ROME — Pope Francis’ chief of staff became one of the highest-ranking Holy See officials to testify in a foreign court Thursday, giving a British tribunal a detailed explanation of the negotiations at the heart of the Vatican’s so-calledseeking to clear his name in the British courts after he was convicted by a Vatican criminal tribunal
In his written opening statement in London, Pena Parra provided a detailed play-by-play of the frenzied meetings, WhatsApp messages and negotiations in late 2018The Holy See had engineered that transaction after it lost faith in Mincione and decided to entrust the property to Torzi’s management. Vatican prosecutors say Torzi, however, hoodwinked the Vatican and assumed all the voting shares in the company for himself.
It’s an unusual outcome given evidence that emerged during the Vatican trial that Perlasca had acted without authorization in signing the contracts with Torzi and then was coached, manipulated and threatened bySome defense lawyers suspect that Perlasca or the women have incriminating evidence against Vatican figures and are using that information to ensure Perlasca escapes unscathed.