UNITED STATES
Los Angeles Times
Op-Ed
By David Alvarez
August 9, 2013
By any standard Pope Francis’ Brazil trip was a great success. Enthusiastic crowds clogged the routes of the papal motorcade and reportedly more than a million people were present for the pope’s final Mass on Copacabana beach. The media no less than Catholic pilgrims seemed enchanted by the new pontiff and his appeals for dialogue, conciliation and social justice.
For this pope, who presents himself above all else as a pastor and teacher, the achievements of this first international foray must be satisfying. Now, though, it’s time for Francis to put away his bags, step out of the international spotlight and tackle the job of administering the church of which he is the head. At this moment in the history of the Roman Catholic Church, Francis can do more good working at his desk than waving from the popemobile.
For papal functionaries, the positive headlines from Brazil may have been especially welcome because they displaced several less edifying Vatican story lines. In June, Italian police arrested a priest working in the office responsible for overseeing Vatican properties and investments, charging him with conspiring to illegally move about $27 million from Switzerland to Italy. After the priest’s arrest, the director and deputy director of the Vatican bank resigned and became objects of criminal investigations by the Italian police. Next the media turned to reports that a Vatican diplomat, recently appointed to a senior post in the Vatican bank, dispensed favors to a Swiss army officer with whom he allegedly maintained an inappropriate relationship.
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