Articles by Ed Condon
Mincione used former Vatican fund to invest in mafia-linked bond managed by Torzi company
Oct 1, 2020 / 12:00 pmAn investment fund created for the Holy See Secretariat of State to invest Church funds was used to purchase millions in debt products issued by companies, some with alleged mafia links.
Analysis: The Becciu resignation, a beginning not an end
Sep 25, 2020 / 10:00 amThe fall of Cardinal Angelo Becciu comes after nearly two years of reporting placing him at the center of several different, overlapping Vatican financial scandals.
Bishop Michael Bransfield: I do not want to 'do battle' with successor
Sep 24, 2020 / 10:10 amRetired West Virginia Bishop Michael Bransfield told CNA Thursday that he is retired, wants to stay retired, and does not want to “do battle” with his successor, after Bishop Mark Brennan of Wheeling-Charleston called an apology from Bransfield, “self-serving” and “lacking in any contrition.”
Cardinal Zen: Church is losing ‘credibility’ to evangelize China
Sep 21, 2020 / 12:30 pmThe former Bishop of Hong Kong, Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, has warned that the Church’s efforts to negotiate an extension to the 2018 provisional agreement with China are harming the evangelization of that country.
Why priests don't endorse candidates: Experts respond to FEC chair
Sep 17, 2020 / 16:00 pmIn an interview Wednesday, the chairman of the Federal Election Commission accused Catholic bishops of “hiding” behind the Church’s tax exempt status instead of backing political candidates, and insisted that priests and lay Catholics have a “right” to conduct political activity on parish premises.
Analysis: China and the Vatican - What if the US recognizes Taiwan?
Sep 17, 2020 / 11:45 amA dramatic diplomatic maneuver from the Trump administration could strengthen Rome’s hand with China, and rebalance the relationship between all three powers. The pivot point is Taiwan.
Mincione asks UK court to rule he ‘acted in good faith’ in Vatican deal
Sep 16, 2020 / 10:00 amThe Italian businessman at the center of the Vatican’s London property scandal is asking a British court to rule that he acted in good faith. Lawyers for Raffaele Mincione are arguing that the Holy See is trying to nullify the deal, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, according to new reports.
Analysis: The art of China’s Vatican deal
Sep 2, 2020 / 16:00 pmWhile the last two years have failed to deliver any measurable progress on the Vatican’s priorities, the status quo of all-dialogue-and-no-delivery has strengthened China’s position over the Church.
Hong Kong cardinal warns priests to ‘watch your language’ in homilies
Sep 1, 2020 / 13:10 pmThe leader of the Diocese of Hong Kong has written to all the clergy telling them to avoid politics in homilies and admonishing them for “offensive” and “provocative” preaching.
Analysis: Is Vatican silence on China strategic?
Aug 27, 2020 / 09:00 amThe Holy See faces mounting criticism for its silence on human rights abuses in China ahead of the expected renewal of the controversial 2018 agreement. But is the Vatican’s silence strategic, and if so, is the strategy working?
Five minute warning: Santa Fe warns of preaching suspensions for homilies over time limit
Aug 18, 2020 / 10:51 amPriests in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe have been warned that they could lose the faculty to preach if they give homilies longer than five minutes.
Vatican finances: London deal players had prior history
Jul 31, 2020 / 11:30 amIn the months before Gianluigi Torzi was asked by the Holy See to act as middle man for the final purchase of the London property at 60 Sloane Ave. from Raffaele Mincione, a company owned by Mincione secured a multi-million-euro loan from a company controlled by Torzi.
Cardinal Zen: In Vatican II, Catholics hear ‘real voice of the Holy Spirit’
Jul 27, 2020 / 10:15 amCardinal Joseph Zen, the emeritus Bishop of Hong Kong, has made an impassioned defense of the Second Vatican Council, criticizing both “extreme conservatives” and “extreme progressives” for rejecting the authority and authenticity of the conciliar documents.
Analysis: The Vatican and China Part III, Taiwan
Jul 24, 2020 / 05:00 amWith negotiations ongoing for an extension of the 2018 Vatican-China deal, the fate of Vatican-Taiwan relations may prove inextricable from the future of the deal - and of the Church in China.
Analysis: The Vatican and China Part II, Hong Kong
Jul 23, 2020 / 05:00 amAs the Vatican and China negotiate an extension of the controversial 2018 deal, the Diocese of Hong Kong is at the center of an ecclesiastical and diplomatic minefield.
Analysis: The Vatican and China Part I, the Mainland
Jul 22, 2020 / 06:30 amWhile Catholic China watchers have long focused on the ongoing human rights crisis in the country, broader media attention has fallen on the issue just weeks before the controversial Vatican-China deal is set for renewal.
Police seize Mincione’s phones in Vatican corruption probe
Jul 15, 2020 / 08:37 amVatican prosecutors, working with Italian authorities, have executed a search and seizure warrant against the Italian businessman Raffaele Mincione, the man responsible for the controversial investment of hundreds of millions of euros on behalf of the Holy See Secretariat of State.
Analysis: 2020, the year to make or break Vatican finances?
Jul 10, 2020 / 15:00 pmThe Holy See is facing a perfect storm of a massive income shortfall, months of financial scandal, and a looming international banking inspection.
Why White House Catholics are concerned about Trump’s Catholic tweets
Jul 9, 2020 / 12:57 pmOfficials working in the Trump administration have told CNA that they have been frustrated by recent presidential tweets elevating controversial Catholic figures, saying the tweets undermine the work many Catholics in the administration hope to accomplish.
Pell: Church’s mission ‘no justification’ for financial inefficiency or corruption
Jun 30, 2020 / 10:30 amCardinal George Pell has said that the Church’s spiritual mission is no excuse for bad management, and that financial corruption can pose a greater risk to clergy than sexual misconduct.