Holy CDD

I am mightily grateful that both my gender and my creed bar me from his job, writes Sue Grossey, as I would not today be in the shoes of Pope Benedict XVI for all the sacred wine in Rome. Things are not going well for the Pontiff . His former butler Paolo Gabriele has been found guilty of stealing confidential documents and child abuse scandals continue to undermine faith in the church hierarchy. And that’s before we start thinking about the financial side.

Susan Grossey may be contacted on +44 (0)1223 563636, susan@thinkingaboutcrime.com, www.thinkingaboutcrime.com

The Vatican Bank (or, more correctly, the Institute for Works of Religion, or IOR) was founded in 1942 with the finest of aims – “to provide for the safekeeping and administration of movable and immovable property transferred or entrusted to it by physical or juridical persons and intended for works of religion or charity” – and today it handles accounts mainly for religious orders and other Catholic associations, and for cardinals, bishops, monks and nuns. However, almost from the start the IOR has been tainted with the rumour of money laundering, and particularly since “God’s banker” Roberto Calvi was found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in 1982, prompting investigations into the link between the collapse of his Banco Ambrosiano and the IOR. In 2009, a money laundering investigation was launched into the IOR by the Banca d’Italia and the Guardia di Finanza. In September 2010 bank president Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was placed under personal investigation for money laundering, and on 24 May 2012 he was ousted because of “failure to fulfil the primary functions of his office”. The time had come for a closer look – in fact, the first close look – at the anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime of the Holy See.