For centuries the Vatican has projected an aura of immense, even ostentatious, wealth befitting one of the great global institutions. From the echoing vastness of St. Peter’s Basilica to art treasures beyond price, the seat of Roman Catholicism is a symbol of incomparable grandeur. In an increasingly materialistic world, it evokes a moral authority that not only is felt by 840 million believers, many in Hindu, Muslim, and Communist lands, but also influences non-Catholics as well. The 263rd successor to Saint Peter, the charismatic Pope John Paul II, displays the trappings of his office as resplendently as a temporal monarch.
Having survived barbarian invasions, persecutions, countless plagues, and occasional schisms, the papacy now faces a modern-day problem: a deep financial squeeze. The costs of the Vatican’s growing bureaucracy far exceed its means. Operating expenses divert contributions
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