Vatican police seized computers and documents in raids on the offices of the Holy See’s Secretariat of State and its financial watchdog. The Vatican said the operation was prompted by complaints lodged in the summer by the Vatican’s bank and auditor-general about “financial operations carried out over the course of time”. The Vatican’s chief prosecutor authorised the raids, which reportedly were sparked by a number of property deals. The move is unusual given that the Secretariat of State is effectively the Vatican’s government, handling diplomatic ties with the rest of the world, and it has not been involved in the scandals that have dogged the Vatican for years. The Vatican’s financial information authority (AIF), a watchdog established to improve transparency and avoid scandal, was also…

Source: The Times October 01, 2019 23:15 UTC