Who will the Vatican bank’s next president be? “It certainly won’t be me,” says Carl Anderson, a member of the IOR (Institute for Works of Religion) board and Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, an American foundation that actively supports the Church and a generous financial backer of the Vatican.
“But there are many excellent candidates we are considering and the final decision which ultimately lies the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, could be taken in January,” he added.
Anderson did not shy away from journalists’ questions about the IOR’s internal affairs, but responded in a courteous and polite manner. A tone which was in stark contrast with that used last May with the Vatican Bank’s former president, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, signing a tough no-confidence memorandum him.
Since then, many have interpreted the gesture as a sudden attack by rich American Catholic circles aimed at taking over the reigns of the IOR and installing Anderson – who is close to Vatican Secretary of State, Bertone - as president. But the board’s lay member denies this.
The IOR supervisory Council held a meeting in the tower of Nicolò V (where the Vatican Bank offices are located, Ed.) last Thursday.
Aside from Anderson, the Council’s members include: the current acting President Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz, formerly a top executive at Deutsch Bank, the Spaniard Manuel Soto Serrano of Banco Santander and Antonio Maria Marocco, a notary from the northern Italian city of Turin.
The meeting, as always, was strictly closed doors.
During the meeting, the issue of the need to choose a new president to fill the post which has remained vacant for six months now was raised again.
But, as expected, no decision was taken but instead was postponed till after the Christmas holidays.
“Today’s meeting was fruitful – Anderson explained today -. We made a great deal of progress and are considering a number of excellent high-profile candidates.”
Anderson, in an act of fair play, would not comment on whether Italian candidates have definitely been excluded or not but reiterated that the potential candidates are many and all highly experienced.
In recent weeks there was a lot of talk about many in the Vatican favouring a German banker for the post; someone of the same nationality as the Pope.
Anderson was keen to stress that “the final decision ultimately lies with the Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone,” one of the members of the Supervisory Council of Cardinals overseeing the IOR.
The other four cardinals that make up the Council are Attilio Nicora, Jean-Louis Tauran, Telesphore Placidus Toppo and Odilo Pedro Scherer.
“I certainly won’t be the next president,” Anderson concluded. “I already work as a CEO which is a full time job. I don’t think we’ll be ready to announce the new president’s name before Christmas; it’s more likely to be January.”