The Wall Street Journal reporting from Rome indicates that Pope Francis has given up reforming the Vatican’s finances.

I had high hopes at the end of GOD’S BANKERS in 2015 that Pope Francis might succeed in reforming the arcane and scandal ridden money world of the Vatican.   He appointed the no-nonsense Cardinal George Pell to clean house and gave him wide ranging powers.

The bad news?

The old guard has won.   They have somehow convinced Francis over the last 18 months to strip Pell of key powers, block his efforts at transparency in the Vatican Bank and the billions in offshore real estate holdings.   Even one of Pell’s basic goals of conducting the Vatican’s first ever independent financial audit has been scrapped.

The reformers are flying the white flag at the Vatican.