What’s Happening with the Former Vatican Auditor?

The Pillar ^ | 12/12/22

[marshmallow]

Lawsuits, criminal investigations, new scandals: what is going on with Libero Milone and the Vatican?

The Holy See’s former auditors remain locked in legal disputes with Vatican court officials in their attempt to bring a lawsuit against the Secretariat of State for wrongful dismissal.

The lawsuit, and linked criminal investigation into the former auditors, has the potential to develop into a full-blown parallel legal process alongside the ongoing financial crimes trial in Vatican City — and could potentially bring dramatic new allegations of corruption to light, or derail the so-called “trial of the century” entirely.

So as the end of the year approaches, what is going on?

The Pillar explains.

Background

Libero Milone, the first auditor general of the Vatican, was forced from his position in 2017, along with his deputy, Ferruccio Panicco. Both claim they were ousted because they had been too successful in uncovering financial corruption at the highest levels of the Vatican.

They filed a claim for wrongful dismissal in November this year, seeking more than 9 million euros in damages and lost income.

At the time of their ouster, then-sostituto at the Secretariat of State, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, said Milone had been made to resign under threat of criminal prosecution because he was “spying” on the private financial affairs of senior officials, including Becciu himself.

Becciu has since told a Vatican court that the decision to force Milone from office came from Pope Francis personally, and the cardinal was merely carrying out the pope’s instructions.

Milone has said he and his team were the target of months of surveillance, including computer hacking and wiretaps, by Vatican law enforcement as part of an effort to shut down their investigations.

In press conferences in November, Milone said he had evidence of corruption on the part of senior curial officials.......

[john316]

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