It is estimated that around a quarter of a BILLION dollars is paid each year by parishes worldwide to the Vatican in the annual collection (made on the Sunday nearest to the feast of St. Peter and Paul on 29 June) and intended for personal disbursement by the Pope for charitable causes. It is claimed (I can't verify this) that a million dollars was paid from this fund to support Hillary Clinton's election campaign. But what we do know from Life Site News is that the former head of the Vatican Bank feared assassination (by a member of the Curia) as a result of the corruption he found and that every auditor appointed by Francis has resigned and that the Cardinal that Francis appointed to sort the mess is now in a prison cell. I AM NOT GOING TO CONTRIBUTE THIS YEAR and urge you to consider withholding funds. Why not pay direct to a worthwhile cause and cut out the middleman? e.g.https://missionariesofthepoor.org/
I seem to remember that we skipped it last year. We are dismayed at the situation and will likely do as you suggest, and chose a different venue.
The Times' (UK) reports today that it was recently established that funds totalling £1.3 BILLION were transferred from Vatican bank accounts to various bank accounts in Australia over a six year period. The Australian Bishops' Conference has confirmed that no funds were received by any diocese, religious order or Catholic charity from Vatican accounts during the relevant period and are petitioning the Pope to order an investigation into these transactions. Australian Federal investigators are currently trying to establish what organisations or individuals were the beneficiaries of the transfers. Apparently the Sicilian Mafia is heavily represented in Australia (not to say the Vatican), especially in the state of Victoria and, it has been suggested, that some powerful individual in the Vatican may have colluded in the 'laundering' of illegally accumulated funds by permitting the use of Vatican accounts to mask suspicious activity. This should be interesting!
