A senior Catholic cardinal has been accused of using €700,000 in Vatican funds to bribe witnesses to secure a sex abuse conviction against a rival. Italian media have reported that Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, 72, is suspected of wiring the cash to recipients in Australia who helped ensure hostile testimony in the abuse trial of … Read more
An Italian newspaper reported that Vatican prosecutors have received allegations that the funds were transferred after Cardinal George Pell returned there to face sexual abuse charges. Vatican prosecutors are investigating allegations that Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu funneled 700,000 euro through the apostolic nunciature in Australia — an action that one Italian newspaper suggests could be … Read more
As Cardinal Pell arrives in Rome this week after three years in Australia, a look at the counterpoint between the cardinal’s return and Cardinal Becciu’s fall. An important, but not the primary, consequence of the stunning sacking of Cardinal Angelo Becciu is that it completes on the Vatican side what was accomplished by the Australian … Read more
We cannot help but believe Angelo Becciu has been made to be the fall guy for a much larger financial scandal in the Vatican. Last week we learned that one of Pope Francis’ most trusted advisors, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, had been ousted by the Pope for his alleged mishandling of Peter’s Pence funds. Since late … Read more
Once one of Pope Francis’ closest advisors, Cardinal Angelo Becciu resigns in disgrace amid accusations of financial corruption. The “bomb” in the Vatican explodes at dinner time, with the release of a, to say the least unexpected, Bulletin of the Vatican Press Office, writes the main Italian news agency Ansa. “Today, Thursday 24 September, the … Read more
Simply serving up lay Italian villains with no standing in the ecclesiastical power structure such as Torzi may be good theater, but it’s hard to argue it’s the end of the story. Last Friday, the latest twist in the Vatican’s version of the “Great Fire of London,” in their case referring to a $225 million … Read more
The Vatican raid conducted on the chief prosecutor of the Church’s Apostolic Signatura sheds light on a network of companies and businessmen at the center of interrelated Vatican financial scandals. On Feb. 18, Vatican officials raided the home and office of Msgr. Alberto Perlasca, the chief prosecutor at the Church’s highest ecclesiastical court and a … Read more
In a letter to a veteran Italian journalist, Cardinal Angelo Becciu wrote on Monday that he was not involved in the purchase of a bankrupt Italian hospital, and that reports to the contrary are unreliable. “The press release of Prof. Antonio Maria Leozappa, president of the Luigi Maria Monti Foundation, published by you on November … Read more
The Holy See’s relationship with a disreputable Swiss bank triggered an internal dispute between the Secretariat of State and Vatican financial authorities. At the center of the conflict was a multimillion-dollar line of credit used to fund a controversial investment in London property speculation. Sources inside the Vatican’s Prefecture for the Economy confirmed to CNA … Read more
An Italian dermatology hospital and two senior cardinals are at the center of a burgeoning financial scandal involving a Vatican bank, the U.S.-based Papal Foundation, and millions of euros from misallocated government grants. The events concern the financial collapse of the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata (IDI), an Italian hospital. According to media reports and new sources, … Read more