‘Pope OK’d ransom payments for nun’

Vatican City: A second high-ranking Holy See official told a Vatican court on Friday that Pope Francis had authorised spending hundreds of thousands of euros

in ransom payments to try to free a nun who was kidnapped by al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali.

Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, the Holy See’s No. 3, told the Vatican tribunal that he had sought, and received Francis’ approval to wire the money soon after he took up his duties as the “substitute” in the secretariat of state in late 2018.

Pena Parra was answering questions for a second

day Friday after being called by defense attorneys repr

esenting the 10 people on trial for a host of alleged financial crimes.