Vatican bank admits widows victims of crackdown

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Dozens and perhaps hundreds of widows and Vatican pensioners recently came in for a rude surprise: The Vatican bank told them they had to close their accounts or risk losing access to their money — all in the name of Pope Francis’ reform efforts, The Associated Press has learned.

The bank now says it was all a “technical error” and that the widows and pensioners are being kept on as clients. That reversal came despite the bank’s highly-publicized plan to close so-called “lay accounts” as it tries to mend relations with Italian authorities who have suspected that Italians were using the bank as a tax haven.