O'Malley expects Vatileaks briefing before conclave
'Cardinals confident we'll get it' says Boston archbishop
05 March, 18:51
(By Christopher Livesay)
(ANSA) - Rome, March 5 - Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston said in Rome Tuesday he expected that some portions from the Vatican leaks dossier would be shared with cardinals before electing a new pope.
"I assume that important information will be shared that will help us make our decisions," said the Boston archbishop speaking at the Pontifical North American College outside the Vatican. O'Malley, who some have tipped as a candidate for pope, is in Rome ahead of the upcoming conclave to elect a successor to Benedict XVI, who stepped down on February 28. Some have speculated that one of Benedict's motives for abdicating may have been the so-called Vatileaks scandal that erupted last year when his butler was arrested then eventually pardoned for leaking secret Church documents that spoke of corruption and intrigue within the Holy See. The documents included letters to the pope and Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone from the Holy See's ambassador in Washington, Carlo Maria Vigano', who was the deputy governor of Vatican City when they were written.
In one instance, the letters accused members of the Vatican's Finance and Management Committee of improperly processing $2.5 million.
E-mails and other documents from Vatican officials followed, including a report accusing the Church of not cooperating with investigators in the 1982 fraudulent bankruptcy of Banco Ambrosiano.
Then Italy's largest private bank, Banco Ambrosiano was run by Roberto 'God's Banker' Calvi, whose body was found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge that year.
Italian prosecutors say Calvi was killed for failing to repay Mafia money and his murder was staged to make it look like suicide.
As the scandal mounted last year, Benedict commissioned three elder cardinals to compile a report on the affair.
The result, a 300-page, two-volume dossier, was presented to Benedict last fall.
Unsourced reports in Italian media have speculated that the contents of the report were so shocking that Benedict decided he could no longer perform his duty as pope.
The results have been sealed away for the eyes of the next pontiff only, the Vatican says. But there has been talk among cardinals of the possibility of sharing some of its contents ahead of the conclave. "I think the cardinals feel confident we will get all that we need," said O'Malley Tuesday, joined by Cardinal Daniel Nicholas DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston. "We want to discuss and learn what we can," said DiNardo.
(photo: archive picture of Benedict XVI and Cardinal Sean O'Malley)
