Posts Tagged Vatican finances
The Vatican is using donations for the poor to fight its budget deficit, report says / CNBC
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Church Finances, Vatican on December 12, 2019
Peter’s Pence is a special collection from Roman Catholics every June. According to the collection’s website, it is “A Day for the Works of Charity.” (CNBC)
As little as 10% of donations by Roman Catholics that are specifically advertised as helping the poor and suffering actually go toward charitable work, a new report says.
“About two-thirds of the rest of the $55 million in donations for Pope Francis’ annual charitable appeal, known as Peter’s Pence, is used to fill the Vatican’s administrative budget deficit, The Wall Street Journal reported in an article Wednesday, citing sources familiar with the spending.
“The newspaper said that the use of Peter’s Pence for the budget ‘is raising concern among some Catholic Church leaders that the faithful are being misled about the use of their donations, which could further hurt the credibility of the Vatican’s financial management under Pope Francis.’
“A spokesman for the Vatican’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CNBC about the Journal’s report. The article noted that under church law, a pope can use Peter’s Pence in any manner that serves his ministry.”
By Dan Mangan, CNBC — Read more …
Also of interest, “Is the Vatican misleading donors? Peter’s Pence, explained,” by Colleen Dulle and James T. Keane, America: The Jesuit Review.
In new scandals, Catholicism feels the birth pains of reform / Cruxnow.com
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Voice of the Faithful on January 12, 2016
Recently news broke in Germany about widespread sexual and physical abuse at a well-known Catholic boys’ choir, news that ricocheted around the world because when the abuse occurred, the choir was being directed by Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, the brother of emeritus Pope Benedict XVI … Around the same time, the Vatican was reeling from the latest twists in the ‘Vatileaks 2.0’ saga, centering on leaks of secret papal documents revealing various kinds of financial corruption or dubious expenditures … Both stories are embarrassing for the Vatican and for the Church, and both raise troubling questions … Lost in the shuffle, however, is another point that both the German abuse story and Vatileaks 2.0 have in common: Neither would have come to light had the Church itself not made the decision to get to the bottom of things.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., Cruxnow.com — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Vatican to try five, including reporters, over leaks scandal / Reuters on Religion News Service
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Church Finances, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on November 23, 2015
The Vatican on Saturday (Nov. 21) ordered five people, including two Italian journalists, to stand trial for leaking and publishing secret documents, in the latest development in a leaks scandal which is rocking the papacy.
“The trial stems from the publication of two recent books which depict a Vatican plagued by mismanagement, greed and corruption and where Pope Francis faces stiff resistance from the old guard to his reform agenda.
“The Holy See was embarrassed and angered by the books, which it said used information that should never have been allowed to leave the walls of the city state.”
By Reuters on Religion News Service — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Pope Francis Shakes Up Vatican’s Finance Panel / The Boston Globe
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Church Finances, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on June 5, 2014
Pope Francis today pressed his campaign to internationalize the Vatican’s financial management, replacing an all-Italian panel overseeing his anti-money laundering agency with a new group drawn from four different nations, including a Harvard professor and former official in the George W. Bush administration.
“The appointments came a day after the announcement that a Catholic business manager from Australia will hold a senior position in the pope’s new Secretariat of the Economy, designed to force fiscal transparency and discipline on all Vatican departments.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., The Boston Globe — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Click here to read related news about the Vatican bank, “Francis Monitors Vatican Bank Personally,” by ANSA.it.
Pope Francis’ Lay Finance Expert Vows ‘No More Scandals’ (Study says 85% of American dioceses discovered embezzlement) / The Boston Globe
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Church Finances, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on March 10, 2014
A Maltese economist tapped by Pope Francis to help lead a new finance council says the pope’s reforms will ensure that the sort of scandal which erupted last summer, involving a Vatican accountant allegedly enmeshed in a John le Carré-esque plot to smuggle millions in cash, becomes a thing of the past …
“Observers believe Francis’ efforts to promote financial glasnost are important not merely for the Vatican but to set a tone for the wider Catholic church, where accounting practices often remain informal and subject to abuse. A 2007 study by Villanova University, for instance, found that 85 percent of American dioceses had discovered instances of embezzlement within the previous five years.”
By John L. Allen, Jr., The Boston Globe — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Pope Set to Open Meetings on Vatican Finances, Family / Associated Press
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in church reform, Pope Francis, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on February 18, 2014
Meetings this week between Pope Francis and his cardinals will deal with some of the thorniest issues facing the church, including church finances and the rejection by most Catholics of some of its core teachings on premarital sex, contraception, gays, and divorce.
“Cardinal Walter Kasper of Germany, who has called for ‘‘changes and openings’’ in the church’s treatment of divorced and remarried Catholics, will give the keynote speech Thursday (Feb. 20) to the pope and cardinals attending a preparatory meeting for an October summit on family issues.”
By Nicole Winfield, Associated Press, in The Boston Globe — Click here to read the rest of this story.
Arrested Monsignor Charges Corruption in Vatican Finances / National Catholic Reporter
Posted by Voice of the Faithful in Catholic Church Finances, Vatican, Voice of the Faithful on October 3, 2013
Just days after the Vatican bank attempted to project a new image of transparency with a first-ever audited financial statement, another Vatican financial department faced fresh charges of corruption and shady practices. Italian newspapers today contained extracts from testimony given to Italian investigators by Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, a former accountant at the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA), who was arrested in June for alleged involvement in a plot to smuggle $26 million in cash into Italy from Switzerland at the behest of a family of shipping magnates.” By John L. Allen, Jr., National Catholic Reporter
Read the rest of John Allen’s story by clicking here.
Voice of the Faithful
A lay movement for governance reform in the Roman Catholic Church, responding to the clergy sexual abuse scandal and supporting survivors.
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