Luxury homes rented at rock-bottom prices, hotels and beauty centres run by private companies used as secret meeting places, property sales listed at lower prices than those actually paid: these all feature in the documents stolen by Vatican moles. There are also lists with thousands of names and addresses collected in order to “review” the criteria used for the management of real estate, especially that owned by Propaganda Fide. These lists of exclusive “clients” have attracted the interest of investigators looking into the use of confidential documents as the potential basis for blackmail and threats. This is also because it was Cosea, the commission set up to study the Vatican’s economic and administrative problems, that drew up the list of houses owned by no fewer than 26 institutions. At least four senior prelates have been interviewed in recent days, and it is believed that there are still scores waiting to be settled within the Holy See. Consequently, further arrests may be made in coming days, and the investigation may involve other priests in the wake of the arrest of Monsignor Lucio Angel Vallejo Balda – who is still being held in custody – and Francesca Chaouqui, released after she began to cooperate. Both have been charged with having “sold” material that should have remained confidential.

Saunas and hotels
Judicial investigations have revealed that buildings in Rome’s historic centre were converted into sauna and massage centres, often frequented by priests looking for sexual encounters. Inquiries also brought to light the identity of businessmen to whom Propaganda Fide leased entire buildings to use as hotels. A case in point is Mauritius Stornelli, brother of former Finmeccanica executive Sabatino Stornelli, whose company Burcardo in 2013 signed a contract for the lease of an entire building covering hundreds of square metres, converted into ultra-luxurious suites. Other properties were also involved, less prestigious but equally suitable for a highly select clientele. There are dozens of similar cases. Moreover – in addition to the list of private individuals who benefited from long-term leases at knock-down prices –, Propaganda Fide has relationships with dozens of companies which often served as covers for their real owners. Suffice it to say that the institution owns around 800 apartments covering a total of over 180,000 square metres. Checks carried out by the Gendarmerie revealed that the stolen documents include lists of all the tenants and the amounts they paid monthly. Further inquiries are focusing precisely on this, also because another religious institution has ended up “under observation”, namely the Pio Sodalizio dei Piceni, which owns a large number of properties and became famous for renting a house in the historic centre of the capital to the former finance minister, Giulio Tremonti.