Until recently the dossier was under the radar of journalists from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), who have been making inquiries on the Swiss Leaks scandal, a vast system of tax evasion promoted by the Swiss subsidiary of the British HSBC bank and which was revealed in 2015.
But now Le Monde published an article on its website on Wednesday, May 31 implicating high-ranking leaders of the Catholic Church in Mali. These include Archbishop Jean Zerbo of Bamako, the 73 year old prelate who was named as a cardinal by Pope Francis on May 21.
The accusations concerning Archbishop Zerbo date back to the period when he was the head of the finance commission of the Bishops Conference of Mali (CEM). It was then chaired by Bishop Jean-Gabriel Diarra, 71, currently bishop of San and who was also named in the Le Monde article.
The accusations have stunned the Christian community of Mali, which represents less than 3% of the nation’s 17 million inhabitants.
“At a time when we are celebrating the elevation of Archbishop Zerbo to the cardinalate, we learn that the Church may have bank accounts in Switzerland. Even if we take this with a pinch of salt, it is a shock for many people,” comme-nted Théodore Togo, secretary-general of Caritas Mali.
“Everything decided by the Conference is done transparently and regularly evaluated,” said Fr Edmond Dembélé, current secretary-general of the CEM.
“And to my knowledge, we do not have a bank account in Switzerland.”
“I would like to believe that the Malian bishops have not done anything legally reprehensible,” comments Jean Merckaert, editor in chief of Projets magazine, which is published by a French Jesuit and lay team.
