Though he was billed as an anti-capitalist by some, considered one of Pope Francis’s key accomplishments was a monetary endeavor: his reform of the scandal-plagued $6 billion Vatican Financial institution.
Francis, who died almost a 12 months in the past at age 88, sought to reform the financial institution and the Holy See (the central authorities of the Catholic church and Vatican Metropolis) quickly after he turned pope in 2013. Though created in 1942 with the purpose of managing funds for clergy and church organizations worldwide, for years, the Institute for the Works of Faith (IOR), generally often called the Vatican Financial institution, was allegedly tormented by cash laundering, corruption, and even Mafia connections. The Vatican Financial institution’s complete holdings stood at 5.7 billion euros, or $6.5 billion as of 2024, a rise from the 5.4 billion euros, or $6.2 billion the 12 months prior.
The Catholic Church has obtained renewed consideration following President Donald Trump’s escalating assaults on the Church amid Pope Leo XIV’s criticism of the Iran conflict. Earlier this week, Trump canceled an $11 million contract with the Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami to shelter and look after unaccompanied migrant youngsters.
Throughout his preach, Francis, the Argentina-born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, spurred modifications on the Vatican Financial institution that helped root out corruption and convey extra transparency to the group’s interior workings. Because of work that started below Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, the Vatican Financial institution in 2013 started releasing annual stories for the primary time ever, outlining its revenue, operational prices, and charitable giving, amongst different particulars.
The financial institution’s administration additionally acquired a revamp, with Francis in 2014 reducing the facility of clergy members in financial affairs and appointing as head of the Vatican Financial institution Jean-Baptiste de Franssu, a French financier who was beforehand CEO of Invesco Europe. The 62-year-old de Franssu has served as president of the Vatican Financial institution since 2014.
Pope Francis additionally sought to extend transparency on the financial institution, complying with monetary rules and implementing stricter exterior oversight throughout his tenure. The financial institution closed 1000’s of accounts in 2014 to carry the group into compliance with worldwide monetary requirements.
Implementing stricter management of the Holy See, Francis additionally ordered all Vatican departments to shut their funding accounts and ship their funds to the Vatican Financial institution. By centralizing the Vatican’s funds, Francis took monetary energy away from non-expert clergy and helped result in stronger oversight by monetary regulators of its holdings.
To make certain, Pope Francis’ successor Pope Leo XIV in October 2025 did away with the compulsory centralization of Vatican funds. The pontiff opened the door for the Vatican to open financial institution accounts in different international locations if its funding committee “deems it more efficient or convenient.” The decree is supposed to decentralize management of the Vatican’s holdings.
Pope Francis’s modifications on the Vatican got here in response to a number of scandals, together with the collapse of Italy’s largest non-public financial institution, Banco Ambrosiano, through which the Vatican Financial institution had a monetary stake. The financial institution’s president, Roberto Calvi, was later discovered hanged below London’s Blackfriars Bridge with pocketfuls of bricks in addition to 1000’s in money. Calvi had been accused of shedding or misappropriating Mafia funds laundered via the financial institution. He was known as “God’s banker” due to his Vatican connections.
As well as, a Vatican monetary advisor below Pope Paul VI, Michele Sindona, additionally had ties to organized crime and dragged the Vatican into disastrous investments, together with the collapse of his U.S.-based Franklin Nationwide Financial institution in 1974. On the time of his demise, of cyanide poisoning at age 65, Sindona was serving a 25-year sentence for fraud.
Regardless of Francis’s efforts, the Catholic Church has nonetheless been rocked by some scandals.
The Vatican confirmed in 2022 that two former Vatican Financial institution administrators had been convicted for malfeasance on the group. In 2023, a cardinal was sentenced to 5 and a half years in jail for embezzlement.
A model of this story was printed on Fortune.com on April 22, 2025.
Extra on Pope Leo XIV:
- U.S. Catholic leaders criticize Trump for ‘disparaging words’ in regards to the pope as Vatican conflict dangers alienating Catholic voters
- Pope Leo XIV: A ‘handful of tyrants’ are ravaging earth with conflict and exploitation
- Beneath assault from Trump, Pope says the president doesn’t perceive ‘the message of the Gospel’
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com
