Vatican Denies Pledging Silence on Social Issues
In a brief but firm communiqué Thursday morning, Father Federico Lombardi S.J., Director of the Holy See’s Press Office, denied the validity of a story in the Italian daily "La Stampa." Lombardi said the story’s purported “revelations” which claimed that the Vatican Secretary of State has agreed to a request from the government of Italy to keep quiet on social issues and that the Holy See is receiving pressure from certain bishops over the appointment of the next President of the Italian Episcopal Conference are both false.