Vatican dept spent thousands on flights, clothes says book

(ANSA) - Rome, November 3 - Officials in the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy spent hundreds of thousands of euros on business class flights, clothes made to measure, and expensive furniture, according to a new book by Italian journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi.
    In "Avarice: Documents Revealing Wealth, Scandals and Secrets of Francis' Church," due to be published on November 5, Fittipaldi writes that a list of the secretariat's expenses was sent to Pope Francis in January 2015, less than a year after he established the dicastery to manage the Vatican's economic activities.
    Extracts from the book show the list included "crazy expenses that reached more than half a million euros after just six months of operations".
    Fittipaldi also writes that the Vatican sold 27 million euros worth of petrol in 2012, 18% of which went to "unknown" clients. Fuel is an important source of income for the Vatican, according to analysis published in the book. There are two petrol pumps in the Vatican and the price for consumers is 20% lower than the price in Italy, the book says.