![]() Riffing off those bombshells, an Italian paper recently did a write-up of all the various public officials and tycoons in Lombardy with ties to Communion and Liberation, under the provocative title, Comunione a Molto Poltrone, meaning “communion and lots of seats of power.” Among other things, the article suggested that businesses with ties to Communion and Liberation control assets in excess of almost $100 billion, representing five percent of Italy’s Gross Domestic Product.Īs Opus Dei and other Catholic movements have done before, Communion and Liberation has tried to explain that the mere fact a businessman belongs to the group doesn’t mean the group controls his business, still less that it owns the assets of that business. According to media reports, Simone’s personal Catholic piety is the stuff of legend apparently, during the 1990s, when he held public office as an assessor in Lombardy, he would convoke his staff for morning prayer before beginning the day’s work. ![]() Four female members of Memores Domini staff Benedict XVI’s papal household.Īnother veteran member of Communion and Liberation, Antonio Simone, has already been arrested and charged with being part of a scheme to bilk as much as $74 million from a well-known Italian health institute. ![]() He also faces charges of suspicious ties to a shady businessman now in jail on corruption charges, and of using public funds to pay for his private vacations.įormigoni is a member of Memores Domini, a body of consecrated laity committed to lifelong celibacy, which is part of the broader Communion and Liberation movement. The longtime governor of the Lombardy region is at the centre of a judicial investigation into bribery for the awarding of public health contracts. Robert Formigoni, the highest profile adherent of Communion and Liberation in Italian politics, now finds himself embroiled in a deepening corruption scandal. The difference today is that the underlying cause of the tempest is not rumor, but serious legal charges against some of the group’s most prominent members.įor an outfit that has long prided itself on close ties to the Italian political scene, it was perhaps inevitable that such a bill would one day come due. In the mid-1970s, there was a brief flurry of speculation that it was actually a CIA front. To be sure, this isn’t the first time Communion and Liberation has been at the center of a media storm. Julián Carrón, recently wrote a letter to an Italian newspaper confessing the group’s “great humiliation,” conceding that if so many people see the group in terms of money and power “we must have given them some pretext,” and apologizing for the “superficiality” with which some in the group have lived out Giussani’s inspiration. If you want to know something about Communion and Liberation, go ask them.”Īnother sign of the times is that Giussani’s successor, Spanish Fr. Scola told a group of reporters on April 26: “What do I know about Communion and Liberation? I deal with the church of God. ![]() Want an index of how hot the spotlight has been?Ĭardinal Angelo Scola of Milan, widely seen as a leading candidate to be the next pope and someone with a background in Communion and Liberation, obviously now feels compelled to distance himself. Luigi Giussani, was recently opened and endorsed by the bishops of Lombardy, the region where the cause is based. It’s also a colossal case of bad timing, since a beatification cause for the group’s founder, the late Italian Fr. That’s likely a special source of heartburn for Pope Benedict XVI, for whom Communion and Liberation has always been his personal favorite among the new movements in the Catholic church. Today, at least in Italy, it now seems Communion and Liberation’s turn to be the conservative Catholic group generating the most controversy, the sexiest news headlines, and the greatest volume of conspiracy theories. If you're using Mavericks please look for the previous release and BACKUP the data file to your Desktop before updating your OS so it would be easily restored.ROME - For a long time it was Opus Dei, and then, even before massive sex scandals exploded around their founder, it was the Legionaries of Christ. Syncs with Opus Domini Mobile Pro (iPad & iPhone versions, running iOS 8) and with Opus Domini for Mac if your Mac runs Yosemite. Daily Tasks, No Date Tasks, Daily Notes, Weekly Milestones (Compass) and Goals all in one app. Syncs with Opus Domini Mobile Pro (iPad & iPhone versions, running iOS 8) and with Opus Domini for Mac if your Mac.
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