It’s a month since the smiling Robert Prevost appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome and calmly introduced himself as Pope Leo XIV. As 6,000 journalists from every corner of the globe looked on,

The Vatican doesn’t tax its residents or issue bonds. It primarily finances the Catholic Church's central government through donations that have been plunging, ticket sales for the Vatican Museums, as well as income from investments and an underperforming real estate portfolio.