A process, with all guarantees
It is worth clarifying from the outset: no solid evidence has ever been shown against Cipriani. No document, no firm testimony, no judicial proof. And if one day there were, we say it without hesitation: let it be investigated like any accused priest. With all guarantees. With process, with investigation, with evidence, with witnesses… those things so uncomfortable for certain mediocre brawlers with Roman collars and their headline loudspeakers.
Justice, including canonical justice, cannot become a spectacle or revenge disguised as a moral crusade. Because the suppression of rights is always the prelude to the disappearance of any institution
From legitimate denunciation to ideological trench
What started as a just cause—uncovering the abuses and misdeeds of the Sodalicio—has degenerated into something murkier. It’s no longer about reparation for victims or lifting the veil on hidden assets. It’s about vetoing greetings, sending letters to the Pope like orders, boasting of access to Vatican offices, and now, launching public threats at a cardinal.
It is the logic of the personal trench: everything becomes ammunition. And the obsession with maintaining that media spotlight seems to know no limits.
The risk to the Church
If public opinion ends up believing that the Church is governed by podcast microphones or editorials from Paola Ugaz, the figure of the Pope will be damaged. Not because his critics say so, but because his alleged allies portray him as a Pontiff surrounded by tutors who boast of manipulating him.
And that is lethal. Leo XIV cannot afford to appear as a hostage to four activists and two journalists. Not only because it would be unfair to him, but because it would undermine confidence in the Church itself.
Leo XIV must be free
This is not about saving face for Cipriani. It is about saving the dignity of the Church. And that implies remembering that processes are opened in tribunals, not in recording booths. That justice requires evidence, not campaigns. And that no Pope should appear conditioned by those who have made others’ pain their platform of power.
If we truly want Leo XIV to govern freely, we must stop selling the image that they have him in their hands. Because there is no worse damage to a Pope than the suspicion that others roar for him.