Future of Vatican bank chief to be «clarified» next week

Europe Online
July 2, 2014

http://en.europeonline-magazine.eu/future-of-vatican-bank-chief-to-be-clarified-next-week_344222.html

Vatican City (dpa) - The Vatican plans next week to clarify whether its scandal-plagued bank, the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), is going to have a new president, a spokesman indicated Wednesday, reacting to numerous reports of a looming change at the top.

Rumours have been mounting in recent days that German lawyer Ernst von Freyberg, appointed in February last year in one of the last decisions taken by former pope Benedict XVI before his resignation, is going to be replaced.

"The IOR is in a time of natural and peaceful transition and development," Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said.

"The contribution from president Ernst von Freyberg is deeply appreciated and judged very positively, and further clarifications are possible, or even likely," after Saturday when a key panel meets, Father Lombardi said.

That panel, the Council for the Economy, is made up of eight cardinals and seven lay experts. Vatican expert John Allen, a reporter for the US daily The Boston Globe, wrote in a report citing unnamed sources that one of the council‘s members, French financier Jean-Baptise de Franssu, is the front runner for the bank‘s top job.

This week, a panel of eight cardinals advising Pope Francis on Vatican bureaucratic reforms also discussed changes at the bank, Lombardi said. The pontiff took part in those meetings along with his second-in-command, Vatican Secretary of State Pietro Parolin.

The bank, which was suspected in the past of sheltering the funds of the Mafia and other criminal organizations as well as of tax evaders, has been hit by fresh scandal recently despite the Vatican‘s efforts to improve its record on financial transparency.

In May, press reports alleged that the bank lost 15 million euros (20.5 million dollars) in bailing out a media firm tied to Parolin‘s predecessor, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. The damage is expected to show up in annual accounts to be published in the coming weeks.

The Italian weekly L‘Espresso, quoting official documents, reported last week that the man Francis put in charge of overseeing the IOR, Monsignor Battista Ricca, complained to von Freyberg about being given insufficient information about the suspect deal.

L‘Espresso also reported that the IOR made a number of other questionable investments, including in real estate in Hungary and the United States, and there was a deficit of 800 million euros in the Vatican‘s pension fund.