Radical Vatican About to Take Vengeance on Father Stefano Manelli

[Gloria.tv]Sanctions against Father Stefano Manelli, 85, the founder of the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate, are imminent, writes Marco Tosatti (July 21). Manelli’s order languishes under a Vatican commissioner since July 2013.

The reasons for this crack down, never explained by the Vatican, are evident: for the present Vatican nomenclature, the Friars are “too Catholic”.

According to Tosatti, a document containing sanctions against Manelli, authored by the Congregation for the Religious, is currently on Francis' table.

After the sanctions are imposed, the Vatican will push for a General Chapter. The plan is to change the Friars' constitutions and to abolish the vow of consecration to the Immaculate and the vow of poverty. The latter has created a situation in which all material goods of the friars belong to lay-people. The Vatican has tried in vain to get hold of this patrimony but lost all juridical battles in Italian courts.

Therefore, the Vatican tried to use Father Manelli in order to put pressure on the assets' owners. After this failed, it seems, Francis wants to punish Manelli which reveals Francis’ strange sense of justice.

One of the leading Vatican bureaucrates who fights against the Friars is Archbishop José Rodríguez Carballo OFM, the secretariy of the Congregation for the Religious, a Francis intimate, who was one of the main protagonists of the huge financial scandal hitting the Franciscans (OFM) in December 2014. The scandal was quickly hushed up.

Because Carballo is a radical-liberal, nobody touched him, on the contrary, Francis promoted him to become an archbishop.

AMDG

Franciscan Order is Bankrupt? Millions in Switzerland, Maxi-Fraud in Italy

Franciscans at Prayer

(Assisi / Rome) the information is still scarce and the situation is quite opaque. The headline is, however: Is The Franciscan Order (OFM) In Bankruptcy? What role did Father Rodriguez Carballo have? The transactions occurred during his tenure as Minister General of the Order. In 2013 he was appointed by Pope Francis as secretary of the religious congregation.

Worldwide, there are just over 14,000 Franciscans, the next come Minorites (OFM Conv) and Capuchins (OFM Cap) who form one of the three branches of directly going back to Saint Francis of Assisi's first order. Characteristic features are  the coarse brown tunics with a white rope and the rope symbol, called the cross of St. Anthony.

"Financial Shortfall" in Italy - Money Laundering in Switzerland?

For three months, the order's accounts have been reviewed by  the General Curia. According to the Italian weekly magazine Panorama,  the result is clear: there was a "financial shortfall" of tens of millions of euros. The Order, or rather the religious leadership, was deeply in debt and risking bankruptcy.

The starting point were the checks after the Swiss prosecutor's office last October, which seized accounts of the Franciscan Order seized with tens of millions of euros. They were suspect to have  invested in companies that serve as money laundering.

The investments in Switzerland were made ​​in the administration of José Rodriguez Carballo as Minister General. Rodriguez Carballo was,  from 2003-2013, the 119th Minister General of the Order.  On April 6, 2013, he was appointed by Pope Francis as secretary of the religious congregation. As such, he immediately gained notoriety because of the provisional administration of another Franciscan Order, the Franciscan Friars of the Immaculate . The appointment of Carballos Rodriguez was the first major personnel decision of the current pontificate.

According to Panorama  the mendicant orders of the "Poverello" of Assisi are liable to be killed by a mountain of debt and be insolvent. Specifically, it's about two different erroneous developments that might be related. In the first case there is the suspicion of deliberate mismanagement in Italy there by foreign persons may have enriched themselves with the help of the members of the orders. On the other hand it comes to bank accounts in Switzerland, which were confiscated by the Prosecutor.

Deposed General Treasurer of the Order

The minus due to mismanagement was, among other things, accumulated through the reconstruction of the hotel Il Cantico in Via Gregorio VII in Rome. The hotel management included the former General Treasurer of the Order, Father Giancarlo Lati. Meanwhile, he was replaced by Father Silvio De La Fuente. Officially "for health reasons" as the Order had announced. The Financial Administration of the Order is the focus of the investigation.

The Order is finding itself concerned about "financial difficulties in a critical situation," according to Father Michael Perry who has held office since 2013 as New Minister General.

The Swiss investigation must first be confirmed. If the seizure is to be valid, the question arises  as to who is responsible. It is clear that there are more than 14,000 brothers who  will suffer most because few have done wrong to the Order.

Persons Outside the Order and Members of Religious Order Under Suspicion

There are several "persons  who are not members of the religious order" under suspicion.  We are talking about maxi-rraud. After the internal checks it says in the Order, that the control and security mechanisms have been "compromised" or are "too weak" in financial matters. A more detailed clarification of who did and who did not play a role is sought.

In addition, "there seems to  be a certain number of dubious financial operations made by brothers, who had been entrusted to the custody of the finances," said the Minister General. "The extent and scope of these operations have brought the financial stability of the General Curia in great danger."

It seems that both brothers as well as some persons foreign persons outside the order have put the  Order   into the jeopardy and caused great financial loss. General Minister Perry turned to the competent authorities in Italy after completion of internal audits. The "competent ecclesiastical centers" were well informed.

State authorities and the Vatican informed - begging letter to Provincials

The  General Minister has asked  all religious provincials for "financial aid" for  the General Curia "to meet its  payment obligations and above all to pay the high passive interest."

The General Government commissioned a "qualified legal counsel" to take the necessary steps. After the dismissal of the former  Treasurer General, Father Pasquale Del Pezzo was called in turn to Rome. As special representative,  all economic and financial functions are under the care  of the General Curia.

He understood the "frustration" many brethren, as Minister General Perry. It was an "encouragement" to follow the example of Pope Francis, who had prompted with a "call for truth and transparency in the financial activities of the Church and of society."

In the Franciscan monasteries scattered all over the globe, there is much surprise. "With the contents of the letter I have" said the Minister General "thorough agreement," said Father Rosario Gugliotta, the curator of the Portiuncula Chapel and the Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli in Assisi, the most important church of the Franciscan Order.

What is the responsibility ex-Minister General Rodriguez Carballo?

Curia Archbishop Father José Rodriguez Carballo was Minister General, as the shady financial transactions were carried out with the assets of the Order. As secretary of the religious congregation, he signed, together with Cardinal Prefect Joao Braz de Aviz, the new "guidelines"  because  the Order's property was lackadaisically managed. In early August they were published.

He will also have to answer questions  internally and answer questions. Whether  Swiss Justice will deal with it is not yet clear.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: VaticanInsider

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Link to Katholisches...

AMDG

Curial Archbishop Carballo Immortalized in a Church -- "Concerned About Pre-Conciliar Deviations"

(Madrid), José Rodriguez Carballo Archbishop Curia has been immortalized in a church of Santiago de Compostela. "Is this appropriate in the 21st century?" Asks Francisco de la Cigoña of La Gaceta .

Rodriguez Carballo is from Galicia and belongs to the Franciscan Order. The Spaniard was the first major personnel decision of the current pontificate. A few days after his election,  Pope Francis called the Franciscan at the beginning of April 2013 as Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life in the Roman Curia. Previously, Father Rodriguez Carballo from 2003-2013  was the119th General Minister of the Franciscan Order.

The Catholic journalist Francisco de la Cigoña was content to ask questions: "Is  that not too early? Is that excessive?"  The presentation in the church shows Father Rodriguez Carballo with crosier and pectoral cross as a bishop. His episcopal ordination took place on 13 May 2013.

Curial Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo, Titular Archbishop per hac vice of Bellicastrum is, with João Cardinal Bráz de Aviz, Prefect of the Congregation for Religious, responsible for the  restrictive measures against the Order of the Franciscans of the Immaculate. The appointment of the Apostolic Commissioner, Father Fidenzio Volpi from the Capuchin Order, took place a few months after Carballos took office on 13 July-2013.

Last May, the Curial Archbishop said in a speech to the Association of Catalan religious (URC): "For religious, the Council is a point that is not negotiable."   "Whoever sees in the "reforms" of Vatican II all the bad things of the religious life, denies the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church ". The Congregation for Religious   is  "very concerned" about this phenomenon: "We see real deviations" because "not a few institutes" have their growth "there is not just  a pre-conciliar, but even an anti-conciliar formation"... "not a few institutions" says Rodriguez Carballo. "This is not allowed, that is, to stand outside of history. This is something that has us very worried  in the Congregation. "

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: La Gaceta / de la Cigoña
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
Link to Katholisches...
AMDG

Rodriguez Carballo Lets the Cat out of the Bag: “Fidelity to the Council is Not Negotiable"

(Barcelona / Rome) Does the Congregation of Religious suffer from a villainous portrait of  tradition? This question has hung in the air since last weekend. The Franciscan José Rodriguez Carballo, for a year secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, participated in a Conference of Religious of Catalonia. In his speech he delivered  last Saturday  without directly mentioning the Order by name, gave a first official hint as to why the Franciscans of the Immaculate have been reprimanded by his Congregation. The reason  implied much to the young religious Order, and is of a fundamental nature.

In his speech, Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo said that fidelity to the Second Vatican Council constitutes a central point for the religious life. Literally, the number two of the religious congregation said. "For religious the Council is a point that is not negotiable.”    Whoever see the "reforms" of Vatican II,  all the evils  besetting   religious life, "denies the presence of the Holy Spirit in the Church.” [It’s ok if you deny the real presence though?]

Congregation “Very Concerned": "Not Only Pre-Conciliar, but Anti-Conciliar Training"

The Curial Archbishop stressed that the Congregation of Religious is "particularly concerned”   on the subject: "We see real differences." Mainly because "many Institutes”  are "not only a pre-Conciliar, but even give  an anti-Conciliar formation” to their religious offspring, says Rodriguez Carballo. "This is not allowed, that is to say, to stand outside of  history. This is something that is very concerning to us in the Congregation. A  ”concern ", which is obviously shared by the prefect of the Congregation of Religious, Cardinal João Braz de Aviz.  Also from Pope Francis? There is some evidence.

The conference was organized by the Unión de Religiosos de Cataluña (URC). On Saturday it was open to all religious in Catalonia. Maxim Muñoz, the URC-chairman and provincial superior of the Claretians of Catalonia described the appointment Rodriguez Carballos as secretary of the Congregation of Religious as a "special recognition by Pope Francis."

Pope Francis had called the Spanish Franciscan Rodriguez Carballo on April 6, 2013, just three weeks after his election to his present office.

Text: Giuseppe Nardi
image: OFM

Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com

Katholisches…

AMGD