Italian police in 2013 arrested Monsignor Nunzio Scarano over allegations he was using the Vatican bank to launder $30 million. If you’ve ever been to the Vatican, which is actually a sovereign nation, you’ve seen the unbelievable wealth owned by the Catholic Church, but how much is the Vatican really worth? How Much Wealth Does The Vatican Control? Legal Statement. The bank, which has only 112 employees, manages asset portfolios, makes limited loans, facilitates the movement of money to Catholic projects worldwide, and holds salary and pension accounts for employees of the Holy See and the Vatican City State. The Vatican has big investments in banking, insurance, chemicals, steel, construction, real estate. As estimated by Forbes, Vatican wealth is nominal, merely in the hundreds of millions when factoring in the entity’s investments and various funds. Learn how your comment data is processed. Dividends help pay for Vatican expenses and charities such as assisting 1,500,000 children and providing some measure of food and clothing to 7,000,000 needy Italians. "He has been well-advised by lawyers who understand the scope of issues at the bank, and has not made any move to block the reforms.". The Vatican Bank replaced Tedeschi in June 2012 with Ernst von Freyberg, initially to serve as an interim leader, before appointing him as President of the Board of Superintendents in February 2013. Pope Francis delivers remarks at St. Patrick'... Pope compares anti-gay politicians to Hitler, 5 things to know about Pope Francis' trip to Mexico, Gay former student of Pope Francis' speaks out, President Obama: Pope a "good man" with "moral imagination", Vatican confirms pope met with gay couple during U.S. visit. While the Vatican’s exact net worth isn’t clear, a ballpark figure would come in at $10 to $15 billion.

“According to the AP’s Nicole Winfield, the Holy See’s real estate was worth about $900 million in 2004 — before the real estate bust.

", First published on September 25, 2015 / 5:15 AM. Last year the Holy See, the administrative center of the Church and the spiritual capital of its members, took in $57.3 million from sources as diverse as fees for ceremonies; income from publications, newspaper ads, and the sale of videocassettes; and surprisingly modest investment earnings of $18 million. “Vatican Bank accounts are only supposed to be held by residents of Vatican City and church personnel. Election Day could turn into "Election Week" with rise in mail ballots. The bank's profits have gone from $3.9 million in 2013, when the pontiff -- born Jorge Mario Bergoglio -- was elected Pope to $75.5 million last year. While labor costs are high, the Vatican maintains that its top members still work for ‘peanuts.’, “The Vatican’s top brass, however, still work for peanuts. No one knows for sure, but that's sort of a broad consensus across a number of google searches I just did. "Pope Francis has done a solid job of steering the bank into a posture aligned with international banking norms," Berry said. Another dimension to this is the sheer value of all of the priceless works of art housed in Vatican City. We know: The Vatican Bank manages $64 billion of assets on behalf of its 17,400 customers, according to a Dec. 5, 2014, article in International Business Times. Pope Francis’ Net Worth .