Camille Naredo

This photo taken and handout on May 9, 2025 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican. Handout/Vatican Media via AFP

This photo taken and handout on May 9, 2025 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican. (Photo by Handout / VATICAN MEDIA / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO / VATICAN MEDIA" - NO MARKETING - NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS

Article (news)

VATICAN

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746880126156AFP__20250509__463E3CP__v2__HighRes__TopshotVaticanReligionPope.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="This photo taken and handout on May 9, 2025 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican. Handout/Vatican Media via AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This photo taken and handout on May 9, 2025 by The Vatican Media shows Pope Leo XIV during a mass with cardinals in the Sistine Chapel in The Vatican. <em>Handout/Vatican Media via AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>ROME, Italy -- Along with the spiritual leadership of the world&#x27;s 1.4 billion Catholics, Pope Leo XIV now inherits oversight of the Vatican&#x27;s shoddy finances -- and his predecessor&#x27;s efforts to clean them up.</p><p>The dire state of the Holy See accounts was among the topics cardinals tasked with choosing a successor to Pope Francis discussed ahead of the conclave, according to the Vatican.</p><p>Their pick, American Robert Francis Prevost -- now Leo XIV -- is likely to continue Francis&#x27;s push to bring some order, said the chairman of the Vatican&#x27;s bank, known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).</p><p>&quot;Francis has started the process, I&#x27;m sure Leo XIV will continue,&quot; Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, a French businessman who was appointed to the role by Francis in 2014 as part of a radical overhaul of the Holy See&#x27;s economic framework, told AFP.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/10/pope-leo-xivs-name-hints-at-social-commitment-1415">READ: Pope Leo XIV&#x27;s name hints at social commitment</a></div><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/8/soft-spoken-prevost-is-first-pope-from-us-0140">READ: Soft-spoken Prevost is first pope from US</a></div><p>The Vatican fills its coffers by running hospitals, museums, and owning a vast real estate portfolio, together with donations from the faithful.</p><p>Yet, its finances regularly run in the red.</p><p>In 2023, it reported a consolidated loss of almost 70 million euros ($79 million) on revenue of 1.2 billion euros.</p><p>The Catholic Church&#x27;s economic affairs have long been murky and scandal-prone.</p><p>In a telling example, in 1982 the Banco Ambrosiano -- a bank majority-owned by the IOR -- collapsed amid accusations of money-laundering mafia money.</p><p>Its director, Roberto Calvi, was found hanging that same year from London&#x27;s Blackfriars Bridge.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/5/9/-peace-be-with-you-pope-leo-xiv-ushers-in-new-era-with-powerful-first-blessing-0930">READ: Pope Leo XIV ushers in new era with powerful first blessing</a></div><div><br/></div><div><strong>- Resisting resistance -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1746880098977AFP__20250507__44VH6JU__v1__Preview__VaticanReligionPopeConclave.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Faithful gather as they wait for the smoke to rise from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel as conclave to elect a new Pope starts, at St Peter&#x27;s Square in The Vatican, on May 7, 2025. Dimitar Dilkoff, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Faithful gather as they wait for the smoke to rise from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel as conclave to elect a new Pope starts, at St Peter&#x27;s Square in The Vatican, on May 7, 2025. <em>Dimitar Dilkoff, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p>When Francis became pope in 2013, things were not much improved.</p><p>Italy&#x27;s central bank had recently suspended all bank card payments in the Vatican over its failure to implement anti-money laundering laws, and a year earlier the US had added the tiny city-state to its list of countries of concern for money-laundering.</p><p>In 2014 Francis created a special secretariat for the economy, clamping down on corruption and stepping up scrutiny of investments.</p><p>&quot;There was no strong governance, the rules were not respected, we did not have the right competence,&quot; de Franssu recalled of his early days at IOR.</p><p>Francis once likened the effort to fix and bring transparency to the books to &quot;cleaning the Sphinx of Egypt with a toothbrush&quot;, but the efforts produced some results, including the closure of nearly 5,000 suspect bank accounts.</p><p>The Vatican&#x27;s reputation improved: it joined the Single Euro Payments Area and was later commended by the Council of Europe for its fight against money laundering.</p><p>&quot;We have been more resistant than those that wanted to resist,&quot; said de Franssu.</p><p>Yet problems persist.</p><p>Italian Cardinal Angelo Becciu, a former advisor to Francis who was once one of the most powerful figures in the Vatican, was sentenced to five years and six months in jail for embezzlement in 2023.</p><p>He was one of 10 defendants in a trial that began in 2021 focused on a disastrous investment by the Vatican in a luxury building in London.</p><p>The accused included financiers, lawyers and ex-Vatican employees accused of a range of financial crimes in what prosecutors called a &quot;rotten predatory and lucrative system&quot;.</p><p>The trial involved the risky purchase of a building in London&#x27;s upmarket Chelsea neighbourhood, that resulted in major losses for the Vatican.</p><p>The scandal was particularly embarrassing because Church funds used for such ventures also came from the Peter&#x27;s Pence, money donated by the faithful for the pope&#x27;s charities.</p><p>Becciu -- who was earlier removed from office and stripped of his cardinal &quot;rights and privileges&quot; and thus did not take part in the conclave that elected Leo XIV -- lodged an appeal.</p><p>Among the ongoing financial challenges facing Leo are a decline in donations from the faithful, rising staff costs and a fragile retirement system.</p><p><strong></strong>Francis said last year the latter currently &quot;cannot guarantee in the medium term the fulfilment of the pension obligation for future generations&quot;.<strong></strong></p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div>

<p>Along with the spiritual leadership of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Pope Leo XIV now inherits oversight of the Vatican's shoddy finances -- and his predecessor's efforts to clean them up.</p>

Along with the spiritual leadership of the world's 1.4 billion Catholics, Pope Leo XIV now inherits oversight of the Vatican's shoddy finances -- and his predecessor's efforts to clean them up.

With papacy, Leo XIV inherits Vatican money troubles

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With papacy, Leo XIV inherits Vatican money troubles

Agence France-Presse,

Maxence D'Aversa

Published May 10, 2025 08:30 PM PHT

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religion

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Robert Prevost

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