Photo ~ Cardinal Francis George listens as Pope Benedict XVI speaks at a Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2008
Photo credit: Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

'Vatileaks' sheds light on Cardinal George's role in politics

CHICAGO -- Reams of private Vatican correspondence published in a new Italian best-seller reportedly include a plea by Chicago's Cardinal Francis George, urging the Vatican to halt an award to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn for abolishing the death penalty.

George appears to play a minor role in the real-life Vatican whodunit that the Italian press has dubbed "Vatileaks."

According to Vatican expert John Allen, the book (Your Holiness: The Secret Papers of Benedict XVI," a new book in which Italian writer Gianluigi Nuzzi airs a boatload of Vatican dirty laundry and hints of a real-life conspiracy akin to a Dan Brown novel.) includes what Nuzzi claims is an encrypted 2011 cable from the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington relaying a plea from George to Benedict's Secretary of State. George asks that the Vatican official step in and block the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio from giving an award to Roman Catholic governor Quinn, Allen said.

Sant'Egidio, a Catholic movement that promotes peace, fights poverty and helps run George's titular parish in Rome, St. Bartholomew, apparently planned to honor Quinn for abolishing the death penalty in Illinois.

The memo, apparently sent in March of last year from the Apostolic Nuncio, said that the cardinal and bishops felt the honor was "inopportune" because of Quinn's support for gay marriage and legalized abortion.

The memo also noted the state's refusal to renew foster care contracts with Catholic Charities in Illinois because the agencies would not license same-sex couples as prospective foster parents.

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