The embattled Vatican bank is heading into a new round of turmoil, with the resignations of its president and board expected soon as Pope Francis mulls how to reform the institution blamed for some of the Vatican's biggest financial scandals...
The bank's current president, Ernst Von Freyberg, was appointed in February 2013 in one of Pope Benedict XVI's final acts in office. He has never been received in audience by Francis, who was elected on a mandate of financial and bureaucratic reform.
Italian newsweekly L'Espresso reported last week that Von Freyberg would soon resign, citing a clash with Francis' personal liaison to the bank over access to information. [1]Questions for the pope to ponder:
1. I chose the name Francesco after Francesco d'Assisi. San Francesco d'Assisi was asked by God to rebuild the Church. What would San Francesco d'Assisi do with a corrupt bank that was part of the Church he was asked to rebuild? Would he have kept it or would he have given it away like the clothes he had on his back and his right to inherit his wealthy father's fortune?
2. Was I thinking how generous I could be with the money in the Vatican bank when I said: "When we are generous in welcoming people and sharing something with them—some food, a place in our homes, our time—not only do we no longer remain poor: we are enriched" [2] by buying food for the poor, building shelters for the homeless and spending time with those socially and financially disenfranchised instead of managing the Vatican bank and all kinds of corruption?
3. Was I thinking about all the money and the scandals brewing in the Vatican bank when I said: "Poverty in the world is a scandal. In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons..." [3], and about how I am able to set an example by first cleaning up my own house before I ask others to clean up theirs?
4. Am I a hypocrite? Quoted below is from Matthew 23:1-12:
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.
“Everything they do is done for people to see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their garments long; they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues they love to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher, and you are all brothers. And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one Instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.5. Should I renounce my hypocrisy, resign and repent, then rebuild the Church as San Francesco d'Assisi had before me? Do I have the guts to do what is holy or am I too spoiled by popularity and comfort to consider stepping down from the throne of Peter?
6. Do I believe in God? Do I believe in God enough to pray for help? Is it possible that God is fed up with the Church being more and more indistinguishable from any large and powerful secular entity that is constantly screaming for social justice rather than being a simple church that quietly advocates a prayerful life lived in humility?
7. If God answers, am I willing to comply?
[1] http://bigstory.ap.org/article/pope-meets-top-cardinals-amid-bank-shakeup-rumors
[2] http://www.confrontglobalpoverty.org/our-faith-global-poverty/church-teachings/quotes-poverty-pope-francis/
[3] Ibid.
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