Will the Vatican Have a Bank?
Savini, Riccardo
552 THE COM MONWEAL October 2, I929 much as it declares that the study of this problem should be left to the state legislatures. Undoubtedly, the Committee is right in preferring state to...
...They would greatly mitigate its hardships, particularly in our country at the present time when the age limit for employment has been so considerably lowered...
...Foreigners are likely to be misled by the fact that Italy has a number of institutions described as Catholic banks...
...Vatican currency will also be used in payment of rights obtained through the various offices, such as special marriage licenses and legal fees for the procedure requesting matrimonial annulment...
...comes, and would in greater or less degree be relieved from the fear of want and many other demoralizing influences associated with insufficient employment...
...rost He came in silver buckles, On a crisp, windless night...
...Of course these absolute powers have a somewhat theoretical value...
...552 THE COM MONWEAL October 2, I929 much as it declares that the study of this problem should be left to the state legislatures...
...ANNE BLACKWELL PAYNE...
...Their good effects can be comprehensively indicated in the statement that millions of Americans would have larger and steadier in...
...Finally, the Committee gives a qualified endorsement to old-age pensions, in the statement that further consideration might well be given to the necessity and advisability of establishing them, "either through private industry, through the states or through the federal government...
...By RICCARDO SAVINI S SOON as the treaty between the Italian state and the Holy See became effective, the latter entered into possession of the financial resources which had been stipulated therein...
...The economic problems of Catholicism are no small entity...
...Legislative action, as contemplated in the Huber Bill which nearly became a law in Wisconsin a few years ago, indicates the only adequate method...
...If men cannot find jobs after the age of forty-five or fifty, the number of those who may be called the "economically aged" becomes greatly enlarged and the need for old-age pensions greatly intensified...
...The "prosperity reserve," with the amendment suggested above, could be so organized as to reduce very considerably the amount of unemployment in periods of depression...
...The Italian Minister of Finance and Treasury handed Cardinal Gasparri a check on the Bank of Italy for 75o0oo0oo lire and informed him that state securities having a par value of i,ooo,ooo,ooo had been credited by the Treasury to the Vatican account...
...The Vatican has never had any direct connection with these banks...
...The coins will be legal tender in all Vatican offices located in Rome, even if not within the City, and presumably will be purchased and treasured as souvenirs by the many pilgrims visiting Rome...
...Prince Agostino Chigi is remembered as "the banquer of the Holy Roman Church," and the Banco di Santo Spirlto was created by Pope Paul V (Borghese) ; so that in establishing a bank Pius XI would be in perfect harmony with the great traditions of the Church, besides demonstrating his sense of practical reality...
...The spiritual mandate can be exercised only if sufficient means are provided, and until the present moment expenses have proven very much in excess of returns...
...The Pope himself in the first speech delivered after the conciliation, addressed to the parish priests and preachers of Rome, referred to the economic aspects of the spiritual mission, saying that while the Holy See confided in Divine Providence for its ultimate destinies, it was the duty of the Church to secure some assistance from human providence...
...Until the present moment this function was entrusted to a special department which, like all others in the Vatican administration, was managed almost entirely by priests...
...Thus, while it seems every day more probable that the bank will be inaugurated in the near future, the only definite step taken so far has been to commission some well-known financiers to make a study of the situation and submit tentative plans...
...The administration of Vatican finances will from now on probably require special and experienced handling, and it seems probable that a Vatican bank will be established for the purpose...
...While the plans for the bank are still somewhat vague, stamps have been issued and the type of currency to be used in the Vatican City has been definitely decided...
...Part of their ancient property will now be returned, and they will be further enriched by the legacies and donations which they constantly receivc...
...The distribution of funds as well as their administration depends entirely upon the Pope, who enjoys full and arbitrary power in every field, from dogmatic and political discussion to the smallest and most insignificant detail pertaining to the Catholic Church...
...There flashed across the clover An iridescent heel...
...Vatican City will presumably coin money, not only to facilitate exchange but also to give a traditional sanction to the newly constituted state, inasmuch as the act of coining money is an indication of sovereign prerogatives...
...The bank would first of all be the Bank of the Vatican State--that is, cntirely independent from the Catholic banks and all institutions governed by Italian laws...
...From the nature of the case, old-age pensions would not reduce unemployment...
...The directors are chosen from Catholic laymen, because the Pope has indicated on several occasions that he did not wish to have ordained priests accept positions involving financial responsibility...
...Many Catholics who were in the habit of using the Catholic banks will probably patronize the pontifical bank...
...Affluent heirs of April And summer's tall trustees, Bedazzled by his manners Gave up their legacies...
...Although these measures do not seem capable of increasing in any considerable degree the average amount of employment, their beneficent possibilities in other relations are enormous...
...Both public and private insurance plans could be so organized as to restrict the volume of a depression, by discouraging and preventing overexpansion of plants during especially prosperous periods...
...Of the amount collected for the "obolus" of Saint Peter, a major part is absorbed by international missionary societies such as Propaganda Fide, which has a separate administration...
...Rumor has been current in Rome that offers had been received from a prominent banker of German origin with international connections, as well as from a well-known American firm, but the Vatican authorities have declined to discuss plans, and their course still seems uncertain...
...Stabilization of seasonal employment would only indirectly and very slightly reduce the total amount of unemployment during any given year...
...the Pope can give general directions and decide on matters of importance but he cannot possibly attend to details such as the financial administration of the papal patrimony...
...The denomination "Catholic" implies only that these banks are managed by Catholics and that they seek the patronage of Catholic institutions and congregations...
...The administration of Vatican funds would be its major function, and by its very nature and its direct dependence upon the Holy See it would probably enjoy the confidence of all Catholic institutions...
...Now that the Vatican has become an independent state, even though the smallest state in the world, its conditions have changed so much as to make private administration of funds difficult, if not impossible...
...One must, however, consider that the contributions have diminished to a considerable extent since the war, particularly in the case of European nations...
...their services have been solicited at times, but always in the form of a private transaction...
...Such banks are also to be found in France, October z, I929 T H E C 0 M MONWEAL t and in Italy have been particularly numerous in agricultural sections...
...WILL THE VATICAN HAVE A BANK...
...A federal census of the unemployed would stimulate constructive action and give valuable guidance by providing adequate information...
...On their face all six of the foregoing recommendations aim at preventing or reducing the hardships of unemployment...
...The Vatican may have an area consisting of about forty square miles, it may have a population of only 5oo souls, but it has spiritual, political, religious and economic interests spreading far and wide, with agencies and ramifications in every part of the globe...
...With scarlet trail behind him Upon a ravished land, Fastidious, he departed, No spot upon his hand...
...It is generally believed that North American Catholics have in recent years contributed fully 6o percent of the total Vatican income...
...In the second place, it will become the natural deposit for funds belonging to religious congregations which, before the Lateran treaties, were not allowed to own in their corporate names...
...Twenty-lira gold pieces, and five-lira silver coins will be used for the purchase of Vatican stamps and for the payment of entry fees into museums and galleries...
...On the other hand the project encounters many obstacles, mostly deriving from the somewhat general feeling of the members of the Roman Curia that it would be better not to have the Vatican take too direct and conspicuous an interest in financial operations...
...Exact data as to the resources, income and expenditures of the Vatican are not available, but it is quite safe to state that the annual income of the Holy See at present is not more than $t,5oo,ooo...
...There fell upon the aster A sudden breath of steel...
...With lace upon his bosom, And a wig of gleaming white...
...On one or two occasions the Holy See has come to the assistance of Catholic banks which were temporarily in trouble but this has always been through the personal interest of the Pope who feared that the failure of the bank would result in suffering among the poorer depositors...
...It would produce no such effect in a period like the present, when all the masters of government and of industry are convinced that the country is prosperous...
...We can also recall the efforts of the Church to regulate its financial problem in the past...
...The aid rendered was, therefore, nothing more than an act of charity, and has in every case been made in favor of the depositors, not of the institution...
...It may be noted that they were mostly small institutions and that many have recently failed...
...Undoubtedly, the Committee is right in preferring state to national unemployment insurance, but its faith in the possibilities of voluntary and private effort in this field is scarcely justified by experience or by the probabilities...
...The amount is comparatively small, when one recalls the steady stream of gold sent to Rome by the faithful from every corner of the earth...
...The most immaculate pirate, And the stillest buccaneer, With cool, efficient fingers Unsheathed a jeweled spear...
...It has, therefore, every chance of becoming an institution of considerable importance...
...A comprehensive system of employment exchanges would reduce costs and hardships, and in some degree would lessen the time spent by some wage-earners in search of work...
...Unemployment insurance would relieve an enormous amount of human suffering and it ought to be adopted in every industry...
Vol. 10 • October 1929 • No. 22
