VATICAN CITY
Crux
By Inés San Martín
Vatican correspondent April 14, 2015
ROME — Two personnel moves announced by the Vatican Tuesday marked the first time Italians have claimed senior positions under Australian Cardinal George Pell, the pope’s hand-picked reformer and someone for whom breaking the Italian monopoly on money management has been a keen priority.
Italian Rev. Luigi Mistò was named secretary of the Administrative Section of the Secretariat for the Economy, the new department Pell heads, after being appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2011 as head of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA).
In practice, the new job means that Mistò will no longer manage the real estate portfolio of the Vatican, officially estimated at around $700 million, though some observers believe the real total may be several times higher. Instead, Mistò will implement procurement systems and manage Vatican personnel, in both cases reporting directly to Pell.
Mistò has been working closely with Pell since the Australian prelate was tapped personally by Pope Francis to head the Secretariat for the Economy in 2013.
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