More of Vatican Scandal

The birds offered the first hint of danger in the tiny Vatican State.

On Jan. 30, Pope Benedict XVI released the traditional two doves as “a sign of peace to the city of Rome and to the world” from his papal apartments; instead of both flying away one hesitated for a long time before it flew off and the other made a quick U-turn and flew right back into the room. Curiously enough, there were crows flying overhead. A crow, “corvo” in Italian, is an uncomplimentary term for informants. Paolo Gabriele, the pope’s butler who has been exposed as the source of confidential information leaked to the Italian media since the beginning of the year may actually be a scapegoat. On May 23rd, Gabriele was arrested, detained and questioned within the secure walls of a room in the Vatican. On Sunday, days after his arrest, more documents were leaked to the Italian daily La Repubblica, giving credit to the suspicion that he (Gabriele) was the fall guy or a pawn as in a chest game of strategy in a Vatican game of thrones and conspiracy. It is speculated that Gabriele was the messenger at the service of much bigger players who were trying to loosen the firm core ground of which the Vatican was formed on and to hurt the center of the Vatican’s power. In a letter accompanying the 3 new documents, the anonymous provider indeed does say that Gabriele is simply "the usual scapegoat" and states that his or her intention is to "drive out the real culprits from the Vatican” and points a finger to Msgr. Georg Gaenswein, Benedict's personal secretary, and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, his secretary of state as the actual top players who intended and planned the documents to be leaked.  The source warns that the new papers are just “three of the hundreds of documents in our possession” that could be damaging to the Vatican.  The documents published Sunday include two written on Gaenswein's personal letterhead. The text, however, had been whited out as a step the source said he or she had taken in order to protect the pope. In the accompanying cover letter, the source says the documents prove that Benedict is being served by an "inept staff." There seems to be more than one Judas in the Vatican.
The Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is accused by many in the Vatican bureaucracy as the Curia of wielding too much power. Many of the leaked memos were directly or indirectly linked to him, and reveal an almost dictatorial role within the Vatican that goes beyond his role as the Vatican’s “prime minister.” Cardinal Bertone spoke out for the first time against the scandal that has been nicknamed “Vatileaks” during an interview with TG1, one of Italy’s biggest newscasts, and was very straightforward. He called the leaks a "ferocious, biting and organized attack on the pope.” Cardinal Bertone also said that the pope "is not letting himself be scared by these attacks, whatever their nature."

Pope Benedict has stood by the Cardinal so far, and even sent out a strong message of unity by parading him along on his trip to the northern Italian city of Milan over the past weekend.

Michael Corleone: There are many things my father taught me here in this room. He taught me; 'keep your friends close, but your enemies closer'. (The GodFather Part II)

In a rare interview with the Italian Catholic magazine, Famiglia Cristiana, Cardinal Bertone, the Vatican's secretary of state, accused the media of "intentionally ignoring" the good things the Church does while dwelling on scandals.

"Many journalists are playing the game of trying to imitate Dan Brown," said Bertone, referring to the best-selling author of novels such as "The Da Vinci Code" and "Angels and Demons".  "They (journalists) continue to invent fairytales and repeat legends," he said.

Cardinal Bertone said the media were full of "pettiness and lies spread in these days," adding that "outside Italy people have a hard time trying to understand the vehemence of some Italian newspapers". He said the Church was "an unequivocal reference point for countless people and institutions around the world" and added: "This is why there is an attempt to destabilize it".

THE DEVIL MADE THEM DO IT

Cardinal Bertone said that the image of the Vatican as a place of intrigue and power struggles is false, saying: "The truth is that there is an attempt to divide that comes from the Devil". At a briefing with the Vatican's chief spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, an Italian reporter contested Bertone's portrayal of the media, telling him that the leaks scandal started with a letter in which an archbishop complained to the pope about corruption in the Vatican.  Several leaked documents allege corruption in the Vatican's business dealings with Italian companies that were paid inflated prices for work in the Vatican, rivalries among cardinals, and clashes over the management of the Vatican bank.

Lombardi said that while he did not want to make "generalized condemnations", he believed that some of the coverage of the Vatican was "not founded on objectivity”. Earlier this month Lombardi acknowledged that it would take time to restore trust within the walls of the Vatican and to heal the damage to the Church's reputation caused by the leaks scandal and the subsequent arrest of the pope's butler.Gabriele was arrested on May 23 and has been interrogated several times by a Vatican magistrate who must decide whether he should stand trial on charges of aggravated theft.

Bertone said no cardinals were suspected of involvement in the leaks scandal.

He also denied allegations by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the former head of the Vatican bank, that he was ousted because he wanted the bank, officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), to be more transparent.

Bertone repeated the Vatican's position that Gotti Tedeschi left after a no-confidence vote by the bank's board because he was a divisive and inefficient manager.