Pope Benedict's righthand man turns on 'vipers' within Catholic church

[rug]

Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican's 'prime minister' under last pontiff, defends his record during papacy overshadowed by scandal

Lizzy Davies in Rome
theguardian.com, Monday 2 September 2013 08.48 EDT

The Italian prelate who was Pope Benedict's righthand man in the Vatican during his scandal-dogged papacy has defended his much-criticised record, insisting he "gave everything" to the job despite the activities of "vipers" in the Roman curia.

Speaking a day after Pope Francis named a Vatican diplomat as his new secretary of state, Tarcisio Bertone appeared defiant as he was asked about his time in office.

"I see the record of the past seven years as positive. Of course, there were a lot of problems, especially in the last two years," he said, according to the Ansa news agency, hitting out at "a combination of crows and vipers".

"But this should not cloud what I consider to be a positive record," he added. The Italian word corvo (crow) is used pejoratively to describe informants or people who leak secrets.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/02/pope-benedict-tarcisio-bertone-vatican

[meow2u3]

1. If Bertone wants to see vipers within the Catholic Church

he can look no further than the mirror in his bathroom.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

2. In other words,

It's not my fault, it's the fault of those "vipers" who kept undermining all the good I was doing.

[rug]

3. It has the sound of Nixon's Cabinet, circa 1975.

[IrishAyes]

4. And anyone should wonder whether Pope Francis actually did smash the windshields

of the Rolls' in the garage when certain other prelates refused to give them up? No, I wasn't there to see it with my very own eyes, but the tv news story early one morning had the ring of credibility, for sure.