132 Tully and Dorion, “The Vatican’s Finances.”
133 Lai, Finanze vaticane, 84–85.
134 “We’re probably the only organization in Italy that takes rent control seriously,” one unnamed prelate moaned to Fortune. Tully and Dorion, “The Vatican’s Finances.”
135 Besides Krol, the commission included New York Cardinal John O’Connor. “The Pope Creates Vatican Bank Panel,” Lexis Nexis, Herald, Business Section, June 29, 1988, 21. See also Tully and Dorion, “The Vatican’s Finances.”
136 Shawn Tully and Marta F. Dorion, “The Vatican’s Finances,” Fortune, December 21, 1987.
137 Benny Lai interview with de Caprio, July 28, 1987, in Lai, Finanze vaticane, 140.
138 APSA, the Vatican’s other chief financial department besides the IOR, was firmly under lay control by this time. Benedetto Argentieri, an ex–market analyst at Brussels’ Banque Européenne d’Investissement, directed its twenty-six lay professionals. Compared to Marcinkus and the IOR, APSA had evolved into a more accountable division. Tully and Dorion, “The Vatican’s Finances.” See also Religious News Service, “American Head of Vatican Bank May Be Ousted,” Los Angeles Times, July 16, 1988, Part 2, 7.
139 Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 35.
140 Lai, Finanze vaticane, 148, citing G. Zizola, “banker of St. Francis,” Panorama, March 26, 1989.
141 Benny Lai interviews of Massimo Spada, January 14, 1998, and June 7, 1989, in Lai, Finanze vaticane, 142, cited in Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 62, as “1 2 de julio de 1987.” Giancarlo Zizola, “Banchiere di san Francescon,” Panorama. Author interview with Lai, September 20, 2006.
Chapter 28: White Finance
1 Caloia was the group’s secretary, and other founding members included top bankers such as Giovanni Bazoli of Banca Intesa, Cesar Geronzi of Capitalia, and Banca d’Italia’s Antonio Fazio. The group also counted Bishop Attilio Nicora, the auxiliary of Milan’s Cardinal Martini; Lorenzo Ornaghi, the future rector of the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart; and Father Giampiero Salvini, a Jesuit intellectual and future editor of La Civiltà Cattolica. Sandro Magister, “The Pope’s Banker Speaks: ‘Here’s How I Saved the IOR,’ ” L’Espresso, No. 25, June 18–24, 2004.
2 Account provided by Caloia in Galli, Finanza bianca, 129. Caloia at times seemed interested in interviewing with this author, but ultimately declined.
3 Ibid., 129–30.
4 Caloia interviewed in Galli, Finanza bianca, 130.
5 Galli, Finanza bianca, 130.
6 Lai, Finanze vaticane, 79.
7 Caloia interviewed in Galli, Finanza bianca, 131.
8 Ibid.
9 Lai, Finanze vaticane, 77.
10 Michael Sheridan, “Vatican Ends Archbishop’s Scandalous Reign,” The Independent (London), March 10, 1989, 10.
11 Alan Riding, “U.S. Prelate Not Indicted in Italy Bank Scandal,” The New York Times, April 30, 1989, 22.
12 Marcinkus quoted in Tully and Dorion, “The Vatican’s Finances,” Fortune.
13 “Vatican Bank Gets New Supervising Council,” United Press International, Vatican City, BC cycle, June 20, 1989.
14 Caloia interviewed in Galli Financial News, Finanza bianca, 132.
15 Angelo Pergolini, “Dimenticare Marcinkus,” Espansione, November 1, 1988, n. 222. Philippe de Weck, the UBS president, convinced Casaroli that Caloia should chair the IOR’s lay supervisory council. See also Lai, Finanze vaticane, 79–80.
16 Most press accounts of Bodio’s appointment incorrectly reported that he was the first layman to head the IOR. That overlooked both Nogara and Maillardoz. Typical was the coverage in “First Layman Named to Lead Vatican Bank,” Chicago Tribune, March 18, 1990, 20; and “Vatican Names New Director of Bank,” Associated Press, International News, Vatican City, A.M. cycle, March 17, 1990
17 See generally “Ambrosiano Crash: 35 on Trial in Milan,” Australian Financial Review, May 30, 1990, 57.
18 See Lai, Finanze vaticane, 81, n. 45; see also Charles Ridley, “Archbishop Marcinkus Resigns from Vatican Service,” United Press International, International News, Vatican City, BC cycle, October 30, 1990.
19 Marcinkus quoted in Victor L. Simpson, “Former Vatican Bank Head Returning to United States,” Associated Press, International News, Vatican City, P.M. cycle, October 30, 1990.
20 Memo from Interpol Washington to Justice, Memo of Conversation, 2003/04/05755, 23 April 2003, 450PM, FOIA release to author.
21 Author interview with Peter K. Murphy, January 31, 2014.
22 Marcinkus quoted in Clyde Haberman, “Former Head of Vatican Bank Retires,” The New York Times, October 31, 1990, A3.
23 Margalit Fox, “Archbishop Marcinkus, 84, Banker at the Vatican, Dies,” The New York Times, February 22, 2006; John Hooper, “Luigi Mennini: Shadow Over the Vatican,” The Guardian, August 14, 1997, 14. Author request for information to the Archdiocese of Chicago, December 18, 2013.
Chapter 29: Suitcases of Cash
1 Hebblethwaite, Pope John Paul II and the Church, 104-7; Willey, God’s Politician, 196-97; Hoffman, Anatomy of the Vatican, 237–41.
2 Ibid., Galli, 93.
3 Caloia interviewed in Ibid., 89.
4 During his tenure at the Vatican, Dardozzi had acted as registrar of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, a member of the board of directors of the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, and an auditor of the Pontifical Council for Culture. Lai, Finanze vaticane, 78. See Sandro Magister, “All the Denarii of Peter. Vices and Virtues of the Vatican Bank,” L’Espresso, June 15, 2009.
5 Statement of an anonymous witness to television journalist Paolo Mondani, reported in Willan, The Vatican at War, location 5338-5392 of 6371.
6 There is some evidence that the Spellman Foundation account dated back to the 1960s and this was merely the opening of a new account (IOR number 001-3-14774-C). Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 39; Willan, The Vatican at War, location 5301 of 6371.
7 Photocopy of the account application, Istituto per le Opere di Religione, Ufficio Amministrativo, June 15, 1987, stating that the De Bonis was managing the account on behalf of Andreotti. Reproduced in Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 41.
8 Giacomo Galeazzi, “Karol Wojtyla and the Secrets of Vatican Finances,” Vatican Insider, La Stampa, June 6, 2011. De Bonis later changed it so that any proceeds went only to charity, but by then the account was depleted. Last Will and Testament of Donato De Bonis, in Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 39, 42, 143.
9 €26.4 million, see Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 43. Fifty billion lire transferred in, and 43 billion out, in Philip Willan, “The Vatican’s Dirty Secrets: Bribery, Money Laundering and Mafia Connections,” AlterNet, June 4, 2009.
10 Willan, The Vatican at War, location 5320 of 6371; Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 42.
11 Nuzzi describes the charitable contributions from the Spellman account as “marginal.” Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 45; see also Willan, The Vatican at War, location 5320–25 of 6371.
12 Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 44, 47. When de Bonis escorted account holders up the staircase in the Nicholas V Tower, he told them they were “closer to heaven.” Curzio Maltese, in collaboration with Carlo Pontesilli and Maurizio Turco, “Scandal, Intrigue and Mystery: The Secrets of the Vatican Bank,” translated by Graeme A. Hunter, La Repubblica, January 26, 2008.
13 A new word, tangentopoli, roughly translated as bribsesville, was coined to describe the entire episode. Alan Cowell, “Web of Scandal: Broad Bribery Investigation Is Ensnaring the Elite of Italy,” Special Report, The New York Times, March 3, 1993, A1; see also Jean-Louis de la Vaissiere, “Clean Hands Probe Enters Its Third Year,” Agence France-Presse, International News, Rome, February 15, 1994.
14 The 1992 directive is quoted in Nuzzi, Vatican S.p.A., 47, 165, citing from the “reminder to the Board of Superintendence” of February 1994, signed “VP.” Those initials belong to Vincenzo Perrone, an IOR consultant and self-described confidant of Angelo Caloia.
15 Caloia interviewed in Galli, Finanza bianca, 149.
16 Maltese, “Scandal, Intrigue and Mystery.”
17 Ibid.
18 Magister, “All the Denarii of Peter. Vices and Virtues of the Vatican Bank.” See also Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 45, 53–58.
19 Ibid., Nuzzi, 48.
20 Angelo Caloia quoted in ibid., 146.
21 Ibid., 62.
22 Among them was the Cardinal Francis Spellman Foundation, Account No. 001-3-14774-C; the Augustus Louis Jonas Foundation, Account No. 001-3-16764-G; St. Seraphim Fund, Account 001-3-17178; the Mama Roma Fund for the Fight Against Leukemia, Account 001-3-15924; the Rome Charity Fund, Account No. 051-3-10054; Our Lady of Lourdes Fund, Account No. 051-3-02370; Holy House of Loreto, Account No. 001-3-16899; Sanctuary of Loreto and Sacro Monte di Varese, Account No. 051-3-10840; St. Martin Fund, Account No. 001-3-14577; Tumedei and Alina Casalis, Accounts No. 051-1-03972, 051-6-04425, and 051-3-05620; and one account listed without a number, Sisters of Divine Providence-Bisceglie.
23 Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 145.
24 Ibid., 57–58.
25 Ibid., 68. Those nuns were moved to the Santa Chiara nunnery, at Bisceglie. Years later (2007), the Sisters were embroiled in news reports of fierce, sometimes even violent fights over whether the convent’s monastic lifestyle should change. The mother superior, Sister Liliana, dispatched a letter to Pope Benedict, pleading with him in vain to intervene and to restore some order among her fellow nuns. John Hooper, “Nun Sends Plea to Pope over Unholy Row in Convent,” The Guardian, October 3, 2007, 19.
26 Handwritten letter, Angelo Caloia to Stanislaw Dziwisz, August 5, 1992, reproduced in Vaticano S.p.A., 50.
27 Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 68–70, also citing the independent investigative work of freelance journalist Gianni Lannes.
28 Enzo D’Errico, “Uno sponsor politico per ogni farmaco,” Corriere della Sera, October 27, 1993, 11.
29 Galli, Finanza bianca, 133, 149; Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 67.
30 Caloia interviewed in Galli, Finanza bianca, 133.
31 Alessandro Speciale, “Unmasking the Vatican’s Bank,” Global Post, January 25, 2011.
32 Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 63; see the typed one-page document attached to the letter from Caloia to Pope John Paul II, reproduced in Vaticano S.p.A., 66; Galeazzi, “Karol Wojtyla and the Secrets of Vatican Finances.”
33 Michael Hornblow, the American diplomat stationed at the Vatican for several years, explained that everything in the city-state played out in slow motion: “A word I heard constantly was pazienza [patience].” Author interview with Michael Hornblow, January 28, 2014.
34 “Bishop Indicted in Ambrosiano Case,” Associated Press, Business News, Rome, A.M. cycle, April 21, 1992.
35 Bruce Johnston, “Quietly among the sound and fury of falling politicians, a court case has opened that could finally explode the Italian timebomb,” South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), March 8, 1993, 17.
36 Raw, The Moneychangers, citing the March 24, 1992 report of Rome Investigating Magistrate, Mario Almerighi, 478; see also James Moore and Bruce Johnston, “Murder Squad Revisit Roberto Calvi Following the Testimony of Mafia Supergrasses in Rome, Police in London Have Opened a Murder Inquiry into the 1982 Death of the Banker,” The Daily Telegraph (London), October 4, 2003, 36.
37 “Rome: Slovak Bishop Given Three-Year Sentence,” The Tablet, April 10, 1993, 10; see also “$4M Vatican Payout,” Sunday Mail (QLD), May 10, 1992. Some estimates are that Hnilica paid between $3 and $6 million for Calvi’s briefcase. See Philip Willan, The Vatican at War: From Blackfriars Bridge to Buenos Aires (Bloomington, IN: iUniverse Books, 2013), Kindle edition, 154 of 6371.
38 Raw, The Moneychangers, citing De Leo, 478; see also Johnston, “Quietly among the sound and fury of falling politicians, a court case has opened that could finally explode the Italian timebomb,” and A. G. D. Maran, Mafia: Inside the Dark Heart (New York: Random House, 2011), 25–26.
39 Viyiane Hewitt, “Rome Court Opens Vatican Row,” The Catholic Herald (UK), October 27, 1989, 1; see also “Rome: Slovak Bishop Given Three-Year Sentence,” The Tablet. Additional evidence cast doubt on Hnilica’s initial defense that the signatures had been faked. After the first two checks totaling 600 million lire ($500,000), Hnilica had signed and delivered an additional twelve checks totaling $700,000 to Lena. See Hutchison, Their Kingdom Come, 331–32.
40 “Czech Cigarettes,” USA Today, April 23, 1992, 10B; see also Hutchison, Their Kingdom Come, 330–338.
41 The prosecutors had hoped to prove that the trio had conspired to shake down the Vatican. But the finger pointing made for a confusing trial that worked to the benefit of the defendants. At its conclusion, all three were convicted of Article 648 of the Criminal Code, the knowing receipt of stolen goods. Carboni got the maximum of five years, Hnilica received three years, and Lena got two and a half. According to author Robert Hutchison, all three verdicts were “later overturned because of ‘faulty legal procedure.’ ” Author Philip Willan writes that “The verdict would later be overturned on appeal, Italy’s highest court ruling that there was no evidence that the briefcase had not originally been entrusted to Carboni by Calvi of his own free will.” Willan, The Vatican at War, 3169-3171 of 6371; Hutchison, Their Kingdom Come, 338. As for the sentences, see “Rome: Slovak Bishop Given Three-Year Sentence,” The Tablet. See also Richard Owen, “ ‘God’s Banker’ to be exhumed: Murder or Suicide? Mafia-linked financier’s death still a mystery,” Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada), December 16, 1998, A11.
42 The church was strangely silent during this time about some matters that would have seemed natural for the type of activism for which John Paul had earned an early reputation. On September 15, on his fifty-sixth birthday, Father Guiseppe Puglisi was murdered at point-blank range in front of his Palermo parish. Puglisi had for three years spearheaded a campaign against the Mafia. His public execution prompted calls by Sicilian clergy for the Pope to attend the funeral. But to their disappointment, he did not go to the memorial mass for the slain priest. The Vatican did not even send a representative. And the Pope issued no statement condemning the Mafia and its corrosive influence in Italian society.
43 Galli, Finanza bianca, 76; Magister, “The Pope’s Banker Speaks”; see also Lai, Finanze vaticane, 86.
44 Magister, “All the Denarii of Peter. Vices and Virtues of the Vatican Bank.”
45 Reese, Inside the Vatican, 206–8.
46 Magister, “All the Denarii of Peter. Vices and Virtues of the Vatican Bank.” See also Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 150. In their first meeting, Castillo Lara did not think Caloia was paying enough attention to him and interrupted the banker in front of a packed room: “Look, I’m not here just to shine shoes.” The most Caloia later admitted publicly was that he was “not close” to Castillo Lara because “he was surrounded by members of the old system.” Angelo Caloia interviewed in Galli, Finanza bianca, 152.
47 Berry, Render Unto Rome, 103, 162, 175, 278, 336–39; Author faxes to Father Federico Lombardi, September 2013.
48 Berry, Render Unto Rome, 100–104, 181, 184, 186.
49 Ibid., 184-85. That arrest had prompted media speculation about whether the church was on the verge of getting sucked further into the ever-expanding criminal web unraveling in Italy. Even the National Catholic Reporter noted, “The level of church involvement depends on how rigorously one can draw the distinction between ‘Catholics’ and ‘the church.’ ” Peter Hebblethwaite, “Scandal in Rome Has Buffeted the Church; Italian Political Corruption Purges,” National Catholic Reporter March 26, 1993, 16.
50 Caloia to Sodano, Memo, July 27, 1993, quoted in Magister, “All the Denarii of Peter. Vices and Virtues of the Vatican Bank.” And in Nuzzi, Vatican S.p.A., 101n12. Also Caloia, who thought Sodano was “a person of exceptional trust and humanity,” realized from their conversation that they “would never agree on the mission of the IOR.” Angelo Caloia interviewed in Galli, Finanza bianca, 152.
51 Author interview with a former Papal advisor/assistant, identity withheld at t
heir request, in Rome, September 2013.
52 Alessandro Bonanno and Douglas H. Constance, Stories of Globalization: Transnational Corporations, Resistance, and the State (University Park, PA: Penn State Press, 2010), 88–89; See also John Tagliabue, “In a Courtroom in Milan, Italian Society Is on Trial,” The New York Times, February 6, 1994.
53 Recounted by Caloia in Galli, Finanza bianca, 159–60; Paddy Agnew, “Vatican Pledges to Help Bribes Inquiry,” The Irish Times, October 18, 1993, 10; see also John Glover, “New Suicide Stuns Italy,” The Guardian, July 24, 1993, 1; Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 84–85.
54 Galli, Finanza bianca, 159–60; Willan, The Vatican at War, location 5320 of 6371; see also Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 43. Before he met the prosecutors, Caloia talked to one of his trusted IOR lieutenants, Monsignor Dardozzi. The bank was once again, he told the cleric, “in the shit.” Maltese, “Scandal, Intrigue and Mystery.”
55 Paddy Agnew, “Illegal Funds Hint Soils the Image of the ‘Clean’ League,” The Irish Times, November 25, 1993, 10; Maltese, Pontesilli, and Turco, “Scandal, Intrigue and Mystery; The Secrets of the Vatican Bank”; Launch Ansa, “P2 Lodge: List Names,” May 21, 1981, Fasc. 020203, Group 6, cited in Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 100n4, Dr. Luigi Bisignani, Rome, Code E. 1977, Card 1689 date Init. 1.1.1977, date scad. 31.12.1980.
56 Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 76, 84. That account, 001-3-16764-G, was opened on October 11, 1990.
57 Obituary, George E. Jonas, Poughkeepsie Journal (New York), August 27, 1978, D6; see Gianni Barbacetto, “Luigi Bisignani, l’uomo che college,” Il Fatto Quotidiano, March 8, 2011.
58 Andrea Gagliarducci, “I.O.R., Is Something Going to Change?” MondayVatican: Vatican at a Glance, June 6, 2011; Galli, Finanza bianca, 163.
59 Gagliarducci, “I.O.R., is Something Going to Change?” Galli, Finanza bianca, 163.
60 Letters from Caloia to Sodano, October 5 and October 20, 1993, in Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 99, 101.
God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican Page 103
