VATICAN CITY (AP) — The Vatican has suspended the press credentials of the Vatican columnist for the Italian newsweekly L’Espresso, which published a leaked draft of Pope Francis’ eagerly awaited encyclical on the environment.
A letter to Sandro Magister from the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, advising him of the sanction was posted on a bulletin board in the Vatican press office Tuesday.
L’Espresso published the 191-page draft of “Laudato Si” (Be Praised) on its website Monday, three days before the Vatican’s official launch.
In the letter, Lombardi said the publication was “incorrect” and caused problems for journalists who had been asked to respect the Vatican embargo, as well as the press office.
Magister told The Associated Press his editor, not he, obtained the document and decided to publish it.
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