Pope Francis today condemned the recent leak of sensitive Vatican documents but said it would not distract him from forging ahead with reforms at the Holy See. The Italian media has dubbed the latest episodes “Vatileaks II”.
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The documents are said to have been connected to a special commission or study set up by Francis in the months following his election in 2013 which was looking into financial and administrative reforms at the Vatican.
“I thank you and ask you to continue to pray for the pope and the Church, without getting upset or troubled but proceeding with faith and hope”, Francis concluded on Sunday.
“This sad fact will certainly not distract me from the reform work that I and my collaborators are pursuing with the support of all of you”, the Pope said to the crowd.
“I and my aides already knew these documents well, and measures have been taken which have started to bear fruit, a few even visible”, the Pope said.
Fittipaldi, meanwhile, claimed that a children’s hospital foundation had paid 200,000 euros ($215,000) toward the renovation of the apartment of the Vatican’s No. 2 at the time, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, and that almost 400,000 euros donated by parishioners worldwide to help the poor was funneled to pay for Vatican administration.
Pope Francis has made it a top priority to reform the Vatican bureaucracy known as the Curia, a hive of intrigue and gossip.
Although no charges have been filed, last Monday the Vatican announced the arrest of a cleric and a laywoman, former COSEA members who had access to the documents.
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One of the books published last week was by Italian journalist Gianluigi Nuzzi, whose 2012 book “His Holiness”, was based on leaked documents received from Gabriele.
