Pope Francis, Vatican Finances and the Papal Court

National Catholic Register, 11 June 2020

In the last few weeks, Pope Francis’ financial reforms have moved into high gear again.

The last few months have shut down much ecclesial life, but at the Vatican the financial reforms are going from strength to strength, with major new developments coming every few weeks.

The financial reforms of Pope Francis, which began with a bang in 2014, were largely dead by 2017. Now they live again. What happened? The ups-and-downs reveal something of how popes govern; the Roman Curia really is the last “royal” court for a “monarch” how holds virtually unlimited authority. Every pope governs that way to a certain extent; power is determined not by office alone but by those to whom he grants access. Pope Francis, in choosing to bypass much of the usual structures of the Roman Curia, has accentuated this.

Recall that when the financial reforms were launched in 2014, with Cardinal George Pell appointed to head a new Secretariat for the Economy, it was not done through usual channels. The secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, himself was blindsided, having not seen the relevant motu proprio, Fidelis dispensator et prudens, ahead of time. Cardinal Pell had the high position at court, having been heard by Pope Francis at the Council of Cardinals.

Cardinal Pell spoke often about how he had fortnightly meetings with the Holy Father and had his strong backing. But by 2016, the reforms were being blocked. The external audit that Cardinal Pell had mandated was stopped by Cardinal Angelo Becciu, then an archbishop and the “substitute” (chief deputy) in the Secretariat of State.

In July 2016, some of the key powers transferred from the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA) — the Vatican department charged with management of investments, real estate and personnel — to the Secretariat for the Economy in 2014 were transferred back. This time, it was Cardinal Pell who was blindsided.

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