VATICAN CITY
Irish Times
Paddy Agnew
Mon, Jul 22, 2013
On the eve of the departure of Pope Francis this morning for the week-long World Youth Day celebrations in Brazil, Italian weekly news magazine L’Espresso suggested he has just made the first serious error of his pontificate.
The report claims he recently and unknowingly appointed an actively gay Vatican monsignor to a senior post in the Vatican bank, IOR.
L’Espresso claims Msgr Battista Ricca (57), who last month was nominated as secretary to the commission of cardinals who oversee the affairs of IOR, has a colourful and well-documented gay past.
Although the concerns raised in the article about Msgr Ricca seem legitimate, Vatican observers last night suggested the report might be intended as a Curia shot across the bows of the reform-minded pope.
L’Espresso claims that in 1999 to 2000, when Msgr Ricca served as pro-nuncio in Uruguay, he had a “ménage à deux” in the Vatican nunciature with his then lover, Swiss army captain Patrick Haari. It also claims he was involved in a brawl at a gay bar in 2001.
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