A TRIAL involving Monsignor Salvatore Cassisa, the Archbishop of Monreale in Sicily, opened and was immediately adjourned in Palermo yesterday.
Archbishop Cassisa, who was not in court and who denies any wrongdoing, is one of five defendants facing charges of extortion financial fraud and defrauding the EU.
Investigating magistrates believe that the archbishop and two collaborators systematically demanded and accepted bribes in relation to continuing work on Monreale's celebrated 12th century cathedral.
Originally built by William II, the Cathedral of Monreale is considered a jewel of medieval architecture and is now administered by a foundation of which the archbishop is president. It has been under restoration since 1979 two years after Archbishop Cassisa moved to the diocese, the largest in Sicily.
Magistrates believe that the archbishop colluded with the foundation's building supervisor, Ms Daniela Lima, and chief administrator, Mr Fulvio Lima, in systematic extortion which saw the two Limas demand a 10 per cent kick back on every reconstruction and restoration project.
Evidence due to come before the court on the extortion charges relates to a three year period from 1990 to 1993 and in at least one case, the bribe demanded by the Limas was $30,000 (£18,868).
In his opening statements to the court yesterday, the Palermo state prosecutor, Mr Luigi Patronaggio, said police who searched the archbishop's home in September 1994 found handwritten notes about the alleged kick backs.
He also told the court that the police search had revealed documentation about various bank accounts held by the archbishop, including one in the Vatican Bank with a balance of $900,000 allegedly destined for the Monreale seminary. The state prosecutor charges that the archbishop systematically diverted Cathedral Foundation and other funds into his own private accounts.
A third strand of the case against the archbishop relates to the charge of having defrauded the EU. The prosecution argues that the archbishop and two Sicilian agricultural inspectors intentionally overstated the size of a church vineyard which was uprooted to reduce surplus wine production and thus qualify for an EU subsidy. This allegedly earned an illegal extra profit of $120000.
While the EU fraud charges are serious, the allegations of extortion and banking irregularities will probably prove much more sinister since the shadow of Cosa Nostra the Sicilian Mafia inevitably lurks behind them. Monreale is a high density Mafia neighbourhood, just 9 km down the road from Palermo and it is highly improbable that the Cosa Nostra did not try to win itself a slice of the cathedral restoration action.
The trial is due to reconvene on March 18th.