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ROME - In two recent interviews, the former president of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), better known as the Vatican Bank, spoke about the relationship between members of the Roman Curia and a failed Italian bank, the manipulation of accounts at the IOR and how working in the Vatican led him almost to lose not only his faith, but also his life. “The Church has nothing to do with these happenings. This is the Vatican, the Vatican Curia, where there is everything you cannot imagine,” Ettore Gotti Tedeschi said March 21 in his first interview with Italian...

Pontiff dumps the Popemobile in favor of a more humble mode of transport Pope Francis left the Popemobile at home on Sunday to travel by bus to a week-long spiritual retreat with cardinals and bishops.The Pope is about to celebrate his one year anniversary, and will ring in the occasion on a Lenten retreat with the Roman Curia–the administrative branch of the Catholic Church. This year’s retreat is being held in the town of Ariccia, which is located in the hills of southern Rome. This is the first time in decades that the Pope’s Lenten retreat is held outside...

"On flight from Rio de Janeiro to Rome" Journalists fired improvised questions at the Pope for one hour and twenty minutes. The Pope agreed to hold the press conference straight after take-off, despite how tired he was after an eventful World Youth Day week in Brazil. Francis surprised journalists with his willingness to answer all questions put to him, even those which touched on really thorny issues like the reform of the Vatican Bank (IOR), the Ricca case, the gay lobby, Vatileaks and even the content of the black leather bad he carried on to the plane which flew him...

Your Eminences, Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate and in the Presbyterate, Dear Brethren, I meet you today with great joy and address my cordial greeting to each one of you. I thank you for being present at this traditional appointment held close to holy Christmas. I especially thank Cardinal Angelo Sodano for the words with which he has expressed the sentiments of everyone here, inspired by the central theme of the Encyclical Deus Caritas Est. On this important occasion I would like to express my gratitude to him once more for the service to the Pope and to the Holy...

The Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI has named Archbishop Raymond Burke of the Archdiocese of St. Louis as a member of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signature. This is a tribunal of appeal from the Tribunal of the Roman Rota. It is the highest court of appeal available in matters concerning the Church's tribunals. Other members named include Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, Prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, and Archbishop Lluís Martínez Sistach of the Archdiocese of Barcelona.

ROME - German-born Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, a close advisor of Pope John Paul II, has issued a strong attack against "secular Europe", which he accuses of "decadence", "intolerance" towards Christians and ostracism towards God. In an interview published on Friday by the Italian daily La Repubblica, the cardinal speaks of a Europe that is living through a major transformation - from one based on Christian culture to an aggressive and at times intolerant (form of) secularism". "Secularism is no longer neutral," the cardinal said, it is beginning to transform itself into an ideology that imposes itself through politics and does...

The Roman curia gets an even break Reviewed by ANDREW GREELEY John Allen has broken the rules of Vatican journalism. In his brilliant new book All the Pope’s Men, he gives the Curia Romana an even break. His goal is to facilitate communication between the Vatican and the English-speaking world by “identifying the core values and experiences that underlie specific Vatican policy choices.” To do this he must strive for fairness, objectivity and respect for the sincerity and good will of “the pope’s men” and the culture of which they are a part. It cannot be easy to suspend judgment...

Brazil cardinal recalls battles with curia Cardinal Paulo Evaristo Arns, the former archbishop of São Paulo, Brazil, turned 80 last September and marked the occasion with the publication, in Portuguese, of his autobiography, Da Esperança á Utopia, which translates as “The Hope of Utopia.”(It is published by Editora Sextante.) Recently, Margaret Hebblethwaite, British writer and occasional NCR contributor, was in Brazil and spoke to the cardinal about the book. Her account of that conversation follows: In Brazil the book has drawn headlines for its presentation of the pope as prisoner of the curia. The principal evidence for this was the...