VATICAN CITY
Telegraph (UK)
Priests working in the Vatican’s finance department were offered massages, luxury holidays and cruises by banks keen for their business, Italian investigators have been told.
The claims were made by Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, a senior Vatican accountant who was arrested and imprisoned in June on suspicion of trying to smuggle £17 million (20 million euros) into Italy from Switzerland on a private jet.
The allegations concern priests and lay officials working in the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See or Apsa, a Vatican department which manages the Holy See’s property.
In questioning by prosecutors in Rome, Msgr Scarano was asked why the department appeared to have frequently changed the banks it dealt with and whether there were any “advantages” for its managers in doing so.
“Many, many advantages – holidays, cruises, staying in five-star hotels, massages, etcetera,” said the priest, according to leaked transcripts of the questioning, which took place in July but has only now come to light.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.