Pope Francis asks Virgin Mary to intercede for Nicaragua after bishop sentenced to 26 years in prison

Vatican City, Oct 30, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Angelo Becciu has denied any impropriety in a real estate investment made with Vatican funds and insisted that he only acted in the best interests of the Holy See.

In an interview with Italian media published Tuesday, the former deputy at the Holy See’s Secretariat of State rejected any wrongdoing in the authorization of a $200 million property deal to develop a building in London. 

Responding to what he called “slanderous charges” that he had “played with and tampered with the money of the poor” in the 2014 transaction, the cardinal defended the investment, saying it was “accepted practice.”

Speaking to ANSA, the cardinal said “My conscience is clear and I know I have always acted in the interest of the Holy See and never in my personal one. Those who know me well can attest to that.”

Becciu served as “sostituto,” or second-ranking official at the Secretariat of State from 2011-2018, when Pope Francis named him a cardinal and moved him to the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints.

The interview came in response to media coverage of an ongoing investigation by Vatican criminal and financial authorities into a 2014 $200 million investment made through Athena Capital, a Luxembourg investment fund, which financed a stake in the development of a luxury apartment project in London.

Details of the investment were first reported by the Financial Times earlier this month. The money was taken from Swiss bank accounts under the control of the Secretariat of State and kept separately from other curial accounts held at the Vatican.

The London investment, along with a nearly $50 million 2018 investment in the same property, has raised questions about the internal control of Vatican money held in international banks and investment vehicles, especially after repeated efforts to bring financial practices into line with international practices and standards.

On Tuesday, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the investment was a one-off, and the fund in question appeared to be “well managed.” He said that he was working to clear up questions about the project.

“We are working to clear up everything. This deal was rather opaque and now we are trying to clear it up,” Reuters quoted Parolin as saying.

Becciu told ANSA that there is a difference between Vatican funds intended for the benefit of the poor and the proceeds of the annual Peter’s Pence collection taken up in every parish in the world and sent to Rome.

“It is accepted practice for the Holy See to invest in property, it has always done so: in Rome, in Paris, in Switzerland and also in London,” Becciu said, insisting that the deal was “regular and registered according to law.”

“In the Secretariat of the State we had a fund entitled ‘money of the poor’. And it was destined for the poor. If, on the other hand, for money of the poor they want to refer to Peter’s Pence, we have to clarify,” Becciu said.

“The Pence is not only for the pope’s almsgiving but also the funding for his Pastoral ministry,” Becciu said, suggesting that the Secretariat’s two investments in the luxury apartment development were an appropriate use of donated funds.

Becciu did not address his reported involvement in other complicated Vatican transactions during the interview.

On Oct. 29, CNA reported that Becciu was involved in a complicated series of events and financial transactions around the purchase of the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata (IDI), an Italian hospital that collapsed in 2013 under 800 million euros of debt through theft and fraud. 

As sostituto, sources told CNA, Becciu was the “driving force” behind requests for a $25 million grant from the U.S. based Papal Foundation, ostensibly to supply short-term liquidity to the hospital, but actually intended to help remove a 50 million euro bad loan from the books at the Vatican’s central bank, APSA.

While the balance of the grant was cancelled after pushback from Papal Foundation board members, $13 million dollars was initially sent to the Secretariat of State, though how the money was used has not been reported.

Becciu told CNA that although he had been involved in the purchase of the IDI by a partnership created by the Secretariat of State, “Cardinal Parolin assumed the office of Secretary of State [in 2013] and I no longer concerned myself with IDI.” 

In early 2019, Cardinal Parolin, wrote to the Papal Foundation saying the $13 million would be reclassified as a loan, rather than a grant, and would be repaid. 

Two sources within the Papal Foundation told CNA that the Vatican has proposed the loan be repaid through “discounts” applied each year to the list of grants requested of the Papal Foundation by Vatican offices and Catholic apostolates.

“The poor will end up paying the debt,” a source close to the Papal Foundation told CNA.

Becciu’s role in authorizing the $200 million investment, and the potential focus on his time at the Secretariat of State by Vatican investigators have placed his tenure there under renewed scrutiny. While there, he was responsible for the cancellation of an external audit of all curial finances, intended to centralize information and details of Vatican assets and funds held away from the Vatican and unavailable for scrutiny.

On October 1, Vatican prosecutors raided the Secretariat of State’s offices. Documents and devices were seized. Although the Vatican did not indicate what exactly had prompted the investigation, subsequent reporting has indicated the London property investment and Cardinal Becciu were being looked into.

The next day, a confidential memo was leaked announcing the suspension of five Vatican employees, including two officials: Msgr. Mauro Carlino, who oversees documentation at the Secretariat of State, along with layman Tomasso Di Ruzza, director of the Vatican’s Financial Intelligence Authority (AIF). Di Ruzza was subsequently cleared to return to work following and internal AIF investigation.

Becciu’s interview came two days after the same paper reported that Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte had been hired to consult on the deal in May, 2018, just weeks before taking office.

Conte has since distanced himself from the Vatican-backed deal and ensuing investigation.

On Monday, his office released a statement in response to the FT’s story saying “it should be noted that Mr. Conte only gave a legal opinion and was not aware of, and was not required to know, the fact that some investors were connected to an investment fund supported by the Vatican and now at the center of an investigation.”

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Diane Mahoney’s original composition “We Do Believe, O Lord” has been selected as the 2024 National Eucharistic Congress’ official theme song. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Diane Mahoney

CNA Staff, Nov 13, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Sheet music was made available online last week for the official hymns of the upcoming National Eucharistic Revival, which were chosen from among hundreds of entries in a contest last summer. 

“The goal of this contest was to give voice to the truths of our faith in a way that only music can, inviting us to participate more deeply in the reality of the miracle present before us,” the National Eucharistic Revival announced in a Nov. 6 blog post, noting that the sheet music is free to download and use.

“Please share this with your parish’s music director and any musicians you know. We look forward to hearing these beautiful hymns in parishes throughout the country in the coming months!”

The National Eucharistic Revival is the U.S. bishops’ three-year initiative to inspire belief in and reverence for the Eucharist. The decision to embark on the initiative followed a 2019 Pew Research study that suggested only about one-third of U.S. Catholics believe the Church’s teaching that the Eucharist is truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ. As part of the revival, a National Eucharistic Congress will be held July 17–21, 2024, and is expected to draw at least 80,000 Catholics to Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. 

The winning hymn and theme song, which were chosen from among some 177 entries, were announced in August. Composers Diane Mahoney and Kathleen Pluth both earned a cash prize of $2,500 and the opportunity to have their compositions professionally performed and recorded in both English and Spanish.

Entries were evaluated, the organizers say, on such criteria as poetry, musicality, creativity, theological and doctrinal soundness, beauty, appropriateness for liturgical use, and expression of the mission of the National Eucharistic Revival. Father Dustin Dought, associate director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship, served as the nonvoting chairperson of the committee of judges.

Mahoney’s original composition, “We Do Believe, O Lord,” was selected as the Congress’ official theme song and is “appropriate to be sung at Mass, adoration, and any other gathering of Catholics where music might be used,” the organizers said.  

Mahoney, a longtime church organist and occasional composer, told CNA in August that she entered the contest with “very little hope” that she’d actually win but with an openness to God’s will. She said her song is based on the passage from Mark’s Gospel in which a man tells Jesus: “I do believe. Please help my unbelief.” 

Mahoney said she has wanted for years to use that passage in a Communion setting because, she said, receiving the body of Christ can help people recover their belief in him. 

“I wanted it to be strong, something you would sing as you’re processing to Communion,” she told CNA.  

The winning entry in the hymn category was “Let the Earth Acclaim Christ Jesus,” written by Kathleen Pluth. Her prizewinning lyrics were originally set to the 19th-century tune known as “Hyfrydol,” which many churchgoers will recognize better as the tune to “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus” or “Come Thou Long Expected Jesus.” 

In addition, the National Eucharistic Revival shared sheet music with the “versatile” lyrics set to the tune known as “Nettleton” — which Massgoers will recognize from the hymn “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” — and also to the famous “Ode to Joy” tune by Beethoven. 

Pluth, who has a licentiate in sacred theology, told CNA in August that she sought to use her theological knowledge to write deep meaning into the lyrics that will hopefully help the hymn to stand the test of time.

“I have a theology background, so maybe this is biased, but I feel that the more doctrine, the more Scripture, the more of these kinds of basic but deep truths of our religion can be worked into hymns, the better,” Pluth said.

“And I think when we look back and see which hymns have had staying power over the centuries, they have this rich doctrine.”

Links to download the sheet music, available in English and Spanish for both compositions, can be found at the National Eucharistic Revival’s blog post.

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Denver Newsroom, Apr 2, 2021 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Pope St. John Paul II— who would have turned 100 years old May 18— was a man of great humility, whose nearly 27-year pontificate nevertheless left […]