Brülhart testifies he briefed Pope about London real estate deal
April 06, 2022
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CWN Editor's Note: René Brülhart, president of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority from 2014 to 2019, testified before a Vatican tribunal that his agency “launched an intelligence investigation into a suspicious London real estate deal after it learned about it but had no power to stop the Vatican Secretariat of State from concluding it,” the AP reported.
Brülhart, who faces charges of abuse of office and negligent supervision, also testified that the current Sostituto, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, “made clear the deal had to be concluded ‘under any circumstances.’” (Peña Parra, who oversees the internal affairs of the Roman Curia, does not face charges and has provided testimony). Brülhart also testified that he spoke twice with Pope Francis about the London deal in March 2019, eight months before the end of Brülhart’s tenure.
Crux has reported the Vatican’s prosecutor in the case is perceived to harbor a personal animus against Brülhart. At the same time, The Pillar has reported that Brülhart served as a paid consultant to the Secretariat of State at the same time he led the Financial Information Authority, raising questions of a significant conflict of interest.
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