Pope Francis To Consider Closing of Vatican Bank

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Personally, I would like to see them close the bank.

So many of our fallen-away Catholic brothers and sisters complain about the money issues of the Church as there reason for leaving. They seem to have a complete misunderstanding of where their local diocese and parish money comes from. They like to complain that their Church is always asking for money, and they ask (amazingly!) why the Vatican doesn’t sell some of their riches to fund their Church or just send a check! :o

Having a bank just fuels these erroneous thoughts…
 
Intersting but the article is short on details as to what would replace it. I am all for more transparency and a crack down on money laundering. We take those things for granted when it comes to banking in the US. But I am not sure I want the Vatican’s resources under the control of a secular banking institute either. IIRC, some of those secular banks in Italy have had their share of scandals too. (out of the frying pan …)
 
I have known many people in non Catholic churches that get a “knock on the door” from the Pastor
if they don’t tithe 10%. Their church takes note of that and feels free to come state to them personally they are not contributing according to the Bible mandate of 10%

Mary.
 
Corki said:
Intersting but the article is short on details as to what would replace it. I am all for more transparency and a crack down on money laundering. We take those things for granted when it comes to banking in the US. But I am not sure I want the Vatican’s resources under the control of a secular banking institute either. IIRC, some of those secular banks in Italy have had their share of scandals too. (out of the frying pan …)
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If you are like me in wondering where the finances of the Vatican City State are derived, where the finances of the Holy See are derived, and whether the Vatican Bank has anything to do either one of them…maybe this link will help.

nbcnews.com/business/how-vaticans-finances-work-1C8930020#
 
Could closing it simply be temporary, in order to completely clean house/investigate it without any resistance?
 
mercytruth said:
If you are like me in wondering where the finances of the Vatican City State are derived, where the finances of the Holy See are derived, and whether the Vatican Bank has anything to do either one of them…maybe this link will help.

nbcnews.com/business/how-vaticans-finances-work-1C8930020#
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The article gives some idea of what it’s about but the fact that the information comes from CNBC gives me pause about some of the facts. Especially when it says things like this:
“Where do we begin? It’s been controversial for decades, accused of money-laundering and collaborating with the mafia, and before that with the Nazis.”
 
livnlern said:
The article gives some idea of what it’s about but the fact that the information comes from CNBC gives me pause about some of the facts. Especially when it says things like this:
“Where do we begin? It’s been controversial for decades, accused of money-laundering and collaborating with the mafia, and before that with the Nazis.”
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Yes, I can understand your skepticism, especially the part about the “Nazis”. If anyone has other sources for understanding the differences between the finances of the Vatican City State, the Holy See, the Vatican Bank, and the CCU I would appreciate it.

God’s peace
 
oldcelt said:
I instantly got a vision of Pope Francis standing in line to cash his check…thanks for the chuckle.
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I can see that vision but I can also see one where he says to charge 0% interest for home ownership!! Perhaps that is why they are considering selling the Vatican Bank!!
 
mercytruth said:
If you are like me in wondering where the finances of the Vatican City State are derived, where the finances of the Holy See are derived, and whether the Vatican Bank has anything to do either one of them…maybe this link will help.

nbcnews.com/business/how-vaticans-finances-work-1C8930020#
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Very informative. I didn’t realize all that. There are going to be some Vatican officials who have no citizenship other than the Vatican state - banking laws tend to be very tied to citizenship. I can see that there might be an issue if there is no Vatican Bank for them. But that is probably only a handful so I am sure something could be worked out.

The bigger issue is that, according to that article, the Vatican Bank contributes almost 1/5 of the Vatican’s income. Losing that will put a damper on efforts to increase social justice spending. 😦
 
The article is short on details but also very speculative.
according to a report by *The Times *in The Australian
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just tells us that this is rehashed news. You’d have to go back to *The Times *article (and which *The Times *do they mean?) to see if anyone who actually knows is quoted.

Also “considering” something and doing it are two completely different things. I could “consider” joining the circus but that doesn’t mean I’m suddenly the trapeze queen. 😃
 
jimcav said:
Personally, I would like to see them close the bank.
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I respectfully disagree. It’s not really about the bank, but rather the culture. If the culture of corruption persists, closing the bank would not help. The bank itself as an institution is not intrinsically evil - it’s the people who run the bank who commit the crimes. Even if the Vatican were to close the bank, it would still need to transfer the funds to another bank, not run by the Church. Money laundering is not specific to any bank, so it could conceivably still happen, if the root cause is not addressed.

That said, the closing of the bank as a symbolic gesture would certainly create good PR. But like I said, the root cause still needs to be addressed.
 
jimcav said:
Personally, I would like to see them close the bank.

So many of our fallen-away Catholic brothers and sisters complain about the money issues of the Church as there reason for leaving. They seem to have a complete misunderstanding of where their local diocese and parish money comes from. They like to complain that their Church is always asking for money, and they ask (amazingly!) why the Vatican doesn’t sell some of their riches to fund their Church or just send a check! :o

Having a bank just fuels these erroneous thoughts…
Click to expand...
On posts that reference excuses as to why people leave the faith, I think it’s usually about personal selfishness or because parents leveled off or quit the practice of the Faith.
 
AllSeasons said:
I respectfully disagree. It’s not really about the bank, but rather the culture. If the culture of corruption persists, closing the bank would not help. The bank itself as an institution is not intrinsically evil - it’s the people who run the bank who commit the crimes. Even if the Vatican were to close the bank, it would still need to transfer the funds to another bank, not run by the Church. Money laundering is not specific to any bank, so it could conceivably still happen, if the root cause is not addressed.

That said, the closing of the bank as a symbolic gesture would certainly create good PR. But like I said, the root cause still needs to be addressed.
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That same logic ought to apply to the UN and every nation.
 
AllSeasons said:
It’s not really about the bank, but rather the culture. If the culture of corruption persists, closing the bank would not help. The bank itself as an institution is not intrinsically evil - it’s the people who run the bank who commit the crimes. Even if the Vatican were to close the bank, it would still need to transfer the funds to another bank, not run by the Church. Money laundering is not specific to any bank, so it could conceivably still happen, if the root cause is not addressed.
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Not necessarily. There are national and international laws that regulate and monitor this type of activity. If the funds were held in another bank or banks (major international banks, we could assume) the bank would be responsible for monitoring the activities of the accounts to insure that no money laundering or other prohibited activities would occur. At the same time, I would hope the Vatican would put trustworthy people in charge of managing those accounts, and arrange for propering auditing and controls.

I don’t have a problem with these accounts being held in a secular institution. I would think that all the accounts of all the Catholic parishes and dioceses in the world are in such banks. And having the funds there doesn’t mean there would be a loss of income for the Vatican, but that the transactions and investments would be handled through a third party. Of course, if some of the income generated has been derived from illegal activities, then losing that income would be a penance for past sins.
That said, the closing of the bank as a symbolic gesture would certainly create good PR. But like I said, the root cause still needs to be addressed.
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Yes and yes. And more than symbolic, it would clear the air for many who wonder what the Vatican (or its bank) is doing running a financial institution, and why they have taken so long to comply with the rules that other banks have to follow.

And you know, the idea of a Vatican credit union is actually a very good one. It wouldn’t replace the Vatican Bank but it would be in step with the idea of the faithful pooling their resources to help those in need, like the early Christian communities.
 
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