Beneath the smoke and mirrors

So the name calling over the Correctio continues, and Catholic commentators from both sides suffer from digital strain as they bash away at their keyboards delivering the next broadside against those...  

(please choose from the two options: for nasty progressives/pseudo protestants/liberals, please press one; for rigid/ schismatic/ old church relics, please press two) who oppose them.

    Of course this is not to diminish the gravity of the situation, all the councils' chickens have come home to roost, modernism is firmly ensconced on the papal throne and the chaos and confusion are plain for all to see (especially if you're a jihadi gleefully rubbing your hands while you and your mates make a quick video and viewing of the real estate  in St Peter's square).

   Simmering under this and rearing its ugly head every once in a while is another issue - corruption. Some say that Francis evokes memories of John XXIII, however his administration resembles nothing so much as the last years of the pontificate of Paul VI. That was a particularly grubby episode in the long life of the Vatican ( and yes there have been few ) where politics and finance became intertwined in the fight against communism in Italy. CIA, the Mafia, dodgy banks , the freemasons, all in one huge revolting mess. JPII dealt with the after shocks of this and then it seemed to disappear. The resignation of Benedict is surrounded by whispers of financial blackmail, the head of the IOR being ousted and the pernicious influence of the church tax rich German episcopal conference.

  However under the blinkered and petty stewardship of Francis, it seems as if it is business as usual for the murkier elements of the Vatican machinery. Lets look at the track record.

Cardinal Pell is appointed as economic tsar to oversee the economic reform of the Vatican by this Pope of the people. Almost immediately there commences a smear campaign against this prelate (I'm not judging whether the claims against him are true or false, but the timing is interesting). He initiates the process of bringing in PWC to do an audit of the Vatican books, whoosh!! he's gone back to Australia to answer court charges and the PWC are politely told to get lost and that an internal audit will suffice. However this doesn't turn out so well as the official in question resigns amid claims that his computer was hacked and that his attempts to reach the Pope to inform of his investigation were continually blocked by various departments within the Curia.

     Oh by the way, the whole debacle of the Order of Malta had less to do with who supervised the distribution of contraceptives (a grave sin in itself) and more to do with control of the organisation so that a huge endowment of dubious origin and handled by shady concerns could enrich the coffers. Fra Festing is forced to resign, the Vatican take over, the Grand Chancellor gets reinstated, his brother immediately gets a nice job in the IOR and the first installment of the money (which had been the subject of an internal investigation by the Order) gets deposited into the Vatican bank for 'safekeeping', as announced by the Vatican Secretary of State, who happens to be pals with the disgraced (but reinstated) Grand Chancellor, as well as being acquainted with the head of the trust fund handling the money now nestled in the IOR.

   Meanwhile, many differing sources speak of a climate of fear and intimidation in the Curia. One dare not speak openly, sycophants report all negative murmurings to the Pope, who seems to have no qualms about dismissing people on hearsay and with no explanation. The man of dialogue, will only talk to those who share his humanist/ populist vision.

No reform, rather demolition of dogma and morality. No transparency, rather shady dealings and corruption. No dialogue, rather intimidation and exclusion.

Something stinks to high heaven and it's not the Roman sewers.