Editor’s note: This is part two of a two-part series. Click here for part one.
Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s eight-year tenure in the Vatican Secretariat of State has left a trail of scandal and moral wreckage that makes for sensational headlines. But that may be obscuring the more significant and under-reported aspect of Holy See’s corruption problem, and that is the apparent involvement of Pope Francis himself, as well as numerous favored subordinates whose misbehavior and checkered pasts seem to have been completely overlooked.
Cardinal Becciu himself functioned for many years as a case in point. His blatant attacks and obstruction against Vatican auditors, in coordination with Vatican prosecutors, were carried out in broad daylight by people who answered directly to Pope Francis. And he operated with a very clear enjoyment of impunity from both the pontiff and from his immediate superior Pietro Parolin.
Despite Becciu’s long public record of troubling and suspicious behavior, Pope Francis did not admonish him nor remove him from his position, but actually made him a cardinal in 2018 and appointed him as Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints. Becciu appeared to be an untouchable favorite of the pope, and there is little indication that this situation would have changed if an internal Vatican report on investigations into Becciu’s investments hadn’t been leaked to the most eminent of Vaticanista exposé journalists, Emiliano Fittipaldi of L’Espresso.
Cardinal Becciu case forced into the light by leak of documents
In early October of 2019, Fittipaldi wrote an article exposing the fact that the Vatican Gendarmerie had carried out raids on the Secretariat of State and the Holy See’s Financial Information Authority (AIF) as part of an investigation of suspicious financial activities, which appeared to be homing in on several low-level actors at the two agencies, as well as the president of the board of directors of the the AIF, René Brülhart and some private financiers. However, Fittipaldi’s article also mentioned the involvement of Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, his “substitute” or second-in-command, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, and the previous substitute, Cardinal Angelo Becciu.
The leak to Fittipaldi was clearly upsetting to Pope Francis, who expressed concern that it might do harm to those who were under investigation, complaining that the it was “injurious to the dignity of persons and of the principle of the presumption of innocence.” He quickly obtained the resignation of the commander of the gendarmerie, Domenico Giani.
However, it was impossible to hide the facts of the case from the public. The Vatican admitted that the raids had occurred, and that both written and electronic records had been confiscated. A year later, in late 2020, Becciu was forced by Pope Francis to renounce his privileges as cardinal and his leadership of the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.
It is unclear what Pope Francis’ precise motives are for finally turning on his chief fixer and personal confidant. But it seems most likely that he was forced by the media exposure to sacrifice one of his favorites to protect two others who are more valuable to him: Parolin and Peña Parra. Although Parolin was Becciu’s immediate superior and was in charge of the Secretariat of State while his agency repeatedly acted to block investigations into the secretariat’s management of investments, and although Peña Parra has overseen the investments for years, neither have been charged with any crimes, on the claim that they were not sufficiently informed of the situation.
The Holy See’s own press release on the prosecution of Becciu, issued through Vatican News, offers a vague explanation for why Parolin and Peña Parra are being spared, quoting Vatican prosecutors stating that the two were not “effectively informed to be fully aware of the juridical effects that the different categories of actions would cause” in the management of the investments.
Francis seems to be uncomfortably conscious of the appearance of selective justice and has begun to repair his relationship with Becciu with open shows of sympathy for his fallen deputy. He made a phone call to Becciu within weeks of removing him which Becciu described as “comforting” and “a ray of light.” He then joined Becciu in his private apartment to celebrate the Mass of Holy Thursday with him this year.
Francis followed this up with radio interview on September 1 that was notably publicized by the Vatican in which he frankly stated his closeness to Becciu and strongly hinted at a preference for a particular outcome in the trial: acquittal. “I hope with all my heart that [Becciu] is innocent,” he told Radio Cope. “Besides, he was a collaborator of mine and helped me a lot. He is a person whom I have a certain esteem as a person, that is to say that my wish is that he turns out well. … In any case, justice will decide.”
Adding weight to this thesis is the fact that the trial of Becciu appears to be the result not of an initiative by Pope Francis, but of Becciu himself, who responded to his removal from power with complaints of injustice and filed suit in secular courts seeking damages for losing the chance to be elected pope. Only a few weeks after he was forced to resign, Becciu began to publicly state his desire for a public trial, and other defendants in the case expressed similar sentiments. An acquittal after a formal process would enable Pope Francis to claim he has done due diligence in rooting out corruption, while leaving his former lieutenant unharmed.
Selective prosecution raises eyebrows
Other, less powerful actors have also been chosen to take a fall, and the selection has raised eyebrows. While Parolin and Peña Parra have had no charges filed against them, Msgr. Mauro Carlino, Cardinal Becciu’s former secretary, is being prosecuted – although he would appear to have been simply obeying the orders of the powerful Becciu. Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, who also worked in the Secretariat of State and was involved in the investments, appears to have been spared only because he proved useful as a prosecutorial witness against Becciu.
Some charges, particularly for reportedly profiting unjustly from middleman transactions or outright embezzlement, are uncontroversial. However, Vatican prosecutors have also charged René Brülhart, who had resigned as President of the Board of Directors of the Financial Information Authority in 2019 after Vatican police raided his auditors and shut down the agency, for “overlooking the anomalies of the London transaction.” Critics have noted that the AIF’s own constitution did not give it oversight of the Secretariat of State, and that the charges appear to be political payback by prosecutors against yet another auditor. Brülhart is vigorously contesting the charges, and at least one of his former board member of the AIF, Marc Odendall, has said he believes they are motivated by the personal animus of the prosecutor.
Some of the charges have led one British court to openly ask why Pietro Parolin and Edgar Peña Parra have not been charged themselves. When one of the defendants in the case, a financier named Gianluigi Torzi, contested a freeze of his assets in Britain made at the behest of Vatican prosecutors, the judge responding to the motion expressed skepticism that Torzi’s behavior hadn’t been knowingly approved by Peña Parra, and that Pietro Parolin was completely in the dark.
Calling the Vatican’s “non-disclosures and misrepresentations” against Torzi, “appalling,” Judge Tony Baumgartner of Southwark Crown Court noted incredulously that Peña Parra, and Pietro Parolin “must have had the wool pulled completely over their eyes,” adding that “nowhere in the papers . . . is there any indication that Archbishop Peña Parra or Cardinal Parolin have provided . . .a witness statement” explaining how they were supposedly fooled by Torzi into signing his contract for the management of real estate in London.
“I find it difficult to accept any suggestion that Archbishop Peña Parra would have signed such a document without familiarising himself with the documents he authorised Monsignor Perlasca to execute, given the apparent significance of the transaction and the substantial sums of money involved,” wrote Baumgartner, who also expressed surprise that “no suggestion is made” that “Archbishop Peña Parra was part of the conspiracy.”
Baumgartner lifted the asset freeze against Torzi. In mid-October, Italy’s Supreme Court overturned an arrest warrant issued against him. Increasingly, the prosecution of Torzi appears to be little more than an attempt to blame him for decisions made by officials in the Holy See who, until now, enjoy a perfect impunity.
Martinelli trial establishes disturbing precedent
A corruption trial that follows much of the same pattern as that of the Becciu case, and may foreshadow its outcome, was completed only a few weeks ago, quietly terminating while the press was focused on Becciu’s trial.
After evidence emerged in the Italian media in 2017 that accusations of sex abuse committed at the Vatican’s St. Pius X Pre-Seminary had been ignored or covered up for years by the pope’s subordinates, the Holy See opened a new investigation and placed the accused on trial: Fr. Gabriele Martinelli, accused of using his favored status with the pre-seminary’s rector to sexually abuse a fellow pre-seminarian, and Fr. Enrico Radice, accused of favoring and covering up for Martinelli while acting as rector of the institution.
It emerged at the trial that the diocese that has ordained Martinelli has concluded “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Martinelli had engaged in “sexually inappropriate practices” for a total of six years, from the age of 14 to the age of 20. However, the court rejected the testimony of the younger student that he had been forced by Martinelli to engage in sex acts, although his testimony was confirmed by at least one other student. It also dismissed some of the charges on the grounds that the accused was under the age of 16, and therefore not criminally liable under Vatican law.
On October 6, the court announced its verdict: complete acquittal of both Martinelli and Radice on all charges. It appears that despite the clear evidence that Martinelli engaged in “sexually inappropriate behavior” for six years while in the pre-seminary and up to the age of 20, he will be permitted to continue as a priest, and is believed when he claims he didn’t force himself on his younger peer. His diocese has dismissed his previous behavior as a result of transient “immaturity.”
Becciu case is tip of corruption iceberg
The Becciu case is only one of several troubling cases of Pope Francis apparently turning a selectively blind eye to the misbehavior of his favorites, most of which have never been subject to a public trial. A similar example can be found in the case of the prelate the Italian media has dubbed the “vice pope,” Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodríguez Maradiaga, and his former auxiliary bishop Juan José Pineda Fasquelle.
Rodríguez Maradiaga is one of the Francis’ most important confidants, and seems to have been instrumental in his election as pope in 2013. He was made the coordinator of the Council of Cardinal Advisers, the pope’s elite “Senate” charged with carrying out Francis’ showcase reform project, the restructuring of the Holy See itself.
In 2016 and 2017, Honduran and international media began reporting on the corrupt management of the Archdiocese of Tegucigalpa by Cardinal Rodríguez Maradiaga. According to the reports, Maradiaga had been removing about half a million dollars per year for a period of several years from the Catholic University of Honduras for purposes that have never been accounted for.
Maradiaga was also accused of facilitating and repeatedly covering up the predatory sexual misbehavior of his auxiliary bishop, who openly lived at the archbishop’s residence with his boyfriend, a layman dressed as a priest. Pineda Fasquelle himself has been unable to account for over a million dollars he received of government funds given to the Church for charitable purposes, which witnesses claim were used to purchase expensive gifts for boyfriends and first-class plane trips to Spain.
Additionally, the reporting of Italian Vaticanista Emiliano Fittipaldi and the National Catholic Register’s Edward Pentin has revealed that Maradiaga lost over a million dollars of Church money in a financial scam that he recommended to the Dean of the Vatican Ambassador Corps, Allejandro Valladares. Fittipaldi obtained archdiocesan financial records showing that the transfers received by Maradiaga from the University of Honduras were kept “off the books.” Maradiaga defends the transfers as normal business but has never accounted for their use, and regarding the financial scam he has responded with vague, ambiguous denials and denunciations of the reporters who revealed it.
Valladares’s widow, Martha Alegría Reichmann, who was a close friend of the cardinal for decades, has confirmed these accusations, and says she and her husband were victims of the cardinal himself, who recommended the same financial scam to the couple. Her book-length account of Maradiaga’s misdeeds, which I personally translated, relates that the family lost its life savings in the scheme, which they were led to believe by Maradiaga was a legitimate investment, following which the cardinal abandoned them to their fate.
Although the apostolic nuncio and later an appointed Vatican investigator collected dozens of testimonies in Honduras regarding the malfeasance and personal misbehavior of Rodríguez Maradiaga and Pineda Fasquelle, Pope Francis ultimately dismissed the evidence and publicly portrayed Maradiaga as a victim of slander.
Alegría Reichmann says that she received a private audience with the pope, who promised her that he would give her justice, and has since abandoned her case without giving any verdict, despite repeated attempts to reach him through the Secretary of State Pietro Parolin. Following the Vatican investigation, the now-discredited Pineda Fasquelle was allowed to resign and simply disappear; his whereabouts are currently unknown.
Alegría Reichmann has been left without her life savings, and the Church’s money has never been recovered. Pope Francis confirmed and renewed Rodríguez Maradiaga’s tenure as Coordinator of the Council of Cardinal Advisers, and has allowed the cardinal to continue as Archbishop of Tegucigalpa more than three years beyond the canonical retirement age of 75.
“On November 21, 2017 the pope told me that he was well aware of my case, that he had read my letters and that he had instructed the Secretariat of State to resolve my problem,” writes Alegría Reichmann. “He also told me that I could count on all his ‘good will’ when he gave me his blessing by making the sign of the cross on my forehead.” However, “it seems that Pope Francis knew that the matter would remain unresolved and washed his hands of it. I wrote a total of five letters to the pope, and never received any response.”
“The pope is the pope!” writes Alegría Reichmann. “What can prevent him from remedying a serious fault committed by his “right hand man”? Nothing and no one can stop him. It was perfectly clear that the good will he offered me was false.”
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Cardinal Parolin, and likely even Pope Francis himself, are also complicit in the corruption in the Vatican and should also be in the dock next to Becciu.
You say, “likely”, and the author uses words like “apparent involvement”.
There is an investigation. It would be prudent to wait for definite and clear news before jumping to conclusions.
No, the corruption includes suppressing investigations. Pope Francis sacrilegiously interrupted a Holy Mass of Cardinal Mueller in order to read him the riot act to stop his canonical investigation of one of his ideological pals, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, for his past episodes of accused sexual abuse. When Francis, who demanded Mueller come to him, but was told that Mueller was at a solemn point in the Mass, Francis responded, “I don’t mind.” For Francis to consider his interests of sabotaging corruption investigations over and above honoring our blessed Lord indicates he is capable of any moral and spiritual corruption, no matter what preplanned lip service against corruption he performs on other occasions.
Could you cite the source? Lots of half-truths are printed in the press, including some anti-Pope “Catholic” ones.
The “source” is Cardinal Mueller and Pope Francis, who both admitted the event in mid 2013 to numerous sources in the international press, and everyone present at the Mass, a group of German students and scholars touring Rome, witnessed the interruption. This was chronicled and detailed by Marco Tosatti in First Things Magazine, a paragon of journalistic integrity. No one denies the event, except your closed mind. Cardinal Mueller acknowledged the event a short time later, on the air, in an interview on The World Over, which can probably still be found on YouTube. If not, downloaded for free from the EWTN archives. You can cease your moral sloth and make an effort to do your own research. No one is subject to your demands resulting from your moral sloth.
This reminds me of Cardinal Pell’s case. The Australian MSM – press and TV – had convicted him even before the case in court had run its course. They were ruthless. A musician wrote a song saying that Cardinal Pell should go to hell, and it was played on several radio stations. However, the truth turned out to be far from what journalists had been conveying. Sadly, some people still remember what they read and heard.
Lets never forget Bergoglio’s face when he welcomed Pell back: wasn’t expecting to see you again…
Train yourself to forget it. Pope Francis was disappointed when his trusted Cardinal was charged by the Australian police. However, he still had hope in the fairness of the judicial system. “The overturning of Cardinal Pell’s sentence was met with satisfaction in the Holy See. In a statement, it affirmed that it had always “expressed confidence in the Australian judicial authority”. The statement emphasized, while “entrusting his case to the court’s justice, Cardinal Pell has always maintained his innocence, and has waited for the truth to be ascertained.”
In a sermon just after Pell’s good news, Pope Francis, who personally knows how people suffer at the hands of those who have it him for him, said: “In these days of Lent we have seen the persecution that Jesus suffered, and how the doctors of the Law had it in for Him; He was judged with this dogged fury, even though He was innocent. I would like to pray today for all those people who suffer an unjust sentence as a result of those who had it in for them.”
Yes, the Pope believed Pell was being framed.
Mal, it is not my comment below, but truth is portant. Cardinal Muller WAS reported as interrupted at mass and by a renowned Vaticaniste. Cardinal Muller has issued no denial… See here for example: https://www.gloria.tv/post/PDXmVFReTaHm3t3JvrA9dAN6E
So you see a parallel with the moral fiber of Becciu and Pell where Becciu outright admits to massive theft of Vatican funds but pleads innocence simply on the basis the he contends that he is entitled to that theft?
You said that the Pope interrupted Mueller at mass, and I asked you to provide the source. You ignored that part.
The charges against Becciu and Pell were very different. My post was highlighting the role played by media people in conditioning reader’s views about issues. Pell had his day in court, and the judges proved that the police (and the media) were wrong.
Under ordinary circumstances, I would agree with you. But it’s unwise to trust the foxes to guard the hen house. Accountability is the operative principle here. Only those who are complicit in the corruption willfully ignore the corruption.
There is truth to the idiom “birds of a feather flock together”.
For corruption in the Church – whether it be of a carnal nature or pertain to theft of funds – to be self-sustaining, it must have the protection of those at the very top of the hierarchical ladder of power.
Corrupt Cardinals will always vote for a corrupt Pope. Corrupt Cardinals will always see to it that Corrupt Bishops are made Cardinals. Corrupt bishops will make certain that only corrupt priests are made Bishop. Corrupt bishops insure that the factory producing future corrupted priests only go to certain seminaries e.g. the NAC. Corrupt bishops insure that only corrupt priests are made seminary rectors. And collectively, the bishops in the USA make sure that corrupt staff occupy key paid positions at the USCCB. I call this model of Catholic Church governance “The McCarrick Model.”
The Catholic Church as currently organized in one huge protection racket.
Sad but true. I wonder what it will take to free the church from its corrupt leaders.
ensure
Yes, ensure in due diligence. Insure too. Keep in uncertainty of belief the inseparability and qualitative equality of ensuring procreation helper gift role within the family and insuring family member identities in need of union.
The problem is corrupt diseased families for their tax and insurance advantages grooming psychologically and or emotionally vulnerable family persons with occult as hidden, incest connected as substitute mate, non-economic status inducements such as “higher vocation” (TTMHS, PCF, 1995, 35; cf. FC, 1981, 16; SV, 1954, 24; Vat 2, OT, 1965, 10) of consecrated celibates to marriage. Oliver Clark, age 74, catechist and widower, nine chidren; Job’s Trust oliver_clark5@telstra.com, Brisbane Australia Ph 0467299853
It is patently obvious that whenever a police raid occurs in the Vatican state, the purpose is to collect all of the evidence, and impound it, so that justice will never happen.
Almost all of us know the famous statement: “Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
What Most of us did not realize is that the man who said that was a Catholic, Lord Acton of England, a century ago, and he made the statement in a letter to his own Bishop, during the time of the First Vatican Council, and the totalitarian movement among some Church operators for a decree about expanding the power of the Pontiff, and the corruption he was talking about was the corruption of the Catholic Church.
While the Vatican I decree of infallibility ended up being very limited, to the relief of men like Acton and Cardinal Newman of England, the “operators” in the Church have in the following century managed to advance their corruptive influence. Their engine of corruption is The Secretariat of State, and in 1970, Paul VI reorganized the Vatican Curia, demoting the Congregation for the Faith, for centuries the senior-most Congregation in the Curia, and promoting in its place, to primacy and over other Congregations, the Secretariat of State.
Let that sink in: Pope Paul VI reorganized the Vatican Curia so that the most important congregation was deemed the one concerned with world affairs, with the Faith being made second to that.
The Pontiff Francis has magnified the error of Paul VI, and given the Secretariat of State centralized governance of all other Congregations, and demoted the Congregation for the Faith into an even lower office inside the newly minted Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.
Hence Dr. Adam DeVille’s book “Everything Hidden Shall Be Revealed” where he asserts that the Church Bishops and Pontiffs have proved themselves ungoverned, because they have all legislative, executive and judicial power, and DeVille rightly asserts that the Church is corrupted because there is no separation and distribution of powers, and such power should never be centralized in the hands of any Bishop, including the Pontiff.
And for those appreciate poetic irony, let us all remember that when The Pontiff Francis was walked out onto the balcony to be introduced to the world, a man reminded him that in his opening remarks, he should “remember the poor.” That man was Angelo Becciu. On the other side of the Pontiff was Cardinal Godfried Danneels, who just 3 years before, in 2010, had been forced to retire in disgrace after the Belgian Press published the story of the Vangulwhe family, and their conflict with Cardinal Danneels, who opposed their plea for justice for their brother, and instead tried to cover up the homosexual pedophilia of Bishop Vangulwhe of Belgium, a Bishop who raped his own nephew.
I would say that these are all good points, although I would argue that the Church is, by its divine constitution, an episcopal monarchy. However, there are ways to implement safeguards of good episcopal governance, such as a judiciary that is, by custom, effectively independent (even if the ultimate authority resides in the bishop, who is the supreme judge in his diocese). Even more importantly, I would argue, is transparency in judicial processes and other aspects of Church governance, and strict rule of law. Prelates can’t be held accountable for abuses without those basic elements.
Thanks Chris. Your piece here enlightens further the nature if the Extended Petrine Ministry, and PPBXVI’s stated desire to see the separation of the temporal and spiritual sides of the Petrine Ministry. Perhaps this is what he meant in Last Testament when he said that he was the Last of the Old and the First of the New?
Dominus flevit…
This is an excellent summary of much of the staggering corruption that pervades this Papacy. You could add other examples, such as the rehabilitation of McCarrick. It is important to keep in mind, as this piece makes clear, that Francis is connected to all of it. He promotes and protects these perverts and thieves. He dumps only them when it is expedient or absolutely required.
Good day to thank God again for the timely gift of St.Padre Pio ( along with the St. of the Day – St.Albert The Great ) to protect many ‘little ones ‘ from believing in what could be ( even if unintentional ) half truths and hear says .
God ? allowed the trials in the life of the saint who was misunderstood even by holy Popes – having foreseen our times , to thus help protect many from jumping into hasty conclusions , even excessive curiosity about some of these realms , other than to do the share of prayer and all that comes with it ..
The huge tides of lust for money and power , its collisions in the hearts and desires ,esp. and including in those in ( secular ) power in all corners of the world , often targetting The Church and those who try to help her to carry out the varried and difficult responsibilities of the times …
Good day to also read couple of good articles –
https://slmedia.org/blog/the-spiritual-bond-between-two-francises-pope-francis-and-padre-pio
And The Light shone in the darkness –
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=1019
May the efforts of the Holy Father , to bring The Light and warmth in The Son , into more hearts and places be blessed and welcomed , not seeing same with cynicism .. .
? Powers fearing the good that could be , from listening to The Spirit , in calling for the Synod , meant with the Good Will ,to bless The Church and families and all , for the much needed grace to listen with the heart , even in the unavoidable meetings in all walks of life , tranforming same as also occasions for silent interceding for The Spirit to descend , to bring the Light of the dignity of lives , including of the little and the poor ..
to bring the healing into the earth and the waters and all ..
Yes , let The Light shine , with the holy saints , the holy souls and all interceding …
Barros was another one of many whom Francis defended. In this case he called the accusers “stupid” and said it was “calumny” until Francis was put in a corner where he had to acknowledge the truth of his friend Barros. https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2018/01/18/calumny-pope-francis-defends-bishop-barros-against-charges-he-knew-sexual-abuse Then after Francis had to admit the abuse, Francis met with the accuser who is gay and he told him that God made him gay… similarly to Francis getting his words out in the news about Bidien being a “good Catholic.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/21/europe/pope-francis-gay-comments-intl/index.html
Thanks for making this important point. I would have preferred to include the Barros case and others in this article, but if I had tried to do it all, it would have turned into a book!
The corruption surrounding and infiltrated within Francis’ pontificate goes back from BEFORE the election with Francis. Benedict quit among corruption (Vatican leaks scandal) and it has been shown how Francis was elected and lobbied by corrupted members of the hierarchy: https://www.lifesitenews.com/episodes/the-st-gallen-mafia-is-the-key-to-understanding-pope-francis/
Here, here! And if Bergoglio really did send 70 million from Burnos Aires to buy his Cardinalice between 2000 and 2002, the title of this article in wrong. Bergoglio is the tip… As we saw with McCarrick heading the sex abuse summit ten years before his flatmate Cupich, the Sankt Gallen Lavender Mafia network ensure their boys are in place to protect and cover the maximum within their ranks. This papacy has so far not been an indication if a change in policy. Bergoglio is reportedly still busy rehabilitating those His Holiness PPBXVI defrocked…
Hmm. Maybe you should write a book. Hehe.
The accuser was a victim of now-deceased priest Fernando Karadima.
I am in total agreement with Deacon Edward Peitler and Chris in Maryland. These two people have expressed their points in a very lucid and cohesive manner. I have nothing to add, nor can I improve their elegant writing.
@Edward J Baker et al,
The Marco Tosatti article in First Things:
The Good Soldier
By Marco Tosatti
July 7, 2017
Cardinal Müller experienced life under Francis as a sort of Calvary, but was a good soldier to the end.
Excerpt:
The first step of Müller’s Calvary was a disconcerting episode in the middle of 2013. The cardinal was celebrating Mass in the church attached to the congregation palace, for a group of German students and scholars. His secretary joined him at the altar: “The pope wants to speak to you.” “Did you tell him I am celebrating Mass?” asked Müller. “Yes,” said the secretary, “but he says he does not mind—he wants to talk to you all the same.” The cardinal went to the sacristy. The pope, in a very bad mood, gave him some orders about a dossier concerning one of his friends, a cardinal. (This is a very delicate matter. I have sought an explanation of this incident from the official channels. Until the explanation comes, if it ever comes, I cannot give further details.) Obviously, Mūller was flabbergasted.
Wow! Unbelievable! Imagine the Cardinal suspending Mass.
Cardinal Müller, whose appointment to the CDF and other Commissions had been renewed by Pope Francis at his election, said: _There were no differences between me and Pope Francis” when his appointment was nor renewed again.
Quite right, Mal. Cardinal Miller should have resisted Francis to his face at that moment. However, he has more than made up for that lost opportunity since: one thinks notably of the joint text with Cardinal Burke reaffirming Catholic Truths during this time of tremendous Argentinian confusion.
While I often try to avoid using Google’s search engine for privacy reasons, there are times when its ability to display only the results from a specific website is remarkably helpful.
The search I did to find the Marco Tossati artlcle at First Things had this syntax:
site:www.firstthings.com cardinal muller pope francis mass
Note that there is no space character between “site:” and “www.firstthings.com”.
There are many people who can benefit from this search syntax, as we see here:
Podger’s Delightful Four Seasons
Jason Victor Serinus | Apr 21, 2018