Posted on 07/22/2019 3:22:41 PM PDT by ebb tide
By October 2016, two years into his term as prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal George Pell had become aware of a Vatican dicastery handling large amounts of unregistered cash in offshore accounts.
But nearly three years later the questions raised by Cardinal Pell about the management of Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA), the dicastery which handles the Vatican’s real estate and financial assets, have seemingly gone unanswered. Pell had identified money laundering and fraud risks related to the APSA’s use of foreign bank accounts and had questioned particular asset and real estate transactions.
Keen to move swiftly ahead with Pope Francis’ mandate to root out mismanagement and possible corruption in Vatican financial operations, the cardinal prefect contacted Australian banking friends in London in 2016 to find out more. They estimated that possibly as much as €100 million could be held in these accounts, primarily in the branches of two private banks located in Lugano, Switzerland.
Cardinal Pell responded by saying he would ask a Swiss law firm to first collect bank statements going back 10 years of one of these accounts, and to have the Vatican’s auditor general, Libero Milone, a former partner with Deloitte, a multinational financial auditing and consultancy firm, inspect them. To do this, Pell had to ask in writing for Pope Francis’ permission, which the Holy Father duly gave him with a simple signature.
Yet the bank statements never made it to Cardinal Pell or Milone — both of whom subsequently departed from their Vatican positions.
(Excerpt) Read more at ncregister.com ...
This may explain the bogus charges against Cdl. Pell.
exactly
However, he had already judged the good cardinal guilty, even before his appeal process has been concluded:
The statement from the Holy See press office, issued Feb. 26, acknowledges the “painful” news which has “shocked many people.”
Holy See issues statement on conviction, appeal of Cardinal Pell
“As already expressed on other occasions, we have the utmost respect for the Australian judicial authorities,” the statement said.
“Out of this respect, we await the outcome of the appeals process, recalling that Cardinal Pell maintains his innocence and has the right to defend himself until the last stage of appeal.”
The statement confirms that Pell has been barred from public ministry and from contact with minors during the course of the legal process, and will remain so during his appeal.
“In order to ensure the course of justice, the Holy Father has confirmed the precautionary measures which had been imposed by the local Ordinary on Cardinal George Pell when he returned to Australia. That is, while awaiting the definitive assessment of the facts, as is the norm, Cardinal George Pell is prohibited from exercising public ministry and from having any voluntary contact whatsoever with minors.”
Holy See issues statement on conviction, appeal of Cardinal Pell
Compare Jorge's scorn of Cardinal Pell, to a Catholic Pope:
On 12 February 1949, Pope Pius XII announced the excommunication of all persons involved in the trial and conviction of Cardinal Mindszenty, the Hungarian cardinal who was also falsely accused, tried, convicted and imprisoned.
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