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The Holy See, at the center this week of a scandal over controversial investments, disclosed this Thursday in detail its financial accounts with the desire to guarantee greater transparency, as required by the Pope Francisco.
“It is possible that in some cases the Holy See has been poorly advised, even deceived. I believe that we are learning from the mistakes and recklessness of the past ”, recognized this Thursday in a long interview with the Vatican website, the Spanish Jesuit Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, who since January has directed the powerful Secretariat for the Economy of the Holy See.
The disclosure of the consolidated balance sheets for 2019 represents an important step, although it does not include all of the Vatican accounts.
The avalanche of testimonies and documents leaked to the Italian press about the investigation opened a year ago by the Vatican justice on the opaque financial arrangements of the Holy See, have revealed a network of companies and consultancies, almost all Italian, that ended up creating a hole of more than 454 million euros (about 393.7 billion Chilean pesos), according to L’Espresso magazine.
The net worth of all the institutions of the Holy See is 4,000 million euros (3.7 trillion pesos), including the Roman Curia, the Vatican City State -which manages the famous museums-, the Vatican Bank , pension funds and various foundations.
Donations, investments and profits
“The economy of the Holy See must be a glass house,” acknowledged the Spanish prelate.
The Roman Curia, the central government of the Church, which brings together 60 entities at the service of the pope, has a net worth of 1,400 million euros (1,644 million dollars), calculating financial investments and income from real estate.
“The Holy See does not function as a company or as a State, it does not seek profit,” Father Guerrero stressed.
According to the data, the Holy See registered a financial deficit in 2019 of 11 million euros (10.1 billion Chilean pesos) compared to 75 million (69.3 billion Chilean pesos) the previous year, an improvement that it was possible thanks to the good performance of financial investments and some extraordinary transactions.
It registered 307 million euros (283.5 billion pesos) in income and 318 million (293.7 billion pesos) in expenses. For example, it obtained 15 million euros (13.8 billion pesos) from the sale of one property and acquired two others in Rome.
The last official accounts that the Curia has officially released date back to 2015.
According to the head of the Vatican Economy, a Jesuit close to the pontiff, the funds from the “Obolo de San Pedro”, which receives donations from around the world for the pope’s charitable works, they were not used for the controversial purchase of a luxurious building in central London, an operation under judicial investigation.
This controversial purchase, carried out in two stages, through various businessmen, was made with “funds reserved from the Secretary of State”, the “ministry” that corresponds to the head of government.
This is a key clarification, since the donations for the Obolo will be made next Sunday, instead of the end of June, due to the covid-19 pandemic and its amount will measure the impact of the scandal.
In 2019, thanks to donations, 53 million euros (48.8 billion pesos) were collected, of which 10 million euros (9.2 billion pesos) destined for specific objectives at the request of donors.
These donations can be used in safe investments, as “every good father of a family does,” says Guerrero, and excludes financing the arms industry, as demanded by the same Argentine pontiff.
The scandal reaches the money of the Pope
“The Obolus of Saint Peter is an economic aid that the faithful offer to the Holy Father, as an expression of support for the request of the Successor of Peter for the multiple needs of the universal Church and the works of charity in favor of those most in need.” This is how the Vatican website defines that instrument that the Church uses to raise funds and help the poor. Part of the money that would have financed the purchase of an apartment in Chelsea (London) by senior officials of the Catholic Church in 2014, an operation that is at the center of a scandal, would have come from precisely that Obolo of San Pedro.
This Wednesday the Italian newspaper The Republic brought to light more background.
The story is this: An apartment block on Sloane Avenue in London was purchased with Church money for about 350 million euros. The controversial acquisition, defended by Cardinal Giovanni Angelo Becciu, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, as “a timely investment that many people envy us today” raised suspicions within the Vatican authorities. Following inquiries and police raids, documents were seized and there were even arrests.
But while that investigation runs its course, Becciu has been involved in other shady matters. For example, has been criticized for allegedly giving 100,000 euros, also from donations, to businesses run by his brothers, in particular a cooperative that operates in Sardinia to help refugees.
Francisco confronted him about it, and the sum of cases and accusations would have determined that Jorge Mario Bergoglio called for Becciu’s resignation last week. The 72-year-old said he did not understand what happened and declared himself hurt with the pope. Now, the cardinal could face trial in the Vatican on corruption charges, according to the daily La Repubblica.
“Let defend me”
An investigation by the Italian magazine L’Espresso assures that Becciu, who was stripped of all his cardinal powers by the pope, he had set up a network of corruption to move Vatican investments into hedge funds. When all these events occurred, he was a substitute for the Secretary of State, and therefore had direct authority over the Obolo de San Pedro.
According to documents accessed by La Reppublica, the purchase of the property of discord was financed in part by resorting to donations from the faithful. According to the Promoter of Justice, Gian Piero Milano, and his deputy, Alessandro Diddi, “the Secretary of State finances the London operation with the credit line of Credit Suisse and the Bank of Italian Switzerland for 200 million dollars, guaranteed through of assets of patrimonial value from the Secretary of State and donations from the Óbolo de San Pedro ”.
The Republic estimates the money taken from donations at 24 million euros.
The prosecution further questioned that the property’s value had increased tremendously prior to purchase, an increase “that does not seem to find a valid economic reason.” As if that were not enough, this Tuesday the ANSA agency assured that other real estate investments were detected in London for about 110 million euros that also involve Becciu.
After resigning, he summoned the media last Friday, September 25 and revealed that “The pope says he no longer trusts me because the magistrates have told him that I committed acts of embezzlement.” Then he pleaded not guilty and “begged” Francisco “to let me defend myself.”
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