Pope Francis introduces new financial rules for beatification process

Pope Francis has introduces new financial rules that will renovate the Vatican’s saint-making process.

The process, labelled a ‘multimillion euro business’, has been shrouded in secrecy, but recent reports on Italian media have revealed that the cost of beatification, the first step towards sainthood, has reached some €500,000.

 The Guardian reports that regulations announced on Thursday seek to introduce more checks on the process through the assignment of administrators to oversee individual cases. Another change will create a solidarity fund to assist in financing cases for the relatively unknown candidates of sainthood.

Pope Francis had launched a commission to investigate the church’s financial management back in 2013, and the inquiry revealed serious problems within the Vatican bureaucracy charged with investigating candidates for sainthood.

The naming of a saint is traditionally a lengthy and arduous process requiring a thorough analysis of a candidate’s credentials and claims of miracles, which are prerequisite for beatification.