Angelo Caloia Trial starts for Vatican official accused of embezzlement
The Vatican has accused a former director of the Vatican bank and his lawyer of money laundering and embezzlement, saying the men skimmed an estimated €57 million off profits from the sale of Vatican properties.
The trial of Angelo Caloia, who served as president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, the formal name of the bank, and his lawyer Gabriele Liuzzo, began in the Vatican courtroom on May 9.
The Vatican had announced in late 2014 that the two men – along with Lelio Scaletti, the former director general of the bank – were under investigation in a case involving the sale of 29 Vatican-owned buildings in Rome and Milan between 2001 and 2008. Scaletti has since died.
During the investigation, the Vatican froze a total of about €17 million in the Vatican bank accounts of the three men. At the opening of the trial May 9, Gian Piero Milano, the Vatican’s chief prosecutor, said that at the Vatican’s request the Swiss government froze another €10 million in a Swiss account in Liuzzo’s name.
Chile bishops to meet Pope over sex abuse scandals
Pope Francis called the bishops of Chile to the Vatican to “examine the causes and consequences” of the clerical sexual abuse scandal and acknowledge personal responsibility, the Vatican said.
The Vatican press office said 31 Chilean diocesan and auxiliary bishops, along with two retired bishops, will meet with Pope Francis from May 15-17 in one of the small meeting rooms behind the Vatican audience hall
The objective of the meeting is “to discern together, in the presence of God, the responsibility of all and each one in these devastating injuries, as well as to study appropriate and lasting changes that would prevent the repetition of these always reprehensible acts,” the statement said.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, will join the Pope and the Chileans, the Vatican said.
The goal is “to re-establish trust in the Church through good shepherds who witness with their lives that they have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd and know how to accompany the suffering of the victims and work in a determined and untiring way in the prevention of abuse,” the statement said.
Chile bishops to meet Pope over sex abuse scandals
Pope Francis called the bishops of Chile to the Vatican to “examine the causes and consequences” of the clerical sexual abuse scandal and acknowledge personal responsibility, the Vatican said.
The Vatican press office said 31 Chilean diocesan and auxiliary bishops, along with two retired bishops, will meet with Pope Francis from May 15-17 in one of the small meeting rooms behind the Vatican audience hall
The objective of the meeting is “to discern together, in the presence of God, the responsibility of all and each one in these devastating injuries, as well as to study appropriate and lasting changes that would prevent the repetition of these always reprehensible acts,” the statement said.
Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops, will join the Pope and the Chileans, the Vatican said.
The goal is “to re-establish trust in the Church through good shepherds who witness with their lives that they have heard the voice of the Good Shepherd and know how to accompany the suffering of the victims and work in a determined and untiring way in the prevention of abuse,” the statement said.
Seeking Christian unity is more urgent than ever because of the ongoing persecution of Christians, Pope Francis told an Orthodox leader.
Meeting with Metropolitan Rastislav, primate of the Orthodox Church in the Czech and Slovak Republics, the Pope said the “suffering of many brothers and sisters, persecuted because of the Gospel, urgently calls us to act in seeking greater unity”.
The primate met with the Pope at the Vatican as part of a May 9-12 pilgrimage to Rome.
Ss Cyril and Methodius are honoured by European Catholics and Orthodox. Known as the Apostles to the Slavs, the two brothers preached the Gospel throughout Central and Eastern Europe in the late 9th Century when the churches of Rome and Constantinople were still united.
Metropolitan Rastislav gave the Pope an icon of the two saints together with his namesake, Prince Rastislav of greater Moravia, whom the Orthodox revere as a saint and honour with a feast day on May 11.
“May it be a token of friendship and goodwill, a memorial of common history and a sign of hope for future,” he told the Pope.