Retired Vatican finance chief Cardinal Giuseppe Caprio has died, the Vatican said on Monday. He was 90.
The Vatican said the Italian cardinal died on Saturday. No cause of death was given.
Pope Benedict XVI on Monday praised his service in a condolence message, saying Caprio served five popes in ”delicate and important” offices.
Caprio retired 15 years ago as head of the Vatican’s Prefecture for Economic Affairs, which draws up the Vatican Budget.
In a 1987 interview with an Italian newspaper, he contested the idea that the Vatican had enormous wealth. He estimated Vatican assets then at $560-million, but said more than half of the assets were unproductive and only produced expenditures. — Sapa-AP