The Vatican has charged five people over a damning leaks scandal at the heart of the Catholic Church, with a preliminary hearing set for November 24, 2015, Italian media reported Saturday.
Vatican deputy spokesman Ciro Benedettini confirmed to AFP that “summons are being served”, adding that an official statement would be made later.
“Vatican magistrates have charged five people at the end of an investigation into the stealing and publishing of confidential Holy See documents,” the Repubblica daily said.
Spanish priest Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda and Italian PR expert Francesca Chaouqui were arrested early this month on suspicion of stealing and leaking classified documents to the media.
Journalists Gianluigi Nuzzi and Emiliano Fittipaldi were questioned after they published books containing leaked information.
Vallejo Balda and Chaouqui were both members of a special commission set up by Pope Francis to advise him on economic reform within the Vatican. The fifth person, Nicola Maio, also worked with the now defunct commission.
Fittipaldi told Italy’s ANSA news agency he was stunned by the Vatican’s move.
“Maybe I’m naive but I believed they would investigate those I denounced for criminal activity, not the person that revealed the crimes,” he said.
The journalist said that under a law introduced in 2013 on the pope’s bidding, he and the others risk up to eight years in jail.
Chaouqui was released shortly after her arrest, pledging to cooperate with the authorities, but Vallejo Balda is still in a Vatican jail.
The scandal, which has revealed uncontrolled spending by the Vatican as well as accusations of corruption and theft, has awoken painful memories of the last time employees aired the centuries-old institution’s dirty laundry.
In 2012, Pope Benedict XVI’s butler engineered a series of leaks that revealed fierce infighting in the highest echelons of the Catholic Church and allegations of serious fraud in the running of the city state.
He was sentenced to 18 months in prison, before being pardoned by the pope but banished from the Vatican forever.
Pope Francis on Thursday urged the world to act quickly to prevent “extraordinary” climate change from destroying the planet and said wealthy countries must bear responsibility for creating the problem and for solving it. In a radically worded letter addressed to every person on the planet, the leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics blames human greed for the critical situation “Our Sister, mother Earth” now finds itself in.
“This sister now cries out to us because of the harm we have inflicted on her by our irresponsible use and abuse of the goods with which God has endowed her,” he writes in his long-anticipated Encyclical on the environment.
Arguing that environmental damage is intimately linked to global inequality, he goes on to say that doomsday predictions can no longer be dismissed and that: “The earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth.”
Green activists hailed the charismatic Argentinian pontiff’s widely-trailed intervention as a potential game-changer in the debate over what causes global warming and how to reverse it. “Everyone, whether religious or secular, can and must respond to this clarion call for bold urgent action,”said Kumi Naido, the International Executive Director of Greenpeace.
Environmentalists hope the pope’s message will significantly increase the pressure for binding restrictions on carbon emissions to be agreed at global talks in Paris at the end of this year. But even before the official publication, climate change sceptics had dismissed the document’s argument that the phenomenon is primarily man-made and that humanity can reverse it through lifestyle changes including an early phasing-out of fossil fuels.
“I don’t get economic policy from my bishops or my cardinal or my pope,” US presidential candidate Jeb Bush said on the eve of the release in comments that underlined the depth of opposition in the United States to a binding agreement to curb greenhouse gases.
– Fast track to disaster –
The Encyclical references the arguments of the sceptics by acknowledging that volcanic activity, variation in the earth’s movements and the solar cycle are factors in climate change. But it maintains that “most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of greenhouse gases released mainly as a result of human activity”.
And it leaves no doubt that Francis believes the world is on a fast-track to disaster after decades of inaction. “If present trends continue, this century may well witness extraordinary climate change and an unprecedented destruction of ecosystems, with serious consequences for all of us,” he writes.
Bemoaning the “remarkable” weakness of political responses to this, Francis accuses the sceptics of cynically ignoring or manipulating the scientific evidence. “There are too many special interests, and economic interests easily end up trumping the common good and manipulating information so that their own plans will not be affected,” he writes.
“We know how unsustainable is the behaviour of those who constantly consume and destroy, while others are not yet able to live in a way worthy of their human dignity,” he adds, saying the time has come for parts of the world to accept decreased growth.
– Conflict and war –
The consequences of climate change, he argues, will include a rise in sea levels that will directly threaten the quarter of the world’s population that lives near or on coastlines, and will be felt most acutely by developing countries. Highlighting warnings that acute water shortages could arise within decades, he writes that, “the control of water by large multinational business may become a major source of conflict in this century”.
He adds: “It is foreseeable that, once certain resources have been depleted, the scene will be set for new wars,” with the ever-present risk that nuclear or biological weapons could be used. One of the strongest themes in the encyclical is that rich countries must accept responsibility for having caused climate change and should “help pay this debt” by cutting their carbon emissions and helping the developing world adopt sustainable forms of energy generation.
“The land of the southern poor is rich and mostly unpolluted, yet access to ownership of goods and resources for meeting vital needs is inhibited by a system of commercial relations and ownership which is structurally perverse,” the pope writes in perhaps the most radical passage of the document.
Francis says fossil fuel-based technology needs to be “progressively replaced without delay.” Developing countries will need financial help to do this from “countries which have experienced great growth at the cost of the ongoing pollution of the planet” and this pact has to be enshrined in binding accords.
Pope Francis III has described the killing of over 120 worshippers in the Kano Central Mosque as an “extremely serious sin against God.”
Bomb blast in Kano
The Pope, at a meeting with Turkish leaders urged Muslim leaders to condemn the “barbaric violence” being committed by Islamist groups in the name of Allah.
He spoke just as the Federal Government promised to supply hospitals in Kano with blood, to save the lives of those injured in the attack by terrorists.
The Catholic Pontiff, who maintained that the use of military might against Boko Haram was justifiable, urged greater dialogue between Christians, Muslims and people of other faiths to end religious fundamentalism plaguing the world.
He said, “As religious leaders, we are obliged to denounce all violations against human dignity and human rights.
“As such, any violence which seeks religious justification warrants the strongest condemnation because the omnipotent is the God of life and peace.”
Also on Sunday, the United Nations pledged its “full support” to Nigeria in its efforts to end terrorism .
The global body, in a statement by its Secretary-General, Ban ki-moon, said there was no justification whatsoever for the attack on worshippers on Friday.
“The UN reaffirms its full support for Nigeria’s efforts to fight terrorism and to provide security to the population consistent with international law and Nigeria’s human rights obligations.”
The UN conveyed its “deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and to the people and government of Nigeria” and wished swift recovery to the injured.
The body called on the relevant authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Also, a former Head of State, Gen. Yakubu Gowon, condemned the attack and called on Nigerians to support the military in the fight against insurgency in the country.
Gowon made the call on Sunday at the Church of Nigeria’s end of year thanksgiving service held at the Cathedral Church of the Advent, Abuja.
He said recent happenings in the country indicated that the insurgents were not after Christians alone, stressing that all Nigerians, irrespective of their ethno-religious backgrounds, are potential targets.
Gowon said, ‘‘It is the responsibility of every Nigerian and not only the armed forces to do whatever they need to do in order to restore peace to our country.
‘‘Dealing with the problem of insurgency that is disturbing the country requires the cooperation of all Nigerians, whether you are a Christian or a Muslim.
‘‘Few days ago, you saw what they did not only to the Christian churches but also the Muslim worship places are being targeted for attacks;
‘‘So we need the prayers of all because only God can ultimately deal with this problem more permanently.’’
He expressed confidence that the military would overcome the insurgents and restore peace to the conflict-ravaged North-East.
In his remark, a former Primate of All Nigeria (Anglican Communion), the Most Rev. Peter Akinola, urged Christians to continue with the spirit of loving God and serving Him with their skills, energy and time.
He also frowned on Nigeria’s over dependence on its oil and gas resources, saying the trend was causing disunity among Nigerians.
A national leader of the All Progressives Congress and former Governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, said the attack had shown that Boko Haram was not doing God’s work.
Tinubu lamented in a statement on Sunday that the sect was doing the bidding of Satan.
He said, “Attacks against numerous locations in the North-East demonstrate how heinous and debased Boko Haram and those who sponsor it have become. So depraved, they have become heartless and filled with enmity against all that is good and proper.
“This was not the act of human beings. These attacks could only have come from the hands of those who do not know God or serve God. This is the act of godless people.The hand of evil, deploying those who have given their selves over to wickedness, committed this terrible thing.
“No reason can be found for what was done except that Boko Haram has once again shown its lust for innocent blood and its disdain for life peacefully lived. Boko Haram killed people praying to God because the god of Boko Haram is Satan himself.”
The former governor said he was confident that Nigeria would overcome terrorism as evil would never overcome good.
He, however, said this was the time for all Nigerians, regardless of religion, to unite to defeat the terrorists.
The APC leader said, “Boko Haram seeks to scare and intimidate Christians and Muslims alike through wanton destruction. They may attack us but never shall this evil force subdue us. Christians and Muslims must stand arm-in-arm to face down this terrorist onslaught.
“Those of us who love peace, who love unity and who love Nigeria can never allow this vile group to achieve its objective – to turn us into a bloodied and divided nation. Nigeria can and will defeat this terrorist machine and those behind it. We have no other home.”
Tinubu commiserated with the people of the state and the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi.
Meanwhile, the Federal Ministry of Health has directed its blood bank in Katsina to supply blood to the hospitals where many of the injured victims of the attack are receiving treatment.
The North-West Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Musa Ilallah, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria shortly after visiting Murtala Mohammed Specialist Hospital in Kano on Sunday.
He said, ‘’We went round the hospitals to assess the condition of those who are receiving treatment and we understand that what they needed most are blood and consumables.
‘‘I spoke with the Federal Ministry of Health and they (ministry) have assured me that they will mobilise the blood bank in Katsina to supply blood to the hospitals,’’ he said.
The coordinator said the ministry had also promised to supply drugs and other consumables from Abuja.
Ilallah commended Kano State Government for providing all the needed materials for the treatment of the injured persons.
The Executive Secretary of the state Hospitals Management Board, Dr Kabir Maso-Kano, said lack of consumables was hindering the treatment of the victims.
He, however, commended the residents for coming to hospitals to donate blood to the victims.
The Kano State Government commended NEMA for its prompt response and support to the victims of bomb blast .
The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Abubakar Labaran, said, “We still have many victims on admission in our hospitals, but essentially we need emergency drugs and other consumables, which have since been exhausted.
‘‘We have 48 victims in this hospital. We have some at Nasarawa, Dala Orthopaedic and Aminu Kano Teaching hospitals.
‘‘We are able to contain casualties and most of the dead ones. So the situation is calm now.’’
The commissioner also praised the l public for coming to donate blood since the incident happened.
“We called on members of the public to come and donate blood and we thank God that people have responded positively,’’ Labaran said.
Earlier, the Director, Search and Rescue, Air Commodore Otegbede Charles, who represented the NEMA Director-General, said he was in Kano to assess the situation.
‘‘The director-general mandated me to come and meet with the state government officials on what the agency can do to further alleviate the sufferings of the victims currently on admission,’’ he said.
Vatican City – Pope Francis said on Wednesday in Vatican City that Catholics seeking to scrap their marriage vows should have easier and possibly free access to Vatican courts.
Pope Francis
“There is a concern for streamlining procedures and trials for the sake of justice.
“Mother Church must deliver justice and say ‘Yes it’s true, your marriage is void or no, your marriage is valid,’’he added.
Francis stressed that there was need for all to see and be conscious when spiritual and economic interests were linked, which he described as ungodly.
He said Mother Church was so generous that it could deliver justice for free, just like all souls had been justified by Jesus Christ for free.
The Catholic Church does not allow divorce.
The only way out of a marriage while keeping with doctrine is to have it declared void by Vatican judges but the process is currently cumbersome and expensive.
Last month, deep divisions emerged at a Vatican summit known as the synod on whether the church could drop a ban on remarried divorcees taking the Holy Communion.
But most participants agreed on the need to streamline the handling of marriage annulments.
