A report on TVNZ's Seven Sharp drew an analogy with the game of Monopoly, and placed some churches in the top "Park Lane" category.

These included the Salvation Army with a surplus of $24 million, and Auckland Catholic diocese with $13 million.

The report stated three Catholic dioceses - Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin - had about the same level of surplus.

But these were dwarfed by the figures for iwi, with Tainui at $200 million and Ngai Tahu at $160 million.

The report noted that charities have a tax-free status.

Seven Sharp reporter Hadyn Jones described the Catholic Church as "one of our richest religions".

Speaking for Auckland diocese, Dame Lyndsay Freer confirmed the surplus figure.

While it seems like a big number, Dame Lyndsay said, "it's peanuts really".

There is "so much to be done", including earthquake strengthening of churches and schools, as well as significant capital works and ongoing religious, charitable and educational activities.

The report also noted that Auckland diocese owns nearly NZ$1billion in assets, including St Patrick's Cathedral.

"People of course always say, look at the Catholic Church with all our buildings and all our artwork, and all the rest of it," Dame Lyndsay responded.

"But if we didn't have the buildings, if we didn't have the Churches and schools, we wouldn't be able to gather as Catholics."

Dame Lyndsay also reportedly noted that the Catholic Church does not demand tithing of its members.

The Salvation Army stated its surplus was much larger than usual this year because of investments maturing and Christchurch earthquake-related insurance payouts.

Canterbury academic Dr Michael Gousmett questioned whether some charities were growing empires, instead of concentrating on their charitable activities.

The Seven Sharp report noted that roughly five new charities are registered each day in New Zealand.

Of the 27,438 charities in New Zealand, 15,761 made a surplus in the last year.

Sources

• Seven Sharp
• Image: Reserve Bank Museum

In its annual financial statement, the Holy See said better management had helped it recover from a loss of nearly $NZ25 million in the previous year.

But donations to the Peter's Pence collection, taken up worldwide for the support of the Holy See, declined by nearly 12 per cent to $NZ85.4 million.

Vatican City — which has its own city-state budget and profits from revenues of the Vatican Museums, post office and other attractions — showed a surplus of $NZ38 million, a slight increase on the previous year.

The board of the troubled Vatican Bank met on July 4 to consider the sudden resignation of its two top managers — who are now under investigation by Rome magistrates — and the arrest of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano on a money-smuggling charge.

A Reuters report said the bank's president, Ernst von Freyberg, told the meeting that a preliminary inquiry into Scaranio's activities had found "clear failings that should serve as stark reminder of the urgency of improving the [bank's] processes".

Scarano, 61, who worked as a senior accountant in the Vatican's financial administration and had close and regular contacts with the bank, was arrested along with an Italian secret service agent and a financial intermediary.

Reuters said Freyberg told the board that the bank would continue to improve internal procedures and review every account. "We will systematically identify and eradicate wrongdoing by clients of our institute," he said.

Meanwhile, the Financial Information Authority — a Vatican body established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 to prevent money laundering and other illegal financial activities — announced that it had been admitted into the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

Membership gives access to a global network of financial intelligence units and facilitates the exchange of information in the fight against financial crime. It also represents recognition of the Holy See/Vatican City State's efforts in tracking and fighting money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Sources:

Vatican Radio

Reuters

Catholic News Service

Image: Prokerala News