DESPITE the rumoured financial problems faced by the Vatican, it is thought to have between $3 billion (£1.7 billion) and $5 billion of shares handled by the cream of the global investment community.

Central to the handling of the money is the Vatican Bank, best known for its dealings with the Banca Ambrosiano, which collapsed in 1982, with Roberto Calvi, its president, found hanged under a London bridge. The collapse of Ambrosiano with debts of $1.3 billion led to the Vatican Bank paying out a total of $250 million to creditors, although it denied any wrongdoing in the scandal.

Investment managers for Vatican Bank, which is officially known as the Institute of Religious Works, are rumoured to include the family-controlled Rothschild Bank, Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-biggest bank, and JP Morgan Chase, the Wall Street firm, The Vatican Bank also holds shares directly in many of the world’s biggest companies, including Gulf Oil, Shell and General Motors. Gold held at banks in Switzerland, America and Britain provides a hedge for the Vatican’s investments which are thought to be dwindling because of the fall of the dollar.

In addition, the Vatican has a huge portfolio of real estate in America, Italy and other parts of Europe. The Catholic church benefits from millions of euros in rent from thousands of properties in Rome alone.

In a recent and rare revelation about the value of the church’s real estate, the Vatican’s accountant valued the portfolio at $908 million, although St Peter’s Basilica and the Sistine Chapel, deemed priceless, were symbolically valued at €1 each.

Although it is nearly 25 years since the Ambrosiano scandal, the role of the Vatican Bank is expected to come under scrutiny later this year. In April, four people were indicted for the murder of Calvi. Those indicted include Flavio Carboni, his ex-girlfriend Manuela Kleinzig and two men with alleged ties to the mafia, Pippo Calo and Ernesto Diotallevi.