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Alarm bells over prelate appointed by Pope Francis

More trouble for embattled IOR and Vatican Bank
Alarm bells over prelate appointed by Pope Francis

Monsignor Ricca with Pope Emeritus Benedict (picture: La Repubblica)

Published: July 03, 2013 05:05 AM GMT
Updated: July 02, 2013 06:17 PM GMT

Since the first of this month, the Institute for Works of Religion, IOR, has been at the center of a twofold storm.

Twofold because it is made up not only of the sensational resignations of the director general and of the vice-director of the controversial Vatican “bank,” Paolo Cipriani and Massimo Tulli, but also of another scandal near the point of exploding, concerning the “prelate” of the IOR, Monsignor Battista Ricca, just appointed by Pope Francis….

…. The black hole in Ricca's personal history is the year he spent in Uruguay, in Montevideo, on the northern bank of the Rio de la Plata, across from Buenos Aires.

What provoked the rupture with the nuncio Bolonek and his sudden transfer can be summarized in two expressions used by those who confidentially examined his case in Uruguay: “pink power” and “conducta escandalosa.”

Pope Francis was entirely unaware of this precedent when he appointed Ricca prelate of the IOR.

But during the latter half of June, with all the nuncios having convened in Rome to meet with him in person - including during the concert in his honor that he deserted on the 22nd of the month - he became convinced, thanks to not one but several incontrovertible sources, that he had put his trust in the wrong person.

Sadness, gratitude to those who had opened his eyes, the desire to make remedy: these are the sentiments gathered from the sound of the pope's voice during these conversations.

Ricca, having become aware of what was being murmured about him in Uruguay, asked for and obtained a meeting with Francis in order to defend himself and make his own accusations.

But the pope seems determined to act on the basis of the information he has received. Perhaps sooner than foreseen, because in Uruguay the scandal appears close to exploding in public.

Full Story: Double Storm for the IOR 

Source: Chiesa/Espresso

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