ROME
The Guardian (UK)
Lizzy Davies in Rome
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 25 July 2013
Even as he tours the favelas and beaches of Brazil, Pope Francis may find it difficult to forget what is going on back home.
On Thursday, a prelate accused of attempting to smuggle €20m (£17m) into Italy from Switzerland appealed directly to the pontiff, insisting on his innocence and accusing his lay bosses in the Vatican’s asset management arm of abusive activities which he said were covered up by some cardinals.
In a letter written from the Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven) prison in Rome, where he has been detained since his arrest with two others on 28 June, Monsignor Nunzio Scarano told Francis: “I have never laundered dirty money; I have never stolen. I tried to help someone who asked for help.”
In the missive, written last week and released by his lawyers, he added: “The documentation in my possession proves my honesty and my battles against the abuse of my secular superiors, protected by some senior cardinals.”
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