How much money is there in the so-called «Vatican bank», the Institute for Religious Works (IOR) and how is it invested and used? Soon, this information will be in the public domain. The IOR will have an internet website, where its annual balance sheet will be posted. Although the IOR is a [...]
Pope Francis won everyone over with plain, straightforward and clear homilies. Every morning, Vatican employees rush to outrun each other in order to attend the Mass the Pope celebrates in Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he’s still residing. And everyday L’Osservatore Romano – the Vatican daily newspaper – reports on the Pope’s everyday “parish [...]
It seems certain that Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone will remain Secretary of State until April 27. That is the day when new papal nuncio Ettore Balestrero – previously Undersecretary for Relations with States, heading to the important nunciature of Colombia– will be ordained bishops. In the past, the Pope himself would conduct these ordinations [...]
With two changes to the anti-money laundering law, the Holy See has made its financial system even more open and transparent. The changes – approved by the Pontifical Commission of Vatican City State on December 14 and in effect since December 17 – allow the Vatican Authority for Financial Information to reach Memorandums [...]
In order to understand the path the Holy See began and is staying on to achieve full -international financial transparency, one should look beyond the seven negative ratings (out of 16 core and key recommendations to combat money laundering) and beyond the 23 negative ratings on the general recommendations (out of 45, [...]