God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican

by Gerald Posner

  Francesco Pazienza, an Italian intelligence agent who was a friend of Marcinkus, told the author: “One day, Marcinkus confided to me that his father had been the preferred driver for Al Capone. He told me that very straight, no bullshit.” There is no evidence to support that, and Marcinkus was likely saying it to impress Pazienza, who had a reputation as a self-described “tough guy.” Author interview with Francesco Pazienza, September 18, 2013.

  Besides being famous as Capone’s hometown, Marcinkus said that Cicero “became famous . . . for the race riots which they had” (1951 riots by thousands of white residents violently protesting the arrival of the first blacks). Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 1a, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  3 Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 81; Jim Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” Chicago Tribune, March 13, 1983, G15–16.

  4 Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 1b, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  5 He had been in a junior day seminary—Quigley Preparatory Seminary—since he was thirteen. It offered a classical Catholic education and was designed for youngsters who were considering the priesthood. His Lithuanian neighborhood where he grew up was overwhelmingly Catholic, with three churches in a four-block radius. Years later, when asked if he had ever dated a girl before he joined a full time seminary at eighteen, he said, “Maybe once in a while I would go out on a date . . . I wasn’t scared of them or anything.” Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 82. He also later described himself while a student as a “sports nut; I enjoyed sports more than anything else I did as a kid.” Marcinkus interviewed in Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G16.

  6 Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, February 8, 1988, 2a, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  7 Galli, Finanza bianca, 62.

  8 While working at the marriage bureau, he lived in a parish that was 90 percent black. Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, February 8, 1988, no. 3, 2b, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  9 “Cicero Priest Makes Good in Vatican Post,” Chicago Tribune, January 4, 1969, A12. In a Chicago Tribune article seven years earlier, Marcinkus’s first and only Chicago parish was listed as Holy Cross. The Chicago Diocese informed the author that St. Christina’s is the correct parish. Gwen Morgan, “Mrs. Kennedy in New Delhi,” Chicago Tribune, May 12, 1962, 1–2; Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 63–64.

  10 Jim Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” Chicago Tribune, March 13, 1983, G12.

  11 Marcinkus said his “thesis [was] on baptism in relation to marriage.” Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, February 8, 1988, 2a, provided to author courtesy of Willan. See also Henry Gaggiottini, “Marcinkus Consecrated Bishop,” Chicago Tribune, January 7, 1969, A9; Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  12 Marcinkus served as the secretary to the Papal Nuncio in Bolivia from January 1955 to September 1956. While there he was given the rank of a Papal Chamberlain, with the title of “Very Reverend Monsignor.” He then served at the Nuncio’s office in Ottawa, returning to Rome in 1960.

  13 Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, February 8, 1988, 2a, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  14 Nino Lo Bello, “Bodyguard to Pope,” The Boston Globe, January 5, 1969, A19.

  15 “Cicero Priest Makes Good in Vatican Post,” Chicago Tribune, 124.

  16 Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 77.

  17 Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 64–65.

  18 Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  19 “Cicero Priest Makes Good in Vatican Post,” Chicago Tribune; see Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” 22.

  20 Hoffman, “Bishop with Chicago Roots Is Managing Pope’s Travels.”

  21 Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 86.

  22 Ibid., 142–43.

  23 Ibid., 142. “One has many colleagues but few friends in the halls of the Vatican,” wrote Hoffman in Anatomy of the Vatican, 11.

  24 Marcinkus interviewed in Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  25 Author interview with Peter K. Murphy, Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy, 1984–89, January 31, 2014.

  26 “In Italy, Presidentessa: In India, Amriki Rani,” The Boston Globe, May 27, 1962, E11.

  27 Marcinkus interviewed in Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  28 Marcinkus worked with a Yugoslavian emigrant, Stefano Falez, whom he had met in Rome. Falez went on to found Catintour, one of the most successful Vatican-approved travel agencies. See Willey, God’s Politician, 209.

  29 Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 65.

  30 Marcinkus interviewed in ibid., 140.

  31 Marcinkus later said, “I never ran a tourist agency. I’ve never been involved in a tourist agency. I used people that were involved. I needed a guy who knew how to handle the logistics, tickets, the baggage; we never lost a bag. Same with the Pope’s trips.” Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 140. When John XXIII died, Marcinkus learned that the Pontiff had selected him to be one of only four clerics to serve as the honor guard at his funeral.

  32 Gwen Morgan, “Pope in Death, Tranquil and Benign Figure,” Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1963, 1; “Chicagoan in Guard,” Chicago Tribune, June 5, 1963, 3.

  33 Marcinkus interviewed in Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18. Also handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, February 8, 1988, 3b, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  34 Robert C. Doty, “Pope Paul, Class of ’23, Visits Vatican’s School for Diplomats,” The New York Times, January 18, 1965, 6; see also Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 65.

  35 Marcinkus interviewed in Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  36 Barry Bishop, “Bogota Meet Is Aided by Cicero Priest,” Chicago Tribune, August 20, 1968, A5.

  37 Galli, Finanza bianca, 74; Wynn, Keepers of the Keys, 159–60; Paul Hoffman, “Bishop with Chicago Roots Is Managing Pope’s Travels,” A9. Marcinkus was the advance man on seven international trips: India, New York, Portugal, Chile, Turkey, the Philippines, and Uganda. He also handled all the Pontiff’s personal travel. Those trips marked the first time a Pope had ever traveled in a jet. See Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  38 Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 85–86.

  39 Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 2b, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  40 Wynn, Keepers of the Keys, 160; Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  41 Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 84–85.

  42 Bishop, “Bogota Meet Is Aided by Cicero Priest,” A6. Marcinkus thought he “was a good man” for the job because he was “very methodical [and] I had a good memory.” Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 2a, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  43 Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 2a, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  44 The Chicago Tribune ran “local boy makes good” stories and photos of Marcinkus and Paul VI with the city’s mayor, Richard Daley (1964); Martin Luther King Jr. (1964); British Prime Minister Harold Wilson (1965); and Robert Kennedy (1967): see “Pope Greets Daleys,” Chicago Tribune, May 10, 1964, 1; Richard Philbrick, “Professor Recalls His Doggedness and Integrity,” Chicago Tribune, April 7, 1968, A4; “Prime Minister, Wife Visit Pope,” Chicago Tribune, April 30, 1965, A13; “Kennedy Sees Loss of U.S. Prestige over War in Viet,” Ch
icago Tribune, February 5, 1967, 4.

  45 Marcinkus interviewed in Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  46 Robert C. Doty, “Pope Will Visit New York Oct. 4,” The New York Times, September 9, 1965, 16; “Two Papal Aides Arrive,” The New York Times, September 9, 1965, 16. President Johnson informed the Pope that America was “quite heartened” at Paul VI’s “appointment of a Negro as the auxiliary bishop of New Orleans.” See Douglas Kiker, “Pontiff’s Visit ‘May Be Just What World Needs’—LBJ,” The Boston Globe, October 5, 1965, 11.

  47 In 1968, Paul VI appointed Marcinkus as the rector of St. Mary of the Lake villa. It was informally called Villa Stritch, after the Chicago cardinal who had founded the American chapter of Opus Dei. Another Chicago cardinal, George Mundelein, had bought the walled-in villa, adjacent to Rome’s large Borghese Park, in 1935. Mundelein set it aside as a center for American clerics studying in Rome. Many in the Curia referred to the center simply as the Chicago House. There were only ten Americans at the Vatican at the time Marcinkus was appointed the rector. He had overseen the building’s multimillion-dollar renovation in 1963, and to the amazement of his Italian colleagues managed to accomplish it on time and within the original budget. See Gwen Morgan, “Meyer in Villa,” Chicago Tribune, June 16, 1963, 5; and Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G18.

  48 Timothy M. Dolan, “ ‘Hence We Cheerfully Sent One Who Should Represent Our Person’: A Century of Papal Representation in the United States,” U.S. Catholic Historian 12, no. 2, The Apostolic Delegation/Nunciature 1893–1993 (Spring 1994): 21.

  49 It is not clear if Marcinkus had such contacts or merely boasted about it in the hope that Spellman’s death presented an opportunity for advancement. He lobbied in particular Father Pasquale Macchi, Pope Paul’s close personal assistant, Tosches, Power on Earth, 122; see also Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 13. See also Lehnert, His Humble Servant, 105. As for Spellman’s replacement, Terence Cooke, he was not elevated cardinal until March 1969.

  50 Sylvana Foa, “Vatican’s American Priests Are Bitter,” Chicago Tribune, July 31, 1977, 12.

  51 “U.S. Priest in Vatican Post,” The New York Times, 45.

  52 Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 83. Marcinkus said that his “real financial experience [was] I’d count Sunday collection and it was never wrong.” He also thought the focus on his lack of training was misplaced. “Actually, you see, these people don’t understand. I am not making the transactions, I just set policy. We have people here who are technicians who’ve been doing it for thirty to forty years.” Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 1b, 2a, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  53 Hoffman, Anatomy of the Vatican, 188.

  54 New York Times reporter Paul Hoffman wrote that Marcinkus took business administration courses at Harvard. The author was unable to confirm that Marcinkus had taken any classes there. Forty-five years after Marcinkus’s appointment at the IOR, former Vatican correspondent for the BBC David Willey wrote that the Pope had dispatched the bishop to Harvard for a six-week crash course about finances. According to the school, that never happened. David Willey, “The Vatican Bank Is Rocked by Scandal Again,” BBC News, July 17, 2013, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23289297.

  55 Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 1b, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  56 Ibid., 4a.

  57 In any case, as far as Marcinkus was concerned, “Money is a tool. It’s a means, not a goal in itself.” Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, February 8, 1988, 41, provided to author courtesy of Willan. See also Thomas and Morgan-Witts, Pontiff, 142.

  58 Colleague of Marcinkus quoted anonymously in Willey, God’s Politician,, 210.

  59 Sindona interviewed in Raw, The Moneychangers, 64.

  60 Tosches, Power on Earth, 123.

  61 Sindona quoted in Lernoux, In Banks We Trust, 209.

  62 Reporter Jim Gallagher interviewed Sindona in 1983 while he was in a federal prison serving a sentence for a fraud conviction. Gallagher, “The Pope’s Banker,” G15.

  63 Sindona also thought that Marcinkus was upset with him. When the IOR sold Immobiliare to Sindona, Marcinkus lost his status at the company’s Roman golf course. Sindona believed Marcinkus blamed him for the fall-off in his VIP status. Tosches, Power on Earth, 123–24.

  64 Galli, Finanza bianca, 79; Raw, The Moneychangers, 62.

  65 Leo Sisti and Gianfranco Modolo, Il banco paga: Roberto Calvi e l’avventura dell’Ambrosiano (Milan: Mondadori Milano, 1982). There are some incorrect published reports that the BCI branch was in Lecce.

  66 Galli, Finanza bianca, 80.

  67 Cornwell, God’s Banker, 27.

  68 Raw, The Moneychangers,17; Hoffman, Anatomy of the Vatican, 195–96.

  69 Grilli, La finanza vaticana in Italia, 32, 34.

  70 “Marcinkus—Sindona con l’oro a Milano Fini la Capitale Morale,” La Repubblica, April 19, 1992; Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 5–6; see also Giovanni Bazoli, “The Ambrosiano Failure,” The American Banker, July 12, 1983, 16.

  71 Calvi’s business wardrobe consisted of identical dark gray suits, white shirts, dark blue ties, and black shoes. In the summer, he changed to a lighter shade of gray. See Francesco Pazienza interviewed in Willan, The Last Supper, 39; see also Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 6; Cornwell, God’s Banker, 31.

  72 “Marcinkus—Sindona con l’oro a Milano Fini la Capitale Morale,” La Repubblica; Willan, The Last Supper, 35.

  73 Calvi crammed in his self-taught language study at nights. Galli, Finanza bianca, 81–82.

  74 “Marcinkus—Sindona con l’oro a Milano Fini la Capitale Morale,” La Repubblica; Cornwell, God’s Banker, 31.

  75 Cornwell, God’s Banker, 32; Willan, The Last Supper, 35; Lo Bello, The Vatican Empire, 115.

  76 Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 7, citing Andrea Barberi et al., “L’Italia della P2 (Milan: Mondadori, 1981). The Vatican institutions that offered stakes in foreign mutual funds were the Banca Provinciale Lombarda and the La Centrale financial holding company.

  77 Galli, Finanza bianca, 82.

  78 Raw, The Moneychangers, 62–63.

  79 Rosone interviewed in Willan, The Last Supper, 34–35.

  80 The son-in-law, Piersandro Magnoni, had married Sindona’s daughter, Maria Elisa, in 1967. Sindona brought him into his business. Piersandro’s father, Giuliano Magnoni, knew Sindona since college, and it was the senior Magnoni who knew Calvi and wanted Sindona to meet him. The younger Magnoni simply passed along the message. See Simoni and Turone, Il caffè di Sindona, 121.

  81 Tosches, Power on Earth, 118–19.

  82 Sindona describing conversation with Calvi in ibid., 120.

  83 Marcinkus later claimed that he met Calvi through “the Milanese Curia,” but Sindona’s version was that he introduced Calvi to the top tier of IOR officials and Luigi Mennini later confirmed that. See generally Cornwell, God’s Banker, 54. See also Simoni and Turone, Il caffè di Sindona, 122; and Raw, The Moneychangers, 62.

  84 Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 26; Raw, The Moneychangers, 64–65.

  85 All bishops are assigned titular titles. Marcinkus was the Bishop of Horta in Carthage (Italianized as Orta), after a Cypriot son of pagan parents who converted to Catholicism and became the bishop of Carthage in 248. Marcinkus’s mother, Helen, traveled to Rome for the consecration, as did Chicago’s cardinal, John Cody. “Cicero Priest Named Bishop by Pope Paul,” Chicago Tribune, December 25, 1968, C19; “Mother to See Son Become Bishop,” Chicago Tribune, December 27, 1968, 3; “Cody to See Marcinkus Elevated, Chicago Tribune, December 26, 1968, B3.

  86 “Cicero Native Named Vatican Financial Aide,” Chicago Tribune, December 21, 1968, 11. “Finance: Diversification at the Vatican,” Time, January 25, 1971. See generally “Names and Faces,” The Boston Globe, February 25, 196
9, 40.

  87 The New York Times, “Investment Shift by Vatican Seen,” referred to Sindona as “Milan lawyer” and “secretary” of Generali. He had no public comment, according to the paper. The Boston Globe, “Vatican Stock Sale Hinted,” June 19, 1969, 3, referred to Marcinkus as “the Vatican’s American-born ‘finance minister.’ ” The Chicago Tribune noted, “The bishop’s robes also go with Marcinkus’ new post as second-in-command—but effective head—of the Vatican Bank,” “Cicero Priest Makes Good in Vatican Post,” January 4, 1969, A12. See also Hoffman, “Bishop with Chicago Roots Is Managing Pope’s Travels.” See also Lai, Finanze vaticane, 51.

  88 In obtaining direct access to Pope Paul, Marcinkus had outmaneuvered Archbishop Giovanni Benelli, the Sostituto (substitute) Secretary of State, to whom he would have normally reported. The two clashed repeatedly inside the Curia, and Marcinkus made it clear to the Pope that reporting to Benelli would only hinder his work at the IOR. Benelli was nicknamed “the Master Sergeant” inside the Curia for his authoritarian “stickler for detail” attitude. Benelli, meanwhile, thought it demeaning that Marcinkus could bypass the traditional chain of authority. Bishop Marcinkus, and Director of FBI field office in Rome, Tom Biamonte, both interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 17–18, 85–86, 170–71. For Benelli’s reputation, see Hoffman, Anatomy of the Vatican, 116.

  89 Marcinkus interviewed in “Finance: Diversification at the Vatican,” Time. “From the organizational viewpoint,” Marcinkus later said, “I think maybe I’ve always been very methodical.” Handwritten notes by Philip Willan of audiotaped interviews between John Cornwell and Marcinkus, January 15, 1988, 1b, provided to author courtesy of Willan.

  90 “Finance: Diversification at the Vatican,” Time, January 25, 1971.

  91 Lai, Finanze vaticane, 52–53. Macchi had been elected to a Monsignor soon after Paul VI assumed the Papacy.