Corruption scandal shakes Vatican as internal letters leaked

[hue]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-vatican-corruptiontre80p1ef-20120126,0,384104.story

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican was shaken by a corruption scandal Thursday after an Italian television investigation said a former top official had been transferred against his will after complaining about irregularities in awarding contracts.

The show "The Untouchables" on the respected privatetelevision network La 7 Wednesday night showed what it said were several letters that Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, who was then deputy-governor of Vatican City, sent to superiors, including Pope Benedict, in 2011 about the corruption.

The Vatican issued a statement Thursday criticizing the "methods" used in the journalistic investigation. But it confirmed that the letters were authentic by expressing "sadness over the publication of reserved documents."

[rhett o rick]

1. If this were the good ole USofA we would lock up the leaker and put

him/her on suicide watch for a couple of years.

[Angry Dragon]

2. Cults try to hide things

[Kingofalldems]

6. Nice smear.

[Angry Dragon]

7. Who am I smearing??

[WilliamPitt]

9. Me, my grandparents, half of Ireland, most of the Phillipenes...

...but you knew that.

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. You'd prefer "organised crime tries to hide things"?

[WilliamPitt]

11. I don't believe I was speaking to you.

[muriel_volestrangler]

14. I didn't believe AngryDragon was speaking to you

You know how DU works, Will. We talk to each other.

[WilliamPitt]

16. Great

Nice to meet you.

The question was: who am I smearing?

I answered.

What is your role in this conversation?

Am I wrong about who was smeared?

Make yourself useful, please.

[muriel_volestrangler]

18. Yes, I think you're wrong

He was attacking the Catholic hierarchy, who, just like the hierarchy of a cult, are trying to cover up their dubious dealings. I presume that you, and other normal Catholic followers, do not support such a cover-up. If you did, then you'd be a cult follower, because you'd be ignoring the reality of what the religious leader was doing.

Since the thread is about a cover-up of fraud at the Vatican, I think I have already been useful by comparing them to organised criminals. More useful than someone complaining that pointing out the wrongness of this cover-up is a 'smear' of half of Ireland, most of the Phillipines etc.

Hmm, in Ireland, only 27% of all Catholics have a favourable view of the Church at present. Mostly because of child abuse, but also because of cover-ups. Do you really think half of Ireland feels smeared by that post?

[WilliamPitt]

20. An excellent answer

You have made yourself useful indeed.



Sorry for my snark. You are exactly correct.

[Kingofalldems]

17. Angry Dragon was posting to me and he did smear me

Last edited Fri Jan 27, 2012, 05:50 PM - Edit history (1)

and my fellow Catholics. Is that OK?

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. I don't think it's a smear of you - see #18 (nt)

[snooper2]

15. Just because a cult is mainstream and has billions of members..

makes it no less a cult FYI

[izquierdista]

26. Cults are not religions

Just as today's grape juice is not a fine wine.

[Odin2005]

22. You mispelled "Organized Crime Syndicate"

[dipsydoodle]

3. Maybe they were French letters

Used ones .

[AnnieBW]

4. Corruption in the Vatican? I'm shocked! Shocked!

After all, this is the institution that was once led by Roderigo Borgia.

[UTUSN]

5. Resign, Ratz, resign!1 n/t

[mopinko]

8. tax the church

tax them all and see how long they last. then see if they behave any better if they think they are just like everyone else, instead of being reminded daily that they are above the mundane duties of the "little people".

[sarcasmo]

13. Tax the church is right.

[sarcasmo]

12. Richest bank on the Planet.

[hue]

25. Yes also...

http://www.dailypaul.com/107469/is-the-catholic-church-the-dominant-financial-force-in-the-world

1. The Vatican has large investments with the Rothschilds of Britain, France and America, with the Hambros Bank, with the Credit Suisse in London and Zurich. In the United States it has large investments with the Morgan Bank, the Chase-Manhattan Bank, the First National Bank of New York, the Bankers Trust Company, and others. The Vatican has billions of shares in the most powerful international corporations such as Gulf Oil, Shell, General Motors, Bethlehem Steel, General Electric, International Business Machines, T.W.A., etc. At a conservative estimate, these amount to more than 500 million dollars in the U.S.A. alone.

2. The Vatican's treasure of solid gold has been estimated by the United Nations World Magazine to amount to several billion dollars. A large bulk of this is stored in gold ingots with the U.S. Federal Reserve Bank, while banks in England and Switzerland hold the rest. But this is just a small portion of the wealth of the Vatican, which in the U.S. alone, is greater than that of the five wealthiest giant corporations of the country. When to that is added all the real estate, property, stocks and shares abroad, then the staggering accumulation of the wealth of the Catholic church becomes so formidable as to defy any rational assessment.

[Blue_Tires]

21. Can the Vatican *really* be "shaken" by scandal anymore??

[Odin2005]

23. The RCC is a criminal organization.

[lindysalsagal]

24. The church is allowed to waste money as it sees fit.

If people are foolish enough to still give their money to that 10th century European political party, then they deserve to get ripped off.

How can people believe that they need the money, or that giving money will somehow endear them to the deities in the sky?

If there is a god, and god grants favors for good deeds, sending the crooks your money is really missing the point.

Go out and adopt an unwanted child, and then maybe god will notice you.