UN has millions in Afghanistan bank, but cannot use it
United NationsReuters The United Nations has about $US135 million in the bank in Afghanistan but is unable to use it because the Taliban-run central bank cannot convert it to the afghani currency, a senior UN official said on Thursday. Abdallah al Dardari, head of the UN Development Programme in Afghanistan, said the United Nations had […]
Italy court definitively annuls warrant for Vatican suspect
Rome, ItalyAP An Italian appeals court has definitively annulled the pre-trial arrest warrant for the prime suspect in the Vatican’s big fraud and embezzlement trial, signaling an end to extradition procedures in Britain for now, his legal team said Wednesday. The decision by Rome’s Tribunal of Review is a blow to Italian prosecutors but also […]
Former AME Zion bishop Staccato Powell charged with fraud in $US14 million scheme
RNS Staccato Powell, the former president of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church’s board of bishops, has been federally charged with fraud and conspiracy connected to allegations of his mishandling the properties of congregations in California and fraudulently gaining millions of dollars for personal use. Powell, 62, and Sheila Quintana, 67, were indicted on 6th […]
Plumber’s find possibly tied to 2014 Texas megachurch theft
Houston, Texas, USAP For more than seven years, no-one has known what happened to $US600,000 in cheques and cash that was stolen from a safe at Pastor Joel Osteen’s Houston megachurch, which has one of the largest congregations in the country. Now, there’s a possible plot twist in the case: The money might never have […]
Vatican financial reform efforts continue amid scandals and deficit
Vatican CityRNS While Vatican finances suffered greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic and high-profile financial scandals maimed the church’s credibility worldwide, Pope Francis and his team of reformers continue their efforts to promote transparency in the institution’s wrought finances. In a long interview to Vatican media outlets on Monday, Bishop Nunzio Galantino, president of the Administration […]
Make it easier to prosecute top Vatican clerics, financial watchdog urges
Vatican CityReuters A financial watchdog urged the Vatican on Wednesday to sharpen up its procedure for prosecuting senior clerics and hire more investigators with financial expertise. In a 275-page report on efforts to protect the city-state against the scandals that have plagued it down the decades, the monitoring body of the Council of Europe was […]
Pope to Vatican’s own media workers: Who reads your news?
Rome, ItalyAP Pope Francis challenged the Vatican’s own media employees Monday to essentially justify their continued work, asking them how many people actually consume their news as he visited the office that costs the Holy See more than all its embassies around the world combined. Francis paid a visit to the Dicastry of Communications to […]
Cardinal Pell eyes a Vatican scandal he suspected long ago
Rome, ItalyAP Cardinal George Pell is enjoying his first Roman spring since being exonerated of sex abuse charges in his native Australia: He receives visitors to his Vatican flat, sips midday Aperol Spritz’s at the outdoor cafe downstairs and keeps up religiously with news of a Holy See financial scandal that he suspected years ago. […]
Vatican low on reserves to cover deficit, seeking donations
Rome, ItalyAP The Vatican warned Friday that it has nearly depleted its financial reserves from past donations to cover budget deficits over recent years, as it urged continued giving from the faithful to keep the Holy See afloat and Pope Francis’ ministry going. The Vatican published its 2021 budget in its latest effort at greater […]
Review shows Australia made huge miscalculation on funds transfers, Vatican says
Vatican CityReuters Australia’s financial watchdog has drastically reduced the sum of money it says was sent from the Vatican to Australia, the Vatican said on Wednesday, after it earlier reported a huge figure which raised suspicions of money laundering. The joint Vatican-Australian review showed only $A9.5 million transited between 2014 and 2020, a fraction of […]