"Deep sorrow" for the "prosperity of injustice." This was expressed by the Archbishop of Ozieri, Corrado Melis, in a note sent to the priests and the diocesan community. The prelate's statement concerns the ongoing trial in Sassari , in which he and nine other defendants are accused.
The accusation against him, shared with Tonino Becciu, the cardinal's brother, and four others, is that of having diverted, from 2013 to 2016, the 8 per thousand funds from the Ozieri diocese to the Spes cooperative, chaired by Becciu.
During the hearing last Wednesday, defense lawyers Ivano Iai and Antonello Patané produced a recent ruling from the Supreme Court of Cassation, which, according to Melis, demonstrates "the formal inconsistency of the trial."
"The Catholic Church's use of the eight per thousand portion of personal income tax (IRPEF) allocated to it," the ruling summarizes, "is not conducted according to a public accounting procedural framework and does not give rise to the qualification of accounting agent on the part of the dioceses or bishops, nor to a functional service relationship with the State for the purposes of administrative liability for the treasury." The panel ordered a postponement until February, also, and above all, because its composition will be restructured . However, the extension of the process was not well received.
"And now they are asking for more time for further investigations that only serve to keep the gossip, criticism, and destruction going," the bishop comments. He adds, claiming to have "one clear certainty in my heart" that "the diocese of Ozieri does not deserve this!" He cites several quotes, both biblical and otherwise, describing how he feels like "a sheep shorn" by the many, and "untamed," "shearers' apprentices" who have arisen in "hypersocial times." These are also difficult times for him, and, he says, for the "people of Ozieri caught up in this hour of darkness." "I apologize if at times I seem gruff, frowning, and wrinkled: we priests and bishops, too, are fragile and easily transformed by shearing," he writes in the letter. He makes another request: "Let us not side with the Enemy who would like to mold feelings of hatred against our detractors in our hearts." And he concludes: "Let us wait and pray together for the end of the shearing."
