Corruption

The Vatican’s new corruption scandal

Jesus told his disciples: “Nothing is hid that shall not be made manifest, nor anything secret that shall not be known and come to light.” The teaching is playing out in real time at the Vatican, the heart of the church founded by the Nazarene.

Prosecutors and gendarmerie staged a raid this month into the usually serene offices of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, seizing computers and caches of documents from archives and employees. Two weeks later, the longtime head of Pope Francis’ security service resigned after leaked ­reports of alleged financial wrongdoing in the Vatican.

Reports have emerged detailing the movement of Vatican money through slush funds across Europe — and a Vatican investment of more than $250 million into luxury London apartments, brokered through a ­financier who profited even while the Vatican’s investment tanked.

Italian media also report that Vatican officials contemplated ­investing hundreds of millions in Angolan oil fields — money that comes mostly from an annual collection intended to support papal charities. Per the Italian reports, prosecutors have also found evidence of embezzlement, fraud, abuse of office and money-laundering among the Vatican’s upper echelon of managers.