5 Myths of the Vatican
John Allen Jr.
Catholic Educators’ Conference—February 14, 2011
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96% of Vatican decisions with “practical judgment”
Therefore, one must acknowledge need to understand “tools for Vatican literacy”.
Myth 1: Vatican Uniformity
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Cardinals may look and talk alike, but in reality it’s a complex bureaucracy.
Different people have different agendas.
There is a unity in the goal of upholding Catholic faith and morals, but one must remember the
diversity within the Vatican parallels the diversity of all Catholics in the world.
The term “the Vatican” is a misnomer because there is not necessarily a uniform rigidity.
Therefore, to start a conversation with a cardinal is to recognize that there are different intents
and realize the reality of different views.
The media should not say “the Vatican”, but rather focus on “who in the Vatican” to get a true
view.
Myth 2: Rigid Centralization
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The Catholic Church is top-down only in the forum of faith and morals.
As an administration, the Vatican is more down-top, so micromanagement in the Vatican is
impossible.
E.g., the sex abuse scandal: the Vatican is not engaged in the investigation of pedophile priests
because diocesan decisions are made by the local bishop without consultation with the Vatican.
It was only in 2001 that there was a requested Vatican notification.
The popular psychology is that all decisions are scripted by Rome, but in reality that is not true.
One must remember that the administrative control within the Catholic Church is actually
decentralized. It is only faith and morals e.g., the Catechism where there is strong
centralization.
Therefore, with any problem, the Vatican is likely not the cause nor is it likely the solution.
Myth 3: Vast Wealth of the Vatican
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The assumption is about “all the money in the Vatican.”
The reality is that the yearly operational budget is about $3 million USD.
Comparisons:
Notre Dame University: $1.4 B
Harvard University: $2.5 B
Archdiocese of Chicago: $1 B.
The Holy See is comparable to a small or mid-sized diocese.
The work force numbers about 1800, mostly clergy, so the salaries are small.
Therefore, the decision-makers are not making money from the decisions.
What about the buildings, assets and stocks? I.e., endowment money?
The Vatican has “the Patrimony of the Holy See = $1B
Property
Interest on lump sum from the Italian government re: Lateran Treaty 1929
Contributions from dioceses and religious orders globally (Peter’s Pence)
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Cf. endowment of Notre Dame University = $ 30 B & Harvard University ($100 B)
What about the art and museums? It’s literally priceless
Value of Pieta is 1 Euro because it can never be sold or borrowed against according to the rules
i.e., Artistic Patrimony
All funds from entrance fees to the Vatican Museum go to maintainance
Myth 4: Vatican Secrecy
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Rome is a city where everything is a mystery but nothing is a secret.
No one is good at keeping secrets even if they try.
e.g., a papal document is often leaked and debated
95% of cases, most issues are transparent
The real problem of the Vatican is not secrecy but singularity because it is very unique i.e., no
other institution operates like the Vatican.
e.g., Dominus Jesus: Catholicism v. other religions
“Obviously speaking, non-Christians are in grave deficiency in salvation” is Ratzinger’s note in
the differences between Dominican and Jesuit views on grace.
The Vatican is its own institution compared to others
One must know Italian
One must know Latin, Liturgy, Canon Law, Theology, Philosophy
One must the language of Vatican workings
Dicasteries = collectives of different offices in the Vatican
Congregations = decision makers
Council = think tank
One must acknowledge that the Vatican is unique culturally.
The Vatican, in turn, should have a better knowledge of the outside world.
With this knowledge, once it is better understood, the Vatican is actually rather transparent,
especially compared to the Pentagon or even General Motors.
Therefore why does the whole myth of secrecy exist? It’s a secret of Journalism: if the Vatican
seems secret, the reporter can have some kind of excuse for not understanding, but if the
Vatican seems transparent, the reporter is at fault for not understanding.
Myth 5: Careerism
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The idea is that everyone in the Vatican is there to advance in an ecclesiastical career i.e.,
monsignor to bishop to pope.
Careerism does exist just like in all professions, but this is the weakest way to explain the goingson in the Vatican.
Remember, if one looks at every cleric working in the Vatican that had a minimum one year in
the US, only 32% of them became bishops.
No one applies for a Vatican job; instead it is usually a letter sent to a cleric asking under
obligation of obedience to work in the Vatican.
The idea that all cardinals want to be pope is not true (based on Allen’s personal interviews).
2005 Conclave: majority of 115 cardinals did not want the job; why?
1. Cardinals are true believers and believe that the Pope is the Successor of St. Peter, and
therefore understand their own weaknesses compared to the papal ideal.
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2. Retired cardinals have a good deal; they get to give insight on documents, they get the “best
tables” in restaurants, they are allowed to write memoirs or give lectures i.e., freedom to do
what they want and the time to do it.
> Compare this to the papacy, which is a life sentence with great responsibility as a CEO,
rockstar, saint, political expert, to theologian (cf. athletic Cardinal Wojtyla to frail John Paul II)
Therefore, there is some jockeying for the papacy, but it is not in the mainstream.
Conclusion
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Debunking these myths in not to be an excuse for or criticism of Vatican handling of certain
issues.
The value of debunking these myths is that it clears the air and avoids distractions in discussing
the issues.
Remember that these are ordinary men doing their best, so there is more production in
discussing issues as opposed to wasting time with myths.
Engagement with the Vatican is possible, but one must do one’s homework and go for the long
term.
The allegory: the US political system is a microwave, but the Vatican is a slow-cooker/crockpot.
Disagreement does not necessarily mean division; cf. Cardinal Medina (traditionalist) vs.
Cardinal Marini (progressive) over the canonization of St. Juan Diego
The Vatican’s problem is that it is not skilled in telling its story i.e., bad PR [my note: cf. Philip II
of Spain]
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