ROME
The Freethinker
Funds designated for sick children were allegedly diverted to pay for costly renovations to the apartment of the Vatican’s former Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, 81, above.
According to estimates published in the Italian press, each of the bedrooms has its own private bathroom, and the kitchen facilities are befitting a banquet hall. Bertone spent $22,000 on eight independent sharable audio programmes and audio controls with LCD display for each environment.
That, writes Barbie Latza Nadeau of the Daily Beast:
Essentially boils down to a sound system where each room in the lavish apartment, including the rooftop chapel, can be programmed with its own mood music. This, for a prelate and three nuns who have no official role whatsoever in Francis’s church.
She adds:
The massive-for-Rome apartment is being floored with 2,400 square feet of expensive herringbone oak parquet which cost the cardinal and the hospital $28,000. A smaller 750-square-foot area is being covered with luxury white Carrara marble at a price tag of $11,000. The double-glaze energy efficient windows cost $80,000 and the front security door is priced at $6,000.
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