Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, the Deputy Secretary of State in the Vatican, has admitted to authorising electronic surveillance of the director of the Vatican bank, Gianfranco Mammì, without legal approval. The revelation came during his testimony at the landmark financial misconduct case. “I did it, and if necessary, I would do it again,” the archbishop Read more
A Vatican source has said Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu’s apparent invitation to participate in a high-profile meeting of cardinals next week represents a personal gesture on the part of Pope Francis. But it does not necessarily mean Becciu’s rights as a cardinal, stripped by the pope two years ago, are being restored. Over the weekend, Read more
Search warrants have been executed across northern Italy this week by Italian financial police investigating an Italian businessman who is a suspect in racketeering, fraud and criminal corruption. The investigations targeted broker Gianluigi Torzi who, along with four others, is currently on trial in the Vatican. The group are allegedly involved in packaging bad debt Read more
The technology company to which Cardinal Angelo Becciu authorised millions of dollars of payments in Australia has been named in an emerging US political scandal, raising new questions about the Vatican’s business with the firm. Neustar, a technology and security company, has been named in pretrial motions filed by John Durham, the special counsel investigating Read more
Pope Francis addressed the Vatican financial scandals in a sit-down radio interview that aired Wednesday, saying he hoped that Cardinal Angelo Becciu is innocent of the charges against him. “I hope with all my heart that he is innocent. Besides, he was a collaborator of mine and helped me a lot. He is a person Read more
A Vatican judge on Saturday indicted 10 people, including a once-powerful cardinal, on charges including embezzlement, abuse of office, extortion and fraud. The indictments are in connection with the Secretariat of State’s 350 million-euro investment in a London real estate venture. The president of the Vatican’s criminal tribunal, Giuseppe Pignatone, set July 27 as the Read more
Pope Francis has revamped the Vatican financial watchdog to establish “supervision aimed at the prevention and countering of money laundering and the financing of terrorism.” Under the pope’s plan, the agency will be split into three parts, the Vatican said on Saturday. They are vigilance, rules and legal affairs, and financial information. The Vatican’s Financial Read more
Cardinal George Pell has spoken of his surprise at the apparent extent of ‘criminality’ involved in recent Vatican financial scandals. “I didn’t know that there was so much criminality involved,” Pell said. He was speaking to the AP before the Dec. 15 release of the first volume of his jailhouse memoir, ‘Prison Journal.’ The book Read more
Cardinal Angelo Becciu is seeking €10m (NZ$17m) damages against an Italian media outlet saying the publication ruined his chances of becoming pope. The Vatican cardinal was sacked by Pope Francis in September, amid a corruption investigation. He is suing Italian news magazine L’Espresso, claiming that by ruining his reputation his chance of becoming pope was Read more
An Australian anti-corruption agency said it was not investigating speculation about the transfer of Vatican funds to Australia in the Cardinal Pell case. The anti-corruption agency statement contradicts Italian media speculation that the money might be linked to the overturned convictions of Cardinal George Pell for child sex abuse. Last month, several Italian newspapers reported Read more