10
August 27, 2013
IN THE CHURCH/NATION
T he Valley Catholic
Pope answers questions about Curia reforms, gay lobby
By Cindy Wooden ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT FROM BRAZIL (CNS) — Pope Francis said he was responding to the clear wishes of the College of Cardinals when he set up commissions to study the Vatican bank, Vatican financial and administrative procedures and the reform of the Roman Curia. Pope Francis held his first news conference, impromptu, July 28, shortly after the Alitalia flight taking him back to Rome departed from Rio de Janeiro. Asked about the Vatican bank, Pope Francis said he does not know what will become of the Institute for the Works of Religion, which is the formal name of the scandal-plagued bank. He has appointed an outside commission and is involved in discussions about how to organize it, “how to restore it, reformulate it.” As for the wider reform of the Roman Curia, Pope Francis said everything he has done so far flows from concerns and suggestions raised by the College of Cardinals during preconclave meetings. The cardinals, he said, expressed “what they wanted of the new pope — they wanted a lot of things” — but a key part of it was that the Vatican central offices be more efficient and more clearly at the service of the universal Church. Pope Francis described as “a scandal” the case of Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, a now-suspended official from the Vatican investment office, who was arrested in Italy June 28 on charges that he allegedly tried to help smuggle millions of euros into Italy from Switzerland. Pope Francis was asked about Msgr. Battista Ricca, whom he named interim prelate of the Vatican bank. An Italian magazine had published a story claiming Msgr. Ricca had been sent away from a nunciature in Latin America when it was allegedly learned that he had a male lover. Pope Francis told reporters, “I did what canon law said must be done, I ordered an ‘investigation brevia,’ and this investigation found nothing.” Addressing the issue of the gay lobby, Pope Francis said it was impor-
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