VATICAN CITY
National Catholic Register
Edward Pentin
The Vatican body responsible for managing the Vatican’s real estate has been accused of far exceeding its authority by unilaterally telling Vatican departments to supply their financial information to an outside auditor.
The surprise move by the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) which came in the form of two letters on May 3 and 5, was firmly rebutted by Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the Secretariat of the Economy (SPE), and the Holy See’s auditor general, Libero Milone, who wrote a reply saying “with deep regret” they had to intervene to refute the APSA letter.
In both of his letters, APSA’s Secretary, Msgr. Mauro Rivella, had asked dicasteries of the Holy See, as well as institutions associated with them, to “pass information to their banks (including the Institute for Works of Religion), legal and fiscal consultants, so that the data could be transmitted directly to the external auditor, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC).”
Despite the Secretariat of State suddenly suspending the PwC audit last April and then ending it two months later, leaving it just with a consultancy role, Msgr. Rivella stated that PwC was carrying out the auditing activities of the Holy See.
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