Cardinals meeting in Rome want to be briefed on a secret Vatileaks report into alleged corruption and mismanagement in the Vatican, reports Reuters.
“They want to be briefed on the report,” said a cardinal, who spoke to Reuters on the condition of anonymity. “But it is a very long report and technically it is secret,” he said.
The contents of the report came up during the morning session but the Cardinal declined to say if the requests to be briefed were made in the formal sessions or informal coffee break discussions or both.
However Cardinal Agnelo, 79, emeritus archbishop of Sao Salvador da Bahia and primate emeritus of Brazil, was a little more forth-coming. Speaking personally, he says he wants the report given to the 115 cardinals who are going to vote in the conclave.
“If there was a commission and they reached any conclusion, we will want to know it,” he told Folha.
Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, president of Brazilian Conference of Bishops, also said he expects to see at least a summary of the findings before voting.
“It is important to know what is said in these papers. Up to now, all I know is from what the news is saying,” he said.
Chicago’s Cardinal Francis George however was somewhat more coy when asked if cardinals wanted to be briefed on the report.
“As far as the state of the church here in Rome is concerned, I would imagine that as we move along there will be questioning of cardinals involved in the governing of the curia to see what they think has to be changed and in that context anything can come up,” George said.
The report was prepared for Benedict, who is now “Pope Emeritus,” by three elderly cardinals who investigated the so-called Vatileaks scandal last year. The three are attending the preliminary meetings but will not enter the conclave.
Benedict decided to make the report available only to his successor.
Sources
- Reuters
- Folha
- World Crunch
- Image L’Osservatore Romano
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