Fortune — This pope means business

Everything you always wanted to know about how the Roman Catholic Church is run, and the consequences of "the Francis effect."

Fortune

This pope means business
Shawn Tully, with additional reporting by Anna Artymiak
(ht Lambert Strether at Naked Capitalism)

Pope Taps Consiglieri for Crucial Economic Post

Pope Francis has once again made politics personal, tapping his own private secretary to be the No. 2 in the Vatican’s new economy secretariat.

Time
Pope Taps Consiglieri for Crucial Economic Post
AP

Philip Pullella — Pope revolutionizes Vatican by opening finances to scrutiny

Pope Francis on Monday revolutionized the Vatican's scandal-plagued finances, inviting outside experts into a world often seen as murky and secretive and saying the church must use its wealth to help the poor.

Francis, elected nearly a year ago with a mandate for reform, used a document known as a Motu Proprio - Latin for "by his own initiative" - to implement immediate changes including appointing an auditor-general.

The document says the Church must see its possessions and financial assets in the "light of its mission to evangelize, with particular concern for the most needy".

A new Secretariat for the Economy will report directly to the pope and will be headed by Australian Cardinal George Pell, 72, currently the Archbishop of Sydney and a key proponent of financial transparency in a committee that advised the pope. A Church source said Pell would move to Rome.

Reuters
Pope revolutionizes Vatican by opening finances to scrutiny
Philip Pullella