Pope Leo XIV has undone one of Pope Francis' bigger financial reforms and decisions, canceling a law Monday that had concentrated financial power in the Vatican bank. Leo abrogated the 2022 law that had decreed that management of the Holy See's assets was the "exclusive responsibility" of the Institute of Religious Works, or IOR. In his first-ever executive decree, Leo published a new law Monday that says the Holy See generally does use the IOR, but can turn to non-Vatican banks in other countries if the Vatican's investment committee "deems it more efficient or convenient" to do so.
- Background: As Vatican News explains, the 2022 law established that the IOR, which is sometimes referred to as the Vatican Bank, "was the custodian of all the movable assets of the Holy See and of its associated institutions. It therefore stipulated that all institutions of the Holy See that held financial assets with financial institutions other than the IOR must inform the IOR and transfer them to the Vatican Bank as soon as possible."
- The AP's take: "The law is the clearest sign yet that Leo is starting to fix some of Francis' more problematic decisions and is recalibrating the Vatican's centers of power, after Francis tended to lean heavily on the advice of the IOR and its top manager."
- The Pillar's take: "The move is significant, both because it reopens the door to overseas banking and asset management arrangements which Vatican authorities had previously warned were almost impossible to keep track of, and because it suggests the pope ... does not fear any near-term shortage of liquidity in the Holy See." It details possible drivers of the decision: one, that donations and promises of them rolled in after he became pope, and the financial situation isn't now so dire; or that conversely, things are so bad that they need to seek out higher returns than what the IOR has been achieving. (The full read is worthwhile.)
It was the second significant move that Leo has taken in as many weeks to reform some of Francis' decisions. On Sept. 27, Leo removed a top administrator in the Secretariat of State and sent him to Paris to serve as ambassador to UNESCO. Monsignor Roberto Campisi had been close to Francis, and the late pope made him president of a new fundraising commission that was formed to drum up donations for the cash-strapped Holy See. The commission's statutes and members were announced while Francis was in the hospital, on Feb. 26, and included only Italians with no professional fundraising experience.
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The lack of qualified fundraisers and absence of any Americans immediately raised questions about the commission's credibility. Americans are among the biggest donors to the Holy See, but also demand levels of transparency and accountability that the Vatican hasn't always followed. Campisi's transfer suggests Leo is planning to revamp the commission and perhaps name new members who would lend the commission more gravitas and credibility with key donors.
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