VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent January 14, 2016
ROME — As Pope Francis continues his efforts to clean up the Vatican, two of his closest advisers this week struck slightly different notes about where things stand, with one insisting the Vatican is not a “den of thieves,” but the other claiming it contains a “gay lobby” the pope is trying to dismantle.
The comments came from Italian Archbishop Angelo Becciu, the Substitute for General Affairs, effectively the No. 2 official in the Vatican Secretariat of State, and Honduran Cardinal Oscar Rodriguez Maradiaga, coordinator of the pope’s all-important council of nine cardinal advisors.
Becciu was addressing the scandal that broke out in November, when two Italian journalists published books based on leaked documents revealing various forms of financial corruption, mismanagement, and waste.
In comments to an Italian news magazine, Becciu insisted that the depiction by some of the Vatican as a den of thieves is an “absolute falsehood.”
It’s unfair that Vatican employees, who are “proud of serving the pope and the Church,” Becciu said, “some time ago arrived at the point at which they’re embarrassed to say that they work here.”
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.