Vatican Bank

Reform of the Vatican Bank, as part of a general overhaul of the Vatican’s finances, began less than 6 months after Pope Francis assumed the papacy in 2013. As part of this effort, Pope Francis assembled seven prominent lay Catholic financiers and enlisted firms such as KPMG, EY, Deloitte & Touche, and McKinsey & Co. to assist in adopting standard financial and accounting practices. Cardinal George Pell was named to head a new Secretariat for the Economy with much more centralized authority over church finances than in the past.

The official name of the Vatican bank is the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, or the Institute for Religious Works. It had been called one of the most secretive financial institutions in the world. The bank ...