An Italian probe into the VaticanBank for alleged violations of money-laundering laws is anotherexample of a “fierce attack” on the Catholic Church followingcriticism 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 startedjust six months after the publication” of Benedict’s encyclical“Caritas in Veritate” (Charity in Truth) in July 2009, he saidtoday at a conference in Fermo, central Italy.
“First it wasthe attack on the pope, then the pedophilia-related facts, andnow it carries on with the case that involves me.”
Gotti Tedeschi’s remarks, previously reported by Italiannews agency Ansa, were confirmed by Milko Vitali, moderator ofthe conference.
Gotti Tedeschi declined to comment further onhis remarks, Vitali said by phone.
The Vatican Bank and its top executives, Gotti Tedeschi andDirector General Paolo Cipriani, were put under investigation byRome prosecutors last month for allegedly omitting data in wire-transfer requests from an Italian bank.
Prosecutors froze 23million euros ($32 million) in an account registered to theInstitute for Religious Works, or the IOR as the Vatican Bank iscalled, at a Rome branch of Credito Artigiano SpA.
The IOR “took note” of a decision this week by a court inRome to uphold the seizure of the funds, and reiterated thatit’s committed to financial transparency, Vatican spokesmanFederico Lombardi said in a statement late yesterday.
Lombardideclined to comment by phone on Gotti Tedeschi’s remarks today.
Other Cases
Three other IOR transactions are under scrutiny for allegedviolations of money-laundering laws, Corriere della Sera said onOct. 21, citing court documents.
In one case, a priest allegedlymoved 300,000 euros from an account in San Marino andtransferred it to a businessman, Corriere reported.
The church has been rocked this year by allegations ofclerical sexual abuse of minors in countries including Irelandand Germany, the pope’s homeland.
Benedict, who has repeatedlyapologized for the abuse, has been criticized for his handlingof such cases as archbishop of Munich from 1977 to 1981.
Six months after his encyclical came out, Benedict visitedRome’s Great Synagogue last January amid Jewish concerns overhis move to put wartime Pope Pius II on the path to sainthood.
Critics say Pius did too little to stop the Holocaust, a chargethe Vatican rejects.
SIC: BLMBRG/INT'L
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