Just two days after Pope Francis announced a new commission brought in to check the Vatican Bank's activity, a senior official and two other men suspected of committing financial fraud have been arrested.
Bishop Nunzio Scarano of Salerno, intelligence officer Giovanni Maria Zito and financial broker Giovanni Carinzo are under investigation for a few suspicious transactions at the Patrimony of the Apostolic See-better known as the Vatican Bank.
Investigators told USA Today that Scarano gave Zito 400,000 euros (about $520,000) to move 20 million euros in cash from Switzerland to Italy. The two reportedly organized the use of an Italian government plane to illegally transport the money across borders.
"I can't speak about the specific merits of this case but there's no doubt about corruption inside the Holy See," said church historian Fr. Alistair Sear. "This is not the end of things. It's just a start."
Press officials from the Vatican have yet to give an official statement on the court case, but did mention that after weeks of investigating Scarano's movements, the Bishop was "temporarily suspended" from his post at the bank this week.
"If these people are guilty then it's good for this to happen," restaurant worker Anna Maria Torlona told USA Today. "I have faith the pope will do the right thing and get the right people in the right jobs."
On Wednesday, Pope Francis said that he had rounded up a group of five officials-including four priests and a female law professor from Harvard University-to "allow for a better harmonization with the mission of the universal church."
The pontiff employed the crew to conduct probes into the Vatican bank, which has experienced its fair share of scandal in the past few years.
The commission's goal is to let the public know what constructs the bank's legislative structure, in addition to making more transparent the Holy See's actions.
Earlier in June, Pope Francis put a handful of trusted associates on staff with the Vatican bank. Many saw this move as the beginning of reform for his papacy.
