Vatican City
18 July 2020
Vatican police on Tuesday raided the department in charge of maintenance and restoration at St. Peter’s Basilica, after a Vatican magistrate ordered the raid following a tip from the office of the general auditor.
Vatican press office said that documents and computers were seized from the technical and administrative offices of the Fabbrica di San Pietro. Origins of the Fabbrica di San Pietro dates back to the 15th century, that is even before construction of the current basilica began. The statement said Francis has also appointed Archbishop Mario Giordana, a former Vatican ambassador, to lead a new commission to “shine light” on and reorganize the administration of the office, known as the Fabbrica di San Pietro. The commissioner was tasked with reorganizing the department and updating its statutes in the wake of a June 1 papal document that introduced sweeping new rules for procurement and spending to reduce the risk of corruption in awarding contracts.
It was suggested that the raid may have something to do with the awarding of a contract. The department is currently overseeing the restoration of the basilica’s dome, which recently has been partly covered by scaffolding.
The raid was similar to the one in last October that involved another investigation into a separate department over the purchase of a building in a posh area of London.
Reuters reported.
