A declaration in seven points, signed by old and new leaders labels as "unfounded" the irregularities denounced by the former Secretary, now Nuncio in the U.S.
A lengthy communiqué, to disprove allegations made by Msgr. Viganò.
Seven points dismissing the accusations of "corruption" that the current nuncio to Washington expressed in writing, in letters sent to the Pope and to Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone, made public by the show "Gli Intoccabili" ("The Untouchables") on the Italian TV channel La7.
In recent days, Benedict XVI received in audience Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president emeritus of the governorate, who signed the Vatican note along with his successor, Giuseppe Bertello; the Pope also received the Secretary who succeeded Viganò, Giuseppe Sciacca, and the now former deputy secretary, Giorgio Corbellini.
The latter was interviewed during the program "The Untouchables", and seemed to give credence to the general picture that emerged from Viganò's letters.
The memo first calls the publication of two of Viganò's letters “unauthorized”, also because they give "the impression" that the Governorate of the Vatican City State "is an unreliable entity, at the mercy of dark forces."
After examining the two letters, the President of the Governorate defines Viganò's claims as the "result of inaccurate assessments," based on "fears unsubstantiated by proof, and even openly contradicted by the main individuals invoked as witnesses."
The document continues by recalling that the governorate’s financial statements "are regularly submitted" to the Prefecture for Economic Affairs of the Holy See, which reviews them and has them examined by "international auditors."
The Prefecture itself is "free to examine at any time, and without notice, the documentation of all the offices of the Governorate."
The note recalls that "as is known, the Governorate's financial investments, entrusted to external managers, suffered significant losses during the great international crisis of 2008."
The losses "occurred also in the 2009 fiscal year, which showed a deficit of 7,815,000 euros."
The transition from the negative to the (final) positive result of 21,043,000 euros in 2010 "was due mainly to two factors: the management of the Governorate’s financial investments, entrusted by the Cardinal President to APSA's Extraordinary Chamber in 2009[APSA is the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See], and, to an even greater extent, to the excellent results of the Vatican Museums." And therefore, not so much (or at any rate, not only) to the savings and cuts made by Msgr. Vigano.
The old and the new leadership of the Governorate also point out that the "contracts for new works of some importance" are assigned via a regular competition, and after examination "by an ad hoc committee, established each time by the Cardinal President."
While "for the smaller works, the management of Technical Services uses its own staff or that of qualified, well-known external contractors, on the basis of price lists in use in Italy."
The note thus affirms the "full confidence and esteem" for the bankers who make up the finance and management committee, accused by Viganò of having lost significant sums through bad investments, and "thanks them for the valuable contribution they have made, with evident professionalism and no small expenditure of their time, without any charge to the Governorate, confident that we will continue to rely on their advice in the future."
The president of the Governorate also confirms "his full confidence in the directors and various collaborators, since - after careful consideration - the suspicions and accusations have proved unfounded."
He also defines as "laughable," and "indebted to a kind of journalism that is not to be taken seriously," the news claiming that "wiretaps and eavesdropping were used for a merely administrative and disciplinary proceeding!"
Some newspapers had, in fact, written that the disciplinary committee, charged with investigating allegations by Viganò, had recourse to copious documentation, which also contained wiretaps, furnished by the head of the Vatican bodyguards, Domenico Giani.
The document recalls that "the implementation of proposals for improvement made by McKinsey" on the management of the Governorate, "long since begun, will be continued," according to the criteria of "transparency" and "rigor." The new leadership will proceed along the same line.
The declaration by the heads of the Governorate is an unusual stance, that comes more than a week after the first declaration by Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi. Unlike the first statement, which reaffirmed the esteem held for Msgr. Viganò, this note, which enters more deeply into the question, says that the accusations listed in the letters sent to the Pope and Bertone, were unfounded.
There is no mention of the example of the nativity in St. Peter's Square - which cost a whopping and objectively scandalous figure of 550,000 euros before the cuts imposed by Viganò - nor does it mention the savings acheived in managing the Vatican gardens. The impression given by the text is a distancing - regarding the facts - from the current nuncio to the United States.
Although one passage mentions the "transparency and rigor, laudably pursued by the previous leadership," that is, by Cardinal Lajolo and by Viganò.
Finally, the statement does not explicitly mention one of the problems mentioned in Viganò's letters, which furthermore was not linked to the Governorate: that in which the archbishop subjected to the "promoveatur ut amoveatur" claimed he was the victim of a campaign carried out by means of anonymous articles published by the newspaper 'Il Giornale'.
The claim indicated the current director of Rai Vaticano, Marco Simeon, Msgr. Paolo Nicolini and the Vatican Museums, as the "instigators" of those articles.