The reform-minded Francis hopes the upcoming trial of one of his top Cardinals will show he’s serious about cleaning up the Vatican’s finances. New information indicates that the troubles may boomerang back onto the pontiff himself.
The result, emboldened by the pope, was a series of unprecedented raids in late 2019 on the secretary of state’s offices and the Supervisory and Financial Intelligence Authority, the Vatican’s financial watchdog, better known by its Italian acronym, AIF. The latter move was particularly startling. Francis’ traditionalist predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, under intense pressure from European financial regulators, created the AIF and issued the Vatican’s first law against money laundering in 2010.
The stakes rose this summer when those indicted by the prosecutors included Brülhart himself. It was a shocking move, considering that Brülhart had been considered the Vatican’s biggest financial-reform asset. The thrust of the charge against him is that he violated “basic rules governing supervision” by allowing the London investments to proceed.
His James Bond image, burnished by his matinee-idol looks, impeccable slim-cut suits and mysterious, press-shy air, also did him no favors in the Vatican. He was a minor celebrity in a place where only the pope is supposed to be a star. According to insiders, Vatican traditionalists regarded Brülhart as a newcomer who was too full of himself.
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