VATICAN CITY
Tribune-Review
By The Associated Press
Thursday, Dec. 4, 2014
VATICAN CITY — The Vatican’s economy czar claims the Holy See’s finances are in better shape than thought, and that reforms are forging ahead to make the Vatican “boringly successful.”
“Hundreds of millions of euros were tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet,” Cardinal George Pell wrote in a frank essay published Friday in Britain’s The Catholic Herald.
“It is important to point out that the Vatican is not broke … the Holy See is paying its way, while possessing substantial assets and investments,” Pell said, according to an advance text made available Thursday. “It was impossible for anyone to know accurately what was going on overall.”
Pell did not suggest any wrongdoing but said Vatican departments had long had “an almost free hand” with their finances and followed “long-established patterns” in managing their affairs.
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