Stephen D'Agata

In the third issue raised in ‘The Vatican Today’ memo, the author asserts their opinion that there is a widespread and entrenched disrespect for the law within the Vatican. The author cites the recent trial of ten accused of financial malpractice as an example of this. Here the author may have a point, as the Vatican has always been a law onto itself and I am sure that there are many historical examples of justice being sacrificed in order to protect personal reputations and the sanctity of the Church. But here, the author accuses the Pope of abusing his legal authority by intervening in legal procedures, but earlier in the piece, he bemoans the Pope not using his authority to speak out against overtly liberal clergy.

The fact that the Vatican appears to be cooperating with authorities in the prosecution of those charged in this case should be seen as a good thing. The charges against Cardinal Becciu, who is named in the memo, are particularly serious, and were anyone else in any other organisation accused of such impropriety, it would be expected that they should step down from their responsibilities while the matter was being addressed. However, recent reporting by the Catholic News Agency suggests that the Cardinal has not been totally sidelined as suggested in the memo.

The author cites other examples where the Vatican has perhaps not followed due process in undertaking investigations or the dismissal of staff. But I do not think that it is reasonable to chastise the current Pope for these actions. In fact, I believe he should be applauded for taking affirmative action on allegations of corruption. Corrupt officials will often defend themselves by saying they are operating within the letter of the law, and maybe they are. But if they are profiting and enriching themselves by exploiting loopholes, they are not operating within the spirit of the law. For this sort of corruption to occur within a religious institution, shows they have no respect for the spirit of God’s law. So, for someone to call them out for this, is absolutely the right thing to do. If they don’t like it, let them litigate their case and see how far it gets them.