The Vatican Billions
Origin of the Current Colossal Wealth of the Catholic Church The current spectacular accumulation of wealth by the Catholic Church is a comparatively recent phenomenon. It really was initiated when the See of Peter was deprived of the Papal States by the Italians in 1870. These states included Rome itself and comprised almost one third of the Italian peninsula. It was then that she began the accumulation of riches according to the success formula of the modern industrial and financial world. The main foundation stones however, were laid by Pope Benedict XV (1914-22) during and after the First World War (1914-18). He originated today's Vatican policy that church and papal investments should not be limited by political or religious considerations, but instead should be handled purely on the basis of sound, good, concrete and profitable business. The Vatican at that time had not the liquid resources which it received a decade later from Fascist Italy, but it had suf...