An Italian probe into the Vatican
Bank for alleged violations of money-laundering laws is another
example of a “fierce attack” on the Catholic Church following
criticism of Pope Benedict XVI and scrutiny of clerical sex-
abuse cases, the bank’s Chairman Ettore Gotti Tedeschi said.
“The fierce attack on the church’s credibility started
just six months after the publication” of Benedict’s encyclical
“Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth) in July 2009, he said
today at a conference in Fermo, central Italy.
“First it was
the attack on the pope, then the pedophilia-related facts, and
now it carries on with the case that involves me.”
Gotti Tedeschi’s remarks, previously reported by Italian
news agency Ansa, were confirmed by Milko Vitali, moderator of
the conference.
Gotti Tedeschi declined to comment further on
his remarks, Vitali said by phone.
The Vatican Bank and its top executives, Gotti Tedeschi and
Director General Paolo Cipriani, were put under investigation by
Rome prosecutors last month for allegedly omitting data in wire-
transfer requests from an Italian bank.
Prosecutors froze 23
million euros ($32 million) in an account registered to the
Institute for Religious Works, or the IOR as the Vatican Bank is
called, at a Rome branch of Credito Artigiano SpA.
The IOR “took note” of a decision this week by a court in
Rome to uphold the seizure of the funds, and reiterated that
it’s committed to financial transparency, Vatican spokesman
Federico Lombardi said in a statement late yesterday.
Lombardi
declined to comment by phone on Gotti Tedeschi’s remarks today.
Other Cases
Three other IOR transactions are under scrutiny for alleged
violations of money-laundering laws, Corriere della Sera said on
Oct. 21, citing court documents.
In one case, a priest allegedly
moved 300,000 euros from an account in San Marino and
transferred it to a businessman, Corriere reported.
The church has been rocked this year by allegations of
clerical sexual abuse of minors in countries including Ireland
and Germany, the pope’s homeland.
Benedict, who has repeatedly
apologized for the abuse, has been criticized for his handling
of such cases as archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1981.
Six months after his encyclical came out, Benedict visited
Rome’s Great Synagogue last January amid Jewish concerns over
his move to put wartime Pope Pius II on the path to sainthood.
Critics say Pius did too little to stop the Holocaust, a charge
the Vatican rejects.
SIC: BLMBRG/INT'L