The secretive $6 billion Vatican Bank was beset by scandals, disastrous investments—and even ties to the Mafia. How Pope Francis tried to fix it

(Credit: Stefano Costantino—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)

• Pope Francis died on Monday, leaving behind a legacy of reform at the $6 billion Vatican Bank. Although founded to manage clergy and church finances in 1942, for years the organization had been tied to scandals, secrecy, and catastrophic financial deals. During Francis’s tenure, the bank improved transparency and centralized control of its finances to boost regulatory oversight.

Although he was billed as an anti-capitalist by some, one of Pope Francis’s key accomplishments was a financial endeavor: his reform of the scandal-plagued $6 billion Vatican Bank.