Pope Francis News 2015: Pontiff calls for transparency in campaign finance

Pope Francis has called for greater transparency in campaign finance. Facing young people in an open forum in Rome, Pope Francis said citizens should be able to know the individuals funding the campaign of candidates during elections.

"Perhaps public financing would allow for me, the citizen, to know that I'm financing each candidate with a given amount of money," the Pope was quoted by Argentine magazine Crux as saying.

"Everything needs to be transparent and clean," the pontiff added.

Pope Francis made these statements in the context of the upcoming national elections in his home country, Argentina. The Pope's country will be held this October.

The Pope likewise expressed intention to visit Argentina next year, although he admitted that nothing has been finalized yet.

The Argentinian pontiff likewise appealed to candidates to hold a "free, unfinanced campaign," saying that campaign financiers may have vested interests in mind.

"We must achieve a free sort of election campaign, not financed," the Pope was quoted in a separate article on Time Magazine.

"In the financing of electoral campaigns, many interests get into the mix, and then they send you the bill. The election campaign should be independent from anyone who may finance it," he added.

Aside from this, Pope Francis also said that electoral candidates should have clear and concrete platforms, which they should present honestly.

According to the Time Magazine article, advocates of campaign finance reform welcome Pope Francis' remarks.

"When concerns about the role of money in politics are being raised by the Pope, we know that this issue has enormous reach and currency and that those who people do not care about campaign finance issues are just plain wrong," Fred Wertheimer, president of campaign finance reform group Democracy 21, said in the magazine report.