Vatican City, Apr 30, 2021 / 08:00 am America/Denver (CNA).
Experts attending the Moneyval plenary assembly in Strasbourg, France, this week approved a highly anticipated report on the Holy See.
Moneyval, the committee of the Council of Europe which assesses countries’ compliance with international financial transparency standards, is expected to publish its report in the coming weeks.
The Vatican judicial system prepared for Moneyval’s evaluation with reform and seemingly never-ending investigations over a Secretariat of State investment in London that have not led to any prosecutions.
The reform is about new measures, provisions, and treatment for Vatican tribunal officials. But it also in practice shuts down the appeal court of the Vatican City State — a significant change in the way cases are handled.
The investigations concern the Secretariat of State’s purchase of a luxury property in London in 2018. This became the focus of scrutiny after a report by the Institute for the Works of Religion (also known as the IOR or “Vatican bank”).