Speaking to journalists last month, Pope Francis addressed a seemingly impossible task: reforming Vatican finances. Surprisingly, he named a cardinal who, he implied, had held up progress: Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (Apsa). The cardinal, who reached retirement age in February, has overseen the agency responsible for the Vatican’s investment and real estate portfolios since 2011. “I am studying candidates who have an attitude of renewal, a new person after so many years,” the Pope told reporters. “Calcagno knows the functioning well, but perhaps the mentality has to be renewed.”
Last week Francis revealed the name of the successful candidate: Bishop Nunzio Galantino. The choice surprised Vatican-watchers because the bishop is noticeably lacking in financial expertise. Five years ago he was a virtual unknown, leading a small southern Italian diocese. Then, to general astonishment, Pope Francis named him secretary of the Italian bishops’ conference. The Pope elevated Galantino because of his reputation for integrity and austerity. Francis has now given him his toughest assignment yet.
Everyone has heard of the Vatican bank. But few know of Apsa. The latter is, in fact, far more significant. The Vatican bank’s assets do not belong to the Vatican, but rather to the religious orders and Catholic associations whose funds it manages. Apsa, meanwhile, uses money from Vatican properties and investments to finance the Curia. Reform of the Vatican bank, launched by Benedict XVI, is more or less complete. Apsa, meanwhile, has fought off outside auditors, earning a reputation for opacity and cronyism.
Francis was elected in 2013 with a mandate to reform Vatican finances. He began promisingly, creating a Council for the Economy to oversee Vatican financial policy, appointing Cardinal George Pell as head of the new Secretariat for the Economy and naming an independent auditor general. Five years on, the council is rudderless, the secretariat neutered and the auditor general’s post is vacant after the previous occupant was marched out of the Vatican. The nomination of Bishop Galantino is therefore a last-ditch effort to salvage Vatican financial reform.
We wish the bishop well, but the omens are discouraging. For all their outstanding qualities, post-conciliar popes have failed to get a grip on Vatican finances. Paul VI founded the Prefecture for Economic Affairs in 1967, but it was unable even to produce credible annual financial statements. Under John Paul II, the Vatican bank became a byword for scandal, and Benedict XVI’s resignation left his financial reforms incomplete.
To his credit, Francis is refusing to give up when many have written off his chances. The Pope trusts Bishop Galantino to implement his vision faithfully. The bishop, in turn, has an impeccable reputation. Will this be enough to enable them to haul Apsa into line? The odds are against them, but let’s pray that they succeed.
Last week French President Emmanuel Macron met the Pope in a private audience which lasted 57 minutes, the longest private audience granted to any head of state by the current Pontiff. Macron hugged Francis enthusiastically as the cameras clicked away.
What does all this mean? Not so long ago the Vatican and the French state were involved in a diplomatic standoff over the appointment of a new ambassador to the Holy See by the Republic. For more than a year the Vatican refused to accept the credentials of the candidate presented by the French, until eventually a new candidate was put forward.
The president at that time was François Hollande. While he was a very different character to Macron, it is important to remember that Macron was a member of Hollande’s government and, according to some, his preferred successor.
There are several indications that the French government has decided to change course with regard to the Church, preferring dialogue to confrontation. Perhaps we should read President Macron’s recent speech to the French bishops as well as his decision to be installed as an honorary canon of the Lateran in this light. While this is by no means a return to the caesaropapism of Napoleon III or the strict alliance between Church and state at the time of Louis XIV (both rulers who Macron may secretly admire), it does represent a turning away from the anti-clericalism of the Third Republic in the early years of the 20th century, exemplified by prime ministers such as Georges Clemenceau and the notorious (at least in Catholic circles) Émile Combes.
That Macron can shake off this heritage with relative ease (though not without some anguished voices to the contrary in France) shows that he has a flexible vision of laïcité, post-revolutionary France’s doctrine of separation between the Church and state. That is a tribute to his determination to be a forward-
thinking reformer, and will benefit, we hope, not just the Church, but the whole of France.
If he continues on this path, Macron could go down in history as the man who finally ended the damaging religious war that began in 1789, and which has bedeviled France ever since.
This page is available to subscribers. Click here to sign in or get access.
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.