1. A Vatican Auditor Says He Dug Up Too Much Dirt, and Was Buried, Libero Milone is suing the Vatican for wrongful dismissal after he said he found cardinals siphoning off funds. The Vatican has hit him with a criminal investigation of its own, By Jason Horowitz, The New York Times, November 10, 2022, 6:00 AM
On June 19, 2017, the Vatican gendarmes entered the offices of the church’s chief auditor. They confiscated his phone and iPad, threw his papers on the floor and ordered the fire brigade to smash open a locked metal filing cabinet, from which they extracted a document that they said proved he was abusing resources to spy on top Vatican cardinals.
“Now you have to confess,” they demanded, according to the auditor, Libero Milone. Faced, he said, with being thrown in a Vatican jail, Mr. Milone signed resignation papers.
In the ensuing five years, the Vatican has done much to clean up its financial act. Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, one of the prelates whom Mr. Milone was accused of spying on, and who Mr. Milone believes masterminded his ouster, has himself been removed from his powerful position by Pope Francis and is on trial in the Vatican for embezzlement and abuse of office and defrauding the church in connection with a disastrous London real estate deal.
But Mr. Milone argues that the Vatican, which in 2018 formally stated that there was no criminal investigation or judgment against him, has refused to clear his name. Instead, the Vatican has reopened a criminal investigation against him, in what he sees as a strong-arm tactic to make him go away and protect its secrets.
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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/10/world/europe/vatican-auditor-sues.html
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2. Vatican auditors sue Secretariat of State, allege widespread financial corruption, Former Vatican auditors say they have evidence of widespread financial corruption – and a new lawsuit will surface it., By The Pillar, November 10, 2022, 5:59 AM
Two former Vatican officials say their newly filed lawsuit will prove widespread financial corruption among both Vatican cardinals and the leadership of the Vatican’s national police force.
The former Vatican staffers say they were appointed by Pope Francis to get Vatican finances in order, and were fired when they discovered corruption, and saw Cardinal Angelo Becciu falsely accuse them of spying.
Libero Milone, the first person to hold the position of Vatican auditor general, filed suit Nov. 4 against the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, claiming he was unjustly fired and unfairly threatened with criminal prosecution, because of discoveries he made while doing his job.
The Vatican’s ousted auditor was forced from his post in 2017 under threat of prosecution for spying and misappropriation of funds, although there were three years left on his contract.
Milone and a former deputy are suing for more than 9 million euros in compensation for loss of earnings, damage to their reputations, and emotional suffering
https://www.pillarcatholic.com/vatican-auditors-sue-secretariat-of-state-allege-widespread-financial-corruption/
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3. Who Wants To Live With Nuns? Co-Eds, In Pennsylvania, college students share a convent, By Melissa Korn, The Wall Street Journal, November 10, 2022, Pg. A1
A group of students at Neumann University here spent an evening last month painting pumpkins, making s’mores and dancing to a DJ’s playlist. Their neighbors—a bunch of sisters, and not the sorority kind—joined in the fun.
Call it a match made in heaven: Neumann wanted to increase campus housing for students. The Catholic Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia had extra space in their convent.
In August, 40 undergraduate men and women moved into the Our Lady of Angels Motherhouse Convent, at the edge of this small campus just outside the city. Forty sisters also reside in the building.
“Young blood, it’s wonderful!” Sister Bernadette Brazil gushed recently when asked how she felt about the newcomers.
Campuses around the country have struggled to find enough, and affordable, housing for students.
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But sisters and students are now getting in the habit of meeting up for nature walks, trading travel tips, planning knitting lessons, extending occasional dinner invitations and marveling at the lives one another leads.
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https://www.wsj.com/articles/a-new-sister-act-college-students-move-into-a-convent-11668007474
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4. The Jesuits: What Went Wrong, By Francis X. Maier, The Catholic Thing, November 10, 2022, Opinion
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If one were to assume, just for a moment, that “something’s gone wrong” with the Society of Jesus, the right question to ask would be. . .why? So I did that. I asked observant friends both within and outside the Society for their thoughts, and I summarize them here. The Society has legions of boosters; a few critics can’t hurt it, and might even help. So their thoughts are worth considering. Where direct quotations are used, I’ve removed identifying data.
1. Jesuits pride themselves on being a “cutting edge,” and that puts them in the category of an elite with the temptation to play that game.
2. “There’s a basic flaw in Jesuit spirituality with too much emphasis on personal discernment. The discernment taking place in their own minds and lives has priority over the discernment of the Church through history.”
3. “They seem to believe their own press about the superiority of their intellects and Jesuit ministries, as compared with others in the Church. They are not good collaborators.”
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6. Jesuit salt has lost its savor, and an insipid taste does not attract good young men. The talented and orthodox too often seem to be screened out.
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Kindly note, before some unhappy reader organizes a posse, that both of my parents were quite zealous Jesuit fans, regaling me from an early age with the Society’s heroic role in the Catholic Reformation. They gave me my two patron saints: Francis Xavier and Ignatius Loyola. And I’ll always be grateful for that gift.
I do wonder though, what those guys would think of the Jesuits now.
https://www.thecatholicthing.org/2022/11/10/the-jesuits-what-went-wrong/
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5. Catholic leaders say abortion referendum results ‘does not bode well for the future’, By John Lavenburg, Crux, November 10, 2022
After a series of defeats on abortion during this week’s midterm elections, Catholic leaders have emphasized their continued commitment to the pro-life cause and supporting mothers in need.
Voters in California, Michigan, and Vermont on Nov. 8 chose to enshrine abortion protections into their state constitutions with little to no restrictions. Meanwhile, voters in Kentucky rejected an amendment to the state constitution that would have denied any constitutional protections for abortion.
After the results became clear, Catholic leaders in those states used words like devastating, tragic, and disappointed to describe the results. Bishop Christopher Coyne of Burlington commented that the outcome “certainly does not bode well for the future.”
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In a statement, the California Catholic Conference, the public policy voice of the Catholic Church in California called the broad language of the measure “reckless,” adding that they look forward “to fighting again to protect life when Prop. 1 is inevitably challenged in the courts.”
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Paul Long, the president of the Michigan Catholic Conference, said in a statement that the result forces Catholics in the state to “accelerate a mission of love and mercy where all life is respected and supported, before, during and after birth.”
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Neither the result in Michigan, nor those in Vermont and California were as surprising as what happened in red Kentucky. Like the result in Kansas months ago, Kentucky voters voted against an amendment to the state constitution that would have blocked abortion protections in the state constitution.
About 52 percent of Kentucky voters voted “yes” on Amendment 2, with about 48 percent voting “no,” according to the Associated Press. The margin was about 70,000 with 98 percent of the votes counted.
In a joint statement, the state’s four Catholic bishops and Jason Hall, the executive director of the Catholic Conference of Kentucky, said they hope the vote doesn’t lead the courts to determine public policy on abortion, and leave it to the state legislature.
“The defeat of Amendment 2 is cause for sadness, but also a call to redouble our efforts at ensuring that every Kentuckian has the support they need to thrive,” the statement reads. “We renew our commitment to work with legislators to pass laws that protect the unborn, support women and families, and respect human life and dignity in all stages of life.”
https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2022/11/catholic-leaders-say-abortion-referendum-results-does-not-bode-well-for-the-future
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6. Effort to further restrict abortion fails in South Carolina, By Jeffrey Collins, Associated Press, November 9, 2022, 5:02 PM
After a dozen meetings and sessions over the summer and fall, South Carolina efforts to pass a stricter abortion law failed Wednesday after senators rejected a House-backed proposal and House members didn’t return for another meeting to try and work out a compromise.
A number of Republicans thought now was the time in South Carolina to ban almost all abortions and called a special session after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
But no compromise could be reached between the House, which wanted a near total abortion ban, and the Senate, which wants to tweak the current law that amounts to a ban about six weeks after conception after a doctor detects cardiac activity.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/s-carolina-legislatures-final-effort-to-tweak-abortion-law/2022/11/09/cef7ffa4-5feb-11ed-a131-e900e4a6336b_story.html
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7. Steubenville-Columbus diocesan merger halted one week before vote at U.S. bishops’ meeting, By Joe Bukuras, Catholic News Agency, November 9, 2022, 10:30 AM
Diocese of Steubenville Bishop Jeffrey Monforton announced Monday that a proposed merger with the Diocese of Columbus will be put on hold.
Announced in early October citing several demographic and vocational concerns, the proposed merger between the two dioceses brought a host of negative feedback and disappointment from many within the diocese. Monforton’s announcement comes about a week before the U.S. bishops’ conference planned to vote on the merger at its annual meeting in Baltimore.
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https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/252774/steubenville-columbus-diocesan-merger-halted-one-week-before-vote-at-us-bishops-meeting
__________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association. |
