The Commission of three cardinals appointed by Pope Benedict XVI to conduct a full scale investigation into the Vatileaks case has heard 23 people so far. Among them is the Pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele, who is the only one to have been formally accused to date.
The three elderly cardinals – The Spaniard Julian Herranz, a member of the Opus Dei and former president of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, the Slovak, Josef Tomko, former Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples and the Italian Salvatore De Giorgi, former Archbishop of Palermo, all over 80 – reported to Pope Benedict XVI Saturday afternoon.
The meeting was strongly publicised by the Holy See - the Vatican spokesman, Fr. Federico Lombardi said in his usual briefing with journalists – because it wanted to show that there was progression in its work. But the commission’s audience with the Pope was simply an occasion to discuss the cardinals’ investigation work. It certainly did not mean the investigation was over.
Lombardi said that the 23 individuals who were heard by the cardinals included “superiors and employees of the Vatican dicasteries, clerics and lay people and even other individuals who could have been informed about what had gone on.”
Other than Gabriele’s name, the names of the others called forward could not be revealed.
In any case, the Vatican spokesman said, the fact that someone is heard by the cardinals’ Commission “does not mean that person is under investigation.”
It simply means they may have information that is considered useful.
As the Commission continues its work, free to “move in all directions” and without “prefabricated conclusions”, Paolo Gabriele seems destined to remain in custody in the Vatican Gendarmerie police station for a while longer.
The 100 day limit stipulated in the law currently in force in the world’s smallest state will end on 31 August.
Investigating Judge Piero Antonio Bonnet has not accepted the request for the former butler’s release from prison, presented by his lawyers.
Meanwhile, the investigating commission is preparing the schedule for the upcoming “formal interrogations” which Paolo Gabriele is to undergo. Yesterday he attended mass with some family members.
The Vatican spokesman assured that the double inquiry launched by the Holy See is continuing even though the timings could be hard for the world outside to “digest” given the suspense and curiosity felt by the public.
The Vatican spokesman said “we are all waiting to hear more, but these waiting periods are necessary” and “it is not right to base accusations on unreliable sources when putting forward theories about who the perpetrators and accomplices were, if there were any.”
This also applies to the Moneyval meeting which is due to take place in early July to discuss whether the Vatican qualifies to be added to the OECD’s “white list” of financially virtuous countries.