Print friendly
The Vatican, Thursday confirmed reports that it had ordered wiretaps on the phones of some Vatican officials.
The wiretaps were part of its Vatileaks investigation.
The admission came as Panorama magazine reported Thursday, that the Vatican Secretariat of State had ordered wiretaps on the phones of several Vatican prelates as part of an investigation into the scandal in which confidential documents were leaked to the news media and the author of a tell-all book.
Vatican watchers have described the wiretapping as a shocking breach of trust and an indication of the high levels of distrust since the leaks scandal.
Panorama’s Vatican expert, Ignazio Ingrao, called the Vatican’s clandestine efforts “a sort of Vatican Big Brother” operation.
“Everyone was spied on in the Vatican,” he said.
Vatican spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi S.J., said that magistrates of the Vatican “might have authorized some wiretaps or some checks,” but nothing on a significant scale.
The Vatican has also denied Panorama’s claim that the wiretapping was ordered by the former pope’s right hand man, Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
Lombardi said if wiretapping was authorized, it was ordered by magistrates and not by Bertone.
Panorama also alleged the wiretapping is ongoing.
Lombardi said the idea of “an investigation that creates an atmosphere of fear of mistrust that will now affect the conclave has no foundation in reality”.
Sources
Related Posts:
News category: Pope.
