Second Vatican official says Pope OK’d ransom payments for nun
Vatican CityAP A second high-ranking Holy See official told a Vatican court on Friday that Pope Francis had authorized spending hundreds of thousands of euros in ransom payments to try to free a nun who was kidnapped by al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali. Archbishop Edgar Pena Parra, the Holy See’s number three, told the Vatican […]
Pope sought to lose “as little as possible” in London deal
Vatican City AP Pope Francis gave clear indications to get out of a disastrous London real estate deal by saying the Vatican must “start over and lose as little money as possible”, an exit strategy that eventually involved paying off a broker €15 million, the Holy See’s number three official told a court Thursday. Archbishop […]
Trial testimony: Vatican wanted to pay off London broker
Vatican CityAP The former head of the Vatican’s financial watchdog testified Tuesday that the agency launched an intelligence investigation into a suspicious London real estate deal after it learned about it but had no power to stop the Vatican secretariat of state from concluding it. The testimony by defendant Rene Bruelhart in the Vatican’s big […]
Vatican spy story takes centre stage as fraud trial resumes
Vatican CityAP The Vatican’s big fraud and extortion trial resumes Friday after exposing some unseemly realities of how the Holy See operates, with a new spy story taking center stage that is more befitting of a 007 thriller than the inner workings of a papacy. According to written testimony obtained Thursday, one of Pope Francis’ […]
Vatican number two and deputy both positive for COVID
Vatican CityAP The Vatican Secretary of State and his deputy have both tested positive for the coronavirus, Vatican officials said Tuesday. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin smiles during a meeting at the Bellevue palace in Berlin, Germany on 29th June, 2021. PICTURE: AP Photo/Michael Sohn/File photo. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who serves as the Vatican’s […]
Pope Francis receives death threat as he grapples with Vatican financial scandals
Vatican CityRNS Italian police officers are investigating an envelope discovered on Monday containing three nine millimetre bullets and a letter referring to Vatican financial mismanagement, in an apparent threat aimed at Pope Francis. The message is the latest bizarre twist in a three-year-old scandal that is at the centre of a high-profile trial involving 10 […]
Vatican pressed on decree limiting Latin Mass in St Peter’s
Rome, ItalyAP A second Catholic cardinal has questioned the legitimacy of a recent decree by the Vatican to restrict the celebration of the old Latin Mass in St Peter’s Basilica and forbid private Masses in its side chapels. The 12th March circular was written on the letterhead of the Vatican Secretariat of State and carried […]