Australian Government Admits a Mistake vis-à-vis the Vatican

The revelation was met with amazement and disbelief, especially in the Vatican, whose budget would have been hard pressed to make such transactions.

Austrac admitted their mistake and confessed that the real figure was only $9.5 million AUD- just under €8 million. The first report therefore showed an amount 242 times greater than the actual total.

According to the service's internal investigation, it appears that the government agency's software assimilated Italy and the Vatican, leading to this absurd result. What is the most worrying about the functioning of this Australian service is that the men behind the machines have not asked themselves more questions.

For the record, the first amount was sent to Parliament in December, following a question from Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, who questioned the allegations of Italian newspapers. They claimed that there had been suspicious transfers between the Vatican and Australia. And that this money could have been used to influence the trial and conviction of Cardinal Pell.

Despite this miscalculation, which must be called masterful, The Australian says Austrac has confirmed that it will continue its investigations into the transfers between the Vatican and Australia.

In the context of the “Becciu affair,” Australia continues to examine the possibility that Cardinal Angelo Becciu, dismissed by Pope Francis on September 24, transferred funds to try to influence the lawsuit against Cardinal George Pell in 2018.