In an ongoing case regarding the use of Peter’s Pence donations, lawyers for the U.S. bishops have asserted that parishioners were aware (or at least ought to have been) that their money could be used by the Holy See for any purpose, despite their own advertisement to the contrary. The Peter’s Pence lawsuit was originally … Read more
Cardinal Becciu, who has not been placed under investigation, has denied any wrongdoing. The Vatican is considering the sale of a luxury London building embroiled in a financial scandal that drew papal condemnation and a probe into those involved in its purchase seven years ago. Now authorities of the walled city-state within Rome have invited … Read more
Italian authorities announced on Monday that an arrest warrant has been issued for Gianluigi Torzi, who brokered the Vatican’s 2018 purchase of a London property. The Italian court order raises a startling assertion from Vatican authorities: that the Secretariat of State acted outside its legal authority when it invested hundreds of millions of euros of … Read more
A British court has handed the Vatican a major defeat in a case linked to a property transaction in London with Church funds, in a ruling that revealed some of the Holy See’s inner workings and found it had made “appalling” misrepresentations. The Crown Court in Southwark revoked an earlier order that had frozen funds … Read more
High-ranking Vatican official Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu has unexpectedly resigned but has revealed he was told to do so by Pope Francis. He said he was suspected of giving Church money to his brothers, and denied any wrongdoing. Cardinal Becciu was a close aide to the Pope and previously had a key job in the … Read more
The justice ministry has sent initial documents to the Vatican as part of an investigation into suspected bribery and money laundering related to a London property deal in which some Swiss banks are said to be involved. Continue reading
Pope Francis has postponed this year’s Peter’s Pence collection until next fall as the Vatican confronts the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The collection, which traditionally takes place in churches across the world on June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, has been moved to October 4, the feast of St. Francis. … Read more
For immediate release Contact: Marc R. Stanley (214) 443-4301 Stanley Law Group (Dallas, TX) filed a class action lawsuit today in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island against United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) for misleadingly soliciting millions of dollars in charitable donations that were diverted into private investments. … Read more
If you asked loyal Catholics to subsidize a film dramatizing the life of Elton John, you’d get a disappointing return. But ask them to contribute to the needs of the Holy Father, and you’ll see real generosity. If you ask Catholics to invest in the London real-estate market, or in a shady Italian bank, or … Read more
Just when you thought the Vatican‘s image problem couldn’t get any worse, what with endemic clerical child abuse and a near bankrupt American arm of the church, it does. A new report pulls back the red velvet curtain on a bizarre new tidbit about the Vatican‘s other dirty little secret: its finances. The latest twist … Read more