Ior Has New Part-time President
By Giacomo Galeazzi
The Vatican has hired a new part-time president to head its bank, the IOR. The new president will be in Rome three days a week and in Frankfurt for four days. Details of his salary are being kept secret but what is certain is that he will keep his job outside the Vatican. The man chosen for the job is the German lawyer Von Freyberg (a member of the Order of Malta), who is also president of Blhom-Vhoss Group shipyard in Hamburg. “I don’t know if they make warships or ships in general, what I do know is that Von Freyber organises pilgrimages to Lourdes,” said Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi, who urged the public not to “not to be hasty in criticising him for his line of work - shipbuilding.” “His appointment – the Vatican spokesman said – was the result of an in-depth research process, led by people who are deeply familiar with the nature and purpose of the Holy See. I don’t think the media should make superficial assessments of the new president, showing a lack of coherence with John XXIII’s Pacem in terris doctrine.” As the Vatican spokesman spoke to journalists, he was handed a note in real time, which contained a clarification: “the company no longer manufactures ships; that se4ction has been sold. Now it only does marine engineering.” Having read the brief note, Fr. Federico Lombardi broke into a liberating smile and commented: “Pacem in terris is safe, all has been resolved.” But the company’s website still contains information about its work in the design of frigates and armed ships. During his meeting with journalists, the Vatican spokesman gave a detailed description of the selection process that led to the choice of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi’s successor. “The procedure began before last summer, when the Supervisory Council suggested the Vatican hire a manager selection agency to help with the selection process. The agency conducted thorough research into how the IOR works and the kind of qualities a potential candidate would be required to have.” According to Fr. Lombardi, “the agency presented the board with 40 candidates and the board carried out a progressive selection, narrowing the number down to 6 – those it considered to be most suited to the job following a series of interviews with the board. A final list of three candidates was then handed to the Council of Cardinals.” The Pope is familiar with the new President’s family name “which does not mean he knows the family personally,” the Vatican spokesman said. Von Freyberg “lives in Frankfurt and it is expected he will be in Rome three days a week,” Fr. Lombardi said. He speaks English, German, French and Italian. He was born in Germany in 1958, is married and has a Law degree from the universities of Munich and Bonn. He has worked for TCR Europe Limited (Bemberg Group), Three City Research Inc. (Bemberg Group) and Associate from 1988 to l991 and founded and directed Daiwa Corporate Advisory GmbH from 1991 to 2012. In 2012 he became president of Blohm+Voss Group, a Hamburg-based shipbuilding company. He is an active member of the Sovereign Order of Malta and co-president of the association that organises pilgrimages to Lourdes for the diocese of Berlin. He is founder of the 'Freyberg Stiftung' foundation which supports Catholic educational institutions. He is a member of a number of private company boards (Flossbach von Storch AG in Cologne, Manpower GmbH): “Mr. Von Freyberg has a vast experience in the financial field and financial regulation processes,” reads Von Freyberg’s CV which was circulated round the Holy See Press Office. There may be a rotation of the Commission of Cardinals’ members now, but a separate statement will be issued about this, possibly within the next few days,” Fr. Federico Lombardi announced. The commission, which is in charge of monitoring the IOR’s financial activities, is currently made up of cardinals Bertone, Nicora, Tauran, Scerer and Toppo and its five year mandate is due to end this coming 23 February. “There’s not long to go now,” Lombardi said, “it will definitely be before the 28th”, the day the Pope will leave the papacy. “This is a big day for the IOR.” This was the message the acting president of the IOR, Leonardo Hermann Schmitz, sent to the director of the Vatican Press Office yesterday, after the announcement of the new president’s appointment. Benedict XVI has given his full consent to Von Freyberg’s nomination which was formalised this morning, the Vatican spokesman explained. Fr. Lombardi stressed that the process for the selection of the new president began before last summer as was “rigorous and objective without interfering in the life of the Church.” The head hunter, Spencer Stuart, picked out 40 candidates who were narrowed down to 3 and out of these three, the new president was selected. Fr. Lombardi wished to stress that “there were no tensions” within the Cardinals’ surveillance commission but “members of the commission could be rotated” before 28 February, the date the Pope will formally resign There are rumours about Cardinal Attilio Nicora who is currently in charge of promoting financial transparency in the Holy See, handing in his notice. The IOR’s new president comes from an old and noble German family, which Joseph Ratzinger says he knows... Fr. Lombardi wished to stress this morning that the image of a Catholic Church or Roman Curia divided by internal struggles, promoted by the media, “is false, also in terms of the attitudes attributed to people. There are differences in opinion which are just part of the normal dynamics of an institution,” he said. “Naturally, - Lombardi continued, I think there is a dynamic in all institutions which can lead to differences in opinion that can help the former move forward. There can of course be limits, beyond which these differences become destructive. It is about respecting the nature of different opinions and positions but that does not mean there is plotting going on.” “There is a certain tendency to exaggerate these differences and present them as struggles and fights but I am not aware of any fighting taking place within the Commission of Cardinals for example,” Lombardi stated.
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