Will Not Be Bullied. the Commitment to Financial Transparency Persists”

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
February 14, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/vaticano-vatican-dossier-corvi-12591/


The Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi, released a statement yesterday evening concerning the ‘spreading of documents undermining the credibility of the Vatican and of the Church.’ He guaranteed that the process of strict adherence to the rules and financial transparency called for by Benedict XVI and enforced by his collaborators, will carry on. Fr. Lombardi also implied that the recent leak of documents might be an attempt to ‘discourage’ this commitment.

Lombardi said that it is necessary to ‘remain calm as there is nothing to be surprised about’ and while the American administration faced wiki-leaks, the Vatican now has its own leaks: disclosures of documents aimed at creating confusion and bewilderment and casting doubts over the Vatican, the leaders of the Church and the Church as a whole.

“It is necessary to remain cool, calm and collected and to use one’s intelligence which unfortunately not all journalists seem to do.” The Director of the Vatican Press office drew distinctions between the documents published during the last two weeks “because they are each of a different nature and importance,” he said.

”The discussions on the best way to manage an institution with many material transactions such as the Governorate (with reference to the letters of the current Nuncio to the U.S., Carlo Maria Vigano who had talked about instances of corruption, editor’s note) are one thing; the notes on legal and normative issues currently under discussion, on which it is normal for people to hold different opinions (the reference here is to the IOR memo about the retroactivity of the new laws against money laundering, Ed.) are another; and then yet another still, are some raving notes that no one in their right mind could possibly take seriously, like the recent one regarding a conspiracy to kill the Pope (an anonymous note was recently given to Benedict XVI by Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, Ed.).

“Mixing everything together,” Lombardi continued “only cretaes confusion. A reliable information service ought to be able to draw distinctions and understand the different significance of each piece of information. Obviously the financial activities of the Governorate must be managed wisely and with strict rules, it is obvious that the IOR and its financial activities need to comply with the international regulations against money laundering. These are clearly the Pope’s wishes. At the same time, it is also clear that a conspiracy against the Pope, as I already said, is pure fantasy, true madness and should not be taken seriously.”

Lombardi said it is ‘sad’ that documents are treacherously leaked from the inside of the Vatican to the press in order to spread confusion. He talked of the responsibility “both parties have for these actions.” In other words, the responsibility of those who leak the documents, but also of those who do everything in their power to use them and not because of their pure love for truth.”

This is a criticism of those who have leaked letters, memos and notes from the archives of the Secretariat of State, but also of those who released these documents in the papers or broadcast them on television.

“The strength of the attacks,” the director of the Vatican Press Office and Vatican Radio noted, is “a sign that something important has come into play.” He noted how the Vatican answer to the long string of attacks on the Church concerning sexual abuses has been one of serious and deep commitment to forward thinking renewal; not a short lived quick response, but one of change and purification. “This is also true,” he said, “for the current commitment to guaranteeing the true transparency of the activities of the Vatican Institutions from an economic point of view as well.”

He explained that “New laws have been established, new channels of supervision have opened up on an international level. Today, some of the documents leaked try to undermine this very commitment. Ironically this is another reason to pursue this goal with determination, without letting such events get to us. If many persist in trying to sabotage the Vatican, it means that this change must be important. Those who think they can bully the Pope and his collaborators are mistaken and deluded.” With these important words the Vatican spokesman seemed to want to blame the leak of documents regarding the IOR and the laws against money laundering on the will of some to stop change and financial transparency in the Vatican which were both wanted by Benedict XVI and put into practice by his collaborators (Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone and Attilio Nicora and the IOR President Ettore Gotti Tedeschi).

Finally, Fr. Lombardi heavily criticized all the spectators and the commentators who have construed the leak of documents as a sign of internal tension and power struggle. He made also a reference to the future conclave explicitly mentioned in the conspiracy theory note delivered to the Pope via a cardinal, then passed by him to the Secretariat of State and then unfortunately leaked and published in the Il Fatto Quotidiano. The spokesman reminded everyone that “the popes elected this century have all been figures of the highest and indisputable spiritual worth’ and that the ‘cardinals tried and are trying to elect someone worthy of the respect of God’s people, who can serve humanity in the current times with great spiritual and moral authority.”

He then attacked those who talked of tensions, struggle between the old and the new, attacks to bring down the Secretary of State, interpreting recent events as evidence of internal tensions. “The belief that there is an internal power struggle in the Vatican,” Lombardi said “is due to the moral uncouthness of those who would happily provoke it and do such things and are therefore often not able to see beyond.”

Recent events affecting the Governorate, including the accusations by the current Nuncio to the U.S. concerning the awarding of contracts, appeared in the news and so did the issues regarding the IOR and the constant leak of documents with very different contents but equally confidential and all coming from the Secretariat of State, but to consider these facts as signs of internal power struggle shows, according to Lombardi, ‘moral uncouthness’ and the inability ‘to see beyond’. “Those who believe in Christ,” Lombardi concluded, “ luckily knows - even though the papers may say otherwise - that the real worries of the Church's leaders are not these things, but the grave issues affecting humanity today and in the future. This is why we talk about and believe in the help of the Holy Ghost.”