著名神話學家約瑟夫・坎貝爾(Joseph Campbell)曾說：「金錢是凝結的能量，釋放它，便釋放了生命的可能性。」 (Money is congealed energy, and releasing it releases life’s possibilities.)我們如何管理金錢的流入與流出，反映了我們內在最深層的價值觀。投資不僅僅是財富的增長，更是一種參與企業發展的行動，一種對成長的承諾，最終是對人類未來的貢獻。
金錢也可以被視為一種愛的能量——當我們以有意識和謹慎的方式運用它，它便成為一種祝福。我們藉由金錢，向上帝、自己、所愛的人，以及我們所關懷的社群，表達我們的關愛。
5/9/2025 在英國BBC電台聽到Roger Herring 專訪《上帝的銀行家：梵蒂岡的金錢與權力之歷史》（God’s Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican）一書的作者Gerald Posner，討論梵蒂岡面臨的財政赤字問題。訪談中也提及天主教會長年累積的財務不透、貪污腐敗現象，以及高層神職人員金錢與權力間錯綜複雜的糾結。當中有很多是歷史遺留下來的問題。
靈性的實踐從不脫離世俗生活，它必然牽涉到金錢的管理、肉身的需求、權力的操作；神職人員也不能倖免。如果天主教會對財務問題持續拖延、不願正視，將愈發難以在這個世代中見證真正的仁愛、公義與和平。教宗方濟生前曾努力改革教會財務，但未竟全功。請為新任教宗良十四世祈禱！
(以下是訪問稿的中譯本[Chatgpt代勞]及英文逐字稿）
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梵蒂岡目前面臨嚴重的預算赤字，據稱其退休基金也存在巨大的結構性缺口。此外，一些紅衣主教過去曾經做出過災難性的金融決策，梵蒂岡內部也存在貪污與不當行為的歷史。現在，我們來與傑拉德·波斯納談談這個問題。
他是《上帝的銀行家：梵蒂岡金錢與權力的歷史》一書的作者。傑拉德現在加入我們的訪談。傑拉德，當教宗良十四世接手這一切時，他所面對的財務狀況究竟有多糟？
是的，羅傑，很不幸，這是一筆爛帳，而且這還是在教宗方濟各為改革梵蒂岡財政、提升透明度、嘗試改變現狀所做出巨大努力的情況下。然而，看看梵蒂岡的赤字，在方濟各任內實際上增加了三倍。所以說，他的努力最終沒有成功。如今新教宗上任，他必須面對一系列的危機。
此外，還有一些與他合作的人希望他能改變的個人層面問題。例如，方濟各在過去幾年中，將今日選出新教宗的那些紅衣主教的薪水削減了三次。
而且在2023年，他還削減了對梵蒂岡城內高級僱員的豐厚補貼。因此，他們現在可能希望這些待遇能恢復。新教宗將面臨來自各方的壓力——一方面要整頓財政，另一方面也可能要重新考慮對梵蒂岡內部精英階層的某些傳統恩惠。
這種雙重壓力的確令人關注。不過，喬，一般人表面看來會以為這是一個擁有驚人財富的教會。
那為什麼它會陷入如今的困境？
因為它並不是按照商業機構的方式來運作。這種做法在16、17世紀或許還說得過去，當時教宗國如同一個帝國，通過徵稅與收費來充實國庫，就像任何殖民帝國一樣。但自從19世紀末失去這樣的制度後，直到1920年代墨索里尼給了他們一塊主權土地（像郵票一樣小），梵蒂岡便主要靠觀光收入、出售所謂「贖罪券」、信徒的捐獻與慈善來維持運作。
這種方式並不是治理一個國家的良策。他們這麼做已久，但這並不穩定，因此財務管理者對此不滿。
他們正在努力邁入21世紀。他們的確在不少房地產上有投資，包括倫敦心臟地段斯隆街60號的一處極具爭議的房產，這筆交易在過去幾年成為貪污案的核心，但他們仍需要整頓財務體系。
此外，問題不只是管理不善，還包括某些腐敗。確實發生過一些醜聞。
我知道梵蒂岡銀行已經加入歐盟的單一歐元支付區（SEPA）倡議，這是為了促進跨境支付、避免洗錢行為。但這類問題至今依然存在。
對，大多數人可能會驚訝地發現，直到2011年，梵蒂岡都沒有針對洗錢的法律。這的確令人難以置信。梵蒂岡銀行是在第二次世界大戰期間設立的，此後幾十年裡一直捲入各種醜聞，可以說是一連串的問題。
事實上，曾與梵蒂岡銀行合作、被義大利政府起訴並通緝的一位著名「上帝的銀行家」，在1982年被發現吊死在倫敦的黑修士橋下，起初被認定是自殺，後來則被判定為謀殺。這家銀行長期捲入爭議，簡直是被拖進21世紀正常財務標準的過程中。
他們之所以願意改革，是因為梵蒂岡在採用歐元後（由於義大利改用歐元，無法再使用義大利里拉），就不得不接受歐盟來自布魯塞爾的監管團隊，確保他們防範洗錢、恐怖融資等問題。因此，他們才慢慢接受現代的標準。
不過，他們還有很多工作要做。這也是為什麼我希望新教宗良十四世不要忽視這些改革，因為目前只完成了大約70%。
傑拉德，非常感謝你的分享。我們拭目以待新教宗會採取哪些行動。以上是傑拉德·波斯納就梵蒂岡財務問題對我們的訪談內容。
《Vatican’s budget deficit》
There is a significant budget deficit, and the Vatican’s pension fund is apparently facing a gaping structural shortfall. Plus, there’s a history of disastrous financial deals by some of the Cardinals and corruption and misconduct within the Vatican itself. Well, let’s talk to Gerald Posner.
He’s author of the book God’s Bankers, A History of Money and Power at the Vatican, and joins us now. Gerald, how bad is the financial, how bad are the books essentially, I suppose, when Leo XIV gets to have a look at them?
Yeah, unfortunately, Roger, it is a bad set of books coming in, and that’s not withstanding Francis’ really prodigious efforts to reform Vatican finances, to bring some transparency to them, to try to change it. But look at the deficit that the Vatican is running tripled under Francis. So his efforts were not successful in the end, and so we have the new Pope coming in, and he’s facing some crises.
He’s also some personal issues that those who are working with him might look forward to him changing. For instance, Francis slash the salaries of the Cardinals that today elected the new Pope three times in the last few years. None of them were very happy about that.
And he also, in 2023, Francis nicks the very rich subsidies for the Vatican elite workers inside Vatican City. So they might be looking for some of those to be restored. So they’re buffeting pressures here on the new Pope.
Bring the financial house into order at the same type, maybe give a little bit more leeway to some of the old favors that used to be done for the elite hierarchy inside Vatican City.
Interesting that those sort of pressures are there. But I mean, Joe, on the surface, you think this is a church that has enormous wealth. I mean, just staggering amounts of wealth.
How come it’s found itself in this position?
Because it doesn’t run itself as a business, which is to its credit if you’re in the 1600s or 1700s. And, you know, you sort of had a papal states empire and you collected taxes and had fees that, like any other colonial empire, fed the coffers. But once that disappeared in the late 1800s and then they got their sovereignty back as a small postage stamp piece of sovereign land by Mussolini in the 1920s, they really have existed based upon tourism and upon, you know, selling of so-called indulgences and bringing in money from the faithful and contributions and charity.
Not a very good way to run the government. They’ve done it that way for a long time, but it’s not predictable. And so financial managers don’t like it.
They’re trying to bring themselves into the 21st century. They do have investments in a lot of property, including a much controversial property on 60 Sloan Street in the heart of London that was at the heart of a corruption trial the last few years, but they still need to put their house in order.
And there’s also a bit of corruption in the background. It’s not just mismanagement. There’s certainly been some scandals.
I know the Vatican Bank has joined the EU’s Single Euro Payments Area Initiative. The idea is for cross-border payments, I suppose, to avoid money laundering. But there’s still quite a bit of that kind of stuff going on.
Yeah, there was never a law against money laundering until 2011. That might be rather remarkable for most people who are listening to this, because you would think that they would have had it long ago. The Vatican Bank, which was only created in the middle of World War II, operated for decades in all types of scandals, just a series of them.
And as a matter of fact, one of the most famous of the so-called God’s bankers who worked with the Vatican Bank and was indicted by the Italians and sought for corruption, was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982, first deemed a suicide and later deemed a murder. So the bank has been embroiled in all types of controversy. They are kicking and screaming coming into what I call 21st century normal financial standards.
And he also, in 2023, Francis nicks the very rich subsidies for the Vatican elite workers inside Vatican City. So they might be looking for some of those to be restored. So they’re buffeting pressures here on the new Pope.
Bring the financial house into order at the same type, maybe give a little bit more leeway to some of the old favors that used to be done for the elite hierarchy inside Vatican City.
Interesting that those sort of pressures are there. But I mean, Joe, on the surface, you think this is a church that has enormous wealth. I mean, just staggering amounts of wealth.
How come it’s found itself in this position?
Because it doesn’t run itself as a business, which is to its credit if you’re in the 1600s or 1700s. And, you know, you sort of had a papal states empire and you collected taxes and had fees that, like any other colonial empire, fed the coffers. But once that disappeared in the late 1800s and then they got their sovereignty back as a small postage stamp piece of sovereign land by Mussolini in the 1920s, they really have existed based upon tourism and upon, you know, selling of so-called indulgences and bringing in money from the faithful and contributions and charity.
Not a very good way to run the government. They’ve done it that way for a long time, but it’s not predictable. And so financial managers don’t like it.
“They’re trying to bring themselves into the 21st century. They do have investments in a lot of property, including a much controversial property on 60 Sloan Street in the heart of London that was at the heart of a corruption trial the last few years, but they still need to put their house in order.
And there’s also a bit of corruption in the background. It’s not just mismanagement. There’s certainly been some scandals.
I know the Vatican Bank has joined the EU’s Single Euro Payments Area Initiative. The idea is for cross-border payments, I suppose, to avoid money laundering. But there’s still quite a bit of that kind of stuff going on.
Yeah, there was never a law against money laundering until 2011. That might be rather remarkable for most people who are listening to this, because you would think that they would have had it long ago. The Vatican Bank, which was only created in the middle of World War II, operated for decades in all types of scandals, just a series of them.
And as a matter of fact, one of the most famous of the so-called God’s bankers who worked with the Vatican Bank and was indicted by the Italians and sought for corruption, was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982, first deemed a suicide and later deemed a murder. So the bank has been embroiled in all types of controversy. They are kicking and screaming coming into what I call 21st century normal financial standards.
And they’re only doing that because once they decided to adopt the euro as their currency, they had to give it up after the, they had to do that after the Italians adopted the euro and they no longer could use the Italian lira. That meant that they were open to Brussels sending in teams of regulators to make sure that they really were guarding against money laundering and the financing of terror operations and other things. So they have slowly come around to meeting the standards.
They still have more work to do. And that’s why I hope this Pope coming in, Leo XIV, does not take his eye off those reforms because they’re only about 70% of the way through.
Gerald, thank you so much for being with us. It will be fascinating to see what the New Pope does do. Gerald Posner, they’re speaking to me about the finances of the Vatican.
(From BBC World Business Report, 5/9/2024)