Vatican Scandal: Two Arrests Made After Leak of Confidential Documents

National Catholic Register ^ | 11/02/2015 | Ann Schneible

[BlessedBeGod]

VATICAN CITY -- Two former members of a Vatican commission have been arrested on charges of stealing and leaking information in connection with two soon-to-be released books alleged to contain confidential information surrounding Pope Francis' pontificate.

Msgr. Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Francesca Chaouqui were taken into custody after being questioned on Saturday and Sunday by the Vatican Gendarmerie, according to a Nov. 2 statement released by the Holy See Press Office.

The Vatican office of the Promoter of Justice on Monday confirmed the arrests of the Spanish official and the Italian PR woman who had both previously served on the Pontifical Commission for Reference on the Organization of the Economic Administrative Structure of the Holy See (COSEA), Msgr. Balda as secretary and Chaouqui as a member.

The arrests come ahead of the publication of two books reportedly containing leaked information from the Vatican, one having been written by the same journalist connected with the Vatileaks scandal under Benedict XVI's pontificate.

The Vatican's press statement said Chaouqui, 33, was released after spending one night in jail in exchange for her cooperation with investigations. Meanwhile, the position of Spanish priest Msgr. Balda, 54, is still being examined by the Promoter of Justice...

[BlessedBeGod]

Pretty much all other media outlets are referring to this as "Francis' First Scandal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

[Army Air Corps]

Making the Perons proud, eh?

[DesertRhino]

The church.....-ever- arresting somebody. This is not of Christ.

[BipolarBob]

Bring out the hot coals and stocks. We’ll make ‘em talk.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Vatican City is an independent 110-acre city-state. It has secular laws, its own postage stamps, coinage, a diplomatic corps, a court, security (Swiss guards), a jail.

There's nothing inherently unfitting about having a law against the theft of classified documents and files. You wouldn't want it to be legal to steal and publish yours.

[DesertRhino]

A “country” that is 100% a theocracy under the control of the pope. The “country” exists for one reason, and that is to glorify Christ.
And as long as we are mentioning it, what possible reason could the Vatican have for “classifying” ANY document?

To follow Christ’s example when he was here, the offenders who released church secrets should simply be forgiven, and be asked to depart their fellowship until they repent. (by the way, church secrets, what a concept!)

As for what I want, that doesn’t matter. Me and the Vatican make slightly different claims to what we are. When i claim to directly be tapped by God to lead all of earth in faith, then you can hold me to that higher standard.

[conservativegranny]

I agree. Why would any church need to have “secrets”?

[DesertRhino]

And i would think as a practical matter, the church would want to avoid ideas of someone being locked away in the Vatican dungeon, and would instead prefer to be seen by all the world showing mercy, forgiveness, and openness.

[Mrs. Don-o]

"...the offenders who released church secrets should simply be forgiven, and be asked to depart their fellowship until they repent."

You would be right, for sure, if Vatican City were a "fellowship." However, it is not a fellowship: it a state, a political entity.

The Catholic Church operates under Canon law, an ecclesiatical law with solely ecclesiatical and spiritual penalties, such as excommunication. This is to be distinguished from the Vatican City, which operates under its own Constitution,the "Fundamental Law of Vatican City State".

The Catholic Church was established in 33 AD. Vatican City was established as a state by the Lateran Treaty in 1929.

[redgolum]

Always amusing to see what people really believe.

[SuziQ]

These were not ‘Church secrets’. It was information about the Pope, designed to be used in a book. Someone wanted the information early, so those two folks stole it. It has nothing to do with Christianity; it’s ‘intellectual property’, owned by the people writing the book.

[Arthur McGowan]

Do you go to a church? Does your church own a piece of property? Does your church ever lock its doors? If somebody broke in and stole the sound system, would your pastor call the police? If somebody stormed into your church on Sunday and shot people, would your pastor just “forgive and move on”?

[Mrs. Don-o]

Vatican City is not a "Church." It is a state. The parties arrested, Balda and Chaouqui, were advisors in Finance/Accounting and in Public Relations, respectively.

For all I know (and that is nothing, in the particulars of this case) the stealing and publication of confidential documents could have screwed up an ongoing investigation into embezzlement, by giving the suspected embezzlers a tip-off and enabling them to cover up their paper trail. That would be just one hypothetical "fer instance." I'm not saying it's the back-story on this particular incident.

[conservativegranny]

Thanks.