THE VATICAN FINANCIAL MESS POPE COULDN'T FIX

The next pope will inherit a soaring deficit and culture of financial malpractice that Francis failed to solve

- Drew Hinshaw, Joe Parkinson & Stacy Meichtry

The ailing pope was short of breath, sitting beneath a cherished painting of Mary, Untier of Knots, as he worked through a last-ditch plan to disentangle the finances of one of the world's most opaque bureaucracies.

For over a decade, Francis had struggled to bring some transparency to the Vatican's shadowy balance sheet. Now, in the final weeks of his life, advisers were filtering in and out of his austere reception room, presenting the details of a micro-state awash in priceless treasures but tumbling deeper into debt. The budget deficit had tripled since the Argentine took office, and the pension fund faced up to 2 billion euros in liabilities it wouldn't be able to fund.

The first Jesuit Pope was exhorting clergy to live frugally—but pinching pennies alone would not relieve the financial crisis facing the seat of the Church. The Vatican was increasingly relying on museum ticket sales to fund its civil service, its worldwide network of embassies and the Papal Swiss Guard, a small army paid in Swiss franc pensions. The city-state serves seven million visitors a year and a global flock, without collecting taxes.

After more than a month of discussion, Francis settled on one solution: Ask the faithful for more money.

On Feb. 11, he signed a chirografo, or papal directive, to boost donations. Three days later, he was hospitalized with double pneumonia. On April 21, he died, leaving his soon-to-be-chosen successor with a similar economic puzzle to the one Francis himself had inherited.

"Those of us who live and work here are obviously all too aware," said a cardinal who oversaw the Vatican's humanitarian outreach under Francis, Michael Czerny. Cardinals gathering to elect a pope were given what he described as a "thorough report" on the Vatican's finances: "I am concerned because of the effects on our mission, our staff, our programs."