Departing papal prime minister lashes out at Vatican 'crows and vipers'

Tom Kington
The Telegraph
Sept. 2, 2013

Defending his record despite a series of scandals on his watch, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 78, also appeared to suggest that any blame for errors should be shared by Pope Benedict XVI, who appointed him as secretary of state, effectively his number two, in 2006. The backlash followed the surprise announcement on Saturday that Pope Francis had named Archbishop Pietro Parolin, 58, currently nuncio in Venezuela, as Cardinal Bertone’s replacement, with a handover due next month.

Cardinal Bertone's tenure culminated with the leaking by Benedict's butler of papal correspondence. Among the documents, it was alleged Cardinal Bertone ran a Vatican riven by petty rivalries, corruption and mismanagement.

But speaking on the sidelines of a mass being celebrated on Sunday in Sicily, Cardinal Bertone chose to fight back.

“On balance I consider these seven years to have been positive," he said. “Naturally there were problems, particularly in the last two years, they have made many accusations against me... A mix of crows and vipers."

He said while it may seem like the secretary of state "decides and controls everything", he insisted that was not the case. “There were matters that got out of control because they were problems which were sealed within the management of certain people who did not contact the secretary of state...

“I always gave everything but certainly I had my shortcomings and if I could relive certain moments now I would act differently. But that does not mean that I did not try to serve the church."

On his relationship with Benedict, who made history earlier this year by stepping down from his post as head of the Roman Catholic Church, he said: “An honest assessment cannot but take note of how the secretary of state is the first assistant of the pope, a faithful executor of the tasks with which he is entrusted. Something I did and will do.”

In a further bid to show he had not acted alone, Cardinal Bertone added, “The secretary of state works in a team of five, a fine group that works very much together,” a reference to the senior officials at the secretariat of state who worked alongside Cardinal Bertone, and who, unlike him, have been reconfirmed in their roles by Pope Francis.

Also reconfirmed at his post by the Pope this weekend was Archbishop Georg Gänswein, prefect of the papal household, even as he continues to act as assistant to Benedict, a set-up which will ensure a direct line of communication between Francis and the pope emeritus.

Benedict meanwhile gave a homily at the Vatican on Sunday, marking a shift from his early intention to retire completely from the limelight when he stood down in March.

After taking over a Holy See allegedly characterised by gossip and backstabbing, Francis equated gossip with murder during a mass he held on Monday at his residence at the Vatican.

Referring to the jealousy that swirled around Jesus, the Pope said: “It happens every day in our hearts... it is said in a community 'how great this person is who has come to us'...but then gossip starts and it ends in skinning the person," he said. "Where there is God, there is no hate, envy or jealousy. Nor are there those who want to kill with gossip.”