from Breakingviews:
Vatican bank struggles to be cleansed of past sins
By Pierre Briançon
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
The failure of the Vatican bank to comply with the basic rule of the Sacrament of Penance is odd. The Holy See’s financial arm has been seeking absolution for past sins for two years, but remains reluctant to confess to what it did wrong. Of all institutions, it should understand that one cannot go without the other.
According to Italian newspapers, JPMorgan Chase is closing the account of the bank formerly known as Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) because of concerns about a lack of transparency. The move comes a few weeks after the U.S. State Department added the Vatican to the list of countries it considers vulnerable to money laundering.
JPMorgan’s move is no administrative tidying-up: some 1.5 billion euros is reported to have passed through the account in the past 18 months. Yet considering the reputational beating that investment banks have taken in recent years, it’s refreshing that one of them is concerned about being tainted by its association with the Vatican.
The latest stigma may look unfair on the Vatican bank’s new management team, installed two years ago with the explicit task of breaking with its shady past. After all, the lender has wrestled for thirty years with its involvement in the fraudulent collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, Italy’s largest private bank, in which it held a small stake.
The Vatican wants to be added to the so-called “white list” of states that comply with international agreements designed to combat tax fraud and money laundering. This might be easier if the Holy See’s higher authorities decided to come clean about the bank’s past shenanigans. But recently leaked documents appear to show that Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone didn’t approve of the new management’s hard line on transparency and accountability.
Police send “holy” Roman robber to Queen of Heaven jail
Italian police have found a fitting temporary home for an accused jewellery robber whose priestly disguise failed to help him slip past their dragnet.
Police said they tracked down and arrested the 37-year-old male suspect by reviewing closed circuit television footage around Via del Corso and Via Condotti, the swanky shopping district near the Spanish Steps, after a July 4th hold-up at one of Rome’s most prestigious jewellery shops.
Video footage released by Italian police showed a man dressed in the floor-length black cassock and round, wide brimmed black hat commonly worn by priests of the Roman Catholic Church until the 1960s and still favoured by traditionalists.
The footage showed the man was carrying a shopping bag and moving confidently through a crowd of shoppers after the heist, in which two employees were locked in a bathroom.
Police have detained the suspect in the Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) jail on the Tiber River not far from the pope’s Vatican headquarters.
via Police send holy Roman robber to Queen of Heaven | Oddly Enough | Reuters.
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Rome’s Pope John Paul statue slammed by critics, including Vatican daily
An unconventional new statue of the late Pope John Paul II, showing a giant hollowed out figure, has attracted harsh criticism from experts and the Vatican newspaper. The inauguration of the imposing bronze sculpture by Oliviero Rainaldi outside Rome’s central rail station was meant to round off celebrations to mark the beatification of John Paul, which moves him a major step closer to sainthood.
The statue is a representation of the pope opening his cloak with a welcoming, outstretched arm. But the four meter (yard) high figure provoked dismay and angry reactions from newspapers and art critics, who say it fails to capture the essence of the man.
“The face bears only scant resemblance to the pope. And altogether the result does not seem up to scratch,” the official Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano said, comparing it to a tent or a military sentry box. Art critic Achille Bonito Oliva told La Repubblica daily that the harsh edges of the sculpture had left him perplexed and did not reflect John Paul’s gentle, caring nature. But he added “we’ll get used to it over time.”
Rainaldi said he had not aimed for the sculpture to resemble John Paul exactly but wanted to capture the Polish pontiff’s welcoming nature. He told Il Messaggero daily that he had portrayed the pope the way he remembered him. After the wave of criticism, Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno said changes could be made.
John Paul died in 2005 and his path to sainthood has been given fast-track treatment by his successor Pope Benedict. A beatification ceremony earlier this month attracted the largest crowd in Rome since his funeral six years ago.
via Pope John Paul statue slammed by critics.
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Freudian take on Vatican life makes Cannes film festival smile
The Vatican got a dose of Freudian analysis at Cannes on Friday with “Habemus Papam,” a gentle Italian comedy about a newly elected pope who gets cold feet when the weight of his responsibility dawns on him. The film by Italian director Nanni Moretti drew laughter and healthy applause from critics on day three of the Cannes film festival, where the official selection of movies has so far leaned in the direction of dark realism and social commentary.
Farcical and humane, Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope) casts wide open the door of the notoriously secretive Holy See, as red-robed cardinals converge in a locked chamber to elect a pope under the expectant gaze of millions of Catholics. When the votes are counted and white smoke billows from the Vatican’s dome, the pope-elect played by French actor Michel Piccoli, 85, is led to a balcony to address the faithful — only to freeze up before his momentous task, paralyzed by anxiety.
“The image that struck me the most was that of a newly elected pope a few meters from the (Vatican’s) balcony, unable to advance,” Piccoli told journalists after the screening. “The role reinforced my conviction to dare to talk about one’s anxieties — this pope is an exceptional man.”
Panicked by the break in protocol, Vatican officials take the unorthodox step of bringing in Rome’s top psychiatrist, played by Moretti himself, to explore the pope’s psyche before a room full of cardinals in one of the movie’s funniest scenes.
Santa Croce fresco restoration like “looking angels in the eye”
For lovers of Italian art, it’s as close as you can come to ascending a stairway to heaven and looking angels in the eye. For the first time after a major restoration, the scaffolding that has shrouded the 850 sq m (9,150 sq ft) of frescoes of the Capella Maggiore in Florence’s famed Santa Croce Basilica will not be dismantled immediately.
Instead, for about a year, a small number of visitors will be able to don hard hats and clamber up the clanking steps to admire the 600-year-old frescos of Agnolo Gaddi, the last major “descendant” of the Giotto school, from close up.
“Climbing up the scaffolding and standing in precisely the same spot where the artist stood is a bit like travelling in a time machine,” said Alberto Felici, one of the team that spent five years restoring the frescoes. “You can re-live the emotions and the atmosphere that the painter experienced 600 years ago,” he said, speaking some 30 m (90 ft) above the basilica’s ground floor.
Since the next restoration may not take place for centuries, it is the chance of a lifetime to get within inches of a masterpiece that helped pave the way for the Renaissance.
Here’s a reuters video on the porject:
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The restoration of the Santa Croce Basilica is great news. I am very kind of Agnolo Gaddi’s artwork and I would love admire his frescos. I also like this painting, ‘The Triumph of the Cross’ here .
Vatican invites all to John Paul beatification, cites “ethical” Rome hotel prices
The Vatican has urged the faithful not to let reports of huge crowds or unscrupulous hoteliers deter them from coming to Rome for the beatification of the late Pope John Paul on May 1. “I invite everyone to come. Rome is ready. Don’t be afraid of coming or of inviting people,” said Father Caesar Atuire on Tuesday.
The Vatican has begun the countdown to what will be the biggest event in the Italian capital since the death of the charismatic and highly popular pope in 2005, when millions of people came to view his body or attend his funeral. Vatican officials expect at least 300,000 people — including tens of thousands from his native Poland — to come to Rome for the three days of events during which he will be declared a “blessed,” the last step before sainthood.
The Vatican has already warned the faithful to beware of fraudsters, particularly on the Internet, who are selling tickets to the beatification ceremony. No tickets will be necessary for any of the ceremonies.
Vatican officials told a news conference that they had stipulated an “ethical pact” with the Rome hoteliers association in which members promised not to jack up prices for the period of the events, when rooms are expected to be scarce. There have been numerous media reports of skyrocketing prices, particularly in hotels in Rome’s historic center or in the Vatican area on the other side of the Tiber River.
Officials said the crowd would be marshaled by police and hundreds of volunteers. Giant television screens will be placed around Rome, 14 of them alone on Via della Conciliazione, the boulevard leading from the Tiber to St Peter’s Square.
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Italy blocks EU religious persecution text ignoring Christians
The European Union failed to agree on a statement against the persecution of religious minorities on Monday after Italy objected to the omission of any reference to the protection of Christians. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said a draft proposed at a meeting of EU foreign ministers expressing concern about increasing numbers of attacks on places of worship and pilgrims showed an “excess of secularism”.
“The final text didn’t include any mention of Christians, as if we were talking of something else, so I asked the text to be withdrawn, so in fact it has been withdrawn,” he told reporters.
France backed Italy on the need to include references to specific minorities, including Christians and Shi’ite Muslims, diplomats said.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the 27 EU ministers had agreed to “go back and reflect” on how, in the course of backing religious freedoms and tolerance, the bloc could “make sure we recognise individual communities of whatever religion who find themselves being harassed or worse”.
Several EU states called for the discussion of persecution of Christians after a suicide bombing at a Coptic Christian church in northern Egypt on Dec. 31 in which 23 people were killed and dozens wounded.
Read the full story by David Brunnstrom here. Follow FaithWorld on Twitter at RTRFaithWorld
Tullia Zevi, historic Italian Jewish leader, dies at 92
Tullia Zevi, one of the historic post-war leaders of Italy’s Jews and the only woman to ever hold the post of president of the country’s Jewish communities, died Saturday at the age of 92, her family said.
Zevi, who had been in failing health for some time and was a prominent figure in Christian-Jewish dialogue, died in a Catholic hospital just across the River Tiber from the Rome neighborhood that is still known as “The Ghetto.”
During her long career she also held senior positions in the World Jewish Congress and European Jewish Congress.
She was often critical of the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church when she felt Jewish rights were not respected. One of the best-known women in Italy for decades, she was once considered a candidate for the country’s presidency.
Zevi was born in Milan of a well-to-do Jewish family that emigrated to the United States in the late 1930s after dictator Benito Mussolini enacted the so-called racial laws which prohibited Jews from holding state jobs or studying in state schools.
She was the lay head of Italy’s Jewish communities from 1983 to 1998 and was one of the officials who welcomed the late Pope John Paul to the Rome synagogue in 1986 when he became the first pontiff since the times of the Apostles to visit the temple.
Pope puts his stamp on Catholic Church future with new cardinals
Pope Benedict installed 24 new Roman Catholic cardinals from around the world on Saturday in his latest batch of appointments that could include his successor as leader of the 1.2 billion member church.
Twenty of the new cardinals are under 80 and thus eligible under church rules to take part in the conclave that chooses a successor after the death or resignation of the current pope.
The new cardinals include Archbishop Donald Wuerl of Washington D.C., who, as a senior figure in the American capital, will likely play a leading role in the U.S. church’s response to the sexual abuse scandal.
At a pre-consistory meeting on Friday, the Vatican told bishops they would have to take more responsibility to prevent sexual abuse of children by priests and said it was preparing new guidelines for bishops on how to deal with the sexual abuse, including cooperation with local authorities.
The German pope has now named 50 of the 121 electors who can pick his successor from among their own ranks, raising the possibility that the next pontiff will be a conservative in Benedict’s own image. Popes usually reign for life but Benedict, 83, has not ruled out the possibility of resigning for health reasons. The last time a pope resigned willingly was in the 13th century.
Guestview: Why has Pope Benedict chosen a European strategy?
Pope Benedict will boost the European majority among the men due to elect his successor when he creates 24 new cardinals at the Vatican on Saturday. The nominations are part of a wider strategy by the German-born pope to strengthen Roman Catholicism in Europe. The following is a guest contribution and the views expressed are the authors’ alone. Jean-Marie Guénois is deputy editor-in-chief of the Paris daily Le Figaro and a specialist on religion. The article first appeared in French on his Religioblog.*
By Jean-Marie Guénois
We always knew that Benedict XVI is a European pope, but lately he’s been proving this more and more clearly. In this phase of his five-year papacy, the the old continent is clearly his priority. For the past two years, the European destinations have taken precedence over all his travel (France, Czech Republic, Malta, Cyprus, Portugal, United Kingdom). Twelve of his 18 international trips have also been devoted to Europe. As for the visits due next year, they will all be in Europe: Croatia, Spain and Germany (his third visit there as pope).
The choice of these medium-haul flights could be explained, of course, by his age. At 83-1/2, Benedict takes it slow and easy. Must we recall the health of John Paul II at the same age, six months before his death in 2005? But the real explanation for these short-distance, time-saving trips is surely elsewhere. How can we best explain this? It can be done explicitly, through the speeches the pope delivered in those countries. But also implicitly, through the diagnosis bishops bring to Rome on the state of the European churches.
The diagnosis has led to a strategy that can be seen more and more clearly. After his visit to Spain, this seems confirmed by the clear priority given to the Iberian Peninsula. In fact, Spain, Italy and Poland are emerging emerge as the three pillars which underpin this implicit strategy by the Holy See.
This strategy does not aim to reconquer old ground, because the past will not return. It’s not exclusive either, because the world is wide and complex. The aim is to survive and face up to the decline of European Christianity now seen in Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, Austria and the Netherlands. The former bastions of Catholicism there may still be very much alive but they are in the minority.
So there is a tactical withdrawal underway to focus on these three countries where the Catholic Church still is a major force in society. There, the Holy See wants to reassure, consolidate, preserve and revitalize the role it can play. Benedict has understood that while the global epicenter of Catholicism shifts every day to the southern hemisphere, that vast region can never replace the weight of history and culture. Given that fact, he believes, Christianity has not spoken its last word in Europe.
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