Pope Benedict Signs Vatican Laws to Comply with International Standards

It just makes sense that the smallest private country (or sovereign state) in the world should comply with the international laws if for no other reason than to prove that they aren't hiding anything. Pope Benedict just signed an executive order guaranteeing adherence to the guidelines. I think it's about time that transparency is established in the Catholic Church.
    .  .  June

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New Vatican Laws to Comply with International Standards:

The Vatican introduced a set of laws to allow its fraud, counterfeiting, terrorism prevention, and transparency standards to comply with international benchmarks. An investigation on the Vatican bank is currently being conducted due to money laundering concerns.

An executive order or a “Motu Proprio” was signed by Pope Benedict to set up internal laws that guarantees adherence to guidelines and coordinate with foreign agencies by the bank and other units of the Vatican.
This was the Vatican’s most significant move to conform to international requirements of additional transparency in its finances.

According to a statement issued by the Vatican, all organizations connected to the Catholic Church administration will take part in the system of legal standard and means created by the international community in order to ensure fair and sincere coexistence within the gradually globalized world.

The latest Vatican City laws intend to allow it to adhere to the regulations set by the Financial Action task Force, an organization based in Paris which keeps a list of countries that do not conform to the terrorism funding and money laundering standards. Vatican City is a sovereign state within Rome which occupies 108 acres of land.


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Could The VATICAN Owe 8 Billion Euros in Back Taxes?

Apparently, eight billion euros worth of tax breaks enjoyed by the Catholic Church in Italy could be in breach of European law and may have to be repaid, according to the article below. The question is whether the European Commission decides Church-run businesses should really be considered as commercial enterprises. I have to assume that if that's the case, there must be lots of other religious institutions in the same boat.
    . . . June
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Vatican May Owe €8 Billion in Back Taxes
Free Market Mojo:

Eight billion euros worth of tax breaks pocketed by the Catholic Church in Italy could be in breach of European law and may have to be repaid, it has emerged.

The European Commission has said that tax relief on 100,000 Italian properties enjoyed by the Holy See since 2005 was under the spotlight, after announcing an “in-depth” investigation.

A spokesperson for Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said the EC suspected the exemption amounted to state aid that was at odds with European Union law.

“These exemptions may distort competition,” he said. “Thus far, Italian authorities have not provided sufficient evidence to enable the Commission to conclude that the contested measures are justified by the principles of the Italian tax system”.

The crux is whether the EC decides Church-run businesses should really be considered as commercial enterprises and therefore liable to taxation.

If Italy is found to have violated EU subsidy laws, it will have to cancel the exemption and seek reimbursement from the church. If that happened, the financial consequences for the Catholic Church would be grave.

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