God's Bankers: A History of Money and Power at the Vatican
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25 Miller, “Under Pressure, Vatican Calls in Bank Consultants.”
26 Untitled from LexisNexis, The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 1982, 20.
27 Paul Lewis, “Italy Bank’s Subsidiary Defaults,” The New York Times, July 17, 1982, 25.
28 Cornwell, God’s Banker, 210.
29 Robert Trigaux, “The Ambrosiano Affair: ‘Gang of 88’ Wants Its Money Back,” The American Banker, July 12, 1983.
30 “Italy liquidates Ailing Banco Ambrosiano,” The Globe and Mail (Canada), August 10, 1982.
31 “Rome Suicide Widens Freemason Scandal,” The Globe and Mail (Canada), June 6, 1981.
32 Marcinkus interviewed in Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 136.
33 “Vatican Banker to Stand Trial in Sindona Case,” United Press International, International News, Milan, July 22, 1982; Tosches, Power on Earth, 246.
34 Since Mennini had refused to return for the trial, he was convicted in absentia. Mennini’s attorneys appealed, which forestalled any immediate crisis between the church and Italy.
35 Hebblethwaite, Pope John Paul II and the Church, 108–9.
36 The notice was not a subpoena. Still it caused concern inside the IOR. “Says Italy Investigating American Archbishop,” Associated Press, International News, Rome, A.M. cycle, July 29, 1982; Cornwell, God’s Banker, 225.
37 As for Wilson’s devout faith, author interview with Michael Hornblow, January 28, 2014.
38 See Substitution of Co-Trustees, June 11, 1985, William A. Wilson Papers, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, D.C.
39 Wilson had been the president’s personal envoy at the Vatican since February 1981, before the mission was upgraded to an ambassador’s post with full diplomatic recognition of the Holy See. Author interview with Peter K. Murphy, Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) at the embassy, 1984–89, January 31, 2014. The Vatican embassy consisted of only three consular officers: the ambassador, the DCM, and a political officer. It also employed three full-time secretaries, and relied on support from the much larger American embassy in Rome. See also the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Foreign Affairs Oral History Project, Peter K. Murphy, interviewed by William D. Morgan, Initial Interview Date, April 4, 1998, Copyright 1998 ADST, 84–85.
40 Letter, William Wilson to Robert H. McBride, July 30, 1982, Box 1, Series 2, Correspondence 1982, William A. Wilson Papers, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, D.C.
41 Author interview with Michael Hornblow, January 28, 2014.
42 Cable from Michael Hornblow, U.S. Embassy, Rome, to Secretary of State, Washington, DC, Secret, Section 01, October 1, 1980, part of the Department of State Freedom of Information request by the author. Also see the collected 1982–84 correspondence of William A. Wilson, William A. Wilson Papers, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, D.C.
43 Cable from Michael Hornblow, U.S. Embassy, Rome, to Secretary of State, Washington, DC, Secret, Section 01, October 1, 1980, part of the Department of State Freedom of Information request by the author.
44 Ibid.
45 Ibid., point 8.
46 Author interview with Peter K. Murphy, Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy, 1984–89, January 31, 2014.
47 See generally letter, William Wilson to Robert H. McBride, July 30, 1982, Box 1, Series 2, Correspondence 1982, William A. Wilson Papers, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, DC.
48 Richard Hammer, The Vatican Connection: The Astonishing Account of a Billion-Dollar Counterfeit Stock Deal Between the Mafia and the Church (New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1982).
49 Letter from William Wilson to William French Smith, July 15, 1982, William A. Wilson Papers, Box 2, Folder 66, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, DC.
50 Ibid.
51 Ibid.
52 Letter from John G. Roberts Jr. to William A. Wilson, August 9, 1982, William A. Wilson Papers, Box 2, Folder 66, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, DC.
53 Robert Wagner to Stanley Frank, August 20, 1982, Correspondence Files, William A. Wilson Papers, Box 2, Folder 66, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, DC.
54 Letter from William A. Wilson to His Excellency, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, August 12, 1982, William A. Wilson Papers, Box 2, Folder 66, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, DC. The letter from Roberts was time-stamped as received by Wilson on August 11; hence Wilson was writing to Marcinkus only a day later.
55 Ibid.
56 In an August 30 letter from Marcinkus to Wilson, the archbishop indicated he had spoken to Wagner and his aides and “it seems that there is very little we really can do without getting involved in a long process of litigation.” William A. Wilson Papers, Box 2, Folder 66, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, DC
57 Susan Dentzer and Hope Lambert, “A Book of Revelations,” Newsweek, September 13, 1982, 69.
58 Letter, William Wilson to Robert H. McBride, July 30, 1982, Box 1, Series 2, Correspondence 1982, William A. Wilson Papers, Georgetown University Library, Special Collections Research Center, Washington, DC.
Chapter 26: “A Heck of a Lot of Money”
1 Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 162.
2 Louise Branson, “Italian Masonic Leader Arrested at Swiss Bank,” United Press International, International News, Geneva, P.M. cycle, September 14, 1982; “Gelli Deported Back to Italy,” BBC News, October 16, 1998.
3 Lernoux, In Banks We Trust, 209; Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 165–66; Cornwell, God’s Banker, 239–40; DiFonzo, St. Peter’s Banker, 259.
4 Henry Kamm, “Pope Vows to Assist Bank Study,” The New York Times, November 27, 1982, 35.
5 Henry Kamm, “Cardinals Discuss Tie to Bank,” The New York Times, November 26, 1982, 25; Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 170.
6 Gurwin, ibid., 170–71; Cornwell, God’s Banker, 213–14.
7 Marcinkus quoted in Cornwell, God’s Banker, 233.
8 Lai, Finanze vaticane, 66, in particular Lai interview with Cardinal Giuseppe Caprio, December 4, 1982, 135.
9 Hoffman, Anatomy of the Vatican, 204.
10 See Laura Colby, “Vatican Bank Played a Central Role in Fall of Banco Ambrosiano,” Wall Street Journal, April 27, 1987, 1.
11 Untitled, Associated Press, International News, Rome, A.M. cycle, December 5, 1982; Raw, The Moneychangers, 34–49.
12 Clara Calvi quoted in Willey, God’s Politician, 213–14; “Bank President’s Wife Says Husband Killed, Not Suicide,” International News, A.M. cycle, Turin, United Press International, October 7, 1982; Untitled, dateline Rome, International News, A.M. cycle, Associated Press, December 5, 1982 (referring to Clara mistakenly as Carla).
13 “Special Commission to Probe Dealings of Vatican Bank,” United Press International, International News, Vatican City, A.M. cycle, December 24, 1982.
14 Joan Goulding, “Jewish Groups Protest Sparks Vatican Probe,” United Press International, Domestic News, Los Angeles, BC cycle, January 5, 1983.
15 “Vatican Said Investigating Banker’s Alleged Ties to Nazis,” Associated Press, Domestic News, Los Angeles, P.M. cycle, January 6, 1983.
16 Jay Arnold, “Jews Ask Pope to Rescind Appointment of Alleged Nazi Collaborator,” Associated Press, Domestic News, Los Angeles, A.M. cycle, December 29, 1982.
17 “Vatican Said Investigating Banker’s Alleged Ties to Nazis,” Associated Press.
18 Pawlikowski quoted in Joan Goulding, “Catholic Theologian Calls for Probe of Papal Appointee,” United Press International, Domestic News, Los Angeles, A.M. cycle, January 7, 1983.
19 The company was Deutsche Solvay-Werke A.G., a Belgian conglomerate controlled by the Nazis after Belgium fell to German troops in 1940. “Records Show Papal Appointee Helped Run Nazi Camp Wh
ere Pope Worked,” United Press International, Domestic News, Los Angeles, P.M. cycle, January 11, 1983. Author Charles Higham added to the pressure by calling Abs “Hitler’s Banker.” In his 1983 book (Trading with the Enemy), about how Allied and German companies clandestinely did business throughout the war, he contended that Abs was part of “Hitler’s immediate circle” (p. 240).
20 John Paul quoted in “Pope Cautions Faithful Against News Reports,” Associated Press, International News, Rome, A.M. cycle, February 27, 1983.
21 Author interview with Rabbi Marvin Heir, June 24, 2006.
22 Sergio Itzhak Minerbi, “Pope John Paul II and the Jews: An Evaluation,” Jewish Political Studies Review 18: 1, 2 (Spring 2006).
23 Heir quoted in Untitled, United Press International, International News, Rome, A.M. cycle, April 25, 1983.
24 Michael Day, “Vatican Turns to Fox News Man Greg Burke for Image Makeover,” The Independent (London), June 25, 2012.
Chapter 27: “I’ve Been Poisoned”
1 “Red Hats for Six Continents,” Time, January 17, 1983.
2 In keeping with the shift since Pope Paul VI to reduce the influence of Italians in the College of Cardinal, only three of the eighteen new appointees were Italian. “Pontiff Names Bernardin and Glemp Cardinals,” Chicago Tribune, January 6, 1983, 1; “Josef Glemp Is Among 18 New Cardinals,” The Boston Globe, January 5, 1983, 1; see also Hoffman, Anatomy of the Vatican, 206.
3 “Pontiff Names Bernardin and Glemp Cardinals,” Chicago Tribune, 1.
4 “Answers to Quiz,” The New York Times, January 8, 1983, 12; see Henry Kamm, “Inside the College of Cardinals,” The New York Times, January 9, 1983: “Archbishop Paul C. Marcinkus, the head of the Vatican Bank, did not receive the accolade that before the bank scandal was assumed to be a certainty.” And “18 Become Cardinals Today: Family and Friends Gather in Vatican City for Ceremonies,” The Boston Globe, February 2, 1983, 1: “Archbishop Marcinkus had been expected to be named a cardinal but was not.”
5 Henry Kamm, “Vatican-Italy Study Set on Ambrosiano Links,” The New York Times, December 25, 1982, 29; see also Nancy Frazier, “Vatican, Italy Form Ambrosiano Commission,” Catholic Courier Journal (New York), January 5, 1983, 18. Charles Raw says that all three Vatican appointees were lawyers. The Moneychangers, 47.
6 Raw, The Moneychangers, 43, 47. See formation order of the commission in Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 19.
7 “Vatican Pact Reported on Banco Ambrosiano,” The New York Times, May 11, 1984, D1.
8 The long-standing rule for a full Papal indulgence for Jubilees was a requirement that a Catholic visit Rome’s four basilicas fifteen times during a single year. Romans had to make thirty visits. John Paul lowered the bar, requiring only that each of the basilicas be visited once. That ensured that millions would travel to Rome for the easier-to-target indulgence.
9 Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 19.
10 Boniface VIII called the first Holy Year in 1300, and subsequent ones were held every fifty years. But by 1425, they were so popular and lucrative that they were scheduled every twenty-five years. John Paul cited the crucifixion of Jesus as the reason to mark the 1950th anniversary of his death and resurrection. James L. Franklin, “Unusual Holy Years Starts This Weekend,” The Boston Globe, March 27, 1983, 1; see also Sari Gilbert, “Rome Expects Millions for the Holy Year,” The Boston Globe, February 27, 1983, 1; Gurwin, The Calvi Affair, 176–77.
11 It was a seven-year (1973–80) gasoline-tax-evasion scheme, involving Italian customs agents conspiring with oil company employees who shuffled customs documents that passed off premium fuel as lower-taxed heating oil. “Petroleum Scandal Touches Vatican Bank Official,” Associated Press, International News, Rome, A.M. cycle, February 10, 1983; see also “3 Priests Implicated in Rome Tax Scandal,” The New York Times, February 11, 1983; and “Vatican Bank Officials Linked to a Major Financial Scandal,” The New York Times, February 3, 1983, A17. See generally John Winn Miller, “Career of Once Powerful American Prelate in Decline,” Associated Press, International News, Vatican City, BC cycle, August 26, 1984. Prosecutors notified two other priests, Monsignor Mario Pimpo, secretary for the confidential affairs of the Vicariate of Rome, and a Roman parish priest, Giacomo Ceretto, they were also under investigation.
12 See generally Untitled, The Wall Street Journal, February 14, 1983, 21.
13 See generally Hutchison, Their Kingdom Come, 290.
14 Lai, Finanze vaticane, 87.
15 Massimo Spada, who had spent decades at the bank, said De Bonis had avoided being a target in the Ambrosiano case because he “had only been a clerk then.” Benny Lai interview of Massimo Spada, January 14, 1998, and June 7, 1989, in Lai, Finanze vaticane, 145; and see also Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 62, citing Giancarlo Zizola,“Banchiere di san Francescon,” Panorama.
16 Raw, The Moneychangers, 62, 126, 134.
17 John Corry, “TV Reviews Based on Early Tapes,” The New York Times, February 16, 1983, C31.
18 Raw, The Moneychangers, 42.
19 “New Inquest Set in Calvi’s Death,” The New York Times, March 30, 1983, D5.
20 Raw, The Moneychangers, 9.
21 Ibid., 42–43.
22 In its published final report, the joint commission stated simply that the three men had been “unavailable for interview.” An independent magistrate, Antonio Pizzi, who investigated the IOR’s role in the Ambrosiano collapse, later complained to the press, “They have always refused to be questioned in the case.” The Italian Court of Cassation, which handles issues of legal procedure, upheld the right of Pizzi to investigate the Vatican officials, but no one could force them to make themselves available for questioning. “Arrest Warrant Issued for Marcinkus in Bank Collapse,” Associated Press, International News, Milan, A.M. cycle, February 25, 1987.
23 Some resorted to arguing their case in the press, such as when Cologne’s Cardinal Joseph Höffner took a not so subtle swipe at Marcinkus by telling reporters that he favored only “competent” financial laymen to run the Vatican Bank. “Shift Is Urged at Vatican Bank,” The New York Times, March 8, 1983, D4. In 1986 Höffner asked John Paul to replace Marcinkus with a noncleric as the IOR’s chief.
24 IOR/Marcinkus memorandum, July 1, 1983, quoted in Raw, The Moneychangers, 45.
25 Andrew Malone and Nick Pisa, “Was This Girl Murdered After Being Snatched for Vatican Sex Parties? Police Try and Solve the Mystery of the 15-Year-Old Who Vanished in 1983,” Mail Online, May 30, 2012; See Willan, The Last Supper, 283–84.
26 Uli Schmetzer, “Extradition Cloaked in Intrigue,” Chicago Tribune, February 18, 1988, 18; Cornwell, God’s Banker, 246–47. The Joint Commission also wanted to get the assistance of Gelli’s right-hand man, Umberto Ortolani, but he was in Brazil fighting extradition.
27 “Gelli, Fugitive Italian Financier, Gives Himself Up in Switzerland,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, September 22, 1987; “Top Italian Fugitive Licio Gelli Arrested in France,” International News, Rome, Associated Press, September 10, 1998; “Gelli Deported Back to Italy,” BBC, October 16, 1998; Raw, The Moneychangers, 9, 158, 484.
28 Final Report of the Joint Commission, October 1983, in Raw, The Moneychangers, 45.
29 Memo to Cardinal Secretary of State, from Agostino Gamboni, Pellegrino Capaldo, and Renato Dardozzi, Vatican City, August 17, 1983, reproduced in Nuzzi, Vaticano S.p.A., 23–24.
30 Statements of Santa Maria and Cattaneo in Final Report of the Joint Commission, October 1983, quoted in Raw, The Moneychangers, 47.
31 Statement of Chiomenti in Final Report of the Joint Commission, October 1983, quoted in Raw, The Moneychangers, 31–32.
32 “Vatican Bank Is Target,” The New York Times, March 28, 1983, D2.
33 Raw, The Moneychangers, 32–34.
34 Draft document, “The Spirit of Luca,” dated August 10, 1983, quoted in Raw, The Moneychangers, 33.
35 All Marcinkus statements about his views and what he said regarding whether the Vatican should settle with the Ambrosi
ano’s creditors are from interviews by John Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 136–37. That interview with Cornwell was the first public evidence of the heated debate that had taken place inside the Vatican.
36 Raw, The Moneychangers, 35.
37 John Winn Miller, Untitled, Associated Press, International News, Rome, A.M. cycle, April 1, 1984. Italmobiliare had controlling interests in the insurance conglomerate RAS, as well as the country’s largest cement maker, Italcementi.
38 Miller, “Career of Once Powerful American Prelate in Decline.”
39 “Vatican Bank Inquiry in Italy,” The New York Times, April 2, 1984, D5.
40 “U.S. Archbishop Says He Has Nothing to Hide in Vatican Loan Probe,” Associated Press, Business News, Rome, P.M. cycle, April 3, 1984. “His foes in the Curia were delighted when he got indicted,” says Peter Murphy, later the Deputy Chief of Mission for U.S. embassy at the Vatican. “They barely hid their glee.” Author interview with Peter K. Murphy, Deputy Chief of Mission at the embassy, 1984–89, January 31, 2014.
41 “John Paul Completes His Team,” Time, April 23, 1984.
42 The appointment that got the most attention was of Benin’s Cardinal Bernardin Gantin to become the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. It made Gantin the first non-Italian with the power of appointing—with the Pope’s approval—the church’s bishops. Gantin also later served on a committee of five cardinals that had some general oversight over financial matters in the wake of Marcinkus’s departure.
43 “John Paul Completes His Team,” Time. Although Marcinkus kept the same title, the changes by John Paul meant that his authority was no longer unchecked when it came to the Vatican City administration.
44 Marcinkus interviewed by John Cornwell, A Thief in the Night, 136–37.
45 Marcinkus statements from interviews in ibid.
46 Raw, The Moneychangers, 36–37.
47 The first reports were that the accord included 109 creditor banks, but the final agreement covered 120. Paul Lewis, “Vatican Pact Reported on Banco Ambrosiano,” The New York Times, May 11, 1984, D1; “A Moral Duty,” Time, May 21, 1984. Also, initially, the Vatican planned to pay $250 million in three installments over twelve months, but the banks gave the church a $6 million discount if it made a single payment by June 30, 1984. “Vatican to Pay in Bank Failure,” Chicago Tribune, May 22, 1984, B3. In fact, based on fluctuations in currency exchange, the Vatican paid $240.9 million on Monday, July 2, since June 30 was a Saturday. Lewis, “Vatican Pact Reported on Banco Ambrosiano,” D1. See also “Tentative Agreement Reportedly Reached on Banco Ambrosiano,” Associated Press, Business News, Rome, P.M. cycle, May 21, 1984; “Payment by Vatican,” The New York Times, July 4, 1984, D14. See also Galli, Finanza bianca, 88.