The Opus Dei and Benedict XVI’s “silent clean-up" operation
Rafael García de la Serrana Villalobos’ appointment as vice director of the Department of Technical Services for the Governorate of Vatican City State, is a step in this direction
ANDRÈS BELTRAMO ALVAREZVATICAN CITY
His appointment went practically unnoticed but is proof of the great trust Benedict XVI has in the Opus Dei as part of his strategy to silently clean up the Roman Curia in the aftermath of the Vatileaks scandal. The Vatican City State has a new inspector: Rafael García de la Serrana Villalobos.
Last 26 January, the priest was appointed vice director of the Department of Technical Services for the Governorate of the world’s smallest State. And he was not chosen by chance. Only yesterday he was head of logistics at the Opus Dei headquarters in Rome....
[I]t appears Rafael García de la Serrana’s appointment is anything but a coincidence. As an engineer, he offers a guarantee that he will not be duped into paying exorbitant prices; as a priest, he will ensure a greater resistance to temptation as well as restoring people’s trust in the Pope and in the Church. Honesty in other words.
With the new vice director of the Department of Technical Services, the Opus Dei has not only reinforced its role within the Curia, where some of its members occupy prestigious posts, it has also proved itself as one of the ecclesiastical bodies closest to the Pope.
Cardinal Julián Herranz led the commission that investigated into the source of the leaked news; Secretariat of State official, Peter Brian Wells, personally dealt with the legal case against the Pope’s former butler, Paolo Gabriele and the IT technician, Claudio Sciarpelletti. Meanwhile, American journalist and numerary member of the Opus Dei, Greg Burke, is in charge of the Vatican communications strategy. All of them Opus Dei men.
We remain sad that the Work has not put their fine worldwide network in the service of the most important document of Pope Benedict XVI, the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, in honor of the Mass celebrated by their founder from the day of his Ordination. But there should be no doubt that their members are usually quite careful in the way they work and in what they say. Here's hoping that a priest of Holy Cross and Opus Dei is soon named to the presidency of the Pontifical Council for the Family...
