⁍ Last month, the pope fired Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, accusing him of embezzlement and nepotism.

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⁍ Becciu has denied all wrongdoing.

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⁍ Moneyval is making one of its periodic inspections to check the Vatican is complying with international norms to combat money laundering and financing of terrorism.

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– The firing of the Vatican’s No. 2 official has triggered a fresh scandal, this time involving a woman who says she was paid half a million dollars by Cardinal Angelo Becciu to run “parallel diplomacy” in conflict zones. The woman, Cecilia Marogna, says she worked for the Vatican’s Secretariat of State until 2018 and received the money from Becciu, who was fired last month, the New York Times reports. Becciu has denied wrongdoing and says he knew Marogna but that his dealings with her were “exclusively about institutional matters.” Marogna, 39, who like Becciu is from Sardinia, did not reply to a phone message from Reuters. Last month, Pope Francis fired Becciu, accusing him of embezzlement and nepotism. “The measures that you are evaluating are meant to promote a ‘clean finance,’ in which the ‘merchants’ are prevented from speculating in that sacred ‘temple,'” Francis said during a meeting with Council of Europe financial inspectors, per Reuters. The pope appeared to reference the scandals when he quoted the gospel story of Jesus driving the merchants from the temple and telling them, “You cannot serve both God and money.” Reuters reports that Becciu’s lawyer also denied that his client had sent money to Australia to help enemies of Cardinal George Pell, the former Vatican economy minister who was cleared this year of sexual abuse charges in Australia. Pell had accused Becciu of blocking Vatican financial reforms and after Becciu was fired, Pell said the pope “is to be thanked and congratulated.”