As The Vatican Turns

Today, the Vatican is reeling from the arrest of Pope Benedict's butler.
From the Chicago Tribune: The Vatican faces a widening scandal that in one short week has seen Pope Benedict's butler arrested, the president of its bank unceremoniously dismissed and the publication of a new book alleging conspiracies among cardinals. It was a poisonous Pentecost Sunday for the pope, who likely had the tumultuous events of the past week on his mind as he celebrated a mass in St Peter's Basilica on the day regarded as the birthday of the Church.
On Saturday his personal butler, Paolo Gabriele, 46, was formally charged with stealing confidential papal documents in the scandal that has come to be known as "Vatileaks". Some of the documents allege cronyism and corruption in contracts with Italian companies.One prominent cardinal, illustrating the growing emotion of the debate in Vatican circles, wrote in an Italian newspaper that the pope had been betrayed just as Jesus was betrayed 2,000 years ago.The scandal, which has been brewing for months, has hit the very heart of the Roman Catholic Church. Gabriele - now known in Vatican statements as "the defendant" - was until Wednesday night the quiet man who served the pope's meals, helped him dress and held his umbrella on rainy days.The pope made no reference during his two public appearances on Sunday to the scandal or the arrest, which aides said had "saddened and pained" him."I feel very sad for the pope. This whole thing is such a disservice to the Church," Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus charity group who is also a member of the board of the Vatican bank, told Reuters.The night before the Vatican announced an arrest as part of its investigation of the leaks, it was rocked by the sudden ouster of the president of its bank, formally known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR)....
While news of Gabriele's arrest has filled pages and pages of newspapers in Italy and beyond, the Vatican's own newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, has ignored the story.Some say this may be because the paper itself has been an instrument in a power struggle involving reciprocal mud-slinging between allies and enemies of Cardinal Bertone."This is a strategy of tension, an orgy of vendettas and pre-emptive vendettas that has now spun out of the control of those who thought they could orchestrate it," Church historian Alberto Melloni wrote in the Corriere della Sera newspaper.The leaked documents included letters by an archbishop who was transferred to Washington after blowing the whistle on what he saw as a web of corruption and cronyism, a memo that put a number of cardinals in a bad light, and documents alleging internal conflicts about the Vatican bank.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-vatican-butler-scandalbre84q0bf-20120527,0,7022731.story
 This is like a soap opera of mystery and intrigue along with betrayal, though the betrayal is not like when Judas betrayed  Jesus.
I believe the money problems go throughout the entire Catholic Church, from the Church level to the Vatican.  Look how the case of Father Kevin McAuliffe was handled by the Church.  First, McAuliffe was never defrocked,  he was allowed to go into the federal court system instead of  the Nevada court system and he was never charged with theft, after he stole about $650,000.
And then you have had scandals at the diocese level in many dioceses because of theft, neglect and the Church sex scandal.
Finally, at the Vatican level, they say the the finances are so screwed up that there is no possible way to even audit the finances.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out but I am sure this will play out as a soap opera with many cast of characters.