![]() The IOR once had more than 30,000 account holders, ranging from private entities to Catholic missionaries around the world. “We need to be open to expert advice and aware of any opportunity to improve the way we conduct our financial administration.” “If we make better use of the resources entrusted to us we can improve our capacity to support the good works of the Church, particularly our works for the poor and disadvantaged,” Pell said upon his appointment. In February, Francis appointed Australian cardinal George Pell as the head of a new “Council for the Economy” authority tasked with attending to the Holy See’s many financial problems. Some say it is better that it is a bank, others that it should be a charitable fund, and others say close it.”Īpparently in keeping with the Catholic Church’s tendency towards forgiveness, the pope wants to give it another chance. “I don’t know what will become of the bank. Peter didn’t have a bank account,” he said shortly after his election. After the so-called Vatileaks scandal that dogged his predecessor Benedict XVI’s papacy with whispers of financial impropriety by high-ranking Cardinals, Francis gave the impression he might just close the bank’s doors altogether. Not only did he want to create a “poor church” to better serve the poor, he also seemed intent on rebuilding the Vatican’s scarred reputation. When Francis was elected in March 2013, he made it clear that reforming the Vatican financial mess was a priority. Nothing less will do, for its sake, for Catholicism’s sake and for the sake of international banking.” ![]() “The time has come for the IOR to be regulated in the way all other banks are. ![]() “The IOR seems to have believed that being an agent for God has exempted it from the rules of man, but the evidence is that it has been as fallible as any other human organization,” Richard Murphy, director of Tax Research UK, said at the time. Shortly after, the IOR’s chief Paolo Cipriani and deputy Massimo Tulli were indicted and will also stand trial on money laundering charges. Just last summer, a prelate who worked as director of the accounting analysis service of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See Nunzio Scarano, nicknamed Monsignor 500 for his preference for large bills, was arrested by Italian police in a twisted plot to smuggle $26.2 million from Switzerland via his Vatican bank account with the help of an ex-spy and financial broker. In early 2013, before Francis was elected, the Bank of Italy even blocked the use of credit card payments at the Vatican for the IOR’s failure to comply with the European Union’s anti-money laundering regulations, meaning tourists had to scramble for cash to visit the Vatican Museums and buy rosaries and other souvenirs. Morgan have closed their IOR accounts, refusing to do business with the Holy See’s primary financial arm. Over the years, several international financial institutes, including J.P. In 1982, Roberto Calvi, dubbed God’s Banker for his close association with the IOR in his role as head of Banco Ambrosiano, which collapsed, was found hanging under Blackfriar’s Bridge in London under still-suspicious circumstances. The IOR has been the subject of great scrutiny and scandal for decades.
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