VATICAN : LEAKED DOCUMENTS CASE - STATEMENT ON RAID OF HOME

RADIO VATICANA REPORT:

The Press Office of the Holy See has released a statement in connection with the seizure this week, by Italian authorities, of a private document meant for Pope Benedict XVI when they raided the home of the former head of the board of directors at the Holy See’s main financial establishment – the Institute for the Works of Religion, or IOR. Italian paramilitary police raided the home of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi on Tuesday as part of a corruption investigation into Italy's state-controlled aerospace giant Finmeccanica. Gotti Tedeschi himself is not under investigation, and at the time of the raid prosecutors said the search had nothing to do with his recently terminated role as president of the IOR. During the raid, however, police seized documentation Gotti Tedeschi had prepared for the Pope in conncection with the confidence vote he faced last month. (IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)

In the statement, the Press Office says The Holy See learned with surprise and concern of the recent events in which Gotti Tedeschi was involved, and expresses the utmost confidence that the sovereign prerogatives of the Holy See - recognized internationally – will be adequately assessed and respected by the Italian judicial authority. The statement goes on to say the Holy See confirms its full confidence in the people who work with commitment and professionalism at the IOR, and is examining the circumstances with great care to see whether any injury might have been done to the Holy See’s rights or those of the Holy See’s organs. Finally, the statement emphasizes that the motion of no confidence taken against Prof. Gotti Tedeschi by the IOR’s Board of Superintendence was founded on objective reasons, related to the governance of the Institute, and not determined by a supposed opposition to the line of transparency, to which the authorities of the Holy See and the IOR itself are wholeheartedly committed.