UNITED STATES
The American Conservative
By ROD DREHER • July 19, 2013
Sandro Magister, one of the most respected journalists covering the Vatican, exposes Monsigner Battista Ricca, a Vatican insider who has been elevated to head of the Vatican bank — also known as the Institute for the Works Of Religion (IOR) — by the new pope, and charged with cleaning up corruption in its ranks. Excerpts:
Before the appointment, Francis had been shown, as is customary, the personal file on Ricca, in which he had not found anything unseemly. He had also heard from various personalities of the curia, and none of them had raised objections.
Just one week after appointing the “prelate,” however, during the same days in which he was meeting with the apostolic nuncios who had come to Rome from all over the world, the pope became aware, from multiple sources, of some episodes from Ricca’s past previously unknown to him and such as to bring serious harm to the pope himself and to his intention of reform.
Sadness over having been kept in the dark with regard to such grave matters, and the intention to remedy the appointment he had made, albeit not definitive but “ad interim”: these were the sentiments expressed by Pope Francis once he was aware of those matters.
Ricca served in the Vatican diplomatic corps. When he was stationed in Uruguay, he allegedly arranged for Patrick Haari, a Swiss guard, to be stationed there with him. They were thought to be lovers. Ricca also allegedly got caught with a gay prostitute, and was beaten up while cruising. Finally the nuncio was able to get rid of Ricca and his Swiss guard lover. Magister writes:
As for Haari, in the process of leaving the nunciature he demanded that some of his luggage be sent to the Vatican as diplomatic baggage, to the address of Monsignor Ricca. Nuncio Bolonek refused, and the luggage ended up in a building outside of the nunciature. Where it remained for a few years, until from Rome Ricca said that he didn’t want to have anything to do with it anymore.
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