But Francis made reform of the Vatican’s finances one of his first priorities when he became pope in 2013, and after nearly a decade of scrutiny, the bank appears to be ready to turn a new page. In the current trial, involving 10 individuals charged with crimes ranging from money laundering to fraud, the IOR is only tangentially involved, and even flagged the purchase of a London apartment complex — the transaction at the heart of the charges — as suspicious, launching an investigation into the Secretariat of State’s financial management.
Monsignor Battista Mario Salvatore Ricca, the prelate of the IOR, said in a statement published with the report that today the bank “basically does what it is supposed to do and nothing else.”
“So do not worry about achieving extraordinary results,” Ricca wrote. “Do what you can and let Providence do the rest, otherwise in the pursuit of excess, the words of St. James — ‘Will the rich person fade away in the midst of his pursuits’ — may come true for us as for everyone else.”
This article originally appeared here.
