The Vatican today admitted to possible “errors” in the church’s handling of its real-estate assets, responding for the first time to a corruption investigation that has involved a top Roman Catholic cardinal. Prosecutors are probing whether Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe sold church property to former Infrastructure Minister Pietro Lunardi for a fraction of its market price in exchange for subsidies, Italian newspapers including Corriere della Sera have reported.
Between 2001 and 2006, Sepe led the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican body that controls the Church’s real-estate holdings worth $11 billion and funds missionary work.
Sepe, who now is archbishop of Naples, told reporters on June 21 that he “always acted according to his conscience and only in the best interests of the Church.” He denies any wrongdoing.
“Managing such a fortune is naturally a very hard and complex task, requiring one to defer to experts in the field, and like in all financial operations one can be exposed to errors in assessment and fluctuations in the international market,” the Vatican said in a statement posted on its website.
The Vatican on June 21 added a link on its website that outlined the procedures necessary for obtaining documents to the congregation’s archive.
SIC: BW