At least four days have gone by, can you believe it, that no Vaticanista has come up with anything 'new' about Vatileaks (the furor over Paolo Gabriele did not even reach the one-month anniversary of his arrest) - if we count out their speculation on what went on during the Pope's private meeting on Saturday evening with five cardinals of his confidence, and what, if anything, he may be planning to do about Cardinal Bertone who was not included in the meeting.
A rather far-out idea was suggested by the lady Vaticanista of Il Messaggero, who claims that Bertone will not be replaced as Secretary of State but will rather be given one or two 'high-ranking' auxiliaries from among seasoned Vatican diplomats to assist him in the administration of the Secretariat of State. But he already has two deputy secretaries of state who are veteran diplomats - Mons. Becciu for general affairs, and Mons. Mamberti for foreign relations. Will the new 'auxiliaries' outrank them? And would such a cuckoo scheme not make Bertone more an object of derision? It's equivalent to saying, "Well, since he's not quite up to the job, we'll give him two more aides to help him along". That does not all sound like the kind of decision Benedict XVI would make, because it complicates matters instead of simplifying, much less solving, anything.
So here's today's long shot about Vatileaks from ANSA:
A 'surprise soon' on Vatileaks,
says cardinal investigator
VATICAN CITY , June 26, 2012 (Translated from ANSA) - Cardinal Julian Herranz, who heads the three-man commission of cardinals named by Pope Benedict XVI to investigate Vatileaks and related event, says that their work has been 'intense but profitable', with 'great cooperation' on the part of all those they have interviewed so far.
He also says, cryptically, "There will be a surprise soon", without hinting what it might be. The cardinal is known never to make statements lightly.
"I'm quite at ease," he told ANSA, "things are going well. We have been hearing about 5-6 persons a week". He said these are clerical as well as lay members of the Curia who, in addition to answering the cardinals' questions, he said, have also been free to express their thoughts as they please.
"When they come to see us," he said, "they speak frankly and openly - it's a conversation, or maybe an audition. We ask our questions, they answer and talk about ahything they may want to"
He underscored that "of course, at this stage, absolute privacy about the matters discussed is necessary, and any persons who may turn out to be involved have a right not to be named until after the investigation is done".
Asked about a possible time frame, he said, "It does not depend on us. We are working as fast as we can. What we seek to do is to conclude our investigation with the most information possible and with sufficient elements to draw conclusions. We will submit our findings to the Pope, and he will decide".
The cardinal joined Opus Dei when he was 20 years old and was ordained an Opus Dei priest five years later. He went on to earn a medical degree and a doctorate in canon law, before joining Opus Dei founder Josemaria Escriva when he moved to Rome, where he was one of his closest aides for 22 years until the future saint died in 1975. He participated in Vatican-II as a canon law expert.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 27/06/2012 00:57]