According to a June 6, 2023, article by Religion News Service, the Vatican bank—once a symbol of financial malfeasance—has successfully rebranded itself as a pillar of transparency at the Vatican. The late Cardinal Pell of Australia, at the behest of Pope Francis, played a major role in radically transforming the Vatican bank policies and practices.…
CNA, CBJ—The late Cardinal George Pell’s funeral Mass drew thousands of mourners, filling Sydney’s St. Mary’s Cathedral to capacity. Civic leaders, friends and members of Pell’s family remembered the Australian cardinal’s dedication to the Church and the Gospel, in addition to his courage in the face of many obstacles, including more than a year in…
CNA—Cardinal George Pell, prefect emeritus of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, died on Tuesday at the age of 81. The Australian prelate suffered a cardiac arrest and died at 8:50 p.m. Rome time, his secretary confirmed. A towering figure of the Church both physically and intellectually, Pell served for many years as archbishop of…
CNA—A Vatican policy published Tuesday says that the Holy See’s financial investments cannot contradict Catholic teaching. The policy stipulates that Vatican investments should “be aligned with the teachings of the Catholic Church, with specific exclusions for financial investments which contradict its fundamental principles, such as the sanctity of life or the dignity of the human…
CNA—The Vatican’s “trial of the century”, scheduled to continue in September, has so far offered plenty of drama and raised numerous unanswered questions. One of the most sensitive, not just for Catholics who have donated money to the Vatican, is this: Was Peter’s Pence used to finance investments like the now infamous London property deal?…
CNA—The Vatican’s financial watchdog authority reported on Monday that it received 104 suspicious activity reports in 2021, an increase from the previous year. In a 35-page annual report, released on June 13, the Supervisory and Financial Information Authority (ASIF) said that it submitted 21 reports to the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice (prosecutor), the highest number…
CNA—Cardinal Angelo Becciu said Wednesday that he is blameless in the forced resignation of a Vatican auditor, because it came at Pope Francis’ request. Becciu was said to be responsible for the sudden firing in 2017 of the Vatican’s first auditor general, Libero Milone, as well as the cancelation of an internal audit. But during…
The Pillar—Pope Francis has issued a new Vatican law that aims to combat corruption by senior officials in the curia and in the city state, and that bars investments in companies or businesses “contrary to the social doctrine of the Church.” The new law also aims to end customary cash gifts exchanged among Church officials…
CNA—New details have emerged about the links between the two Italian businessmen at the center of the Vatican financial scandal. In the months before Gianluigi Torzi was asked by the Holy See to act as middle man for the final purchase of the London property at 60 Sloane Ave. from Raffaele Mincione, a company owned…
CNA—The Holy See press office announced Friday that Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi has been arrested after he was interrogated as part of a Vatican financial investigation. Torzi played a crucial role in the controversial purchase of a London property development by the Secretariat of State. “Today the Office of the Promoter of Justice of the…
CNA—Vatican authorities have seized documents and computers belonging to a senior curial official as part of an investigation into financial misconduct, the Holy See announced on Tuesday. In a statement issued Feb. 18, the Vatican press office confirmed that investigators had raided the office and home of Msgr. Alberto Perlasca (featured image), the former head…
According to a Wall Street Journal exposé series by Francis X. Rocca, not only does the Vatican use donations for the poor to plug its budget deficit, but only 10% of donations to the Vatican’s Peter’s Pence collection go to charitable works. Although sources of information are not always named and generic resources such as…
Vatican City, Oct 29, 2019-CNA– An Italian dermatology hospital and two senior cardinals are at the center of a burgeoning financial scandal involving a Vatican bank, the U.S.-based Papal Foundation, and millions of euros from misallocated government grants. The events concern the financial collapse of the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata (IDI), an Italian hospital. According to…
CNA—Cardinal Angelo Becciu has denied any impropriety in a real estate investment made with Vatican funds and insisted that he only acted in the best interests of the Holy See. In an interview with Italian media published Tuesday, the former deputy at the Holy See’s Secretariat of State rejected any wrongdoing in the authorization of…
CNA—The recent raid of Vatican offices is connected to an investigation into charges that Vatican money financed the development of luxury properties in London, and led to a windfall for the Vatican’s investment managers, according to an Oct. 14 report from Financial Times. According to Financial Times, Vatican police and prosecutors are investigating the possibility…
