by Alexander Lucie-Smith, UnHerd
The Italians have a phrase for it: “Siamo all’ultima spiaggia”, literally, we are on the last beach. They have been saying it for the last 30 years, though they now insist that this time it is really true. The money has run out. The pension crisis is looming, and all attempts to get to grips with the problem have failed. But this is not Italy we are talking about, it is the Vatican.
For decades the Roman Curia, the Church’s central organ of government, has been widely seen as unfit for purpose. One person who saw this clearly was the late Pope Francis who, in his exchange of Christmas greetings with the Curia in 2014, lambasted them for what he saw as multiple failings, including something called “spiritual Alzheimer’s”. He seemed serious about reform. Curial Christmas presents — a panettone and a bottle of prosecco each — were cancelled, and recruitment frozen. At the same time, Pope Francis instituted a dicastery for the economy, to bring all the financial departments under one roof, and put a tough Australian cardinal, George Pell, in charge of it. The soap opera seemed to be over, but in fact it was just beginning.
Pell soon found obfuscation and opposition at every turn. Monsignori lamented that they were being forced to account for every cappuccino, and stories were planted in the press about Pell’s own extravagance. The financial audit ordered by Pell was suspended by Cardinal Becciu, the sostituto, effectively the Vatican’s chief of staff. Progress stalled, and matters ended with three spectacular arrests. Pell went back to his native land to face charges of sex abuse, of which he was, after a long process, absolved. (It was believed by some Italians that the arrest and trial of Pell was orchestrated by Becciu, but this seems a stretch, even in a land addicted to conspiracy theories.) Libero Milone, the auditor, a clean pair of hands from Deloitte, was arrested by the Vatican, questioned for 12 hours and charged with espionage, or, as some might put it, merely doing his job. The charges were later dropped. But Cardinal Becciu’s triumph was short-lived. He too was arrested and, with several associates, put on trial in the Vatican for embezzlement, and found guilty. His trial was characterised by impenetrable details of a business deal concerning the ex-Harrods depository in London, and spiced up with stories about a woman, Cecilia Marogna, designated “la dama del Cardinale” (the Cardinal’s lady) who, supposedly on secret work for the Vatican, had splurged half-a-million euros of Vatican money on luxury handbags and high living.