Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, the
prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, said
Thursday that the Holy See was probably the injured party in the
recent financial scandals that have hit the headlines.
Pope Francis last week forced Cardinal Angelo Becciu to step
down from the helm of the Vatican department that oversees
sainthoods.
Becciu was the Substitute of its Secretariat of State at the
time of a controversial 350-million-euro investment in a
building in London in 2014 that is at the centre of a Vatican
investigation.
Becciu, who denies any wrongdoing, said he was not ousted in
relation to the London operation but for alleged
misappropriation regarding the use of Church money in Sardinia
and for allegedly favouring activities run by his brothers.
"It is possible that, in some cases, in addition to being badly
advised, the Holy See was also defrauded," Guerrero Alves told
reporters.
"I think that we are learning from the errors or the imprudence
of the past.
"Now it is a question of accelerating with the pope's decisive,
insistent process of awareness, internal and external
transparency and control, and collaboration between different
departments.
"The Holy See's economy must be a house of crystal".
Guerrero Alves also stressed that the losses in the London deal
had not been sustained by Peter's Pence.
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