F
Fudzy
Guest
Jeez, they give the ANC a run for their money.
https://www.rt.com/news/320677-vatileaks-vatican-corruption-book/
They even arrested the whistleblowers.
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Jeez, they give the ANC a run for their money.
https://www.rt.com/news/320677-vatileaks-vatican-corruption-book/
They even arrested the whistleblowers.
CruelBreeze
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OrbitalDawn
Ulysses Everett McGill
Vatican leaks reveal dirty dealings
Wiretaps of the pope's private conversations allegedly recorded by a racy social climber and a Spanish prelate are rocking the Catholic Church after confidential information including claims of theft and debauchery was passed to investigative journalists.
Two books by the investigative journalists set to be published on Wednesday claim charity money was allegedly spent on refurbishing the houses of powerful cardinals, while the murky Vatican bank continues to shelter suspected criminals.
Suspected moles - PR expert Francesca Chaouqui and Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda - arrested at the weekend for allegedly stealing and leaking classified documents, risk up to eight years in prison if the case gets to court.
There was no official confirmation they had passed confidential information to journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, but the Vatican on Tuesday published a statement on the arrests which also slammed the books.
While Vallejo Balda languishes in jail, Chaouqui, 33, was released after assuring investigators of her co-operation in a case which has thrown light on Pope Francis's struggles to clean up a centuries-old institution unwilling to give up its privileges.
"I am totally innocent and I'll prove it," La Stampa daily quoted the dark-haired woman dubbed a "sex bomb" by Italian media as saying, adding that Vallejo Balda "did everything, I tried to stop him".
The recording and publication of the pope's private conversations "is the most controversial aspect of all the dust blown up by the second Vatileaks," the Repubblica daily said, comparing the scandal to a similar one three years ago.
Then, it was Pope Benedict XVI's butler who leaked documents revealing fierce infighting in the highest echelons of the Church and allegations of serious fraud. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, before being pardoned by the pope but banished from the Vatican forever.
'Wealth, scandals, secrets'
In wiretaps transcribed in Merchants in the Temple by journalist Nuzzi, Francis can be heard asking, "if we don't know how to look after money, which we can see, how can we look after the souls of the faithful, which we cannot?"
The pope also tells people described as "collaborators" by Nuzzi that "the costs are out of control".
Journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, who is releasing Avarice: Documents Revealing Wealth, Scandals and Secrets of Francis' Church, reveals how Church foundations for sick children act as bank accounts for cardinals.
He told a press conference on Tuesday that former Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone redirected funds from a Vatican-run hospital to do up his loft apartment and ran up outlandish expenses including a €23 800 helicopter ride in 2012.
Fittipaldi also said he had access to documents showing that the Saint Peter's Pence offerings sent to the Vatican from parishes around the world - totalling some €378m in 2013 - ended up in an account used largely to pay for Vatican bureaucracy rather than for charitable purposes.
A Vatican statement on Monday denounced the upcoming works as "fruit of a serious betrayal of the pope's trust" and said it was considering legal action.
Religious experts said the leaks may have been motivated by frustrated ambitions, with Vallejo Balda, 54, publicly passed over for promotion and Chaouqui frustrated in attempts to climb the Vatican's social ladders.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday Chaouqui denied leaking "even one piece of paper" and said "there is nothing I have ever loved more or defended more than the Church and the pope".
Revengeful mudslingers
The former Ernst & Young lobbyist was selected to be part of a special commission set up by Pope Francis to advise him on economic reform within the Church - an appointment which raised eyebrows in 2013 after it emerged she had been highly critical of the Vatican on Twitter in 2012.
Tweets - which she claimed were written by a hacker - included one which said Pope Benedict had leukaemia, one which said high-ranking Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was corrupt and one which accused a former Italian minister of being gay.
The Vatican's embarrassment only increased when racy photos of her went viral on the internet.
There were immediately questions as to whether Chaouqui, who has Moroccan origins, might be behind a rumour last month, denied by the Vatican, that Francis has a benign brain tumour.
The trained lawyer, who is reportedly pregnant, hit the headlines again in 2014 when she was suspected of having organised a lavish party for the rich and famous on a Vatican terrace at the Holy See's expense.
It was Vallejo Balda who reportedly provided communion for 150 VIPs from a gaudy crystal cup - much to Francis's fury.
Francis was tasked by his cardinal electors to stamp his authority on the bickering Curia, the Church's governing body, and clean up the Vatican bank - but the fresh leaks looked set to fuel criticisms of his reform programme.
Source:
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Vatican-leaks-reveal-dirty-dealings-20151104
Wiretaps of the pope's private conversations allegedly recorded by a racy social climber and a Spanish prelate are rocking the Catholic Church after confidential information including claims of theft and debauchery was passed to investigative journalists.
Two books by the investigative journalists set to be published on Wednesday claim charity money was allegedly spent on refurbishing the houses of powerful cardinals, while the murky Vatican bank continues to shelter suspected criminals.
Suspected moles - PR expert Francesca Chaouqui and Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda - arrested at the weekend for allegedly stealing and leaking classified documents, risk up to eight years in prison if the case gets to court.
There was no official confirmation they had passed confidential information to journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi, but the Vatican on Tuesday published a statement on the arrests which also slammed the books.
While Vallejo Balda languishes in jail, Chaouqui, 33, was released after assuring investigators of her co-operation in a case which has thrown light on Pope Francis's struggles to clean up a centuries-old institution unwilling to give up its privileges.
"I am totally innocent and I'll prove it," La Stampa daily quoted the dark-haired woman dubbed a "sex bomb" by Italian media as saying, adding that Vallejo Balda "did everything, I tried to stop him".
The recording and publication of the pope's private conversations "is the most controversial aspect of all the dust blown up by the second Vatileaks," the Repubblica daily said, comparing the scandal to a similar one three years ago.
Then, it was Pope Benedict XVI's butler who leaked documents revealing fierce infighting in the highest echelons of the Church and allegations of serious fraud. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, before being pardoned by the pope but banished from the Vatican forever.
'Wealth, scandals, secrets'
In wiretaps transcribed in Merchants in the Temple by journalist Nuzzi, Francis can be heard asking, "if we don't know how to look after money, which we can see, how can we look after the souls of the faithful, which we cannot?"
The pope also tells people described as "collaborators" by Nuzzi that "the costs are out of control".
Journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, who is releasing Avarice: Documents Revealing Wealth, Scandals and Secrets of Francis' Church, reveals how Church foundations for sick children act as bank accounts for cardinals.
He told a press conference on Tuesday that former Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone redirected funds from a Vatican-run hospital to do up his loft apartment and ran up outlandish expenses including a €23 800 helicopter ride in 2012.
Fittipaldi also said he had access to documents showing that the Saint Peter's Pence offerings sent to the Vatican from parishes around the world - totalling some €378m in 2013 - ended up in an account used largely to pay for Vatican bureaucracy rather than for charitable purposes.
A Vatican statement on Monday denounced the upcoming works as "fruit of a serious betrayal of the pope's trust" and said it was considering legal action.
Religious experts said the leaks may have been motivated by frustrated ambitions, with Vallejo Balda, 54, publicly passed over for promotion and Chaouqui frustrated in attempts to climb the Vatican's social ladders.
In a Facebook post on Tuesday Chaouqui denied leaking "even one piece of paper" and said "there is nothing I have ever loved more or defended more than the Church and the pope".
Revengeful mudslingers
The former Ernst & Young lobbyist was selected to be part of a special commission set up by Pope Francis to advise him on economic reform within the Church - an appointment which raised eyebrows in 2013 after it emerged she had been highly critical of the Vatican on Twitter in 2012.
Tweets - which she claimed were written by a hacker - included one which said Pope Benedict had leukaemia, one which said high-ranking Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone was corrupt and one which accused a former Italian minister of being gay.
The Vatican's embarrassment only increased when racy photos of her went viral on the internet.
There were immediately questions as to whether Chaouqui, who has Moroccan origins, might be behind a rumour last month, denied by the Vatican, that Francis has a benign brain tumour.
The trained lawyer, who is reportedly pregnant, hit the headlines again in 2014 when she was suspected of having organised a lavish party for the rich and famous on a Vatican terrace at the Holy See's expense.
It was Vallejo Balda who reportedly provided communion for 150 VIPs from a gaudy crystal cup - much to Francis's fury.
Francis was tasked by his cardinal electors to stamp his authority on the bickering Curia, the Church's governing body, and clean up the Vatican bank - but the fresh leaks looked set to fuel criticisms of his reform programme.
Source:
http://www.news24.com/World/News/Vatican-leaks-reveal-dirty-dealings-20151104
Kloofvreter
Honorary Master
All these leaks.....how do we know this is not made up by some disgruntled employee/friend/colleague/whatever? People seem to believe these things the moment they read it.
OrbitalDawn
Ulysses Everett McGill
Do you mean the content of the leaked documents being made up? The Vatican/government/company's reaction says a lot, I think.
They generally come down quite hard on what they consider to be the leaking of confidential information. Why would they care if it's made up?
Kloofvreter
Honorary Master
Yes, I am making quite a broad reference here, WikiLeaks, etc etc. Not this one specifically. All of it seems to be taken for the gospel truth.
Kloofvreter
Honorary Master
Well, its on the internets and has the word 'leak'. Has to be true #popegate
LOL
ShaunSA
Derailment Squad
Someone has to pay for all those designer frocks they wear.
Who thought that? You? The Borgias actually existed.
I know because they were in Assassin's Creed.
Arthur
Honorary Master
Of course there are corrupt people in the Vatican.
We have corrupt bishops, corrupt priests, corrupt laypeople, etc, etc. And we've had them for 2000 years, from the get-go. There have always been people who pretend to believe what Our Lord teaches but who exempt themselves. They infest every organisation which has human members, including Christ's church. One of is own hand-picked Apostles (Bishop Judas) betrayed Him, directly leading to his torture and execution. So we Catholics know this stuff and are hurt but no surprised. However, we also know that the great majority of our clergy are profoundly good people.
I think it's marvellous that this little den of corrupti is being uncovered.
But Vaticanisti also say that even this Vatileaks #2 should be taken with a pinch of salt and there's a lot more. There are many different agendas. Other corrupt people might be framing the innocent or trying to cover their tracks with half-truths, so as to conceal their own iniquity. My own suspicion is that these Vatileaks scandals are the tip of the iceberg. Some think Benedict XVI was basically forced to resign in exhaustion because he didn't have the energy to continue fighting the various baddies who infest the place.
We have corrupt bishops, corrupt priests, corrupt laypeople, etc, etc. And we've had them for 2000 years, from the get-go. There have always been people who pretend to believe what Our Lord teaches but who exempt themselves. They infest every organisation which has human members, including Christ's church. One of is own hand-picked Apostles (Bishop Judas) betrayed Him, directly leading to his torture and execution. So we Catholics know this stuff and are hurt but no surprised. However, we also know that the great majority of our clergy are profoundly good people.
I think it's marvellous that this little den of corrupti is being uncovered.
But Vaticanisti also say that even this Vatileaks #2 should be taken with a pinch of salt and there's a lot more. There are many different agendas. Other corrupt people might be framing the innocent or trying to cover their tracks with half-truths, so as to conceal their own iniquity. My own suspicion is that these Vatileaks scandals are the tip of the iceberg. Some think Benedict XVI was basically forced to resign in exhaustion because he didn't have the energy to continue fighting the various baddies who infest the place.