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Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Deputy Secretary of State in the Vatican, has admitted to authorising electronic surveillance of the director of the Vatican bank, Gianfranco Mammì, without legal approval.
The revelation came during his testimony at the landmark financial misconduct case.
“I did it, and if necessary, I would do it again,” the archbishop told a Vatican tribunal in revealing testimony in the landmark financial misconduct case.
The archbishop, who is not a defendant, said he ordered the surveillance to gain information about the “anomalous attitude” of directors of the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) who refused to grant a loan application from the Secretariat of State for a controversial London real estate deal.
Peña Parra also admitted that he “maybe” asked a subordinate to arrange for a wiretap on Mammì’s phone, who was then the director of IOR.
Legal repercussions
The surveillance, which occurred inside Vatican City and on Italian territory.
The action could lead to legal repercussions for Archbishop Peña Parra in both jurisdictions.
The Secretariat of State requested the loan from IOR in 2019 to refinance the high-interest mortgage on the London building they had acquired. However, IOR leadership rejected the loan application, leading to pressure from the Secretariat’s leadership.
Mammì and the bank’s president, Jean Baptiste de Franssu, then took their concerns to Pope Francis, who authorised a criminal investigation into the London deal and the Secretariat of State’s finances.
The archbishop’s testimony has prompted questions about his future in office.
Peña Parra’s predecessor, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, is the star defendant in the current trial.
Becciu stands accused of several financial crimes relating to his tenure in office as sostituto (deputy). However it is Peña Parra who oversaw several controversial aspects of the London property deal that led to the criminal investigation and trial.
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News category: World.
