The substitute secretary for general affairs in the Vatican Secretariat of State said Vatican officials “were forced” into spending $17 million rather than an anticipated $2 million to $4 million to buy out an Italian broker over a London property deal.
“It caused me deep pain to find that we still had to give money for this affair,” testified Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, who serves as “substitute,” the No. 3 position in the Secretariat of State, during a Vatican trial March 16.
Gianluigi Torzi, the Italian broker who has been accused by the Vatican of fraud, embezzlement and a variety of other financial crimes, “had all the power and we couldn’t do it any other way,” Archbishop Peña said during testimony as a witness for the defense.
“It was a Way of the Cross, actually a double Way of the Cross. If the Lord fell three times, we fell six,” he said.
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Top Vatican official says London property deal was a ‘Via Crucis’ – The Catholic Sun
Top Vatican official says London property deal was a ‘Via Crucis’ – The Catholic Sun
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