ROME, December 3, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) — Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò today has denied claims he defrauded his brother, and has sought to clarify an October court ruling ordering him to pay his brother €1.8 million in inheritance. Many believe the ruling is being used by critics to discredit him after his bombshell testimonies.
In a Dec. 3 statement issued by his lawyers (see text below), Archbishop Viganò clarifies the nature of the court ruling, expresses his deep love for his brother, and communicates his intent to have his lawyers prosecute those who defame him.
According to his lawyers, the statement comes “in light of the recent unfounded news that appeared in multiple newspapers and other media outlets, regarding an alleged conviction for ‘fraud,’ ‘theft’ or misappropriation of funds, to the detriment of his brother Fr. Lorenzo Viganò.”
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| Chapel of the "Fiat Pax" Carmelite monastery, Gitega, Burundi |
El contenido completo de este artículo puede leerse aquí. Abajo está el texto oficial en inglés de la declaración emitida por los abogados del Arzobispo Viganò.
In light of the recent unfounded news that appeared in multiple newspapers and other media outlets, regarding an alleged conviction for “fraud,” “theft” or misappropriation of funds, to the detriment of his brother Fr. Lorenzo Viganò, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò states the following:
1) The Court of Milan, by judgment no. 10359/2018 of October 9, 2018, ordered Archbishop Viganò to pay, in response to a judicial request for the division of assets and adjustment of their mutual debits and credit with his brother Fr. Lorenzo Viganò, the principal of approximately € 1.8 million against an initial request from Fr. Lorenzo Viganò of almost € 40 million, a grossly unrealistic figure compared to the actual value of the entire joint ownership of property of the two brothers;
2) With the above-mentioned Court ruling, which neither of the two parties has appealed and which therefore has become final, the Court of Milan rejected all the other requests made by Fr. Lorenzo Viganò, who started the case against his brother, refusing any mediation from the family.
3) Archbishop Viganò has already willingly paid entirely the amounts established by the judgment;
4) Fr. Lorenzo Viganò, as a result of the judgment, received essentially what he would have received had he accepted the settlement proposals made by his brother, pro bono pacis, in the course of the proceedings;
5) For over 10 years, Fr. Lorenzo Viganò has subjected Archbishop Viganò to a judicial siege and a veritable defamation campaign in the press, while failing to inform obliging journalists that the accusations of Fr. Lorenzo Viganò have been abandoned or dismissed in the 10 civil, criminal, and administrative cases attempted to date.
6) Nevertheless, Archbishop Viganò has always suffered such attacks in silence in order to avoid further exploitation of the family’s legal affairs, which have nothing to do with the other well-known “institutional” affairs in which he has become involved;
7) The assets came to the two brothers as the undivided inheritance of their parents, who were entrepreneurs in the industrial field;
8) Archbishop Viganò has allocated most of this patrimony to works of charity and religion, including the construction of a Seminary in Nigeria and a Carmel in Burundi, and will continue to do so.
9) As for the painful personal relationship with his brother, Archbishop Viganò deeply loves his brother Fr. Lorenzo and will never stop hoping and praying that his brother would make peace with him and resume relations with him, which he unilaterally, totally and suddenly spurned in November 2008, when he fled from Milan accusing his brother, Archbishop Carlo Maria, of wanting to kidnap him. This is also why, despite having valid reasons to do so, Archbishop Viganò did not appeal the judgement of the Court, even though he considers it, in many ways, wrong and unjust. Archbishop Viganò intends to entrust his lawyers with the task of prosecuting by means of lawsuits any attempt to defame him.
Diane Montagna
