Cardinals have presented the Pope with a hefty
dossier containing mostly transcriptions of hearings in question and
answer form, closely resembling a police report. The testimonies gathered give an accurate and clear picture of how the Pope’s personal secretariat handled documents and of correspondence addressed to and sent from the Vatican Secretariat of State.
According to well informed sources with close links to the Vatican, this is the content included in the report delivered to Benedict XVI by Julian Herranz, Jozef Tomko and Salvatore De Giorgi, the three cardinals the Pope put in charge of shedding light on the Vatileaks scandal, while the criminal inquiry is underway.
The report has been sitting on Pope Benedict XVI’s desk for weeks now and many, both inside and outside the Apostolic Palace, are curious about its content which is still being kept top secret.
With investigations into the Vatican document leak still underway, with the Vatileak scandal having portrayed the Curia as untrustworthy and with former papal butler Paolo Gabriele due to go to trial this autumn, the Holy See is having to do its utmost to ensure information is kept confidential.
Meanwhile, the Pope has decided it is not yet time to reveal the conclusions of the “parallel investigations” carried out by the three cardinals.
But details regarding the dossier structure have started to trickle through. Reliable sources explain that the report which the three “007” cardinals delivered to the Pope, is a bulky document containing statements from over a hundred thoroughly conducted interviews.
Each of the statements mentions the name, surname and profession of the person questioned, followed by an accurate transcription of the questions asked and answers given.
A meticulous piece of work, prepared in the most objective way possible. Its structure clearly reflects the schematic and linear procedure used by Herranz, an expert jurist and former President of the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, as well as a fine mind of the Opus Dei organisation, chosen by the Pope to coordinate the Cardinals’ Commission.
The questions asked by the three detective cardinals in their interviews with lay people and religious figures working in the Vatican offices, conducted between May and July, with the aim of reconstructing the working methods used by the Curia.
The end goal is to clearly trace the document trail, focusing on the route between the Secretariat of State and the Pope’s personal secretariat.
The Pope’s personal secretariat also underwent an in-depth investigation to clearly show how correspondence to the Pope was managed and the ways of accessing the Pope.
The dossier presented to Benedict XVI is of use beyond the Vatileaks scandal, as it gives the Pope a detailed picture of many aspects of the Roman Curia, its internal relations and the exchange of documents and information.
The three investigating cardinals have stated they are in favour of the document being published and that said publication would not cause them any difficulties.
But it is the Pope who has the final say and he is inclined to wait, at least until Gabriele’s trial is over.