VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Reporter
by John L Allen Jr on Jul. 20, 2012 All Things Catholic
For sure, I’m no Nostradamus. To cite just one example of my failures as a prognosticator, in 1999 I published a biography of then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger containing four reasons why his election as pope was improbable. We’re now, of course, into the eighth year of his reign.
A month ago, however, I finally got one right.
On June 22, previewing an evaluation of the Vatican’s financial transparency by Moneyval, the Council of Europe’s anti-money laundering body, I wrote: “The report is probably destined to trigger confusing and conflicting headlines about how well the Vatican did.”
On cue, these headlines ran shortly after the report’s release on Wednesday, July 18:
•Associated Press: “Vatican passes key financial transparency test”
•AGI: “Moneyval flunks the Vatican”
•L’Espresso: “Moneyval passes the Vatican”
•RTE: “Serious failings identified in Vatican Bank”
•Sunday Times: “Report cites progress in Vatican anti-money laundering efforts”
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