In 2012, the United States government included the Vatican on its “concern” list of countries where money laundering could easily take place.
And it was only one year later when Francis began his pontificate that a financial scandal emerged. Just a few months after his election, Italian authorities arrested a Vatican official allegedly involved in laundering over 20 million dollars.
At the time, there were few internal controls over financial operations within the Vatican.
ALESSANDRO CASSINIS
Vatican Auditor General
Let's not forget that the Vatican is a place where they were not used to submitting to financial controls, so there was a natural distrust and resistance at a cultural level.
Pope Francis made it his mission to make the Vatican more transparent and to repair its financial reputation.
GIANLUIGI NUZZI
Journalist
The auditors pointed out to the Pope the situation that can be summarized in this sentence: there is almost no transparency in the Holy See's balance sheets.
Pope Francis commissioned auditors and enforced regulations to tackle corruption cases which further exposed financial scandal.
One example is the case of the former auditor general, Libero Milone—a renowned economist who the Pope charged with reviewing balance sheets and financial operations of more than one hundred Vatican departments and organizations. He was hired in 2015 and fired in 2017. Milone was accused of spying on high-ranking officials of the Roman Curia—something he denies.
LIBERO MILONE
Former Auditor General of Vatican
I always worked according to the rules established in the statute and by the Holy Father, who was my only superior.
What problem had we gotten close to? That's the question. What was it that we saw or thought we had seen that created problems for them?
Libero Milone took his dismissal to trial at the Vatican but lost the case.
In the meantime, little by little, the accounts were put in order. The APSA, the department in charge of administering the patrimony of the Apostolic See, eventually took inventory of their properties. It showed the Vatican owns over 5,000 properties worldwide, many of which are rented out at a reduced price to church-affiliated groups. Others were completely mismanaged and unprofitable.
This is how the then Secretary for the Economy, Australian Cardinal George Pell, explained the situation.
CARD. GEORGE PELL
May, 2021
Who knows? I don't know. I mean, one of the stories was that quite a number of the properties were run down. But of course, anybody who's managing a portfolio of properties, makes it their business to keep the properties in good repair so they can be rented. Now, I'm not equipped to try to explain that brute fact, but I can vouch for the fact that that was in the reports. Now, that's indicative of all sorts of things. It's indicative of why we're in financial difficulty in the Vatican.
The Vatican ordered its accounts, its internal control systems and its courts. In addition to the Libero Milone case, the courts were addressing other cases involving high-ranking officials of the Vatican.
1.- FORMER LEADERS OF VATICAN BANK
Former directors of the IOR, also known as the Vatican Bank, were convicted of embezzlement and money laundering. They sold almost 30 of the Vatican's properties and kept part of the proceeds.
2.- BAMBINO GESÙ
Another case that emerged over the years involved the former President and former treasurer of the Vatican children's hospital, the Bambino Gesù. They were charged with embezzling hospital funds to renovate the apartment of the former Vatican Secretary of State.
Yet still, the case of Cardinal Angelo Becciu is the most notable financial scandal that took place under Francis' pontificate.
CARD. ANGELO BECCIU
September 2020
Yesterday until 6:02 p.m., I felt like a friend of the Pope, his faithful executor. And then…the Pope, talking to me, tells me that he no longer trusts me.
3.- THE CASE OF CARDINAL BECCIU
Cardinal Angelo Becciu was the Vatican's third in command. Pope Francis created him a cardinal in 2018. But everything changed in the two years following.
Cardinal Becciu and his collaborators were convicted in the Vatican court for allegedly carrying out a real estate operation that caused the Vatican to lose over 150 million dollars. The Cardinal's lawyers say they will appeal the conviction.
Fabio Viglione
We believe that the process has demonstrated the absolute innocence of the Cardinal, an innocence in which we believe and consider, I repeat, that has been proven during the process.
MARIA CONCETTA MARZO
From our point of view, all the accusations were denied during the trial.
Some members of the Vatican say that Becciu's trial is proof Pope Francis' reform has been effective. The financial operations mismanaged by the Cardinal were denounced by the internal control bodies.
ALESSANDRO CASSINIS
Vatican Auditor General
It all started from two reports addressed to the Promoter of Justice, one by me and the other by the IOR. From there, the investigations and the determination of certain responsibilities arose, after a process that lasted more than a year. Some may point to that case and say, “But then they failed.” But that is the past, not the present. And it is proof, in my humble opinion, that the Pope's economic reforms were successful.
Becciu's trial is historic. It is the first time a cardinal has been convicted and sentenced by a Vatican court. It is a sign that something—over the past 10 years of Francis' pontificate—has changed in the Vatican.
JRB
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