VATICAN CITY
Wall Street Journal
New Board to Run Vatican Bank as Reform Push Continues
By LIAM MOLONEY
July 8, 2014
ROME—The Catholic Church moved on Tuesday to deepen reform of the Vatican bank by replacing its board as the bank reported a nose dive in profit during 2013.
The Holy See decided to appoint a new board of superintendence under a plan to create simpler and more efficient structures to serve the church and make financial scandals a thing of the past.
This is only the second time in its 127-year history that the bank, officially called the Institute for the Works of Religion, or IOR, has published its financial accounts and comes as part of Pope Francis ‘ push for greater transparency.
Net profit in 2013 fell to €2.87 million ($3.90 million) from €86.6 million the year before, the IOR said in a statement. In 2011, net profit was €20.3 million.
“We are now in a position to move the IOR to a second phase of reform under new leadership,” said Australian Cardinal George Pell, prefect of the recently created Secretariat for the Economy, in a statement. “This is a time of major change in the Holy See, not only for the IOR.”
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