Pope Francis and Other Prelates Approved Real Estate Deal, Ex-Vatican Official Says

Religion News Service ^ | 4/27/22 | Claire Giangrave

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The former director of the Vatican’s anti-money laundering entity said Francis had voiced ‘the interest of the Holy See in turning a new page.’

VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Testifying at the massive trial resulting from the Vatican’s latest financial scandal Wednesday (April 27), the former director of the Catholic Church’s anti-money-laundering watchdog agency said Pope Francis and other high-ranking prelates backed efforts to gain sole ownership of the prime London real estate at the center of the scandal.

Tommaso Di Ruzza, who ran the entity now called the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority, known as ASIF, is charged with abuse of office for his alleged failure to flag a 2019 request by the Vatican Secretariat of State for a loan from the Vatican bank, intended to pay off $150 million in debt owed on the London apartment complex.

Di Ruzza told the Vatican judicial tribunal that Vatican higher-ups, including Francis, Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and the Substitute Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, were aware of the loan request and that in a March 2019 meeting, Francis voiced “the interest of the Holy See in turning a new page,” and “specifically asked to provide assistance to the Substitute.”

At the time, the Secretariat of State, which had spent more than $200 million to obtain a stake in the fund that owned the property, had asked Italian financier Gianluigi Torzi to help it gain full ownership.

Torzi ended up sequestering 1,000 voting shares of the fund for himself, which gave him ultimate control over the property, and requested $17 million to relinquish them. Vatican prosecutors claim his demand qualifies as extortion. After the Secretariat paid Torzi in two installments, it turned to the Vatican bank to pay off the $150 million lien on the property.