Another Australian Myth: Vatican's Alleged Money Transfer Are “Science Fiction”

The Vatican and the Australian Catholic Church both denied knowledge of alleged transfers worth US$1.7 billion which Australia's financial watchdog claims were sent from the Vatican to Australia in the past seven years.

“That amount of money and that number of transfers did not leave Vatican City,” a senior Vatican official told Reuters.com (January 1). Vatican money transfers are handle by the Vatican Bank (IOR) and the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA).

According to the official, APSA sent less than €800,000 to Australia since 2014, mostly for expenses related to the nunciature. The money sent by IOR, whose clients are typically religious orders, was nowhere near the alleged amount.

The official stressed that the Holy See's yearly budget is around €330 million while the claimed figures are four times that. “It seems like science fiction," the official concluded.

Picture: Vatican Media, #newsVubuuqrjsp