VATICAN CITY
The Tablet (UK)
03 November 2015 by Christopher Lamb in Rome
Any shake-up of a system is going to face opposition. So it is with Pope Francis and his reforms of the Vatican.
After part one of the Vati-leaks saga: when Paolo Gabriele, Benedict XVI’s butler, released private documents from inside the papal apartment detailing corruption.
Now we have part two.
Two individuals have been arrested and questioned by Vatican police in relation to the leaking of private documents. Both had been key members of a commission overhauling Vatican finances and administration (COSEA) in the early part of Francis papacy. But neither had been given positions in the new economic structures that the Pope then established.
The first is Francesca Chaouqui, a 33 year-old financial PR expert. She is a controversial figure who claimed former Holy See Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was “corrupt” and posted racy photos of her and her husband on Facebook. She co-operated with Holy See police inquiries and has now been released.
The second is Mgr Lucio Ángel Vallejo Balda, a Spanish priest associated with Opus Dei (not, it should be stressed, a priest of the personal prelature) who is being detained in a Vatican prison cell. Opus Dei priests are often trusted for their financial and administrative skills and the prelature issued a statement saying they were “shocked and saddened” by the arrest.
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