ROME — Pope Francis’ chief of staff became one of the highest-ranking Holy See officials to testify in a foreign court Thursday, telling a British tribunal about the negotiations at the heart of the Vatican’s so-calledBritish civil proceeding brought against the Vaticanlast year for his role in the Holy See's 350 euro investment in the former Harrod’s warehouse. He is asking the British High Court to declare he acted "in good faith.
Pena Parra barely mentioned Mincione in his written statement Thursday, since he only joined the Vatican as “substitute” in the secretariat of state in October 2018, a month before the property passed to Torzi. Pena Parra’s testimony made clear that he only learned from Perlasca of the existence of the London investment on Nov. 22, 2018, the same day Perlasca signed the contracts with Torzi without authority.
He said during a Dec. 26 private meeting he had with the pope, “it was agreed” that the Vatican would offer to pay Torzi 1 million-2 million pounds for control of the building. Torzi eventually demanded and received 15 million euros — a payment that became the basis for his extortion conviction. Corazon Dandan died after being pushed into an oncoming BART train at San Francisco’s Powell Street Station at around 11 p.m on Monday night. The suspect, 49-year-old Trevor Belmont, also known as Hoak Taing, was arrested at the scene and booked into the San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of homicide and elder abuse. Dandan, who was Filipino American, was a dedicated telephone operator at the Westin St. Francis and other hotels.