The Vatican on Thursday said the former papal envoy to Madrid's criticism of plans to move dictator general Francisco Franco's remains were his personal opinion after Spain complained of "interference".
Spanish police said on Friday that they had smashed a ring that allegedly operated a fake branch of the Vatican Bank and swindled people around the world.
Two investigative journalists accused of publishing stolen papers which exposed scandal in the Vatican were acquitted on Thursday, while a whistle-blowing Spanish prelate was sentenced to jail time in the Vatileaks trial.
The Italian PR expert arrested for allegedly stealing confidential documents from the Vatican, insisted it was her co-accused, a Spanish priest, who secretly recorded the pope's conversations.
A Spanish prelate has been arrested for allegedly stealing and leaking classified Vatican documents in the second such scandal to hit the secretive institution in three years.
The Vatican has closed a probe into alleged sexual abuse of a boy at a school in northern Spain which had prompted intervention by Pope Francis, the school said on Monday.
Spain's bishops conference on Thursday defended the right of priests to maintain the secrecy of the confessional booth even in cases of serious crimes such as the sexual abuse of children.
Pope Francis on Tuesday criticized an "inhumane" system which causes a youth unemployment rate of "50 percent" in Spain and "60 percent" in Andalusia in the wake of recent European elections.
Spain's Catholic Church beatified 522 "martyrs" on Sunday, mostly clerics killed during the Spanish Civil War, prompting fury from Franco-era victims' groups who say the honour "legitimized" his dictatorship.
Spain's socialist opposition party say they will mount a legal challenge against any changes that make Spain's abortion law more restrictive. They will also downgrade their relations with the Vatican if new rules are introduced.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Monday became the first European leader to meet with Pope Francis, with the Vatican saying the two discussed the country's steep economic crisis.
