VATICAN CITY
Vatican Insider
Ratzinger has left his successor a 300-page report to look through. And the Vatileaks file appears a bit too biased in favour of Viganò’s statements
Marco Tosatti
Vatican City
Pope Francis will have some reading to do in the next few days. And not so much the report by the three Cardinal “wise men” on Vatileaks, as a staff memorandum written by Benedict XVI, a kind of user’s manual. It was mentioned in Avvenire (the newspaper of the Italian Bishop’s Conference) by Archbishop Loris Capovilla, secretary to John XXIII, whose 98 years have not dimmed, but if anything, added to, his lucidity. Speaking with the nephew of the “Good Pope” (Roncalli), Camarillo said “anyway, and I’m not referring to the Vatileaks dossier, Benedict XVI has left on his successor’s desk something like three hundred pages written personally to his attention, that’s what they tell me in Rome”. Like a good captain, Pope Ratzinger has left a “delivery” for the one who would take over the helm of the boat.
And it is likely that it is to these travel notes, more than the report by the three Cardinals, that Pope Francis will be devoting his attention. Criticism and doubts are growing about this latter report, the more it comes to light just how the Commission went about its work. Relying primarily on the “complaints” of the current Nuncio to the United States, Carlo Maria Viganò, and above all recording statements and accusations but without, in many cases, permitting a cross-examination. Limiting itself merely to recording them. One of the most controversial points concerns the so-called “investigation”, organized by Viganò at the Governorate, of a priest, Paolo Nicolini. Mons. Nicolini, highly esteemed by Ruini, was also esteemed by Viganò, who often asked him for advice of a technical and administrative character. According to people informed, Mons. Nicolini was also consulted by the Secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone. who asked him for technical information on the Governorate, of which Viganò was Secretary, and perhaps even about Viganò himself. This led Viganò to think Mons. Nicolini was playing a kind of double game, and when Bertone announced that he was not to become Cardinal, but would go off to be the Nuncio to the United States, the transparency case exploded.
A commission was created, headed by a close friend of Viganò, Mons. Egidio Turnaturi. And, as Vatican Insider wrote, they found “other accusations regarding Mons. Nicolini to be unfounded as well, although the Commission deemed it had found evidence of certain alleged character traits and suggested measures be taken”.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.