GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Benoit XVI’s butler was arrested Wednesday 23 May for leaking highly confidential documents to an Italian journalist. The arrest follows weeks of turmoil with documents leaked that included confidential messages and documents about financial transparency, sexual scandals and negotiations with private religious organizations.
The butler, or valet, was found with documents in his apartment at the Vatican that he did not have permission to have in his possession. A Vatican statement issued 26 May says “Vatican magistrates have formaliszd charges against 46 year-old Paolo Gabriele, who was papal valet until his arrest on Wednesday. The magistrates have confirmed his detention and invited him to name two lawyers to represent him before the Vatican Tribunal.”
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – An independent report into the deaths of 115 children in state care in Ireland, was described as “very harrowing” by the country’s Minister for Children Frances Fitzgerald. She spoke on RTE’s Morning Ireland Thursday 22 March.
The account, compiled by the children’s charity Barnardos reports on the deaths of children from unnatural causes between 2000 and 2010 while in care. The minister said that she expected it to be made public “within several weeks”, following a review by the attorney general’s office.
On Tuesday a report into the abuse of children within Catholic dioceses in Ireland was published by the Vatican, the Irish Times notes.
Fitzgerald said that the government was committed to call a referendum of children’s rights this year.
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The Vatican has recalled its ambassador to Ireland following the harsh accusations of the Irish government saying the Vatican sabotaged efforts by Catholic bishops to report clerical sex abuse cases to police.
The Irish government had demanded the Vatican to explain a report suggesting it may have discouraged the reporting of child abuse allegations as reported by The New York Times on 15 July.
According to a report on Vatican radio, Papal Nuncio Giuseppe Leanza is being called back to Rome for consultations over the Cloyne Report.
Further details: The Irish Times, the Cloyne Report, Vatican Radio
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Ireland is reeling today after Taoiseach Enda Kenny tore into the Vatican Wednesday 20 July, “in language never before used by an Irish government leader,” as the Irish Times put it, with the national newspaper noting that relations with the Vatican had reached a historic low. “Kenny accused the Vatican of downplaying or ‘managing’ the rape and torture of children in order to uphold its own power and reputation”, and the heavily Catholic country is holding its breath to hear the Vatican’s response.
Kenny’s remarks were made in connection with fallout from the Cloyne Report, which identifies 19 priests and reports on multiple cases of sexual and child abuse in the diocese of Cloyne in Country Cork.
The beatification of a pope who is still remembered by millions would normally make front-page news for a few days, but Pope Jean-Paul II, who was beatified in Rome Saturday 30 April, had the misfortune to slip between two mega media news events: the royal wedding in Britain and the death in Pakistan of Osama bin Laden. The Mass for Jean-Paul II Sunday in Rome attracted 1.5 million people, well over the Vatican’s most optimistic predictions of one million, according to Associated Press, and “one of the largest Vatican Masses in history”.
The beatification process began just weeks after his death in April 2005, with the new pope, Benedict XVI, setting aside the normal five-year waiting period before the process for beatification, the step before sainthood, could begin. Miracles are required for sainthood and Jean-Paul II requires one more. The miracle that led to his beatification was what AP describes as the “inxplicable recovery from Parkinson’s disease” of Sister Marie Simone-Pierre of France.
Pope Jean-Paul II was head of the Roman Catholic Church for 27 years and before that, as head of the Church in Poland, he was actively involved in the labour union movement. He is often credited with playing an important role in bringing about the end of the Iron Curtain.
The Mass in Rome was attended by nearly 30 very high level dignitaries, including heads of state, prime ministers and royalty.
One of the oddest headlines from media coverage of the beatification, at least for those who had not been following Catholic Church news, was the BBC’s “Mugabe in Rome for beatification”, later extended with “of Jean Paul II” on the end.
Pope Benedict XVI has named 24 Catholic archbishops as cardinals, the Vatican announced 20 October. Ten of the newly named cardinals are Italian, two are American and one, Archbishop Kurt Koch, is Swiss. Commentators note that very few of those named by Benedict are from developing countries, which now account for two-thirds of the Catholic believers. They will be elevated in a ceremony in Rome 20 November.
The Pope names cardinals to the College of Cardinals who will vote for the next pope. Only cardinals below the age of 80 may elect a new pope.
Links to other sites: Guardian, Reuters, Wall Street Journal
Source: RomeReports.com
Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the head of the Vatican bank, is under investigation by Italian tax police for suspected money laundering. Italian authorities seized €23 million from an account with a third bank.
The Vatican’s Institute for Religious Works (IRW), the official name for the bank, is not subject to Italian and European Union banking rules, but other banks must notify the the Italian central bank of their dealings with non-EU banks, like the IRW. The IRW manages the money of Catholic orders and associations worldwide.
The news comes as Pope Benedict XVI returned from a four-day state visit to the UK, where he met representatives of people sexually abused by priests over the years.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, Politics Daily
Women’s groups are angered by new rules which make the “attempted ordination of women” a “grave crime against the sacraments” , according to Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi.
Bishops and the women who are ordained may be excommunicated. The new rules coincide with new rules governing clerical abuse of children.
The changes to Canon, or Church, law govern the sexual abuse of children, pornography and the abuse of the mentally ill. Many commentators say the changes are too little, too late.
The statute of limitations for sex abuse is extended to 20 years from the date of the 18th birthday of the victim, from 10 years, for example.
When the sexual abuse scandals resurfaced in Germany and elsewhere in May, the Vatican touted the figure of more than 400,000 Catholic priests worldwide who were not criminals.
The Catholic Women’s Ordination Conference (WOC), an organization dedicated to the ordination of women priests, cites Vatican figures showing that half of all dioceses do not have a permanent priest. WOC says that ordaining women would renew the church.
Links to other sites: The Guardian, Times of India, Wall Street Journal, WOC,
Philippe de Weck (photo: UBS)
Fribourg, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Philippe de Weck, who was the managing director of Swiss bank UBS from 1966-1976 and then head of the board for another four years, has died, age 90, in Fribourg. De Weck was the only head of the bank who has come from the French-speaking part of Switzerland. He remained a member of the board until 1988, after stepping down as chairman in 1980.
De Weck was one of a trio of experts called in to investigate the l’Instituto per le Opere Religiose, the Vatican’s bank, when it was faced with the Banco Ambrosiano scandal in 1982. He also served on the boards of several large Swiss companies, including Nestle and SGS.
He was born into a family that was part of Fribourg’s social set, a strongly Catholic society. His marriage to Alix de Saussure in 194 linked him to one of Geneva’s most notable Protestant families. He studied law in Fribourg and after working briefly in a law firm joined the family bank, Weck, Aeby & Cie, later bought out by Union Bank of Switzerland, which in turn merged with Swiss Bank Corporation to become UBS. The de Weck family is still active in banking today, with several members of the family involved in Geneva banks. Roger de Weck, his son, heads the Graduate Institute in Geneva.
The funeral will be Tuesday 15 December at the St Nicolas Cathedral in Fribourg.
Cardinal Peter Turkson, of Cape Coast, Ghana has been named to be president of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace by Pope Benedict XVI 24 October at a special meeting in the Vatican to promote peace and justice in Africa. Cardinal Turkson,61, is Ghana’s first cardinal.
The justice and peace council was formed after the Second Vatican Council to promote peace and justice in the world by working with other groups, Catholic or not, to attain those objectives. Cardinal Turkson is considered a leading light in Vatican circles. He studied theology at St. Anthony-on-the-Hudson in Rensselaer, New York. He was ordained archbishop of Cape Coast at the age of 44. Catholic News Service, Catholic Online
The Vatican announced a mechanism called an Apostolic Constitution which allows disaffected Anglican groups to enter the Catholic Church. The arrangement will allow Anglicans to enter full union with the Catholic Church but maintain elelments of their liturgy and rituals. Cardinal William Joseph Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith made the announcement Tuesday 20 October, and said that it was in response to requests from Anglicans around the world to join the Catholic Church.
The Anglican Communion is seriously divided by the issues of homosexual bishops, same-sex marriage and the ordination of women priests. BBC, Wall Street Journal
Lausanne, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – The International Olympic Committee was bestowed observer status at the UN General Assembly in New York, USA Monday, 19 October, in recognition of the IOC’s efforts to promote the UN’s Millenium Development Goals and the importance of sports in promoting development and peace.
Observer status is a privilege given to non-member states – currently only the Vatican is a non-member – and non-governmental organizations, like the International Red Cross. Observers may speak, but cannot vote or introduce resolutions.
Eluana Englaro, age 38, has died in northern Italy. Her death was announced by the clinic caring for her. Englaro had been in a coma since 1992 following a car accident. Her family was able to move her to a clinic in northern Italy early in February 2008 where staff removed her feeding tubes 6 February. She has been at the centre of heated political and religious fighting for several months.
