Ernesto Pacelli

Pacelli's involvement in the Vatican began when he secured financial compensation for Leo XIII from the Italian government in the aftermath of the collapse of the Banco Romano, the former bank of the Papal States.

[3] Pacelli discreetly supplied financial advice and loans, and jobs to relatives of several prominent members of the Roman Curia, notably Pietro Gasparri.

[7] This action further aggravated Italian police informants within the Vatican, who in November 1915 began reporting that Benedict XV planned to transform the bank into an essentially Catholic "confessional" institution,[8] and Pacelli was replaced by Carlo Santucci in 1916 as president of the Banco di Roma.

In September 1907, Pacelli set up—through the Banco di Roma—the Società Editrice Romana (SER) with ₤150,000 of the bank's capital to bail out the Catholic daily Il Corriere d'Italia.

[10] In November 1907, Pacelli founded Società Tipografica Editrice Romama, also to provide financial assistance to Catholic presses, but with ₤100,000 of the company's ₤150,000 in start-up capital coming directly from the ABSS.