Attorney Silverio Sica says Monsignor Nunzio Scarano is not well at Rome's Regina Coeli prison and wants to await a decision on his fate at home.

Scarano was interrogated for some three hours on Monday by Judge Barbara Callari, who must decide whether to confirm his arrest.

Scarano was arrested Friday with two other people in an elaborate plot to bring 20 million euro from a Swiss bank account into Italy without reporting it to customs officials.

Sica said Scarano "recognized it wasn't licit," but acted to help out his friends.

Prosecutors have identified the friends as Italy's d'Amico shipping family.

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The news quickly became a bad case of the Mondays for Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, who earlier this year tamped down what he called "unverified, unverifiable, or completely false" reports in the Italian media about blackmailers within the church hierarchy -- a group with "a worldly nature" and "united by sexual orientation." Lombardi, by the way, is the guy who also believes we should be looking at the church's truly prolific history of sex abuse in "the more general context of secularization" and says that marriage equality will lead to "freely chosen polygamy and, of course, not to discriminate, polyandry." In other words, having Federico Lombardi be the man who now has to do image control for Pope Francis just isn't going to stop being awesome any time soon. On Tuesday, he tersely issued the statement that "This was a private meeting held by the pope, and I will not comment on private meetings." Private meetings in which your pope admits to what you called completely false. HA HA HA.

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During the recent restoration of Pinturicchio‘s Resurrection fresco (1494) on the wall of the Hall of Mysteries in the Borgia Apartment at the Vatican has revealed what may be the first images of Native Americans in European art. Vatican Museums Director Antonio Paolucci believes a detail in the artwork refers to the natives of the American continent that explorer Christopher Columbus encountered when he travelled to the New World for the first time.

”Just behind the Resurrection, behind a soldier who is enthralled by the incredible event he is seeing, you are able to discern nude men wearing feathers who appear to be dancing,” Paolucci said.

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The pontiff, the first from Latin America, delivered the speech in Italian, emphasizing that Italian is the language of the Holy See. The full text of the speech has been translated by the Vatican and released to the AP, below:
___

Dear brothers and sisters in Rome and throughout the world, Happy Easter! Happy Easter!

What a joy it is for me to announce this message: Christ is risen! I would like it to go out to every house and every family, especially where the suffering is greatest, in hospitals, in prisons.

Most of all, I would like it to enter every heart, for it is there that God wants to sow this Good News: Jesus is risen, there is hope for you, you are no longer in the power of sin, of evil! Love has triumphed, mercy has been victorious! The mercy of God always triumphs!

We too, like the women who were Jesus' disciples, who went to the tomb and found it empty, may wonder what this event means (cf. Lk 24:4). What does it mean that Jesus is risen? It means that the love of God is stronger than evil and death itself; it means that the love of God can transform our lives and let those desert places in our hearts bloom. The love God can do this!

This same love for which the Son of God became man and followed the way of humility and self-giving to the very end, down to hell - to the abyss of separation from God - this same merciful love has flooded with light the dead body of Jesus, has transfigured it, has made it pass into eternal life. Jesus did not return to his former life, to earthly life, but entered into the glorious life of God and he entered there with our humanity, opening us to a future of hope.

This is what Easter is: it is the exodus, the passage of human beings from slavery to sin and evil to the freedom of love and goodness. Because God is life, life alone, and we are his glory: the living man (cf. Irenaeus, Adversus Haereses, 4,20,5-7).

Dear brothers and sisters, Christ died and rose once for all, and for everyone, but the power of the Resurrection, this passover from slavery to evil to the freedom of goodness, must be accomplished in every age, in our concrete existence, in our everyday lives. How many deserts, even today, do human beings need to cross! Above all, the desert within, when we have no love for God or neighbour, when we fail to realize that we are guardians of all that the Creator has given us and continues to give us. God's mercy can make even the driest land become a garden, can restore life to dry bones (cf. Ez 37:1-14).

So this is the invitation which I address to everyone: Let us accept the grace of Christ's Resurrection! Let us be renewed by God's mercy, let us be loved by Jesus, let us enable the power of his love to transform our lives too; and let us become agents of this mercy, channels through which God can water the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.

And so we ask the risen Jesus, who turns death into life, to change hatred into love, vengeance into forgiveness, war into peace. Yes, Christ is our peace, and through him we implore peace for all the world.

Peace for the Middle East, and particularly between Israelis and Palestinians, who struggle to find the road of agreement, that they may willingly and courageously resume negotiations to end a conflict that has lasted all too long. Peace in Iraq, that every act of violence may end, and above all for dear Syria, for its people torn by conflict and for the many refugees who await help and comfort. How much blood has been shed! And how much suffering must there still be before a political solution to the crisis will be found?

Peace for Africa, still the scene of violent conflicts. In Mali, may unity and stability be restored; in Nigeria, where attacks sadly continue, gravely threatening the lives of many innocent people, and where great numbers of persons, including children, are held hostage by terrorist groups. Peace in the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo, and in the Central African Republic, where many have been forced to leave their homes and continue to live in fear.

Peace in Asia, above all on the Korean peninsula: may disagreements be overcome and a renewed spirit of reconciliation grow.

Peace in the whole world, still divided by greed looking for easy gain, wounded by the selfishness which threatens human life and the family, selfishness that continues in human trafficking, the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century; human trafficking is the most extensive form of slavery in this twenty-first century! Peace to the whole world, torn apart by violence linked to drug trafficking and by the iniquitous exploitation of natural resources! Peace to this our Earth! Made the risen Jesus bring comfort to the victims of natural disasters and make us responsible guardians of creation.

Dear brothers and sisters, to all of you who are listening to me, from Rome and from all over of the world, I address the invitation of the Psalm: "Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; for his steadfast love endures for ever. Let Israel say: 'His steadfast love endures for ever'" (Ps 117:1-2).

Greeting

Dear Brothers and Sisters, to you who have come from all over the world to this Square at the heart of Christianity, and to you linked by modern technology, I repeat my greeting: Happy Easter!

Bear in your families and in your countries the message of joy, hope and peace which every year, on this day, is powerfully renewed.

May the risen Lord, the conqueror of sin and death, be a support to you all, especially to the weakest and neediest. Thank you for your presence and for the witness of your faith. A thought and a special thank-you for the beautiful flowers, which come from the Netherlands. To all of you I affectionately say again: may the risen Christ guide all of you and the whole of humanity on the paths of justice, love and peace.

__

Copyright Vatican Publishing House

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LIMA, Peru — The Vatican is hitting back at critics who have charged that Pope Francis didn't do enough during Argentina's Dirty War.

Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi called the accusations "defamatory" and told reporters today that they "must be clearly and firmly denied."

Critics of Jorge Bergoglio, the former archbishop of Buenos Aires, allege he failed to protect priests who challenged Argentina's military dictatorship during the its Dirty War from 1976-1983.

They also claim he's said too little about the complicity of the church during that time, according to Reuters.

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Well, we have a pope. After almost two weeks of speculation, prediction, even handicapping, the first non-European pope in over a thousand years, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Buenos Aires, stepped out on the Vatican loggia at 8:22 Central European Time today to be introduced to the world.

In some respects, the election of Cardinal Bergoglio is a very promising sign. As an archbishop from the most populous Catholic continent on earth, Latin America, the new Pope Francis I symbolizes a shift that has been a very long time coming, from Euro-centrism to the church of the Global South. And his reputation as an advocate for the poor, emphasizing the Christian Gospel of love, washing the feet of AIDS victims, and more.

The new pope’s legacy will stand him in good stead as well, since his parents were Italians, and he speaks Italian fluently—not a bad thing for a pope—even as he has never served in the Vatican curia, the focus of much criticism and concern in recent months. He is also the first Jesuit pope in history. Being a member of the largest religious order in the church certainly can’t hurt.

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It's been a fun rumspringa. We popeless hordes spent this past Friday eating roast beef like it wasn't even Lent. We've been forgetting every word of the Nicene creed. We've had impure thoughts. So, so many impure thoughts. We've worn black patent leather shoes that gleamed right up to our underpants. We might even have been gay for a few minutes there on Saturday. Talk about your joyful mysteries. We haven't rocked like that since 2005, and before that, 1978. (Remember that, the year we had two popes? And it was the disco era? We'll be in purgatory a long time for that one.)

But now, with the emergence of white smoke from the Vatican – which, by the way, tells you exactly how metal we Catholics truly are – it's back to business. We hope the new guy is all right, tough but fair. We hope the Cardinals don't notice how much sacramental wine is missing, and that they buy it when we say the True Cross was always splintered like that. Coming soon: the ensemble comedy based on our adventures. It's called "POPE BREAK." So thanks for the good times, everybody. And see you again in 10 years or so. I'll bring the incense.

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Rodman hopes to help Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana become the first black pope. His favorite pope, however, is John Paul, whom he describes to TMZ as "a pimp."

Rodman arrives in Rome weeks after his trip to North Korea, where he became the first American to have an audience with North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un. Of the dictator, whom he sees as an all-around nice guy, Rodman told TMZ that "They say this leader is Hitler or something. I mean, the guy is only 28 years old...and I think whatever happens happens."

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Sidelined by a broken leg at age 17, he embarked on a search for deeper meaning and decided on a life in the priesthood.

Now, he's considered a contender to become the next pope.

For the past few weeks, his hometown about 370 miles northwest of Montreal, Quebec, has been thrust into the spotlight, as Ouellet has emerged as a possible successor to Pope Benedict XVI.

“For sure, we’re all very proud,” said Rene Martineau, a farmer who moonlights as the mayor of La Motte, Quebec, said in an interview, adding that all the attention has been overwhelming — and exciting too.

“There’s only one pope in the world, and if he gets there, it would be amazing.”

The possibility of a Ouellet papacy, however, has drawn a more muted response from much of Quebec, where Catholicism has been in steep decline.

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Rodman is on his way to Rome and lands tonight, and says his "people" are in touch with contacts at the Vatican. But assuming that the Vatican is, indeed, interested in entertaining Rodman (a source told TMZ that it's not), logistics are going to be Rodman's first hurdle: The papal conclave just started its voting process, making tonight the earliest the new pope could elected be elected--though due to the lengthy process and voting requirements, even that's unlikely.

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It's been a week since Cardinal Keith O'Brien stepped down as the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, amid accusations by three priests and one former priest of "inappropriate" contacts with them, some of which dated back 30 years. His resignation spared him the deeper scrutiny that would have ensued had he chosen to go to Rome to choose the next pontiff, a spotlight-shunning optimism he made obvious when he stated, "I do not wish media attention in Rome to be focused on me — but rather on Pope Benedict XVI and his successor." Though O'Brien didn't address the charges in his public statement of resignation, the Scottish Catholic Media Office announced that he "contests these claims and is taking legal advice." He later dismissed "their anonymous and non-specific nature."

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We are at a moment in history when the leadership of the Catholic Church is at once both transparently in need of serious reform and obviously deeply clueless about itself. As the New York Times describes the College of Cardinals, this is one seriously "fallible" group, a gathering of men widely "reviled" for their grotesque behavior – and it doesn't even include Keith O’Brien, who hastily stepped down Monday after reports that he had made inappropriate sexual advances to subordinates. Of course he did. The remaining lot, however, still includes Roger Mahony, the Los Angeles leader who is known for his long and well-documented work in shielding serial abusers from justice; Sean Brady, the Irish leader who refused to resign even after mounting evidence he'd failed to turn over critical information in one of the country's most appalling sex abuse cases; and Francisco Javier Errázuriz, the former archbishop of Santiago who's been accused of covering up abuse and refusing to meet with victims.

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On Thursday evening, the 85-year-old German-born theologian will become the first pope to have resigned from the papacy in 600 years.

Sunday's noon appearance from his studio window overlooking the vast square was his next-to-last appointment with the public of his nearly eight-year papacy. Tens of thousands of faithful and other admirers have already asked the Vatican for a seat in the square for his last general audience Wednesday.

Perhaps emotionally buoyed by the warm welcome, thunderous applause and the many banners reading "Grazie" (Thanks) held up in the crowd estimated by police to number 100,000, Benedict looked relaxed and sounded energized, in sharp contrast to his apparent frailty and weariness of recent months.

In a strong and clear voice, Benedict told the pilgrims, tourists and Romans in the square that God had called him to dedicate himself "even more to prayer and meditation," which he will do in a monastery being renovated for him on the grounds behind Vatican City's ancient walls.

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The paper says that Benedict made his decision to step down on Dec. 17, just one day after he received a revealing 300-page dossier from a trio of elderly cardinals. He'd assigned them to investigate last year's scandal involving a slew of leaked confidential Vatican documents and letters that purported to show corruption and internal conflict within the Holy See.  The "Vatileaks" mess was just another of the embarrassments the church has faced during Benedict's reign -- including a money laundering investigation and record-breaking settlements in sex abuse lawsuits. But the leaks were a particularly personal humiliation to the pontiff -- the documents in question had allegedly been stolen by his own butler Paolo Gabriele. Gabriele later told investigators he released the documents "for the good of the Church." "I was sure that a shock, perhaps by using the media, could be a healthy thing to bring the Church back on the right track," he explained in his earnest pretrial testimony.

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The paper said the pope had taken the decision on 17 December that he was going to resign – the day he received a dossier compiled by three cardinals delegated to look into the so-called "Vatileaks" affair...

According to La Repubblica, the dossier comprising "two volumes of almost 300 pages – bound in red" had been consigned to a safe in the papal apartments and would be delivered to the pope's successor upon his election.

The newspaper said the cardinals described a number of factions, including one whose members were "united by sexual orientation".

In an apparent quotation from the report, La Repubblica said some Vatican officials had been subject to "external influence" from laymen with whom they had links of a "worldly nature". The paper said this was a clear reference to blackmail.

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In his first public appearance since he announced his resignation, Pope Benedict XVI thanked the public for their "love and prayers," and explained that he was resigning for the "good of the Church."

According to the Associated Press, the 85-year-old Benedict received a one-minute long standing ovation when he entered the hall at the Vatican for his weekly Wednesday audience. He said that he didn't believe that he could carry on as pope as he didn't have the strength it required.

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The papacy, much like the mob, is not a job one generally can just up and quit. The former Joseph Alois Ratzinger is going old school, doing something that hasn't been done since Gregory XII in 1415.

Benedict's bombshell leaves a host of as-yet-unanswered questions. As James Poniewozik asked on Monday, will the first pontiff on Twitter have to give up his handle, or will his successor have to be "like RealPontifex53"? Does he get to keep his brand-new Mercedes-Benz popemobile? Is he going to show up just to "hang out" at the Vatican at awkward times, like the guy from high school who just can't detach? But the biggest question is a simple one: Why a man would bail on a job he and his colleagues believe the Holy Spirit wanted him to have. 

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These nontraditional moves aside, though, Benedict XVI, formerly Joseph Ratzinger, was a fiercely conservative Catholic leader who failed to challenge a widespread child sex abuse scandal in the church. His papal legacy will include the maintenance of a system of impunity for abusers of the church's most defenseless and innocent members. The Guardian's Rome correspondent John Hooper noted:

The abuse scandals dominated his seven years as leader of the world's Catholics. Before his accession, there had been scandals in the United States and Ireland. But in 2010, evidence of clerical sex abuse was made public in a succession of countries in continental Europe, notably Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway and Benedict's native Germany.

The pope was himself affected by one of these scandals. It emerged that, while he was archbishop of Munich, a known molester was quietly re-assigned to duties that, in time, allowed him to return to pastoral duties and make contact with young people.

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