(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Pope Francis has condemned as a "deplorable act" the leaking of confidential papers that revealed financial misconduct and greed in the Vatican, and vowed that the scandal would not disrupt his reform efforts.
Two books published this week € Merchants in the Temple by Gianluigi Nuzzi and Avarice by Emiliano Fittipaldi € are thought to be based on documents from a now-disbanded committee that reviewed Vatican financial affairs in 2013-14.
"Stealing those documents is a crime, a deplorable act that does not help," Francis said during his Angelus Sunday address to a packed Saint Peter's Square.
"I and my aides already knew these documents well, and measures have been taken which have started to bear fruit, some even visible," the Pontiff continued. "This sad event certainly does not divert me from the reform work I am pursuing with my collaborators with the support of all of you."
This was the first time Francis commented directly on the scandal, and the sharp language he used seemed to indicate that he intended to take a tough line over it.
The affair has been dubbed VatiLeaks2, linking it to another leak-based case from 2012 that revealed alleged Vatican intrigues and is thought to have contributed to Benedict XVI's shock resignation € a move no pope had made in almost 600 years.
A Spanish Monsignor and an Italian public relations consultant were arrested in connection with VatiLeaks2.
Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda is still in jail. Francesca Chaouqui was released, but is still being investigated.
Both were members of a commission Francis set up several months after his election in March 2013 to advise him on financial and administrative reforms in the Holy See.
The commission completed its work last year and handed its report to the Pope, who subsequently made changes in Vatican administration, including the establishment of a new economic ministry and increased power for Vatican financial regulators.
The Vatican said that when the arrests were announced the leaks represented a "serious betrayal of the trust bestowed by the Pope" on commission members.
If the case reaches a Vatican court, the suspects risk jail terms of up to eight years.
Italian media say more people may be implicated, including Chaouqui's husband and a former Vatican Radio journalist who, amid the controversy, has suspended himself from his current job as adviser to Italy's deputy minister for EU affairs.
The new books suggest that Francis's attempt to fix the problems highlighted by the first VatiLeaks scandal are meeting stiff internal resistance, and accuse some top prelates of living in outrageous luxury.
In one egregious case, Italian Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, former Vatican number 2 under Benedict XVI, is said to have made renovations worth ‚¬200,000 ($215,000) in his 300sq m flat paid for by the foundation of a Vatican hospital for children.
Monsignor Nunzio Galantino, general secretary of the Italian Catholic Bishops' Conference, told SkyTG24 news channel yesterday that he was "surprised and annoyed" by the revelations.
But he stressed: "The church is not made up only of these characters."
A Dutch magazine for the homeless, Straatnieuws, on Friday published an interview with the Pope in which he seemed to take aim at people like Bertone.
"If a believer speaks about poverty, and leads the life of a pharaoh € this cannot be done," Francis was quoted as saying.
Yesterday the leader of the world's 1.2bn Catholics reflected on similar themes, recalling how Jesus in the Bible criticised religious leaders of his time for being arrogant, greedy and hypocrites.
"Today there is also the risk of behaving like this," Francis said. "For example, when we separate prayers from justice, because we cannot render honour to God and cause harm to poor people.
"Or when we say we love God, but instead we put our narcissism, our interests before Him."
It was the third time this year the Vatican has had to deal with leaks.
In June, the Pope's encyclical on the environment was leaked before publication and last month a private letter from 13 conservative cardinals complaining about a meeting of bishops on family issues was published by an Italian magazine.
Some Italian commentators have said the leaks, combined with a false report in an Italian newspaper that the Pontiff had a brain tumour, were part of a move by conservatives to weaken Francis by purporting to show he is not in control of the church.
Last week's arrests were the first in the Vatican since Paolo Gabriele, Benedict's butler, was arrested in 2012 for stealing documents from the pope's desk.
Nuzzi's 2012 book His Holiness was based on leaked documents received from Gabriele.
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