Vatican, the Pope’s Treasure, by Di Emiliano Fittipaldi, L'Espresso (July 20, 2014)

Vatican, the Pope’s Treasure

By Di Emiliano Fittipaldi
L'Espresso
July 20, 2014

http://espresso.repubblica.it/inchieste/2014/07/18/news/vatican-the-pope-s-treasure-1.173565

Real estate, stock, gold and currency assets worth at least $ 10 billion. From APSA to IOR, an overview of all the businesses within the Pope's holdings

If money is the dung of the devil, the Vatican seems to observe the proverb "pecunia non olet": Over the centuries, priests, bishops and cardinals piled up bullions and gold coins, banknotes of any currency and immense real estate assets. While it is almost impossible to quantify accurately a wealth that has taken on biblical proportions, L’Espresso managed to read a significant amount of top-secret documents, and can now, for the first time, shed light on a big part of God's treasure.

Sifting through a secret report by Cosea, the reference Commission set up to assess the organization of the economic structure of the Vatican, one learns, for example, that "the many Vatican institutions manage proprietary assets and assets belonging to third parties worth a declared value of € 9-10 billion, 8 to 9 billion of which are invested in securities, and one in real estate. From the audit of the balance sheet APSA (the organization that manages the Apostolic estate) never disclosed, and of some confidential notes undersigned by the new president of IOR, Jean Baptist de Franssu, we derived that a bulk of the treasure is kept hidden by APSA itself, as unlike IOR, it has never released any information about its holdings.

The treasure hunt kicks off at Place Vendôme, in the very center of Paris. Just a few yards away from the Ritz Hotel, in rue de Rome, a French subsidiary of APSA holds some of the most prestigious properties in the area. Sopridex SA had many famous tenants (like François Mitterrand), and has currently assets recorded on its balance sheet topping € 46.8 million. Its staff includes "a director, three employees, cleaning staff," and as many as “16 porters”.

APSA controls itself other ten Swiss companies (among which mysterious Diversa SA, Immobiliere Sur Collonge and l’Immobiliere Florimont), which, together with Profima SA, manage property and land in the Swiss confederation and all over Europe. Their assets sum up to € 18 million. "Bear in mind that historically APSA undervalues its assets in the balance sheet for tax purposes,” said a qualified source within the financial organization headquartered in Palazzo Apostolico. "Moreover, those are non consolidated Swiss companies, and could therefore hold assets for much higher amounts than those they report."

If on the one hand, it is no secret that Profima was incorporated in Lausanne in 1926, and that it served Pope Pius XI after he decided to hide abroad part of the "compensation" paid out to the Catholic Church following the signing of the Lateran Treaty with the fascist regime, on the other, its holding company Diversa is virtually unknown. Incorporated in Lugano in August 1942, its chair is currently Gilles Crettol. The Swiss lawyer runs the Pope's businesses on the Northern side of the Alps: his name pops in almost all of the other Swiss companies of the Pope’s estate.

The Vatican also owns real estate companies in Great Britain — like British Grolux Investments Ltd, founded in 1933, that manages as of the present assets in London to the tune of € 38.8 million, among which some luxury stores in New Bond Street. As it owns real estate, of course, in Italy. In addition to an endless treasure chest owned by Propaganda Fide (which renamed Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples holds a fortune believed to hover, net of the housing crisis, around € 7 billion), APSA is also the parent company to Sirea and Leonina that according to financial disclosures are worth more than € 16 million. Rents to individuals and commercial leases of all of the subsidiary acronyms of which APSA is the umbrella company added in 2011 to about € 23.5 million.

The overall final balance sheet of APSA is impressive. The value of the houses and apartments it owns across Europe totaled in 2013 € 342 million, but that of its investment portfolios in euros overshot impressive € 475 million that do not include $ 137 million in stocks, £ 33 million and 17 million Swiss francs.

"Bearing in mind that APSA’s assets are worth more than what is recorded in its balance sheet, within the Vatican’s gold assets many things do not add up either." A read of confidential data of 2013 reveals that APSA holds precious metals worth "€ 30.8 million, a value that refers to 32,232 ounces in bullions and 3,122 ounces in gold coins... an amount that shed € 12.4 million from the previous year."

However, the Holy See’s estate includes also the Vatican Museums, which count among the most visited and profitable museums in the world. Their net profit in 2011 was € 58.7 million, and they hold cash (including tickets and merchandising) in excess of 91 million, though auditing the balance sheets of the other organizations the museums’ revenues appear like a black swan. Due to expenditures of the Roman Curia (that cost € 77.9 million just last year!), APSA reported losses on its balance sheet of € 48.4 million. In the end, only the Secretariat’s of State contribution yielded a small profit. While Saint Peter's Pence collected through the charity of the faithful € 78 million in 2013, legendary Vatican Radio lost striking € 26.6 million, according to an internal report referring to 2011 and disclosed in 2013. In addition, the Vatican’s printing house, the publisher of L'Osservatore Romano, reported losses of € 5.5 million. The drain is larger however, as it does not include the losses of the 170 permanent diplomatic delegations (another € 25.1 million), and the € 5.8 million needed to pay the Vatican’s 110 Swiss Guards. Finally, in 2011 the Office of Liturgical Celebrations spent for Pope Ratzinger’s masses € 1.1 million.