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MT 15 November 2015

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Jurgen Balzan Maltese economist Joe FX Zahra inadvertently found him- self in the eye of a storm which has engulfed the Vatican and seen a spanish priest associated with Opus Dei and a PR expert arrested after being accused of leaking sensitive information. two new books have embar- rassed the Vatican with tales of mismanagement and greed, such as sainthood causes that can cost €500,000 and one monsignor allegedly breaking down the wall of his next-door neighbor – a sick, elderly priest – to expand his already palatial apartment. Pope Francis has made a top priority the reform of the Vati- can bureaucracy known as the Curia and one of his most trust- ed aides is Zahra, one of five members on the International audit Committee of the Holy see. Francis appointed Zahra as president of a new Pontifical Commission for the Reference on the economy and adminis- trative structure of the Holy see (COsea). In March 2014, Francis asked Zahra to serve as one of the seven lay members, joining eight cardinals from around the world who serve on the newly- established Council for eco- nomic affairs, which oversees the work of the new secretar- iat for the economy, an agency which has financial regulatory authority over all the depart- ments of the curia. Zahra presented a report of- fering a long list of recommen- dations to make the Vatican more transparent, simplified and more efficient. While describing the leaks from the commission he led as "very sad," Zahra nevertheless insisted the leaks "definitely" will not stop the march toward transparency and accountabil- ity on Pope Francis' watch. speaking in New York earlier this week, Zahra said that if the aim of the leaks was to slow down the pace of change, "it definitely will not work." Zahra – a former senior offic- er of the Central Bank of Malta, a former chairman of Bank of Valletta, Maltacom and the Na- tional euro Changeover Com- mittee – added that the Vati- can's reform under Pope Francis is "irreversible." Zahra featuredin the book Via Crucis, by Italian journalist Gi- anluigi Nuzzi, based on confi- dential documents leaked from COsea. last week, two former mem- bers of the commission, a span- ish monsignor named lucio angel Vallejo Balda and Italian PR expert Francesca Chaouqui, were arrested by Vatican gen- darmes on suspicion of having leaked the documents. Zahra denied ever having met Nuzzi and insisted he's never provided COsea materials to anyone who didn't have a right to them. "I must say that these have been very sad days for me," Zahra said of the fallout from the leaks. "even in the corporate world, if you have colleagues who in one way or another allegedly – and we need to emphasize that point, because these are only allegations – have leaked infor- mation, you'd be extremely dis- appointed and unhappy about it," he said. Zahra said he's had no contact with either Vallejo or Chaouqui since their arrest, and that Vati- can gendarmes did not contact him as part of their inquest. Nuzzi's book says one of the Zahra commission's priorities was getting a handle on the Vatican's vast real estate hold- ings and the author cites a com- mission report that found that the value of the real estate was some €2.7 billion, seven times higher than the amount entered on the balance sheets. Rents were sometimes 30% to 100% below market prices, the commission found, including apartments given free to cardi- nals and bureaucrats as part of their compensation or retire- ment packages.the book says that if market rates were ap- plied, employees' homes would generate rental income of €19.4 million rather than €6.2 mil- lion, while other "institutional" buildings that today generate no income would bring in €30.4 million. maltatoday, Sunday, 15 november 2015 News unwitting protagonist in Vatican scandal Joe FX Zahra

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