Massimo Spina Archives

Vatican court convicts former hospital CEO for rehabbing cardinal’s apartment
- Oct 14, 2017
A three-judge Vatican panel on Saturday sentenced a former president of a papally-sponsored pediatric hospital to one year of detention, a temporary ban on public office and a fine of 5,000 Euro, all suspended on the condition that he not commit another offense, for the charge of having illicitly spent $500,000 of the hospital’s money to remodel the private apartment of a senior Vatican cardinal.

By John L. Allen Jr.
Anomalies abound in Vatican trial over diverted donations
- Oct 14, 2017
As a Vatican trial for financial misappropriation nears its end, the main question remains what it was in the beginning: Why is a former hospital official facing judgment for spending $500,000 to remodel a cardinal’s apartment using a now-bankrupt construction company owned by an old friend of the cardinal, but neither the cardinal nor the businessman were ever charged?

By Associated Press
Testimony at Vatican trial shows cardinal had hands-on role
- Oct 3, 2017
Italian businessman Gianantonio Bandera told a Vatican court on Monday that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the former Secretary of State under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, played a hands-on role in making the arrangements for remodeling his Vatican apartment that ultimately led to criminal charges. Bertone is not charged in the case, and was never considered a suspect.

By John L. Allen Jr.

Tools for thinking about the Vatican’s two latest scandals

Sep 24, 2017

At the moment, the Vatican finds itself facing two less-than-edifying storylines, one involving a priest in the papal embassy in Washington, D.C., suspected of possible violations of child pornography laws, and the other featuring a Vatican trial for financial misappropriation against former officials of a papally-sponsored pediatric hospital. Here are a few resources for thinking intelligently about each.

In Vatican trial, witness calls spending on cardinal’s apartment ‘anomalous’

Sep 22, 2017

In the latest hearing of the Vatican’s first-ever trial for financial crimes, an official of the Government of the Vatican City State said that a controversial remodeling project for the private apartment of Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, the Secretary of State under Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, bypassed the normal competitive bidding process and was “singular ” and “anomalous.”

Defendant in Vatican trial says cardinal ‘clarified’ affair with the Pope

Sep 21, 2017

On the second full day of testimony in the Vatican’s first-ever trial for alleged financial crimes, one of the defendants told the court he was informed there should be “no problems” with spending money from a children’s hospital on remodeling an Italian cardinal’s private apartment, because that cardinal had spoken personally to Pope Francis and “clarified” the situation.