The Vatican Bank, known formally as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), will begin making public disclosures of its financial accounts by the end of the year, said its new president on Wednesday, lifting the shroud from the world’s most secretive financial institution, which was recently embroiled in a money-laundering scandal.
Tourists and pilgrims headed to the Vatican City this year must be prepared to pay for any museum tickets, souvenirs and services using cash or cheque only, reported the Associated Press on Thursday, after Italy’s Central Bank suspended all bank card payments in the tiny city-state starting from January 1, citing concerns over the Vatican’s lack of financial transparenc
The Vatican has reported one of its worst budget deficits in years as “the negative trend of global financial markets” did not permit “targets to be met”. The loss was almost 15 million euros in 2011 despite a 3 percent gain in donations.
The Roman Catholic Church posted losses of 14.9 million euros ($18.4 million) last year, with an official statement from the Holy See blaming the deficit on high personnel and communications costs and adverse market conditions.
Vatican Bank president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi has been removed from his position as the Holy See’s chief banker after receiving a unanimous vote of no-confidence from the bank’s board of lay members – who blamed Tedeschi for failing to improve the financial institution’s governing standards.
Pope Benedict XVI, the 265th leader of the Roman Catholic Church, has commissioned three retired cardinals to investigate how a string of sensitive Vatican documents managed to the leak to the media this year – in an embarrassing scandal dubbed as “Vati-Leaks.”
The Vatican Bank has been plagued by corruption and criminality ever since it was established in 1942. Yet this is hardly a surprise, given that no bona fide legal system is currently in place to ensure check and balances for the bank of God.
The scandals surrounding the Vatican’s finances strain credulity. At the heart of the Catholic Church, we find murder, collusion with violent crime, bribery and money laundering.
US financial firm JP Morgan Chase will terminate the Vatican Bank’s account with its branch in Italy by the end of the month, after concerns grew over the lack of transparency at the Holy See’s financial institution.
The US State Department has officially added the Vatican to its list of money-laundering centres worldwide for the first time ever, said a report by Reuters on Thursday, though an department official stressed that the tiny city-state was not considered as a high-risk country.
