The Vatican: Transparency and honesty...not...

It has been with great interest that The Motley Monk has been following the news concerning the appointment of Rome's new nuncio to Washington, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.  At first read, the story makes Pope Benedict XVI appear inept, a puppet of the all-powerful Curia.

Pope Benedict XVI with Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò,
Papal Nuncio to the United States

A more careful reading of the story indicates that it has much of the stuff to make for a great mystery novel.

First, the story.  Second, some analysis.

The Story:

Synthesizing reports from three sources (Washington Post, Sandro Magister, and John Allen), a folio containing confidential letters sent by then-Secretary General of the Governorate of Vatican City-State, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, to Pope Benedict XVI and the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, was made public on the evening of January 25, 2012.  The disclosure was so earth-shaking that the news report interrupted the broadcast of a television program on Italian television.

Appointed Secretary General in July 2009, Archbishop Viganò reportedly turned a $10.5M deficit into a $44M surplus within one year by demanding centralized accounting procedures and strict accountability for cost overruns.  No doubt about it, The Motley Monk would observe, this dramatic turnabout must have required Viganò  to step on some toes and kick some serious butt inside of the Vatican.  And, sure enough, Viganò was soon reputed to be a "take-no-prisoners financial reformer" and his efforts to rein in an out-of-control financial system raised quite a ruckus among some mid-level officials who believe themselves accountable only to God and the Pope (should the later ever find out...but, as the world works, popes come and go while bureaucrats outlive popes).

Apparently, "oversight" in the Vatican means "overlooking" and has traditionally been "in name only" and tensions were teeming within the Vatican.  With Archbishop Viganò mounting a campaign to be allowed to complete his financial reforms, Pope Benedict XVI named Viganò papal nuncio to the United States.

All of this is confirmed by the folio's letters and by fact that there was no Vatican denial,  Hence, intrigue about why and how those letters got into the hands the media closes the mystery novel's first chapter.

It seems that Archbishop Viganò was lead to believe he would become President of the Governorate, likely through some powerful cardinal's "wink and nod" because only the Pope has the power to make that appointment.  But, Viganò's political enemies would have none of that.  They wanted him gone.

Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State,
with Pope Benedict XVI

It has been suggested that the Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, personally wanted Archbishop Viganò removed from his position as Secretary General for the reason that because Viganò was stubbornly enforcing his norms of transparency and honesty in financial matters.  While The Motley Monk would wholeheartedly support those norms, they apparently had the effect of upending traditional "understandings" involving those who do business with the Vatican and its officials...including Bertone.  Viganò apparently had also complained that some of the members of the Vatican's Finance and Management Committee (FMC) favored personal interests and routinely awarded construction contracts to businesses that overbid on the basis of personal connections.

So, there's the exchange of money---the motive---that brings the second chapter of the mystery novel to its devilish conclusion.

With the pro-Bertone forces pitted against the anti-Bertone forces as these played out concerning Viganò's handling of the Vatican Museum's budget as well as among some FMC members, there's additional evidence that the tangled web of internecine relationships within the Vatican ended up deciding to toss Viganò under the bus, what has been called "a face-saving maneuver to resolve these internal tensions."

Who replaced Viganò?

The "personally esteemed" Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca
with Pope Benedict XVI

A friend of Cardinal Bertone---"personally esteemed" by Pope Benedict XVI and his personal secretary, Georg Gänswein---Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca.

Hence, the exposé broadcast on Italian television portraying Archbishop Viganò in the brightest of lights as a true financial reformer and intimating that some Vatican prelates behind the scenes were conniving to thwart him.  A March 2011 private letter to Pope Benedict XVI corroborates that Viganò had warned the Pope about this scheming and how his removal would be interpreted by those in the Curia:

My transfer would provoke confusion among all those who've believed that it's possible to clean up so many situations of corruption and dishonesty.

The secret handoff of that folio provides the closing scene of the third chapter of the mystery novel.

Some analysis:

Pope Benedict XVI found himself caught in the middle, trying to please everyone involved.  But, it wasn't possible.  So, Archbishop Viganò is now angry at having been thrown under the bus and sent off to Washington, DC.  His archenemy, Cardinal Bertone, continues to wield power within the Vatican.  However, Viganò has his supporters in the Vatican and they are onto Bertone, likely awaiting the most appropriate moment to make their next move.

The Apostolic Nunciature
in Washington, DC

But, what about Cardinal Bertone?

The Motley Monk must ask: Is he serving the Pope Benedict XVI's interests by tossing a financial reformer under the bus?  After all, it was the Pope himself who appointed Viganò and empowered him to make the necessary reforms to the Vatican's financial system, that is, those norms of greater transparency and honesty.  Why did Bertone not support Viganò's efforts, if only because they were personally approved by the Pope.

Perhaps all of this has more to do with how things really work and have worked for centuries at the Vatican.  The culture of "understandings" and "winks and nods" as well as "secret handshakes" and "favors" is how business gets done and the retirement accounts of many prelates are funded.  Anyone who attempts to tinker with all of that is not going to be warmly received by many of those working in the Vatican and have been bred in that culture, no matter what any Pope may wish.

Then, too, perhaps Pope Benedict XVI is not very much interested in financial matters nor does he have the time for them.  A trained theologian, Pope Benedict may not be able to "get his mind around" cumbersome financial matters and had hoped that someone like Archbishop Viganò could do all of that work for him.

But, there was that none-too-insignificant problem: The Pope happens also to be allied with his friend, the Vatican's Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone.

"Yes, Your Holiness, very good, indeed! That certainly
would eliminate the Viganò problem. He's a bit, shall I say,
'stubborn.' He doesn't quite get how to be a team player."

Wouldn't all of this intrigue make for a smashing fourth chapter in the mystery novel?

John Allen of the National Catholic Reporter believes all of this intrigue may prove to be a boon for the U.S. Catholic Church, calling it the "Viganò effect":

...however distasteful the recent revelations may be for the Vatican, American Catholics actually ought to feel pretty good. They offer confirmation that we've got a nuncio in Viganò who's a no-nonsense guy when it comes to financial integrity and who's not afraid to fight some internal battles to make his principles stick.

All this is especially important at a time when some observers are concerned that financial scandals could be the second round of the sexual abuse crisis in terms of damage to the church's image and moral authority. Those fears have been fueled, among other things, by a 2007 survey by Villanova concluding that 85 percent of responding dioceses in the United States had suffered some form of embezzlement. 

In that light, whatever the internal Vatican logic might have been for Viganò's transfer to the United States, his arrival here comes at a great time for the American church. He may be able to encourage those American bishops who are already committed to transparency, helping them square their local systems with church law and Vatican expectations, and to ride herd on those who aren't yet up to speed. 

If he applies the same tough-mindedness he showed in Rome, perhaps we'll eventually talk about a "Viganò effect" in the American church---how the financial glasnost he wasn't able to bring to completion in the Vatican instead reached fruition on this side of the Atlantic.

While Allen's principal interest is in seeing the Church in the United States democratized and views all of this internecine infighting as potentially advancing his agenda, The Motley Monk is more interested in whether there will be a "Viganò effect" in the Vatican.

Being the papal nuncio in Washington, DC, is not a bad place to end up, even if that means ending one's career there. Maybe there's even a cardinal's red hat, if the nuncio would just "play ball" and not be a "whistleblower."  But, he has done neither.

Will the Phoenix rise from the dust in Washington, DC, and return to Rome in triumph to extract his pound of flesh?

It all depends on how the fifth chapter of the mystery novel ends.

One thing is for certain: That chapter is being written right now in Rome and Washington, DC.


Let the discussion begin...

To read the Washington Post article, click on the following link:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/report-vatican-official-transferred-to-washington-after-denouncing-corruption-in-vatican/2012/01/25/gIQAqvi7PQ_story.html

To read Sandro Magister's article, click on the following link:
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350153?eng=y

To read John Allen's National Catholic Reporter article, click on the following link:
http://ncronline.org/blogs/all-things-catholic/thoughts-americas-new-whistle-blowing-nuncio