VATICAN CITY
Deutsche Welle

The Holy See has announced the president of the Vatican bank must leave his post after only 16 months in office. It indicated the move came in the wake of recent efforts to clean up the bank’s internal structures.

The Vatican said Tuesday the shake-up would see its bank’s president, Ernst von Freyberg (pictured above), leave after having been appointed in the final days of Benedict XVI’s papacy.

Australian Cardinal George Pell, who Pope Francis chose to chair the Secretariat of Economy, said it was time “to move the bank to a second phase of reform under new leadership.”

The new board of the bank, which is formally known as the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR, was expected to be announced on July 8, with French financier Jean-Baptiste de Franssu widely tipped to replace von Freyberg.

Shrinking customer base

Also on Tuesday, the Vatican…