The Holy See and Money

Fun.  Excerpts:

The US government has announced concern that the Vatican could be exploited by money-laundering operations.

The State Department listed the Vatican among countries whose banking systems might be manipulated by money-launderers. The Vatican is now listed for the first time as a “jurisdiction of concern” for that reason.

The designation by the State Department is not a particularly harsh criticism of the Vatican. There are 67 other countries in the “jurisdiction of concern” category, including Ireland, Portugal, South Korea, and Belgium. A higher classification, listing “jurisdictions of primary concern,” lists some of the world’s major economic powers, including Russia, China, Great Britain, Japan, and the US itself.



The State Department’s decision to express concern about the Vatican nevertheless is a setback for Church officials who have implemented a series of financial reforms aimed at restoring international confidence in the Vatican banking system...

Interesting on its own. Even more interesting when put beside this. Excerpt:

Pinched by the global recession and tough-love budget demands of the European Union, the Italian government is looking for extra revenue, and has its eyes set on commercial properties owned by the Roman Catholic Church.

On Feb. 15, the government of Prime Minister Mario Monti announced it wants to revise rules on the tax-exempt status of church-owned commercial property. Though the exemption also applies to other not-for-profit entities, such as trade unions, political parties and religious groups, the Catholic Church is its largest beneficiary.

“Such a move would have been unimaginable six months ago,” said Francesco Perfetti, a history professor at LUISS University in Rome. “After all, no matter whether you are a believer or not, the church is an integral part of Italy’s culture.”

The exemption, introduced in 1992, has sparked a heated debate, especially after the Euro crisis and Italy’s staggering debt forced the government to introduce sweeping austerity measures, including a sharp rise in the pension age...

Church officials respond that purely commercial church businesses must already pay taxes in full, and that the exemption is aimed at helping social institutions like schools and hospitals, not at giving the Catholic Church an unfair advantage.

“We don’t ask for preferential treatment but just to be treated as other not-for-profit entities,” Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, president of Italy’s bishops conference, said in January...

The Salesians, a large religious order, said they would be forced to close many of the thousands of private schools they operate throughout Italy if forced to pay property tax on them. Other church-affiliated bodies voiced similar concerns...

This could be good or it could be bad. It could be part of a broader pattern or it may mean nothing at all. But I find the confluence of events interesting.