{"id":818,"date":"2014-04-15T22:12:11","date_gmt":"2014-04-15T20:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/?p=818"},"modified":"2014-04-16T07:25:47","modified_gmt":"2014-04-16T05:25:47","slug":"79-peter-didnt-have-a-bank-did-he","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vaticanfiles.org\/fr\/2014\/04\/79-peter-didnt-have-a-bank-did-he\/","title":{"rendered":"79. Peter Didn\u2019t Have a Bank, Did He?"},"content":{"rendered":"

April 15th, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cPeter didn\u2019t have a bank, did he?\u201d Shortly after his election Pope Francis asked this rhetorical question. Peter did not have a bank, of course, but the Vatican does have a bank, and it\u2019s called the Institute for the Works of Religion (Istituto di Opere Religiose, IOR). Its operations have been well known by the public for its record of financial scandals over the last thirty years, often exchanging the \u201cworks of religion\u201d for reckless banking. The peak of mismanagement and distrust was reached during Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s reign and was certainly one factor that contributed to his resignation. Pope Francis called for an investigation and formed a commission to help him make decisions concerning the future of IOR.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Vatican Keeps the Bank<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Francis has been working hard to bring a breath of fresh air both inside and outside the Vatican walls. In many ways he is a Pope who is trying to renew the system from the inside out by giving a personal example of a sober lifestyle full of religious enthusiasm. His statement about Peter and the bank raised some expectations that he would also touch on significant structural changes as far as the institutions of the Vatican are concerned. Some commentators went as far as saying that the Pope was ready to shut the IOR down, thus opening a season of disestablishment of the political adds-on at the center of the Catholic Church.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last week the decision was finally announced: the Pope confirms <\/span>\u201cthe importance of the IOR\u2019s mission for the good of the Catholic Church, the Holy See and the Vatican City State\u201d. In other words, the bank will continue to exist as is, but with more transparent policies, all while its banking profile remains untouched. For all that Francis is changing, the financial system of the Vatican will not change. <\/span>Peter did not have a bank, but Popes do, and despite of all his \u201cmissional\u201d emphases Francis is no different than his predecessors.<\/p>\n

The Thick \u201cHardware\u201d of the Vatican<\/i><\/p>\n

What is becoming more and more apparent is that Francis is focusing on the \u201cattitude\u201d of the Church, but he is hardly interested in revising the basic \u201cstructure\u201d of the Vatican. His remarks on the outgoing \u201cmission\u201d of the Church revolve around the \u201coperative system\u201d of the Church but leave its \u201chardware\u201d as it stands. The bank is only one piece of a much larger picture. The Vatican is a state and the Pope is a political leader. The Vatican has a territory, an army, a diplomatic body, civil and penal courts, a prison, and a bank. It issues passports and participates in the international political scene as a sovereign state. The Roman Catholic Church is a church which operates with a state as its center. Its two-sided face is both religious and political.<\/p>\n

The political \u201chardware\u201d exchanges the Church with a political body trusting in man\u2019s protection, rather than encouraging God\u2019s people to serve God\u2019s mission in God\u2019s way. The usual justifications for the \u201chardware\u201d of the Vatican are that it is the result of its long history and it helps to serve the mission of the Church. These are of course pragmatic reasons rather than biblical ones. Moreover, these justifications have caused the church to become something that goes ways beyond the way Jesus wanted the church to be. \u201cPeter did not have a bank, did he?\u201d was a promising start. In fact, the church does not need to own a bank nor did Jesus ever say or even suggest that the church is supposed to be a political state at heart. Francis\u2019 subsequent reinforcement of the IOR shows that in the system as it stands the reason of state prevails over biblical principles, even for a \u201crevolutionary\u201d Pope.<\/p>\n

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