I found a very interesting paragraph in an article from Vatican Insider. It seems that some members of the Curia and hangers on have noticed that Pope Francis does not cotton well to extravagance and have decided to modify their big spending ways, before the Pope modifies it for them.
Meanwhile, pending potential future reforms, “self-reform” has started in the Roman Curia and in whoever gravitates around the Vatican. The Pope may not wish to use the flagship vehicle of a fleet of luxury sedans but several of those who were accustomed to using them are beginning to wonder how they can continue to do so. Some men with links to the Vatican financial institutions have been left hanging: “The new Pope is not Italian, he is not European, and he is unfamiliar with the way things work here… Italy could become a country like any other.” There is one particular concern meandering in the Tower built by Nicholas V, the headquarters of the IOR, the Institute for Works of Religion. Hundreds of thousands of euros were spent on just one market research study and the finger is pointed at the president of the “Vatican Bank”. People who are used to using the large official vehicles of the Vatican fleet to ferry them back and forth are beginning to think that it might be much better to take a taxi. Better not to risk it. The Pope, who is used to taking the minibus with his “Cardinal brethren”, standing in line for breakfast at the self-service restaurant in the Domus Sanctae Marthae and settling his hotel bill in person, could look out of the window and see that he is surrounded by people who are not getting the drift and not following suit.
Such showiness, privilege, and waste have no place in the Vatican or the Church. So now they don’t want to get caught by the Pope. I suppose they forgot that God was watching too.
