VATICAN CITY
Spiegel
René Brülhart, 40, has been the director of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (FIA) for nearly half a year. The Swiss lawyer and former head of Liechtenstein’s financial intelligence unit is on a mission to clear the Vatican Bank of all suspicions of money laundering and other illegal financial transactions.
SPIEGEL: Mr. Brülhart, are you partly responsible for Pope Benedict XVI’s resignation?
Brülhart: That does not fall within my area of responsibility. Why do you ask?
SPIEGEL: The first resignation of a pope in centuries has sparked widespread speculation. For instance, there is conjecture that the pope had to resign because he pushed for more transparency at the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, and strove to clear it of all suspicions of money laundering. That is your job.
Brülhart: Let’s allow conspiracy theories to simply remain conspiracy theories. Only the Holy Father emeritus knows the ultimate reasons for his resignation. It has nothing to do with my work.
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