What happened?
A former senior official at the Vatican Secretariat of State has strongly denied a series of claims about his involvement with a financial deal which violated European banking regulations.Cardinal Angelo Becciu wrote to the journalist Sandro Magister denying that he had arranged a loan to help Rome’s IDI hospital.
Why was it under-reported?
Only the most dedicated followers of financial news will have kept fully up to speed with the claims and counter-claims about the IDI. But it’s significant that the figure at the centre of the story has made a full denial.
The hospital was purchased in 2015 by a partnership of the Secretariat of State and a religious order – with money borrowed from the Vatican’s central bank, which is against regulations. Cardinal Becciu said he had been “exonerated” of any involvement by a press release from the head of the partnership, Antonio Leozappa.
What will happen next?
The story won’t go away: the Catholic News Agency, which has reported closely on it, said in its report that Cardinal Becciu “did not offer details about how the cardinal understood Leozappa’s statement to ‘exonerate’ him. Nor did the cardinal indicate how he confirmed that Leozappa explained with ‘exact precision’ a process in which he says he was not involved.”
The story is likely to stay alive because it involves so many other figures, including Cardinal George Pell, who reportedly raised concerns.
