Federico Lombardi, S.J., director of the Vatican Press Office, criticized as “partisan...partial and banal” an Italian television news program that on Jan. 25 broadcast portions of letters addressed to Pope Benedict and Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Vatican secretary of state. The letters were apparently signed by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, right, and written when he was the secretary general of the commission that governs Vatican City. One of the letters, dated April 4, 2011, said that when Archbishop Viganò took office almost two years earlier, he discovered “chaotic management” and overspending. The letter complained of a “media campaign” by opponents of his efforts at reform and implored the pope not to remove him from his job “even for promotion.” The pope named Archbishop Viganò nuncio to the United States in October 2011. Under his leadership a Vatican City budget deficit of nearly $9.8 million in 2009 turned into a surplus of $28 million in 2010.
Vatican Downplays Corruption Charges
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
As we enter into Holy Week, join America Media for a subscriber-only virtual event with James Martin, S.J., and ‘Jesuitical’ hosts Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless.
“Having a sensory room in a place of worship is probably more important than anywhere else because everyone should feel welcome in their faith.”
Sports hasn't always been the most popular topic among America's editors and contributors—unless it was the Grand Old Game, baseball.
A joint Catholic-Evangelical report found that an overwhelming majority of people impacted by the Trump administration's mass deportations are Christian.