The Vatican Bet €350 Million on a London Building. It Sold at a Loss of More Than €200 Million

• The Holy See sold 60 Sloane Avenue in Chelsea to Bain Capital for £186 million
• The Vatican had poured about €350 million into the building and related fees
• Ten people faced charges over the deal in the Vatican’s criminal court
• Cardinal Angelo Becciu was later convicted of embezzlement

The Vatican completed the sale of a luxury London property at the centre of its biggest financial scandal in years, selling the former Harrods warehouse at 60 Sloane Avenue in Chelsea to Bain Capital for £186 million (about €215 million or US$223 million), the Associated Press reported, as carried by Religion News Service on 1 July 2022.

The Holy See’s secretariat of state had put roughly €350 million into the building and associated fees, leaving an estimated loss of more than €200 million. The buyer, Boston-based Bain Capital, was co-founded by US Senator Mitt Romney.

At the time of the sale, 10 people were on trial in the Vatican’s court on charges including fraud, embezzlement and extortion linked to the investment. Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, who had steered the secretariat’s investments, was initially seen as the chief suspect but became a witness for the prosecution. In response to the scandal, Pope Francis stripped the secretariat of its “600-million-euro asset portfolio, which had essentially operated as a sovereign wealth fund not answerable to rigorous internal or external controls.” The Vatican said the losses were covered by reserve funds and had not touched “Peter’s Pence,” the donations from the faithful that support papal charity.

The story did not end with the sale. In December 2023 the Vatican tribunal convicted Cardinal Angelo Becciu of embezzlement and sentenced him to five and a half years, the first cardinal ever tried by the Vatican’s criminal court. His lawyer said he would appeal.

The Sloane Avenue affair is a lesson for churches everywhere, including in Jamaica and among diaspora congregations, that invest members’ money in property. Real estate can look like a safe store of value, but without independent oversight, clear accountability and advice from people who do not stand to profit, even the world’s oldest church can lose hundreds of millions. Smaller congregations have far less room for error.

Follow Jamaica Homes on Youtube @jamaicahomes and Instagram @jamaica_homes and on Facebook @jamaicahomesnews Send us a message or email us at onlinefeedback@jamaica-homes.com or editor@jamaica-homes.com