Suffice it to say, the communication surrounding the papal visit to Corsica - a French island in the Mediterranean sea - has been uncertain at best. One might even describe it as erratic.

As you read this, the pope's visit to Ajaccio, the capital of the Mediterranean island, has been confirmed.

However, details about the timing of the Pope's visit kept people guessing, and late last week, two reliable sources assured an announcement would be made November 16.

Two others, equally reliable, suggested November 18.

And another one announced November 20. Recently, numerous local media outlets have mentioned an "imminent announcement," "in the next few hours," "tomorrow," or "in the coming days."

These inconsistencies stem from more than just a lack of sources or corroboration. In 2013, Francis was elected pope with a clear mandate to restore order to a Curia weakened by scandals.

While he has partially reformed it, he has mainly established a highly personal style of governance that frequently circumvents his own administration. Under Francis, a "Vatican source," even a "high" one, is not always "well-informed."

Legacy

"Is this trip to Corsica real?" an influential member of the French episcopate reportedly asked a representative of the Vatican's diplomatic services in October.

This query was the first time that the member of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, responsible for relations with states, heard of this possible trip.

The study of a potential trip to Corsica has been conducted in strict secrecy at the Vatican, in direct connection with the diocese.

Parts of the Secretariat of State, the French Bishops' Conference, the French Presidency, and the French Embassy to the Holy See were only informed late in the process.

An official invitation, a prerequisite for envisioning the pope on French soil, was requested from the French Presidency at the beginning of November, which reportedly sent it.

A Vatican delegation recently traveled to Corsica to arrange technical details.

The secrecy around this information is open to interpretation. Vatican "sources" remained divided on the matter. Should Francis be seen as a master strategist who wants to keep his options open with respect to the Curia or the agenda of an embattled Emmanuel Macron?

"I think this trip to Corsica is more of an impulsive or heartfelt decision, tied to his friendship with (the Bishop of Ajaccio, François) Bustillo, whom he made a cardinal," said a close papal confidant.

This less political theory doesn't preclude concern: "At nearly 88 years old and with this modus operandi, I worry that some of Francis' choices might be less understood and could damage his legacy." But again, who knows?

Two others, equally reliable, suggested November 18. And another one announced November 20. Recently, numerous local media outlets have mentioned an "imminent announcement," "in the next few hours," "tomorrow," or "in the coming days."

These inconsistencies stem from more than just a lack of sources or corroboration. In 2013, Francis was elected pope with a clear mandate to restore order to a Curia weakened by scandals.

While he has partially reformed it, he has mainly established a highly personal style of governance that frequently circumvents his own administration. Under Francis, a "Vatican source," even a "high" one, is not always "well-informed."

Legacy

"Is this trip to Corsica real?" an influential member of the French episcopate reportedly asked a representative of the Vatican's diplomatic services in October. This query was the first time that the member of the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, responsible for relations with states, heard of this possible trip.

The study of a potential trip to Corsica has been conducted in strict secrecy at the Vatican, in direct connection with the diocese. Parts of the Secretariat of State, the French Bishops' Conference, the French Presidency, and the French Embassy to the Holy See were only informed late in the process.

An official invitation, a prerequisite for envisioning the pope on French soil, was requested from the French Presidency at the beginning of November, which reportedly sent it.

A Vatican delegation recently travelled to Corsica to arrange technical details.

The secrecy around this information is open to interpretation. Vatican "sources" remained divided on the matter. Should Francis be seen as a master strategist who wants to keep his options open with respect to the Curia or the agenda of an embattled Emmanuel Macron?

"I think this trip to Corsica is more of an impulsive or heartfelt decision, tied to his friendship with (the Bishop of Ajaccio, François) Bustillo, whom he made a cardinal," said a close papal confidant.

This less political theory doesn't preclude concern: "At nearly 88 years old and with this modus operandi, I worry that some of Francis' choices might be less understood and could damage his legacy."

But again, who knows?

• First published in La Croix
• Mikael Corre is a journalist and senior reporter at La Croix L'Hebdo.
• This piece was written before the Vatican confirmed Pope Francis' visit. It has been edited to reflect the confirmation of the visit.

In a series of interviews aired on Belgian television, Becciu discussed Pope Francis' role and his own conviction for fraud and embezzlement.

Becciu, who served as the papal chief of staff until his resignation in 2020, is currently appealing a five-year prison sentence for misusing church funds.

"It will be necessary to clarify the exercise of papal authority" Becciu said. The cardinal insisted that the pope should be removed from the temporal governance of Vatican City. "That is, he should no longer be a head of state."

Convicted Cardinal Becciu

In a historic ruling, the Vatican Criminal Court on Saturday sentenced Becciu, 75, to five and a half years in prison.

This marks the first instance of such a high-ranking church official facing prison time for financial misconduct.

Becciu was found guilty on several charges, including misappropriation related to a significant loss-making investment in a London property.

The court found that Becciu failed to ensure due diligence while overseeing an investment of around $200 million between 2013 and 2014.

This investment represented nearly one-third of the total assets of the Vatican State Secretariat at the time.

Court finds limited fraud charges

Although Becciu was found guilty of misappropriation, he was cleared of other fraud allegations tied to the London deal.

Brokers and financial advisors involved—Enrico Crasso, Raffaele Mincione, Gianluigi Torzi and Nicola Squillace—were handed prison sentences ranging from five and a half to seven and a half years for related charges including fraud and money laundering.

Joint fraud scheme

Cardinal Becciu faced further charges involving 570,000 euros allocated to Cecilia Marogna, allegedly under the guise of humanitarian aid.

The court found they conspired to misuse these funds, resulting in Marogna's sentence of three years and nine months.

"The court recognised that both parties committed serious fraud" the Vatican judge said in the written ruling.

Family ties

The court also determined Becciu transferred 125,000 euros from the Vatican to a charity managed by his brother, Antonio.

While the charitable purpose was deemed legitimate, Becciu breached Vatican penal codes by directing funds to a close family member.

Becciu maintains innocence

During the Belgian TV broadcast, Becciu maintained his innocence, arguing that the pope was misled about his actions.

"I guess someone took revenge on me" Becciu speculated.

He attributed his downfall to jealousy over his close relationship with the pope.

Despite the court's rulings being lighter than the demands of the prosecution, Becciu's defence team announced plans to appeal, challenging the legitimacy of the entire trial process.

Sources

The Pillar

AP News

English Katholisch

CathNews New Zealand

The Pope's plea was revealed in a conversation with Jesuits during his trip to Southeast Asia from September 2 to 13. The Italian daily Corriere della Sera published excerpts from these talks on September 24.

"I asked for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, and I met her son in Rome. I have proposed to the Vatican to give her shelter on our territory" the report says quoting Pope Francis.

Suu Kyi's Detention and Health Concerns

Aung San Suu Kyi, 78, has been held in custody since the Myanmar military's 2021 coup, which ended a decade of democratic governance in the country.

She is currently serving a 27-year sentence on charges ranging from corruption to violating COVID-19 restrictions.

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, has been kept largely out of public view, sparking concerns over her well-being.

Local reports have also suggested that her health is deteriorating, though officials have provided little information on her condition.

Pope calls for action in Myanmar

Pope Francis, who visited Myanmar in 2017, spoke out against the ongoing violence in the country.

"We cannot stay silent about the situation in Myanmar today. We must do something!" he said during his conversation with Jesuits.

He also emphasised the need for peace and democracy in the nation.

"The future of your country should be one of peace based on respect for the dignity and rights of everyone and respect for a democratic system that enables everyone to contribute to the common good" Francis added.

Executions condemned by human rights groups

As Myanmar's military junta continues its crackdown on opposition, the regime recently executed two pro-democracy activists, Maung Kaung Htet and Chan Myae Thu, for their involvement in a prison bombing in Yangon.

According to the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Myae Thu became the first woman executed since the coup.

"Words of condemnation are no longer sufficient, concrete action is much needed to end the culture of impunity under which the junta operates" said Mary Aileen Diez-Bacalso, executive director of FORUM-ASIA.

"Death sentences and executions are not only a punitive response to legitimate resistance but also serve to crush all dissent through terror and fear" Bacalso added.

Sources

• La Croix International
• UCANews.com
• CathNews NZ

Father Frank Brennan (pictured), a Jesuit priest and human rights lawyer, blames leadership on both political sides for not seeking common ground.

He hopes a "reconciling spirit" will blow through parliament's chambers during the next three weeks while elected leaders lay the groundwork for the three-month campaign.

He says he'd like some changes made to the federal government's proposed Indigenous Voice referendum question.

It's too broad, he says. Its reference to the Voice making representations to executive government will attract many legal challenges.

He suggests changing the wording from "executive government" to "ministers of state" could broaden support for the referendum.

However, given all major political parties' reluctance to consider any proposed Constitutional amendments, the wording of the change "might not be perfect," he says.

Stating his case in Rome

On Saturday, Brennan will deliver a lecture on the referendum at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

His draft lecture notes say he proposes discussing a contemporary Australian perspective on recognising Aboriginal rights.

He will also urge Australians to recommit to "deep inner listening" towards each other and the land.

This will include reminding Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of their responsibility for the debate's tone.

"Neither side of the parliamentary chamber has done what was needed to bring the country together, to bring reconciliation in our land, to bring the country to ‘Yes'," Brennan's notes say.

"The government has assured parliament that it would have the power to legislate whether and how representations by the Voice need to be considered by the executive government, and should "tweak the words" to ensure that public servants performing routine administrative tasks will not be required to consider representations by the Voice."

Voters will face a stark choice in the referendum, his lecture notes continue.

"We can vote ‘No' to a constitutionally enshrined Voice either because we continue to think that all constitutional entitlements should be held ‘in common with all other Australians' or because we are not convinced that the Voice will work effectively," the notes say.

"Or we can vote ‘Yes' because, whatever the imperfections of the wording and the risk of future complications, we think it is high time that Australia's First Peoples were recognised in the Constitution in a manner sought and approved by a broad cross-section of Indigenous leaders."

He also plans to tell his audience that only eight of 44 referendums have succeeded in Australia since the federation and he hopes "this one will be the ninth".

Papal gift

Brennan presented a copy of his new book, "An Indigenous Voice to Parliament: Considering a Constitutional Bridge", to Pope Francis this week.

His dedication on the gift says he is "hoping and praying for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament."

"May the Australian people bring the country to ‘Yes', recognising the rights of our First Peoples who have occupied the Great South Land of the Holy Spirit for tens of thousands of years," he says.

Source

• WAToday

The Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin has been meeting with the Roman Curia to discuss gradually reopening Holy See offices as Italy prepares to end its national lockdown on 4 May.

The heads of Vatican dicasteries decided to implement a "gradual reactivation of ordinary services" while "safeguarding the health precautions to limit contagion".

This will start in May, a statement from the Holy See Press Office says.

Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte says he will be releasing a plan to slowly lift coronavirus restrictions and reopen businesses.

"I wish I could say: let's reopen everything. Immediately."

"But such a decision would be irresponsible. It would bring up the contagion curve uncontrollably and it would frustrate all the efforts we've put in so far," Conte wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday.

After over a month of lockdown, more than 100,000 people are currently ill with COVID-19 in Italy.

In total, 183,957 total cases were documented by the Italian Ministry of Health.

Vatican City has reported nine cases of COVID-19 among its employees. The most recent confirmed case was reported this week after the patient was hospitalised.

"Appropriate sanitisation and checks were carried out among those who had had contact with the interested party on the only day of his presence at the workplace in the two weeks prior to the response, all with negative results," the Holy See Press Office says.

Vatican City is implementing measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in coordination with the Italian authorities, the Holy See Press Office adds.

St. Peter's Basilica and square, the Vatican Museums, and several other public offices in the Vatican City State have been closed for more than six weeks.

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: You Local Rome

Instead of meeting thousands of pilgrims in St Peter's Square, Pope Francis held his general weekly audience and delivered his catechism via livestream from the privacy of his library.

Francis sent out special prayers for prisoners, the sick and hospital personnel caring for them.

These and other measures follow the Italian government's ruling suspending all public religious services, as the nation copes with over 7,300 confirmed COVID-19 cases and at least 366 deaths.

Although St Peter's Basilica is closed and guarded by the Pope's Swiss Guards, churches throughout Rome are open for private prayer.

Some parishes are also offering Eucharistic Adoration.

Religious communities in Rome say they have continued to attend private Masses in their residences.

Although the Vatican City State has its own legal order that is autonomous and separate from the Italian legal system, the Holy See is stressing that Vatican City's measures are being made in coordination with the Italian authorities.

Other measures the Vatican has implemented include cancelling meetings and conferences, limiting travel for its personnel and closing the Vatican Museums to the public.

Closing the museums will also close off the Vatican's main source of income for the foreseeable future.

Nonetheless, the Vatican ts trying to mitigate the dramatic economic impact the COVID-19 virus is having on Italy's businesses.

These are showing a sharp drop-off in the commercial, retail and tourism sectors.

The Vatican is one of the biggest landlords in Rome, and has offered to consider rent reductions from businesses experiencing problems.

The nationwide quarantine in Italy restricts movement around the country and between regions. Restaurants and bars must close at 6pm and gathering in groups is forbidden.

People are encouraged to stay home, but may move around the city for work, to go to the grocery store or pharmacy, or for medical care. In public, people are asked to keep one meter of distance from each other.

Source

• Fox News
• Catholic News Agency
• US News
• Image: Wall Street Journal

A number of precautionary measures have been implemented to contain the disease, a Vatican spokesman says.

These include:

Closing some of the Vatican's offices.

Shutting down and disinfecting the Vatican health clinic.

Putting a Vatican official into a protective quarantine after he came into contact with a priest who tested positive for the virus. (So far the official isn't showing symptoms of COVID-19.)

Closing the Vatican Apostolic Library doors throughout this week.

Pope Francis, who lost part of one lung from a respiratory illness when he was a young man, thanked all those who are responding to the healthcare emergency.

"I wish to express again my closeness to those who are ill with the #coronavirus and to healthcare workers who are caring for them, as well as to civil authorities and all those involved in assisting patients and in containing the spread of the virus," Francis tweeted.

Although Francis came down with a cold over a week ago, he has no symptoms of any other illness, the Vatican says.

Although recovering well, Francis has canceled several official audiences as well as his participation at a week-long spiritual retreat in the Roman countryside for the meanwhile.

It is not clear how the Vatican will alter Francis' schedule and other events both inside the Vatican and during Holy Week activities leading up to Easter Sunday on April 12.

Francis usually presides over the Way of the Cross procession at the Colosseum on Good Friday, celebrates an Easter Vigil in St. Peter's Basilica and delivers the "Urbi et Orbi" ("to the city and to the world") Easter Day message in St. Peter's Square.

Source

• India Today
• Image:America Magazine

According to statistics from the California-based Wine Institute, the Vatican consumed 74 litres of wine per person in 2012.

This is about double the per capita consumption of Italy as a whole. A standard bottle of wine is about .75 litres, so the Vatican annual consumption was the equivalent of 105 bottles per person.

Italian press reports attribute the wine intake to the Vatican having older residents who are overwhelmingly male, are highly educated and tend to eat communally - all factors that tend to lead toward higher wine consumption.

Some believe the use of wine for Communion also contributed to the figure, but this was dismissed by other commentators.

Another factor is the Vatican's small size that makes it easy for per-capita figures to be distorted by the activities of a small group, or in the case of the Vatican, a single supermarket that sells wines almost tax-free.

Other microstates, including Andorra (46 litres per person) and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, off the coast of Canada (44 litres per capita), still fall far short of Vatican levels.

Luxembourg, another small country - though with a population of 535,000 that's many times that of the Vatican's estimated population of 800 - is second on the list, with a per capita consumption of around 56 litres.

France and Italy each have a little more than half the per-capita consumption of the Holy See in 2012.

In 2011, the Vatican's per capita wine consumption was 62 litres.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Guardian
• The Independent
• Image: Topnews

The Holy See Press Office said the new norm, Law XVIII, "strengthens the current internal system for the prevention and countering of money laundering and the financing of terrorism, in conformity with international guidelines".

It marks the latest development in efforts by both Pope Francis and, up until his retirement, Benedict XVI, to reform the financial system of Vatican City and the Holy See.

Law XVIII implements Pope Francis's motu proprio of August 8, which called for a broadening of existing Vatican laws on financial supervision.

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, secretary for relations with states, said that "special attention" will now be dedicated to giving information on "suspicious activities", which will be carried out under the auspices of the Financial Information Authority.

If a "valid reason" to suspect activities of money laundering or financing of terrorism should occur, the FIA will send a "detailed report" to the Vatican's promoter of justice, and transactions and operations under suspicion may be suspended "for up to five working days", the archbishop explained.

He added that the FIA has powers of "general supervision" to ensure prescribed measures are taken by "obligated subjects" against money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

He also said that "administrative sanctions" can be applied by the FIA, or, in the most serious cases, by the president of Vatican City, upon suggestion by the FIA.

The Vatican diplomat further stated that individuals who threaten peace and international security will be automatically denied the ability to trade or make financial transactions with the Vatican.

He said the FIA may immediately place "a preventative block" on their goods and resources and financial transactions.

The new law also regulates the "cross-border transportation" of cash amounting to more than 10,000 euros, in co-operation with other states and "on the basis of agreement protocols", Archbishop Mamberti said.

Sources:

National Catholic Register

Vatican Information Service

Vatican Information Service

Image: The Hindu

In its annual financial statement, the Holy See said better management had helped it recover from a loss of nearly $NZ25 million in the previous year.

But donations to the Peter's Pence collection, taken up worldwide for the support of the Holy See, declined by nearly 12 per cent to $NZ85.4 million.

Vatican City — which has its own city-state budget and profits from revenues of the Vatican Museums, post office and other attractions — showed a surplus of $NZ38 million, a slight increase on the previous year.

The board of the troubled Vatican Bank met on July 4 to consider the sudden resignation of its two top managers — who are now under investigation by Rome magistrates — and the arrest of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano on a money-smuggling charge.

A Reuters report said the bank's president, Ernst von Freyberg, told the meeting that a preliminary inquiry into Scaranio's activities had found "clear failings that should serve as stark reminder of the urgency of improving the [bank's] processes".

Scarano, 61, who worked as a senior accountant in the Vatican's financial administration and had close and regular contacts with the bank, was arrested along with an Italian secret service agent and a financial intermediary.

Reuters said Freyberg told the board that the bank would continue to improve internal procedures and review every account. "We will systematically identify and eradicate wrongdoing by clients of our institute," he said.

Meanwhile, the Financial Information Authority — a Vatican body established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 to prevent money laundering and other illegal financial activities — announced that it had been admitted into the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

Membership gives access to a global network of financial intelligence units and facilitates the exchange of information in the fight against financial crime. It also represents recognition of the Holy See/Vatican City State's efforts in tracking and fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Sources:

Vatican Radio

Reuters

Catholic News Service

Image: Prokerala News

Francis's seamless blend of style and substance, sometimes in the same act—his unprecedented decision to stay in sweltering Rome through July both expresses his solidarity with Romans without the means to own a summer home, and permits him to keep up his work schedule—is the new papal normal. The Pope, in the eyes of most Vatican watchers, has so altered the tone of the papacy—the face it presents to the faithful and to the world at large—that style has become substance. "Even if he were to die tomorrow," remarks Michael Higgins, a distinguished Canadian Catholic intellectual now teaching at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn., "I do not believe his successor could go back to the old ways."

For Higgins, "it's been the best 100 days in papal history, probably the most consequential since Innocent III." Higgins means consequential in a diametrically opposed way: when Innocent came to the papal throne 815 years ago, his reign completed the apotheosis of the heir of the fisherman into the ruler of Christendom, a figure suspended between heaven and earth. Francis, on the other hand, "has begun a process of demystifying the office that's been as far-reaching as turning the House of Windsor into a Scandinavian monarchy—from Benedict to him, it's been like going from the London landau to riding a bicycle through Copenhagen."

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the former cardinal-archbishop of Buenos Aries—first of his papal name, nationality, continent and religious order—began walking his different path immediately after his election, by asking the crowd outside St. Peter's to pray for him, rather than offering them a blessing. He hopped on a minibus to go back to his hotel, rather than the papal limo. He wears a plain cross, not pontifical jewels. He nixed the customary change-of-regime bonuses paid Vatican employees (they averaged $2,100 after Benedict was elected). He lives in a Vatican guest house, not the papal apartments, where he eats breakfast with the staff and other guests, talking freely to them all. Against all custom he travels in elevators with other passengers. He has kind words for atheists, and even the possibility of their salvation, at least if they are dedicated to the service of the poor.

He washed the feet of women as well as men, Muslims as well as Catholics, in an unprecedented, even shocking version of the ancient Holy Thursday ritual. He refers to himself almost always not by any of his exalted titles, such as Vicar of Christ, but as bishop of Rome, a pastoral office. He has condemned "the cult of money" and the suffering exacted by austerity measures in Europe, "slavery" in the Bangladeshi garment industry, and the Mafia. He preaches about the devil as often as he does about St. Francis. He may well have performed an exorcism in St. Peter's Square. Most disconcertingly, he says what he's thinking while he's thinking it. There are holy people in the Curia, the Vatican bureaucracy, Francis told a group of visiting Latino nuns and monks, but also a "current of corruption," and a network of gay men: "We will have to see what we can do."

Francis seems, in the opinion of Arthur Liebscher, an American Jesuit who often encountered him in Argentina in the 1980s, to be working out his thoughts—aloud, in public—on just what problems face the world's largest Church and what should be done about them, with very little reference to precedent or ruffled feathers. He is engaged in a "radical rewriting of his office, from a theocratic pulpit to a ministry," says Higgins, who believes the most revealing comment about his pontifical aims that Francis has yet made came in a mass only two weeks after his election. Priests, the Pope said, again departing from a prepared text and clearly including himself, must be close to the people, "shepherds with the smell of sheep."

It has all made Francis the most wildly unpredictable pope in centuries. Dangerously unpredictable, in fact, for those heavily invested in the ecclesiastical status quo. They include lower-level bureaucrats for whom maintaining papal protocol, liturgical fidelity and court ceremonial is "their life," as Higgins put it, and those far higher in the Vatican food chain, where misconduct has historically been swept under a rug. Those caught swimming in the "current of corruption" cannot expect a soft landing this time.

For no one doubts, despite the deliberate pace so far—the bank appointment was among the first crucial personnel moves—that under this pope massive change is coming to the Church. In the same conversation in which he mused about seeing "what we can do" about the Curia, Francis added that "the cardinals of the commission will move it forward," in October when they start issuing recommendations to him.

He was referring to the eight cardinals from every continent whom he appointed to advise him in reforming the bureaucracy. The panel, which has only one Vatican cardinal, is loaded with the Curia's severest critics, all men who are (or were), like Francis, also pastors of their dioceses. They include Sean Patrick O'Malley, currently the archbishop of Boston and a Capuchin friar who has garnered enormous respect for the forthright way he has tackled his grim lot, cleaning up the sexual abuse situations he inherited in every diocese where he has served, and George Pell, archbishop of Sydney, Australia, who was perhaps the most outspoken critic of the Curia in the cardinals' pre-conclave meetings.

Participants in those discussions sought term limits on Vatican postings to prevent priests from becoming career bureaucrats, and demanded the Vatican strip the secrecy from its opaque finances through better financial reports. Virtually everyone, including Cardinal Bergoglio, agreed the bureaucracy needed a wrenching directional change, oriented to serving bishops in their dioceses, rather than the opposite.

The papacy remains an absolute monarchy, though, and the eight cardinals are advisers, not legislators. In the end, Francis will make the call. Vatican watchers naturally try to read the tea leaves of his off-script remarks for hints of future action—no easy task, as shown by his recognition, newsworthy primarily for its frankness, of the presence of homosexuals in the Curia. There is no way of being sure what Francis actually said, let alone meant: the Spanish-language notes his visitors made afterwards use an English-derived phrase ("lobby gay"). The Pope, who reportedly understands English far better than he speaks it, may have quoted that now-standard English label, gay lobby, or said something else his hearers rendered as such. Nor is it possible to determine how hostile his remark was: Francis did not, by the evidence of the leaked notes, link the corruption with the gay clerics.

Some observers connect the Pope's thinking with his cultural background—the classic Latin American mix of doctrinal conservatism and economic radicalism. "Even for a South American, Francis's piety is traditional," says Father Liebscher, a specialist in Argentinian history who teaches at the Jesuit Santa Clara University in California. Liebscher agrees with those, like Michael Higgins, who see the Jesuit in the Pope as offering the clearest pointers to his future actions—"the asceticism, the indifference to rank and the perks of office, the dedication to service and to the Roman Catholic Church as the church of the poor," in Higgins's words—with a caveat. Bergoglio is an Argentinian Jesuit, spiritually formed in a distinct religious and social cauldron.

From their founding during the Catholic Reformation, the Jesuits have had a complicated relationship with the papacy, sometimes the favourite agents of papal will—"answering those needs that wouldn't otherwise be filled," says Liebscher. "Historically that always meant education and missions, though today the missions are to the marginalized, not the heathen." Other times, though, the order was suppressed or viewed with suspicion for its intellectual daring and rebellious streak, as it was in Latin America during the 1970s heyday of liberation theology, later condemned by the Vatican for straying into Marxist intellectual territory. It's no accident there has never before been a Jesuit pope.

Liebscher was studying in Santa Fe, 400 km northwest of Buenos Aires, in 1987, when Bergoglio came to stay for a few weeks. "He didn't speak much—I'm impressed how chatty he is as Pope—and what we all noticed was how disciplined he was in his prayer life, an example for the younger guys. That and the tensions that surrounded his entourage." As the past head of his order in Argentina, Bergoglio had been spiritual director for a lot of the younger men. "They were all formed by him, sharing his stern dedication to both the religious life and to the poor," says Liebscher, adding "an Uruguayan Jesuit once told me Bergoglio may not have been a liberation theologian, but ‘he certainly thought like one.' " Bergoglio, in fact, was that very Argentinian figure, a caudillo, a strongman like dictator Juan Perón. "A religious caudillo, a benign one, but a caudillo," Liebscher sums him up, a man who made his own decisions and pulled everyone along with him.

What made Bergoglio a polarizing figure in his order was not the charge raised at his election, that he had effectively handed over two liberation theology Jesuit activists, kidnapped and tortured in 1976, to the ruling military by refusing to endorse the priests' ministry. "Within the order, the consensus was he did what he could to protect two guys who didn't have the sense to get out of the line of fire," Liebscher says. (Both men were freed by Bergoglio's secret activity: he arranged for dictator Jorge Videla's family priest to call in sick so that Bergoglio could say mass in Videla's home and successfully plead for mercy.) No, what made Bergoglio stand out, the American Jesuit says, was his total emotional and spiritual adherence to the 1972 decision by the order as a whole to embrace the preferential option for the poor: "The Spanish-speaking provinces were more split than any others on the issue and Bergoglio was always on the cutting edge."

He has ever since applied his devotion to the cause of the marginalized entirely within orthodox belief and in an utterly pragmatic way, "He's a whatever-works, one-step-at-a-time guy," says Liebscher, "so I'm pretty sure there's no overarching plan for his pontificate." But there is one clash the American does see coming. Rome is clericalism central, heartland of the concept of the priesthood as the real Church, rightly privileged far above the laity, and the city's new bishop is clericalism's "sworn enemy." "The only time I ever saw him visibly irritated with another person was when someone said, ‘Father so-and-so preferred to say mass by himself, a private experience.'" A church rite is no one's private affair, retorted an angry future pope, "it is a service for the people."

Between now and his potentially fateful meeting with his cardinal advisers in October, Francis won't be idle. Looming above everything is his surely triumphant return to South America in late July for Catholic World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro. Whether he will connect with young people in the way John Paul II did is the next big question, but Higgins has no doubt of the answer. Francis, after all, has connected with almost everyone (aside from arch-traditionalists) in his diverse, 1.2-billion strong Church. "I have spoken to countless Catholics, lay and clergy, and they have all simply been energized by him." And when those youths ask him questions, what might he answer? "Who knows?" laughs Higgins. "He's capable of anything."

Sources

• Maclean's
• Image: The Guardian

Fr William Grimm MM, based in Tokyo, is the publisher of ucanews.com

The audit by Moneyval, a department of the Council of Europe, followed a request by the Holy See last year for an evaluation of its financial control systems and safeguards against criminal activity.

While the Holy See passed 9 of the 16 key tests — putting it in the same league as countries that have been working for years on their financial transparency — the inspectors called for improvement in several areas.

The financial transparency audit was most critical of the Vatican's new financial oversight agency, the Financial Information Authority.

The inspectors said it does not appear to have the authority and resources necessary to maintain adequate oversight of the Vatican's financial activities.

The report also recommended more professional oversight of the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works. The inspectors "strongly recommended" that it should be independently supervised and should make rules about who is actually eligible to keep accounts there.

On the positive side, the report said the Holy See "has come a long way in a short period of time" and that many of the "building blocks" to combat money laundering are in place, even though more has to be done.

Responding to the report, the Holy See's Undersecretary for Relations with States, Monsignor Ettore Ballestero, said the Holy See and Vatican City had been found to be "largely compliant with international standards".

He said the Holy See had laid the foundations for "a robust and sustainable system to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Now it is our wish to fully construct a building that effectively shows the Holy See's and Vatican City State's desire to be a reliable partner in the international community."

Sources:

Vatican Radio

Associated Press

Reuters

Image: Political World

The Holy See finances for 2011 recorded a deficit of 14.9 million euros ($NZ22.9 million). Its budget covers the Vatican Secretariat of State and its worldwide diplomatic missions, Vatican congregations and pontifical councils.

The Vatican blamed the poor outcome on high personnel and communications costs and adverse market conditions, particularly for its real estate holdings.

The deficit in the Holy See finances was in spite of a 50 million ($NZ70 million) gift from the Vatican Bank and increased donations from dioceses and religious orders.

The Peter's Pence Collection — used by the Pope for charitable and emergency works, but not included in the Vatican's budget — showed an increase, from $US67.7 million ($NZ84.8 million) in 2010 to $US69.7 million ($NZ87.3 million) in 2011.

The biggest contributions to this fund come from the United States, Germany and Italy.

Meanwhile, the autonomous Vatican City State, which employs nearly 1900 people, recorded a surplus of 21.8 million euros ($NZ33.5 million).

The bulk of its income in 2011 came from the Vatican Museums, where increased visitor numbers — more than five million in 2011 — were encouraged by extended opening hours.

Among the expensive items covered by the Holy See finances are the communications operations of Vatican Radio, the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano and Vatican television, which produce little or nothing in revenue.

Father Federico Lombardi, who runs the Vatican radio and television departments and is also the Vatican spokesman, said there are no plans to reduce the Holy See's 2832 staff, but that savings must come from elsewhere.

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Associated Press

Image: David Blackwell