No, we’re not talking about the Pope; Benedict XVI is no fan of capitalism, in any event.
But not everyone in the Vatican City would bewail the futility of money and ambition, as the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday:
In a statement Wednesday, the Holy See said it had appointed Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who headed an Italian unit of Banco Santander SA, as the new head of the Vatican bank, which is called the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, or IOR. The Holy See also replaced the IOR’s management board.
The appointment marks the end of Angelo Caloia’s two decades at the helm of the IOR — a run that made him one of the Vatican’s most powerful and deeply entrenched officials. Mr. Caloia, an Italian banker and economist, was the first noncleric to run the IOR. Mr. Caloia, through his secretary, declined to comment.
The WSJ provided some background on the Istituto per le Opere di Religione:
The IOR doesn’t administer loans or publish its financial results. Its clients are mainly Vatican officials, clergy and private individuals who are invited by the bank to open accounts. Located in a medieval tower inside the world’s smallest state, the IOR is regulated only by a small commission of cardinals who report to the pope.
Over the decades, the IOR’s lack of transparency and oversight has led to abusive practices. Mr. Caloia was appointed under Pope John Paul II in 1989 to clean up the IOR in the wake of a massive banking scandal.
In the late 1980s, Italian magistrates investigated the IOR for contributing to the 1982 collapse of Banco Ambrosiano. The Vatican, which was a shareholder in the bank, repeatedly denied wrongdoing and invoked a treaty with Italy that shields the Vatican from Italian investigations under its status as an independent sovereign state. The Vatican, denying any wrongdoing, eventually agreed to pay $250 million to Banco Abrosiano’s creditors.
Sounds like something straight out of a Dan Brown novel, italics and all.
Related links:
Plea to Pope from ‘God’s banker’ revealed as murder trial begins – Times (2005)
Assorted links: God and Mammon Edition – Marginal Revolution
Oh no! Dan Brown to the rescue… – FT Alphaville
Berlusconi relations with Vatican sink even lower – FT