Against a backdrop of criminal probes related to alleged financial misconduct both in the Vatican Bank and at the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, the Vatican’s wealthy missionary department better known as “Propaganda Fide”, Pope Benedict XVI today created a new in-house watchdog to promote compliance with international rules against financing terrorism, money-laundering, insider trading and market abuse.
The move amounts to a potential sea change for the Vatican, where traditionally the various departments have been largely autonomous in their financial dealings, with only a loose coordination provided by the office of the Apostolic Patrimony of the Holy See (APSA). By pledging cooperation with international monitoring agencies, the new laws also mark a break with the Vatican’s traditional reluctance to open up its internal financial operations to outside scrutiny.
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