Joining Collins on the commission is Cardinal-designate Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna and Spanish Cardinal Santos Abril Castello, the archpriest of Rome's Basilica of St. Mary Major. The new appointees replace four other cardinals who had served on the commission.
French Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, is the only serving member the Pope asked to stay on.
The Vatican made the announcement Jan. 15.
In a statement, Collins said he was honoured that the Pope had appointed him to the commission, but stressed his first priority remains his work as head of the Toronto archdiocese.
"While my primary role remains to serve the people of the archdiocese of Toronto as archbishop, this new responsibility is a further way of serving the mission of the whole Church," said Collins. "I look forward to learning more about the work of the commission in the coming weeks."
It's just one more Vatican responsibility for Collins, who also serves on the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Pontifical Council for Social Communication.
The responsibilities of the five-member Commission of Cardinals Overseeing the Institute for the Works of Religion, the formal title of bank, include appointing the bank's president — an appointment which then must be approved by the Pope.
The Vatican bank had been marred by an image of secrecy and scandal for decades.
The Vatican has said that Pope Francis' reforms are in continuity with a 1990 reform of the bank ordered by Blessed John Paul II and efforts begun by Pope Benedict in 2010 to better monitor all of the Vatican's financial operations and make sure they reflect the latest European Union regulations and other international norms.
The four cardinals replace Cardinals Tarcisio Bertone, former Vatican secretary of state, Telesphore Toppo of Ranchi, India, Odilo Pedro Scherer of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Domenico Calcagno, who is president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Holy See. Pope Benedict XVI had confirmed the mandates of the five previous members just 11 months ago, five days after announcing his retirement in February.
Bertone retired as Vatican secretary of state in October, just before his 79th birthday; the usual retirement age is 75. He had served as president of the cardinals' oversight commission and had faced a number of criticisms in the press for mismanagement during his tenure as secretary of state.
Tauran continues to serve on a separate five-person papal commission that is reviewing the activities and mission of the Vatican bank. Pope Francis created the commission in June 2013 as part of his larger efforts to reform the central offices of the Church.