Pope Francis says further action is on the way to combat Vatican corruption

Pope Francis said more changes are on the horizon as the Vatican continues to fight financial corruption within its walls, but is cautious about success.

Speaking this week to the Italian news agency AdnKronos, Pope Francis said that corruption is a deep and recurring problem in the history of the Church, which he is trying to counter with "small but concrete steps".

"Unfortunately, corruption is a cyclical story, it repeats itself, then someone comes to clean and tidy up, but then it starts waiting for someone else to come and put an end to this degeneration," he said in an interview published October 30.

“I know I have to do it, I was called to do it, then the Lord will say if I did well or if I was wrong. Honestly, I'm not very optimistic, ”he smiled.

Pope Francis said there are "no particular strategies" on how the Vatican is fighting corruption. “The tactic is trivial, simple, go ahead and don't stop. You have to take small but concrete steps. "

He pointed to the changes made in the past five years, saying more changes will be made "very soon".

“We went digging in finances, we have new leaders at the IOR, in short, I've had to change a lot of things and a lot will change very soon,” he said.

The interview came as the Vatican City court is investigating various financial scandals and allegations related to former curial official Cardinal Angelo Becciu.

Becciu's lawyers deny that he was contacted by the Vatican authorities.

On September 24, Becciu was asked by Pope Francis to resign from his job at the Vatican and the rights of cardinals following reports that he had used millions of euros of Vatican charitable funds in speculative and risky investments, including loans for projects. owned and operated by The Becciu Brothers.

Becciu, former number two of the Secretariat of State, was also at the center of a scandal over the controversial purchase of a London building. He was also reportedly behind hiring and paying an Italian woman accused of misusing Vatican funds earmarked for humanitarian work for extravagant personal purchases.

Becciu was accused of using Cecilia Marogna, a self-styled security consultant, to build “off-book” intelligence networks.

In the October 30 interview, Pope Francis answered a question about recent criticisms he has received, including the renewal of the Vatican-China agreement and his apparent approval of the legalization of same-sex civil unions in a recently released documentary. .

The pope said he would not have told the truth if he had said that criticism does not bother him.

Nobody likes bad faith criticism, he added. "With equal conviction, however, I say that criticism can be constructive, and then I take everything because criticism leads me to examine myself, to make an examination of conscience, to ask myself if I was wrong, where and why I was wrong, if I did well , if I was wrong, if I could have done better. "