Vatican journalist charges a member of papal reform committee could be tied to Vatileaks

August 26, 2013

An influential Vatican journalist has written that a member of the 8-member committee appointed by Pope Francis in July to help reforms in the Vatican’s economic activities may have been involved in the “Vatileaks” scandal.

Sandro Magister of L’Espresso reports that Francesco Chaouqui, an Italian laywoman with a background in public relations, was the source of a report in La Repubblica, publishing in March, claiming that Paolo Gabriele was not the only source of Vatican documents leaked to the Italian media. Magister says that Chaouqui may have ties to Gianluigi Nuzzi, the Italian journalist who published the stolen documents.

Chaouqui has come under scrutiny because of a series of controversial comments that she had posted on her Twitter account before her appointment to the Vatican reform panel. She has since closed down the Twitter account.

Magister, for his part, has become an active participant in the debate over Vatican reforms. He published explicit charges that Msgr. Battista Ricca, the Pope’s choice as prelate of the Vatican bank, had a past involvement in homosexual scandal. Magister now insists that Msgr. Ricca’s continued presence at the Vatican bank—which Pope Francis has supported—is a “glaring contradiction” to the Pope’s plans for reform.

 

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Further information:

• Ricca and Chaouqui, Two Enemies in the House (L’Espress)
• Former Italian government minister files suit against member of Vatican reform panel (CWN, 8/14)