The former head of Vatican
children's hospital Bambini Gesù got a suspended sentence of one
year at the weekend for syphoning off funds to pay for the
restructuring of former Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone's
luxury penthouse.
Prosecutors had asked for a three-year term for Giuseppe
Profiti, who was also fined 5,000 euros and slapped a temporary
ban on holding public posts.
Former treasurer Massimo Spina was acquitted.
During the Vatican trial, a Vatican prosecutor requested a
three-year prison term for Profit, former head of
the Vatican's Bambino Gesu' children's hospital foundation, for
embezzling funds to restore Bertone's Rome apartment.
The prosecutor, Roberto Zanotti, requested the acquittal for
lack of evidence of former Bambino Gesu' foundation treasurer
Spina.
The prosecutor said a picture of "desolation" had emerged,
"marked by opacity, silences, and very bad management of the
public good".
Bambino Gesu' President Mariella Enoc told the court Bertone
was "not aware nor agreed to" the revamping of his flat.
Bertone did not have to testify at the trial of Profiti and
Spina.
Profiti and Spina were on trial for allegedly using 422,000
euros to pay for improvements to the central Roman flat.
"The Vatican is determined to go all the way" in the case,
Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said during the
hearings.
The pair were charged with using the cash "for completely
extra-institutional purposes" in restructuring Bertone's
allegedly luxury living quarters.
Unveiling the misappropriation probe against Profiti and
Spina last year, the Vatican said it was in connection with
expensive renovations to the penthouse apartment inhabited by
Bertone.
Vatican Spokesman Greg Burke said the probe began after
allegations that the work was paid for by the foundation linked
to the Bambino Gesu' pediatric hospital in Rome, confirming an
earlier report by L'Espresso news magazine.
The hospital operates in the Italian national health system
but is owned and managed by the Holy See.
Cardinal Bertone was not under investigation, Burke stressed.
L'Espresso said in its report that the Vatican had launched a
probe into the funding scandal after journalist Emiliano
Fittipaldi documented alleged lavish spending by clergymen in
his controversial 2015 expose' book, Avarice.
Fittipaldi was acquitted in a trial in the Vatican along with
another journalist in the so-called Vatileaks 2 case last year
involving the alleged leaking of confidential Vatican documents.
A Vatican former PR expert, Francesca Chaouqui, got a
suspended sentence while a Vatican official said to be the chief
leaker, Mons. Lucio Vallejo Balda, got 18 months.
"Pope Francis' judges have already found evidence documenting
how the renovations to the apartment were paid for by the
Bambin(o) Gesu' pediatric hospital foundation," Fittipaldi wrote
in the article.
L'Espresso claimed the renovations cost a total of just over
422,000 euros and were billed not to the contractor - the
now-bankrupt Castelli Re - but to a London-based holding company
controlled by Gianantonio Bandera, the owner of Castelli Re and
Bertone's personal friend.
"The money destined for sick children was in actuality used
for the renovations and then sent on to London," Fittipaldi
wrote.
"In addition to the seven invoices paid to the builder out
of the Foundation's accounts at the Institute for Religious
Works (IOR) and the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy
See (APSA), Pope Francis' magistrates also have signed letters
nailing Benedict XVI's former secretary of state to his
responsibilities," L'Espresso continued.
The magazine said it was in possession of correspondence
between Profiti and Bertone suggesting the manager offered to
pay for the renovations through the foundation in exchange for
hosting "institutional meetings" in the penthouse apartment, and
that the cardinal accepted the offer the following day.
"Bertone's name is not cited in the magistrates' document
but the Holy See will find it hard to overlook his direct
involvement in the scandal," L'Espresso said.
The cardinal has denied any wrongdoing.
"(The cardinal) reiterates he never indicated or authorized
the Bambin Gesu' Foundation to make any payment in relation to
the apartment he occupies," his lawyer Michele Gentiloni Silverj
said in a statement.
The note echoed denials made at the time of the revelations
in autumn 2015.
"I used my savings," Bertone wrote in Genoa-based Catholic
weekly Il Cittadino last November.
"I have the paperwork to prove I paid roughly 300,000
euros to the Vatican governorate from my own account.
"I later discovered that the Bambin Gesu' Foundation had
made a contribution for the same purpose," he continued.
"I rule out having ever given indication or authorised the
foundation to make any payment," the cardinal said.
Cardinal Bertone also denied living in luxury.
"The apartment measures 296 square metres and I don't live
there on my own. I live with a community of nuns who help me,"
the prelate told Corriere della Sera newspaper at the time.
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