by Philip Pullella
VATICAN CITY, June 7 (Reuters) – The Vatican on Tuesday unveiled the launch of a committee to oversee the ethics of its investments, even as a corruption trial continues over a real estate deal in which it lost more than 200 million euros.
The committee will be led by a cardinal, Irish-American Kevin Joseph Farrell, based in the Vatican, but will include four outside lay financial experts, according to a statement.
The creation of an investment ethics committee was provided for in the Vatican’s new constitution, Praedicate Evangelium (Preach the Gospel), which Pope Francis signed into law in March and came into effect two days ago.
The committee is responsible for ensuring that Vatican investments are appropriate, ethical and not too risky. New members have a term of five years.
The Vatican announced the creation of the committee as the 21st hearing of a major corruption trial is underway and one of the main defendants, Italian broker Raffaele Mincione, is being questioned for the second consecutive day. The trial began last July.
In 2014, the Secretariat of State invested more than 200 million euros, many of them contributions from the faithful, in a fund managed by the broker Raffaele Mincione, making it possible to secure 45% of a commercial and residential building located at 60 Sloane Avenue in London’s upmarket South Kensington. (Reporting by Philip Pullella; French version Federica Mileo, editing by Kate Entringer)
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