VATICAN CITY
KESQ
By Candida Moss
(CNN) –
On Monday, news broke that the Vatican is pursuing legal action against Spanish priest Monsignor Vallejo Balda and PR expert Francesca Chaouqui for a “serious betrayal of trust.” According to news reports, the two former members of a papal commission established to reform church finances were arrested for allegedly leaking confidential documents to the authors of forthcoming books on the Vatican.
The arrests are reminiscent of the “Vatileaks” scandal that plagued Pope Benedict XVI three years ago, which many feel contributed to his resignation. As with the Vatileaks scandal, this week’s news concerns economic corruption and fiscal irresponsibility in the church, although the full impact of the alleged leaks will be learned only when the tell-all books are released. And, as with the Vatileaks scandal, the most visible response by the church has been to silence its whisteblowers and control the public relations fallout.
Certainly the Vatican has the legal and ethical high ground here: It says that documents were stolen from it and leaked to the press. This kind of thing is a criminal offense, punishable by a prison term up to eight years and a fine of 5000 euros (about $5,500). Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi was clear that this was not an inside job intended to strengthen the Pope’s position, but rather that the alleged leaking of these documents undermines the work of the church by creating “confusion.”
But none of that matters.
The reputation of the Vatican succeeds or fails on the transparency issue. We can see this merely by looking at responses to various events in Francis’ papacy. His enormous and almost unprecedented popularity has been built not only on his emphasis on the poor and the marginalized, his extension of mercy to all and his charismatic personality, but also on the air of openness and sincerity that surrounds his person.
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