Consternation Caused by Vatican Leaks
“Can the Vatican still keep a secret?” asked the Wall Street Journal recently. “Such a question was once unthinkable. . . . In recent weeks, however, the Holy See has suffered an unusual haemorrhage of in-house leaks.” And the BBC states, “The leaks concern alleged internal divisions and even malpractice among the senior bishops and cardinals at the heart of the Roman Catholic Church”.
The first leak was of private letters to the Pope from Archbishop Vigano, the former deputy governor of Vatican City, complaining of “corruption, nepotism and cronyism” in the department where he worked. Another leaked letter reveals deep divisions in the Vatican about how to deal with its Bank (The Institute for Religious Works or IOR) for alleged money-laundering and provision of a tax shelter for illegal businesses.
Although the Vatican has applied, says Reuters, for inclusion on the European Commission’s approved “white list” of states that meet EU standards for total financial transparency, the US State Department has recently listed the Vatican as one of 68 states which are “of concern” for financial crimes such as money laundering. The BBC notes that “money clearly preoccupies the men currently running the Catholic Church”, who are calling on the “Catholic faithful to dig deeper into their pockets to continue funding the Vatican”.
Another leaked document, an internal memo, expressed doubt about the Vatican’s resolve to root out money laundering. A further memo was also published, from an unnamed cardinal to the Vatican’s Secretary of State, and warned of a plot to kill the Pope this year. It appears, says Reuters, that the leaks are “part of an internal campaign – a sort of ‘mutiny of the monsignors’ – against the Pope’s right-hand man, Secretary of State Cardinal Bertone. He has a reputation as a heavy-handed administrator and power-broker, whose style has alienated many in the Curia, the bureaucracy that runs the central administration.” One Vatican observer comments, “The Machiavellian manoeuvring and machinations that have come to light in the Vatican recently are worthy of a novel about a sinister power struggle at a medieval court”. And an article in the Roman Catholic magazine The Tablet states, “It’s now complete war inside the Vatican. Things are falling apart.”
It will not be surprising if some are thinking that these internal tensions and machinations are signs that the fall of Rome is not far distant. But whether or not it is really “falling apart”, it is certain that the Papacy will yet fall apart and perish, and its ill-gotten wealth will perish with it, as Scripture reveals. They greatly err who refuse to accept the biblical evidence for the identity and fate of the Antichrist, for the Pope is indeed “that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God” (Westminster Confession of Faith 25:6).
NMR