The president of the Vatican Court, Giuseppe Pignatone, is being investigated by Italian justice for having allegedly collaborated with the mafia in the early 90s.
Pignatone, 75 years old, is known for his extensive career in the judicial field. He was also deputy prosecutor of Palermo and prosecutor of Rome. Since October 2019 he has been president of the Vatican Tribunal.
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Last Wednesday, July 31, Pignatone was summoned to testify in the Court of Caltanissetta (Sicily) for alleged complicity and cover-up of the Italian mafia organization. Cosa Nostra.
The events date back to 1992, when the Sicilian mafia ended the lives of judges Paolo Borsellino and Giovanni Falcone.
On May 23 of that year, both anti-mafia magistrates, along with their wives and several members of their bodyguard, were murdered when a bomb placed in their cars by the criminal organization’s hitmen exploded.
These judges led the fight against the group Cosa Nostraresponsible for attacks, extortion, drug trafficking and money laundering during the 1990s in Italy.
At that time, Pignatone was deputy prosecutor of Palermo and allegedly intervened to impose the end of an investigation against the organization.
According to the Italian press, in his statement last Wednesday he claimed to be innocent of all charges and promised to collaborate with justice.
Blessed Giuseppe “Don Pino”, another victim of the Sicilian mafia
It is worth remembering that on September 15, 1993, the Sicilian mafia also ended the life of Blessed Giuseppe “Don Pino” Puglisi, a Sicilian priest who, despite threats, had carried out a silent fight against organized crime by educating young people in the impoverished area of Palermo, where he carried out his pastoral work.
Puglisi preached against the mafia, forbade them from leading religious processions, and even gave stealthy hints to authorities about his latest activities in his homilies. After his death it was revealed that his life had been threatened on numerous occasions.
On September 15, 1993, he was arrested on the street and shot in the neck at point-blank range by hitmen led by local mafia bosses Filippo and Giuseppe Graviano. He died from his injuries. Puglisi was declared a martyr by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012 and beatified in 2013.
Almudena Martínez-Bordiú
I am a graduate in Journalism and Advertising from the CEU San Pablo University in Madrid. Specialized in religious information in Spain since 2015. I have been a senior correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN Noticias in the Vatican for two years and I am currently a European correspondent based in Spain.