Pope Leo XIV has tapped a 36-year-old Princess from Liechtenstein to help oversee the Vatican’s finances. Gisela Bergmann, daughter of Prince Michael of Liechtenstein and an experienced wealth manager, is one of eight new members appointed to the Vatican’s powerful Council for the Economy.
The council oversees the finances of the Holy See and plays a key role in approving its annual budget. Bergmann brings years of international experience to the position and currently serves as CEO of Industrie- und Finanzkontor, a firm that manages and preserves the Liechtenstein princely family’s wealth.
© South China Morning Post via GetHer royal background may draw attention, but it is Bergmann’s financial expertise that makes her appointment particularly significant. Speaking about her firm’s approach in a previous interview, she said, “We look at wealth and family from a holistic perspective, always thinking in terms of generations.”
© Getty ImagesWhy She Is Joining the Vatican
Bergmann’s appointment reflects more than her expertise in wealth management. It is also part of Pope Leo XIV’s broader effort to bring outside professionals with specialized expertise into the Vatican’s financial administration.
© Getty ImagesEd Condon, editor of The Pillar, a publication that covers the Catholic Church and closely follows developments at the Holy See, has praised that approach. He said the pope “is making the right call by bringing outsiders onto the Council, and wealth managers are exactly the kind of people you would expect to see.”
© AFP via Getty ImagesThe reason is rooted in the Vatican’s long and complicated financial history. For decades, the Vatican and the Catholic Church have faced criticism over a lack of financial transparency, contributing to mistrust among both Vatican residents and the faithful. Critics have also questioned the professionalism of the Church’s financial management.
In recent years, during the pontificate of Pope Francis and before Leo XIV’s election, the Vatican and the Holy See undertook a broad series of institutional reforms designed to improve transparency and strengthen oversight of their finances. Pope Leo XIV’s latest appointments appear to take those efforts a step further.
Who Is Gisela Bergmann?
Gisela Bergmann was born on June 26, 1990, in Feldkirch, Austria. She is the youngest daughter of Prince Michael of Liechtenstein and Hildegard Berta Peters and the great-granddaughter of Archduchess Elisabeth of Austria, daughter of Charles I, the last emperor of Austria-Hungary. Although she belongs to Liechtenstein’s princely family, Bergmann is not near the top of the line of succession and has largely built her career outside the public spotlight.
She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Environmental Engineering from ETH Zurich in Switzerland, one of the world’s leading universities in the field. She later specialized in fiduciary and wealth management at the University of Liechtenstein.
© exclusiv.liHer career has taken her to Canada, Singapore, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. During her time in London, she served as a vice president at investment bank Hannam & Partners.
Bergmann returned to Liechtenstein in 2020 and joined the board of Industrie- und Finanzkontor, which manages and preserves the princely family’s wealth. Two years later, she was named the firm’s CEO.
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