The following is quoted from an article dated 11 March 2010 [1]:
While admitting that it is hard to prove, [Fr. Gabriele Amorth, Vatican's chief exorcist, who passed away at the age of 91 on 16 September 2016 [2]] says the consequences of the devil's work are evident: Cardinals who don't believe in Jesus, bishops who are linked with the devil. As early 1972 Pope Paul VI talked about the "smoke of Satan" that hovered in the Vatican, but it is more recent events like the pedophilia scandal the church is confronted with and the grisly murder by a Swiss guard of his commander and wife that Amorth uses as evidence of the devil's presence.
The recent scandal involves "Cardinal Angelo Becciu, whom Pope Francis abruptly removed from his role last month [24 September 2020] [3] over suspected misuse of funds." ... "The cardinal authorised the payments to [Cecilia Marogna] while serving as number two in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, which manages the Church's vast donations." [4]
"Italian financial police on Tuesday arrested a [Cecilia Marogna] in Milan who was paid half a million euros ($590,000) by the Vatican into a Slovenian bank account." [5]
Quoted from AFP, the same source as above [6]:
In several interviews, she confirmed that the sum of 500,000 euros had been paid to her Ljubljana-based company Logsic.Like 72-year-old Becciu, Marogna is originally from Sardinia.The cardinal authorised the payments to her while serving as number two in the Vatican's Secretariat of State, which manages the Church's vast donations."I didn't steal a single euro," Cecilia Marogna told newspaper Domani of the payments made in tranches of tens of thousands of euros.Rather, "I have a letter from the cardinal giving me the right to travel and conduct diplomatic relations to help the Church in difficult regions," she said, claiming to know "senior members of the Italian secret services".She told Corriere della Sera that she is "not Becciu's mistress", calling herself a "political analyst and intelligence expert" with "a network of relationships in Africa and the Middle East" to protect the Vatican's representatives abroad.Several Italian media outlets received anonymous envelopes with details from the accounts of Marogna's company.Investigative TV programme Le Iene broadcast some of them showing spending of 200,000 euros on luxury products, including 12,000 euros for an armchair."I think I have the right to buy myself an armchair after all that work!" Marogna said, claiming that she is an innocent victim of internal Vatican power struggles.
One could only hope that Ms. Cecilia Marogna would soon be able to enjoy her time relaxing in her €12,000 armchair while reminiscing with ex-Cardinal Angelo Becciu over a couple of bottles of 750ml Bordeaux wine that would pair well with her luxury goods and armchair -- 2005 Petrus Pomerol, to be exact, available for US$5,499.97 each (SKU#52505750-1) [7], after her release by the authorities.
[1] https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/chief-exorcist-rev-gabriele-amorth-devil-vatican/story?id=10073040
[5] Ibid.
[6] Ibid.
[7] link to totalwine.com, accessed 14 October 2020. Please note that quantity is limited.
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