German appointed head of Vatican bank

A 54-year-old German has been appointed head of the Vatican bank, it was announced in Rome yesterday.

Ernst von Freyberg has been appointed by Pope Benedict, in one of the last acts of his papacy, as president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, as the bank is formally known.

The bank’s former president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi stood down last May after he received a vote of no confidence from its board.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said yesterday that the new appointment followed a “painstaking and detailed process lasted for some months” making it possible to assess around 40 candidates “of professional and moral excellence” with assistance from Spencer and Stuart, a Frankfurt-based management consultancy firm.

He said the pope “closely followed the entire selection process” . He added that “as well as bringing vast experience of financial management, Ernst von Freyberg is an active member of the Order of Malta and founding member of a foundation that supports Catholic organisations in France, Germany and Austria.”

Over recent years the Vatican has taken steps towards improving its bank’s transparency which has included the creation of a financial watchdog and the setting up of new rules for monitoring the movement of funds in and out of the Vatican.

Last summer, Moneyval, a committee of financial experts backed by the 47-nation Council of Europe, gave the Vatican a mixed report card on its actions and urged it to further strengthen measures aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.

In an otherwise quiet day at the Vatican, Pope Benedict met the president of Romania, Traian Basescu, in a private audience yesterday, in what was believed to be the last such audience of his papacy.

It has also emerged that the pope’s personal secretary Archbishop Georg Ganswein will accompany him to Castel Gandolfo when he resigns on February 28th next and will be with him as he enters his retirement, including the period of his residence at the monastery inside the Vatican.

Fr Lombardi said Archbishop Ganswein was also to continue as prefect of the papal household when Pope Benedict’s successor is elected.