PENNSYLVANIA
GoErie
BY JAMES F. DRANE
Contributing writer
Pope Francis is a reform-minded pope. He started his papacy with a Vatican Bank reform, and this was certainly needed. Italian authorities recently arrested a priest employee of the Vatican Bank who was already under investigation for money laundering; Monsignor Nunzio Scarano was charged with conspiring to move 20 million euros in cash from Switzerland to Italy for his friends. All of this gave credence to long-circulated rumors that some of the Vatican Bank’s clerical accounts were being used for illegal purposes.
The Vatican Bank’s purpose was to finance papal projects and religious charities. In fact, however, it has been a focus of scandal for some time. Recent coverage of the Vatican Bank scandal shocked Americans, but in Italy, the news was a source of entertainment. The Italian government stopped doing business with the Vatican Bank some time ago because of the bank’s lack of financial transparency.
Pope Francis moved fast to fumigate the Vatican Bank. He appointed a trusted bishop to the top post and created a committee of advisers to report directly to him. He continues to introduce more and more transparency and accountability. The question is, could this be the beginning of an even more extensive church reform?
Moneyval, a bank monitoring agency under the Council of Europe, praised Pope Francis’ actions, but it also made clear that the Vatican Bank needed more reforms. Can Pope Francis continue to make the needed reforms?
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.