Vatican children's hospital officials probed over 'cash for cardinal's home'

The Vatican said today that its prosecutor is investigating two former officials of a Vatican-owned children's hospital over renovations at the penthouse apartment of the city-state's former secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The cardinal denied that he had authorised any such payments related to his apartment, said his lawyer, Michele Gentiloni Silverj. The Vatican statement confirmed a report in Espresso magazine that Giuseppe Profiti, the Bambino Gesu hospital's former president, and Massimo Spina, its ex-treasurer, were under investigation. The Vatican said the investigation was ongoing but did not say when it began. The report by journalist Emiliano Fittipaldi, among five defendants on trial at the Vatican in a leaked documents case, said the renovations totalled €422,000  - more than twice the €200,000 sum that Mr Fittipaldi revealed previously in a book that led to the leaked document charges. The cardinals lawyer issued a statement saying the cleric never "gave indications or authorised" the hospital foundation to make any payments relating to his apartment. The cardinal, who has insisted he paid for the renovations himself, has already sought to make amends...

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