Last week, the Vatican released a mysterious statement acknowledging a raid by Vatican police on the offices of its Secretariat of State and of its financial watchdog agency, saying it was carried out by judicial order by the Vatican tribunal and with permission from unspecified “superiors.” The Secretariat of State is the most powerful department Read more
The Vatican bank has started legal proceedings in Malta against those it holds responsible for the loss of millions of euros in an investment fund. Maltese judge, Mr Justice Wenzu Mintoff, will preside over the case. His role will include deciding the bank’s total losses. The Vatican statement says the losses are “significant.” It also Read more
Two Vatican bank board members have resigned amid what one source says is frustration at the slow pace of reform. Two experienced bankers, Italian Carlo Salvatori and German Clemens Boersig, resigned from the board of the Institute for the Works of Religion. Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said this followed a “divergence of opinion over Read more
The Vatican Bank’s profits increased twentyfold last year over the previous 12 months. The Institute for the Works of Religion earned NZ$106 million in 2014, compared to NZ$4.4 million in 2013. The bulk of the profit – NZ$84.4 million – was given to the Holy See for its operating costs. Releasing its annual report on Read more
A choir of voices has begun lauding Cardinal George Pell for cleaning up the Vatican’s money management operations. And the strongest notes in this hymn of praise come from the basso profondo of the Australian cardinal himself. The 73-year-old Pell, who is officially the prefect of the Vatican’s recently created Secretariat for the Economy, gave Read more
The return of €23m to the Vatican Bank marks a turning point in being accepted again by Italy’s banks. After blocking the funds in a 2010 money laundering investigation, an Italian bank returned the money last week. The Vatican Bank, whose official name is “Institute for Works of Religion” (IOR), said in a statement, the return of Read more
It was possibly a watershed moment in Holy See media relations. The scene was the Sala Stampa of the Holy See some 10 days ago. Australian Cardinal George Pell was presenting the New Economic Framework for the Holy See, a document which outlines proposed major reforms not only to IOR (the Vatican bank) and to Read more
The president of the “bank” of the Holy See, in this interview with Vatican Radio, opens his campaign to restore credibility to the controversial institution. With more integrity, more transparency, more communication Q: President Ernst von Freyberg, do you like your job, coming from Frankfurt down to Rome, working inside the Vatican? A: It is Read more
The board of the Vatican Bank is looking for a new president after it voted unanimously on May 24 to remove Ettore Gotti Tedeschi as president. The Vatican announced the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) is “looking ahead to the search for a new and distinguished president who can assist the IOR to regain effective and wider Read more