The Vatican Bank: The Most Secret Bank In the World (2024)

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The Vatican Bank: The Most Secret Bank In the World? ›

It is run by a president but overseen by five cardinals who report directly to the Vatican and the Vatican's secretary of state. Because so little is known about the bank's daily operations and transactions, it has often been called “the most secret bank in the world.”

The Institute for the Works of Religion (i.e. the Vatican Bank) is the official bank associated with the Vatican. They oversee 5.2 billion euros ($5.6 billion USD) worth of assets associated with the Pope, Cardinals, Catholic institutions, and other religious entities.

The role of the Vatican Bank is perhaps the most controversial and little-understood part of the Vatican's finances. Also known as the Institute for the Works of Religion, the Vatican Bank is a private bank located in Vatican City founded by Pope Pius XII in 1942.

Murder, bribery, suspicious deaths, money laundering, and many other nefarious acts have been linked to the bank that is officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR).

For individuals and institutions who want to open a bank account in the Vatican, a process can be initiated with the support of institutions, organizations or international diplomatic relations related to the Catholic Church. These enterprises are often used to support and finance the activities of the Catholic Church.

It is run by a president but overseen by five cardinals who report directly to the Vatican and the Vatican's secretary of state. Because so little is known about the bank's daily operations and transactions, it has often been called “the most secret bank in the world.”

It also holds the retirement funds for many religious orders of women or men. So there's no way for individuals to deposit money in the Vatican Bank. The Vatican Bank is also not particularly large. In terms of its total holdings, it would amount to a small regional bank in the U.S.

The Vatican Bank manages $64 billion of assets on behalf of its 17,400 customers, according to a Dec. 5, 2014, article in International Business Times . The bank owns $764 million in equity. The bank keeps gold reserves worth over $20 million with the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The bank held assets worth 5.2 billion euros ($5.5 billion) at year's end, which included deposits and investments from more than 12,700 clients -- mostly Catholic religious orders around the world, Vatican offices and employees, and Catholic clergy.

It's also one of the wealthiest. The church has vast assets, including billions in real estate and some priceless art, not to mention the Vatican Bank. But its finances are largely secret. Tallying that immense wealth is pretty much impossible, according to experts.

Who controls the Vatican bank? ›

The Institute for the Works of Religion (Italian: Istituto per le Opere di Religione; Latin: Institutum pro Operibus Religionis; abbreviated IOR), commonly known as the Vatican Bank, is a financial institution that is situated inside Vatican City and run by a Board of Superintendence, which reports to a Commission of ...

Pope Francis has ordered that the Holy See and connected entities move all financial assets to the Institute for Works of Religion (IOR), commonly known as the Vatican bank. The pope's rescript, issued Aug.

The court on Thursday ordered that the funds at the Vatican bank be seized. This was not the first trial involving former Vatican bank employees. The bank had already pressed charges against two other former managers, who had been found liable for mismanagement in 2018.

With the right paperwork and initial outlay, it is possible for a foreign citizen to open a bank account in The Vatican. This opportunity for international accounts and investments offers several advantages based on economic regulations and tax structures.

Vatican City is governed as an absolute monarchy with the pope at its head. The Vatican mints its own euros, prints its own stamps, issues passports and license plates, operates media outlets and has its own flag and anthem. One government function it lacks: taxation.

Popes usually get paid hendsomely, the current wage he gets is $32,000 on a monthly basis but he refused to get any of that money. Instead, Pope Francis decided to either donate this money to the church, use it to endow a foundation, placed in trust or pass it on to a family member.

And last year, the Vatican's former finance minister, Father Juan Antonio Guerrero Alves, spoke with the Vatican News about the Holy See's financial statements for 2021, revealing that it had 3.9 billion euros in total assets. Adjusted for 2023 dollars, that's almost $5 billion.