Resurrection! Corpse in Francis' Closet Starts Speaking
They claim to be in possession of documents proving financial corruption and embezzlement by high-ranking Vatican officials, including cardinals and Domenico Giani, the former head of the Vatican Gendarmerie.
Milone and Panicco were both wrongly dismissed by Francis in 2017 and even threatened with prosecution for exposing corruption cases. Becciu, the papal chief of staff at the time, falsely accused them of spying on the private finances of members of the curia, including Becciu himself.
The lawsuit seeks €9.2M for loss of earnings, damage to reputation and emotional distress. Milone, who enjoyed the confidence of Cardinal Pell, then Minister of Economy, discovered that cardinals were stealing 100’000s of euros from the Vatican and informed Francis directly. At one point Milone told Francis about a particular cardinal who had stolen "a lot of money". Francis "freaked out" and ordered Milone to explain to the cardinal how he had found out. The thief returned the money.
Milone also revealed that when he audited the financial reports of the Secretariat of State in March 2016, he was informed about investments amounting to some €800M. He asked for more information but received none for months. Part of this money was related to the ill-fated London deal.
Since 2017, Milone met a dozen times with Cardinal Parolin to clear his name. Parolin promised to help him, but did nothing. After years of trying in vain to restore his reputation, Milone decided to sue.
Picture: © Sean MacEntee, CC BY, #newsPlydkjhxyb
