CNA—Cardinal Angelo Becciu said Wednesday that he is blameless in the forced resignation of a Vatican auditor, because it came at Pope Francis’ request. Becciu was said to be responsible for the sudden firing in 2017 of the Vatican’s first auditor general, Libero Milone, as well as the cancelation of an internal audit. But during…
I began transforming into a Catholic investor while working as a portfolio manager for Northwestern Mutual Life. I had been a pro-life Catholic for a long time and was serving on the Wisconsin Right to Life Board of Directors. A stockbroker I worked with regularly approached me with a new idea for a stock to…
The London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) — once called the world’s most important number — is an interest-rate benchmark that has influenced borrowing costs for consumers, businesses, and investors around the world since 1986.1–2 It’s been quoted in five currencies (British pound, Swiss franc, Euro, Japanese yen, and U.S. dollar) from the daily submissions of…
On December 15, 2021, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve System made a significant shift in monetary policy in response to rising inflation. The Committee accelerated the reduction of its bond-buying program in order to tighten the money supply and projected three increases in the benchmark federal funds rate in 2022,…
Prolife Bank (proposed) is near opening. Its distinguishing feature is that it will be a bank that refuses to support anything remotely connected with the killing of innocent unborn babies. Who knew that many of the mainstream banks with which we do business actively support causes including abortion and abortion-related nonprofits whose activities and principles…
CMN—A recent provision by the Secretariat for the Economy made clear that the Administration for the Patrimony of the Apostolic See manages all the Holy See’s sovereign financial activity. In short, this means that it is back to old times as far as Vatican finances are concerned. All of the accounts owned by institutional entities…
The Pillar—Pope Francis has issued a new Vatican law that aims to combat corruption by senior officials in the curia and in the city state, and that bars investments in companies or businesses “contrary to the social doctrine of the Church.” The new law also aims to end customary cash gifts exchanged among Church officials…
CNA—New details have emerged about the links between the two Italian businessmen at the center of the Vatican financial scandal. In the months before Gianluigi Torzi was asked by the Holy See to act as middle man for the final purchase of the London property at 60 Sloane Ave. from Raffaele Mincione, a company owned…
CNA—The Holy See press office announced Friday that Italian businessman Gianluigi Torzi has been arrested after he was interrogated as part of a Vatican financial investigation. Torzi played a crucial role in the controversial purchase of a London property development by the Secretariat of State. “Today the Office of the Promoter of Justice of the…
If you qualify for a hardship loan for your business due to consequences of attempts to halt rapid acceleration of spread of coronavirus COVID-19, don’t wait to begin the application process. Here are some important links you’ll need: Disaster Loan Assistance: Federal Disaster Loans for Businesses, Private Nonprofits, Homeowners, and Renters – Fact Sheet https://disasterloan.sba.gov/
The SECURE Act (short for Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act) was signed into law by President Trump. It went into effect on Jan. 1. The SECURE Act is the most significant piece of retirement legislation since 2006 and will make it easier for tens of millions of hardworking Americans to save for…
Vatican City, Nov 5, 2019-CNA—A 50 million euro loan request to secure the purchase of a bankrupt hospital was vetoed by Cardinal George Pell and financial authorities at the Institute for Works of Religion, commonly called the Vatican Bank, before it was approved by the Holy See’s central bank, APSA, where the loan breached international…
Vatican City, Oct 29, 2019-CNA– An Italian dermatology hospital and two senior cardinals are at the center of a burgeoning financial scandal involving a Vatican bank, the U.S.-based Papal Foundation, and millions of euros from misallocated government grants. The events concern the financial collapse of the Istituto Dermopatico dell’Immacolata (IDI), an Italian hospital. According to…
CNA—Cardinal Angelo Becciu has denied any impropriety in a real estate investment made with Vatican funds and insisted that he only acted in the best interests of the Holy See. In an interview with Italian media published Tuesday, the former deputy at the Holy See’s Secretariat of State rejected any wrongdoing in the authorization of…
A confidential report from the Vatican’s anti-corruption authority shows that the Secretariat of State has used about $725 million, most of which came from the pope’s charity fund, in off-books operations. Italian weekly L’Espresso published a report Oct. 20, revealing information from three confidential Vatican documents, one of which is a report from the pope’s…
CNA—The recent raid of Vatican offices is connected to an investigation into charges that Vatican money financed the development of luxury properties in London, and led to a windfall for the Vatican’s investment managers, according to an Oct. 14 report from Financial Times. According to Financial Times, Vatican police and prosecutors are investigating the possibility…
Vatican prosecutors seized documents and electronic devices in a raid executed Tuesday at the offices of the most senior curial department. According to a statement from the Holy See press office Oct. 1, the raid was conducted at the offices of the general affairs section of the Secretariat of State. The action was authorized by…
Crux—In two recent interviews, the former president of the Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR), better known as the Vatican Bank, spoke about the relationship between members of the Roman Curia and a failed Italian bank, the manipulation of accounts at the IOR and how working in the Vatican led him almost to lose…
On January 4, 2013, a month before Pope Benedict resigned, the Italian Central Bank turned the lights off on the entire Vatican. The Vatican no longer had the ability to make any electronic financial transactions. Italian authorities asserted that the Vatican was not in compliance with international money-laundering rules. This was a clear message that…
CNA—The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau on Feb. 14 officially proposed to rescind a rule to protect borrowers from predatory lending, prompting concern from Christian groups nationwide that the CFPB may weaken existing protections against loan sharks. Catholic Charities USA and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops joined a coalition of Christian groups to sign…
