Jun. 19 (CWNews.com) – The Vatican has rejected a charge that the Holy See has been delinquent in paying water and sewer bills.
The Italian dailiy La Repubblica had reported early in June that the Vatican owe €20 million (about $25 million) to Acea, the Italian utility that became a private corporation in 1999.
Under the terms of the Lateran Accords, signed in 1929 to govern relations between the Vatican city-state and Italy, the Holy See was granted access to the water and sewer lines of Rome. When these services were privatized in 1999, the Vatican was expected to pay usage fees.
In a June 19 statement responding to the charge aired by La Repubblica, the Vatican said that the question of water usage had been "definitively resolved" by the Lateran Treaty. That agreement was confirmed, the Vatican statement continued, by an exchange of letters between the Italian prime minister and the Vatican Secretary of State in January 2004. The statement notes that the Italian government committed to resolve the question of payment in an April 2004 decree.
So if this isn’t resolved does that mean that Italy will take no more crap from the Vatican?
2 comments
The best line on the internet I have seen in quite some time. Thanks!
Ba-dum bump Tsssssh!
He’s got a million of ’em!
(hee-hee)