The Vatican has no evidence its
calls were monitored by the U.S. National Security Agency and, even if
they were, "we have no concerns about it," the Vatican spokesman said.
Asked about the possibility that the NSA's electronic eavesdropping
program had monitored Vatican calls, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi
told reporters Oct. 30: "We have no evidence of this."
The spokesman made his comments after the Italian newsweekly Panorama
announced that its issue going on sale Oct. 31 would include a report
that phone calls to and from the Vatican were among the 46 million calls
in Italy allegedly monitored between Dec. 10, 2012, and Jan. 8, 2013.
The magazine said it also is possible the eavesdropping continued for
months and included calls made on the eve of the conclave that elected
Pope Francis in March.
The story was prepared in the midst of growing European coverage and anger over the NSA's alleged call-monitoring program.