Vatican condemns leaking of expenses details of Pell’s Secretariat for the Economy

By James Roberts
Tablet (UK)
February 27, 2015

http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/1809/0/vatican-condemns-leaking-of-expenses-details-of-pell-s-secretariat-for-the-economy

Cardinal George Pell, who was given the job last year of overseeing reform of Holy See finances, has met with the first overt resistance from within the Vatican.

The Italian weekly L’Espresso today published leaked details of the expenses of the Secretariat for the Economy, the body created by Pope Francis in February 2014 to bring order and scrutiny to the Holy See’s labyrinthine financial practices, and headed by Cardinal Pell.

L’Espresso reported that the Secretariat had run up around €500,000m in expenses in the first six months of its existence. The total reportedly includes spending on computers and printers, but also a €2,508 bill from Gamarelli, the well known tailor to many of the clergy.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said leaks were illegal. “Passing confidential documents to the press for polemical ends or to foster conflict is not new, but is always to be strongly condemned, and is illegal,” Fr Lombardi said.

“The fact that complex economic or legal issues are the subject of discussion and diverse points of view should be considered normal. In light of the views expressed, the Pope issues guidelines, and everybody follows them.”

Fr Lombardi continued: “The article makes direct personal attacks that should be considered undignified and petty. And it is untrue that the Secretariat for the Economy is not carrying on its work with continuity and efficacy. In confirmation of this, the Secretariat is expected in the next few months to publish the financial statements for 2014 and the estimated budgets for 2015 for all of the entities of the Holy See, including the Secretariat itself.”

Resistance to the Australian cardinal from sections of the Vatican bureaucracy, or curia, has been growing since December, when Pell said he had "discovered" hundreds of millions of euros that had been "tucked away" in sectional accounts off the Vatican balance sheet.

The leaks would appear to be aimed at discrediting the reform efforts of Cardinal Pell, in the way that the Vatileaks scandal of 2012 was aimed at discrediting Pope Benedict XVI’s Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The Vatileaks affair laid bare the political intrigue that afflicts the curia, something Francis was elected with a mandate to reform.