The Vatican’s first step towards financial transparency was rather eye-catching.

The Vatican Bank—officially the Institute for Religious Works, or IOR—published its first annual report this morning, an exhaustive 100-page document which lays bare the extent of the Catholic institution’s vast holdings. The numbers are indeed large—the bank’s balance sheet, for example, includes €5 billion ($6.8 billion) with some €769 million in equity alone. But the bank’s profit last year is perhaps what’s most impressive. The IOR raked in a net €86.6 million in 2012, more than four times its €20.3 profit from 2011. Secretive Vatican Bank Publishes First Financial Accounts
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