8 Comments

It all sounds like a healthy move. If Cardinal Pell originally suggested the path to greater international oversight, it's got to be good. He's well known for his financial acumen.

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Does this mean the IOR is becoming “the Vatican bank” after all?

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Ironically, yes, that's exactly what it looks like.

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I think it's the Dicastery for the Bank

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How can we have any confidence in these “reforms” when they’re constantly changing? When the apostolic constitution can be reinterpreted to mean the opposite of what it says, only months after it’s promulgation and by the same people who promulgated it? There is no stability or consistency. It’s all effectively arbitrary. That hardly seems like the foundation of a successful financial reform, particularly a reform that has been underway for a decade.

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Assuming Ed's analysis is correct (and I'm betting it is), it's just so weird. Why not just amend Praedicate Evangelium instead of mangle its plain meaning? Does truth matter? Do the plain meaning of words matter? Does 2+2 really equal 4 or does it sometimes equal 5 if the pope says so?

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I'd like to hear more about the commission of "reserved financial matters". This sounds interesting... what type of transactions might we surmise would fall under this commission?

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One thing that comes to mind is financial transactions within nations where the Church is underground or illegal.

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