Pope Francis allegedly authorized negotiating an exit strategy for a key suspect in the Vatican’s big embezzlement trial and was so satisfied with the outcome that he paid for a celebratory dinner at a fancy Roman fish restaurant the night the 15-million- euro payout closed, one of the defendants testified Wednesday.
The testimony by Monsignor Mauro Carlino, a onetime secretary in the Vatican secretariat of state, placed the pope squarely in the center of the landmark trial and raised questions about why low-ranking Vatican officials were indicted and their superiors were not — given the hierarchical way authority, decision-making and obedience are exercised in the Holy See.
