Vatican discovers millions of dollars 'tucked away' on balance sheets

Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican's economy minister, has announced that the Vatican discovered hundreds of millions of dollars that had been "tucked away" in various balance sheets.

Britain's Catholic Herald reports that Vatican reformers found the funds during a push for transparency in Vatican finances. The reformers were looking into 200 Vatican entities, as financial reform for the Vatican is a priority for Pope Francis. Pell was hired as prefect of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy in February to bring "full accountability" to the Vatican's financial matters.

"We have discovered the [Vatican's financial] situation is much healthier than it seemed, because some hundreds of millions of Euros were tucked away in particular sectional accounts and did not appear on the balance sheet," Pell said.

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