The raid

The raid carried was about the investigation on Finmeccanica, an Italian industry specialized in products for defense – Gotti Tedeschi is not under investigation himself, but he could be in possession of papers of Finmeccanica that the CEO of Finmeccanica Fernando Orsi (they’re good friends) consigned him. Even if the investigation on Finmeccanica is not of any particular interest for those who cover the Vatican, it became newsworthy that – among the folders seized by the investigators to Gotti Tedeschi – there was a «memorandum »  that the former president of the I.O.R. was drafting to send to Mons. Georg Gaenswein, secretary of Benedict XVI, so it could be delivered directly to the Pope.

I.O.R. folders?

Gotti Tedeschi  was also reported to keep in his house 47 folders from the I.O.R. Some reports say that the folders would contain information about some I.O.R. accounts – especially of politician, as the ex I.O.R. president would have said -  but the Gotti Tedeschi’s lawyer Palazzo denied it. In the correspondence with some Curial officials, Gotti Tedeschi denounced a «plot» against him. Tedeschi described it as a «Judaic-Masonic »  plot . Tedeschi reportedly thought that : Marco Simeon (33 years old, foreign relations account manager and deputy to the relationship with the institutions of the Italian state television, Rai, and ad interim director of Rai Vaticano,which covers the Holy See) and the lawyer Michele Briamonte (from the office of Franzo Grande Stevens) were part of this plot. Within the Gotti Tedeschi’s sight was also Jeffrey Lena, the Holy See lawyer in the United States who recently has come to live in Rome to work on the reform of Vatican law n. 127 against money laundering, and who is now working along with Vatican officials to prepare the documentation for the July 4^thplenary assembly of MONEYVAL – the body of the Council of Europe that evaluates the adherence to the anti-money laundering norms of Council of Europe State members. MONEYVAL advisors will present their report about Holy See compliance to the plenary assembly.  There had been 3 meetings between MONEYVAL advisors and the Holy See – two on site visits of MONEYVAL advisors to the Vatican and a meeting in Strasbourg. All the work of the Holy See’s« financial branch » are in preparation for the 4^th of July meeting.

The efforts of the Holy See for financial transparency

The fact that the Holy See changed law n.127 just one year after its promulgation in order to make it adhere to international standards shows the Holy See’s specific and long term commitment to transparency. Yet, the reform had been particularly resisted by the «architects »  of the «old » law n. 127. Among these architects, Card. Attilio Nicora, president of the Authority of Financial Information, defined the new law as «a step back » . Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was also among the critics. He did not formally take part in the drafting of the old law. But he recommended  Marcello Condemi and Francesco De Pasquale as advisors, who were later appointed member and president, respectively, of the Authority for Financial Information.  They came from the Bank of Italy ranks and .defended wholeheartedly the law.

The old law n. 127 would «justify » Gotti Tedeschi’s decision – questionable, according to several observers – to declare before Italian magistrates about 23 million transferred by the IOR in 2010, although the magistrates did not make a proper international request. Gotti Tedeschi also convinced Paolo Cipriani, general manager of the I.O.R., to go and speak to the Italian magistrates. Cipriani was in favor of Holy See transparency, and at the same time he wanted to protect Holy See sovereignty. With the Guardia di Finanza (the Italian financial police) Cipriani holds informal relationships: anytime he is asked for information, he fulfill the request, except in the cases that would be detrimental to the sovereignty of the Holy See. The Guardia di Finanza once sent him a note to thank him for his quickness and precision in his answers.

A man rebuilding his image

So, there is a whole world in the Holy See that keeps on working, while outside the Vatican City State Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is on the spot. If, in the past, the former president of the I.O.R. was seen a strong defender of transparency, now Ettore Gotti Tedeschi is projecting his image of a person under attack, in order to get back to the previous image. In fact, his behavior has been censored by many inside the Vatican. The memorandum of the meeting of the board of Superitendance of the I.O.R. that voted the no confidence on Gotti Tedeschi listed nine accusations against the president of the I.O.R. Among these, one was of «erratic »  behavior. And Ettore Gotti Tedeschi seems to keep on his erratic behavior even now that he is out of the Vatican.

Vatican transparency

During his two years and a half as president of the board of Superintendence, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi collected a lot of information, and some of it is being leaked to the press. The media polemicizes the ciphered accounts of the I.O.R. But this should not be shocking:  the I.O.R. is not a bank. It is a “Pontifical body”, whose funds are at the disposal of the Pope. It is something more similar to a Trust than to a bank. I.O.R. accounts have always been given ciphered codes, rather than names, even if the accountes are not secret, and the information on them is complete. The «transparency operation »  began under Angelo Caloia, president of the body of Surveillance of the I.O.R. before Gotti Tedeschi. Since 2002, Caloia adopted the KYC policy, i.e. Know Your Customer. Each customer of the Institute was carefully analyzed. Obviously, since it is not a bank, I.O.R. cannot transfer money by itself. So it opens several bank accounts – especially in Deutsche Bank -  and there the money is transferred, and all the money movements can be traced. Since  the promulgation of the Vatican anti-money laundering law, each transfer must be justified and explained in a very precise manner, and that is why I.O.R. asks its customers to fill an appropriate form that some customers do not like. It is not even newswothy that in the I.O.R. there are the so called « lay » accounts, i.e. accounts that do not belong to cardinals or religious congregations, but to people outside of the Holy See. The opening of this kind of accounts is also covered in the anti-money laundering law. Paolo Cipriani – the I.O.R. general manager – said in an interview published on the Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera that there are no numbered accounts at the Vatican bank and the only Italians, apart from priests, monks and nuns, who banked with the IOR were lay employees or pensioners of the Holy See. Cipriani added that Gotti Tedeschi had been invited to inspect lists of accounts, but – Cipriani says – «he didn’t take things in hand. It was as if he were absent, even when he was present».

(false) Information

All of these (false) information is part of a strong press campaign. Gotti Tedeschi could not come to terms with receiving a no confidence vote by the board of I.O.R. and a press release that some observers defined « a declaration of war » . Several Italian media outlets proposed an external commission to evaluate how Ettore Gotti Tedeschi worked in the I.O.R. And his friends in finance and industry defended Ettore Gotti Tedeschi on the prominent Italian newspaper Il Corriere della Sera. After that, they tried to set up a sort of independent commission whose spokesperson would be Vito Gamberale, president of the Fund F2i, among whose members is Gotti Tedeschi.. Then, after the raid that brought to the seizure of his papers, and so also of the I.O.R. document, it seems that Gotti Tedeschi thought that he could trumpet his view through the Italian magistrate – the public prosecutor of Rome denied to have taken “Vatican” dossiers, but maybe the public prosecutor of Naples will do it; finally, it also seems that he may want to write a book, a Vatican best-seller that will forever save him from the accusation of being erratic.

More or less fanciful stories of how things went on come out from the same circles that spread misinformation about Gotti Tedeschi being under attack. And so we could read that Gotti Tedeschi had been fired because everybody in the Vatican opposed his transparency policy. Even that Gotti Tedeschi was victim of the American lobby of the Knights of Columbus.  The drafter of the memorandum of no confidence, Carl A. Anderson, was also among the first to speak up against Gotti Tedeschi in the Vatican.  A letter from Anderson criticizing the former president of the I.O.R. has been leaked to the press.  Anderson is the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus. But fact, the Knights of Columbus are beyond suspicion. Their founder, Michael J. McGivney, is going to be beatified. They cooperate with the Holy See since the Benedict XV pontificate, they do not hesitate to send financial aid when requested, and they help poor. The wealth of the Knights of Columbus comes from a leading insurance society they manage, which has always gained Triple A financial ratings for its reliability.

Was there a war?

That the Knights of Columbus would like to take possession of the Holy See, getting rid of Opus Dei, is unsubstantiated. It was not only Carl A. Anderson statements and opinion that brought about the no confidence vote on Gotti Tedeschi. The four members of the board of Surveillance of the I.O.R., completely agree, and as the letters leaked to the Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano show.  Both Carl A. Anders and Rolando Schmitz – another member of the board – recommended the no confidence on Gotti Tedeschi. The letters were addressed to Cardinal Bertone, the “president” of the Commission of Cardinals that manages the I.O.R. Rolando Schmitz also wrote to Bertone that he would resign if an eventual no confidence vote of the board would not be confirmed by the commission of cardinals.

A press release

All of these rumors – coming out from circles very close to Gotti Tedeschi, and some say from Gotti Tedeschi himself – damage the reputation of the Holy See. This why the Holy See wanted to do away with the utter chatter with the Friday, 8^th of June press release underlining its « surprise and concern»  for the «recent events »  involvingEttoreGotti Tedeschi. The Holy See also says that it trusts that «the prerogatives acknowledged to the Holy See by the international legal order are being adequately considered and respected »  by the Italian judicial authorities.

The Holy See statement is a message to the Italian magistrates that are canvassing and studying the Gotti Tedeschi memorandum of its days as president of the I.O.R. In fact, the Italian public prosecutor denied to have taken documents about the I.O.R.: those papers had been found, seized and then sealed. But the investigators obviously glanced them. And the Holy See reminds all that those are documents from a sovereign country, seized to an ex president of a « body of State ».

Even if Gotti Tedeschi does not enjoy a “functional” immunity as president of the I.O.R. since the no confidence vote, those papers are from the time when he was in charge, and they are not part of the enquiry on Finmeccanica. The Holy See press release goes beyond, setting the record straight about what has been written during these days. First of all, «the Holy See confirms his full trust in the people whoworkat theInstitute for Religious Works with commitment and professionality»; and it is « examining with the maximum care»  the possible damage infringed upon the rights of the Institute and of its bodies. So, there is the possibility of a legal action. And this possibility upholds the « transparency line »  wanted by Benedict XVI: there is nothing to hide, and so there is nothing to deny. There is simply a desire to do away with any falsity.

What the Holy See is doing

The raid of the house and the office of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi gave rise to the rumors about the motives of the no confidence vote. Even in this case, it was the same I.O.R. to speak in a fair and strong manner – even too candidly for some internal observers. The Holy See confirms once again that the « no confidence vote on Ettore Gotti Tedeschi by the Board of Superintendence was rooted on objective reasons, concerning the governance of the Institute, and not determined by a presumed opposition to transparency, which the Holy See and the I.O.R. itself particularly care for».

So much care that it reworked the law n. 127 anti money-laundering not even one year after its promulgation. Holy See is working to fulfill the European request and to adhere to the international standars. For what concern the new law, MONEYVAL advisors focused on the new role of the Authority of Financial Information, that it is still crucial on the anti money-laundering law of the Holy See, but that it is now placed in a larger institutional settings that includes the State Secretariat, the Vatican City State Administration and the Gendarme Corps. The “presence” of the Secretariat of State among the bodies involved in trasparency – it deals with internal and international policy – does not seem to be evaluated negatively by te MONEYVAL advisors.  For what concerns the “controlled” body, the I.O.R. seems to be evaluate for great part adherent to the international standards. This would contrast the accusation of Gotti Tedeschi. Who told that he had been «fired because of his work for transparency». And whose story is taking attention away from the Holy See work.

The document of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace is ponderously titled – «Towards reforming the international financial and monetary system in the context of global public authority» -  and its remarks were the most specific. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace calls for the advent of a new world centered on a universal political authority. The idea is not unprecedented – it was previously evoked in the 1963 encyclical Pacem in Terris of John XXIII. The document also proposed taxation measures on financial transactions (and suggested that revenues could contribute to the creation of a “world reserve fund” to support the economies of countries hit by crisis); forms of recapitalization of banks with public funds that make support conditional on “virtuous” behavior aimed at developing the real economy; more effective management of financial shadow markets that are largely uncontrolled today. Such moves would be designed to make the global economy more responsive to the needs of the person, and – the document says – less «subordinated to the interests of countries that effectively enjoy a position of economic and financial advantage».

The path to the document had been long and transparent. In May, after a media briefing with journalists to announce a conference about the Mater et Magistra, mons. Mario Toso, secretary of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, announced the journalist that another media briefing was up to come, and it would have been about a future note for the reform of the monetary system. The Vatican Secretary of State was obviously informed. There had been several sketches of the document, as usual. The first sketch was drawn down by Michel Camdessus, former president of the International Monetary Fund, consultant of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace and  part of the French delegation at the last G20 meeting. Then, document passed through several hand, bankers like Antonio Fazio – former governor of the Bank of Italy – and Ignazio Musu – economist and part of the advisory board of the Bank of Italy. The document shields itself with many citations from previous social encyclicals, and actually there is nothing so new.

In the Caritas in Veritate there is also a paragraph – the so-called «world authority paragraph» – in which it is stated that

«in the face of the unrelenting growth of global interdependence, there is a trongly felt need, even in the midst of a global recession, for a reform of the United Nations Organization, and likewise of economic institutions and international finance, so that the concept of the family of nations can acquire real teeth. One also senses the urgent need to find innovative ways of implementing the Principle of the responsibility to protect and of giving poorer nations an effective voice in shared decision-making. This seems necessary in order to arrive at a political, juridical and economic order which can increase and give direction to international cooperation for the development of all peoples in solidarity. To manage the global economy; to revive economies hit by the crisis; to avoid any deterioration of the present crisis and the greater imbalances that would result; to bring about integral and timely disarmament, food security and peace; to guarantee the protection of the environment and to regulate migration: for all this, there is urgent need of a true world political authority. . . »

Even Caritas in veritate had been sketched by many hands. An encyclical is such an important text – it is addressed to all the men of good will, and it is inspiration and part of the diplomatic work of the Holy See – that everybody would like to stress it to its own part. Among the people that glossed the Caritas in veritate,  there were economist like Stefano Zamagni and Luigino Bruni, but also the then governor of the Bank of Italy Mario Draghi and the then Italian minister of Economy Giulio Tremonti. Even Ettore Gotti Tedeschi had been involved in “glossing” the encyclical. He was still not president of the IOR (Institute for Religious Works), but he was already sure that the economical collapse came from the lack of children. No children, no creativity, no hope for the future, no economy: this simple four-words-speech-scheme is the Gotti Tedeschi’s favorite one.

After the release of the encyclical, there had been a sort of split on how to consider Caritas in veritate. Laissez-faire theorists were critical about some economical analysis, but always underlined how good was the “make more sons” line. Social economy theorists loved more the part that evoked the tunes of Populorum Progressio, the Paul VI social encyclical, in which the Pope claimed that «the new name of peace is development». The fight of interpretations was – and still is – intense. Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was invited to talk to the meeting about Caritas in veritate without either informing  the Pontifical Council Justice and Peace. And the medias were in some way divided between these two lines of the encyclical, and were totally unaware that the truth is in the middle.

The most prophetical part of the encyclical was the so-called “world authority” paragraph. In fact, this has been interpreted by many Catholics a sort of “big leviathan”. But there is a deeper reason why the Holy See has been doing this proposal. And one can find these reason looking back in history to see when this world order had been stated. The Peace of Westphalia was a series of peace treaties signed between May and October of 1648 in Osnabrück and Münster. The treaties resulted from the big diplomatic congress, thereby initiating a new system of political order in central Europe, later called Westphalian sovereignty, based upon the concept of a sovereign state governed by a sovereign. In the event, the treaties’ regulations became integral to the constitutional law of the Holy Roman Empire. It was there that the Holy See began to the fight not to be ejected from the concert of nations. It was there that the Holy See became to be subjected to the secularizing process. An increasing lack of influence that brought the Vatican State to be attacked and then defeated by national States, and to sign agreements with the States – which are the various Concordats.

Peace of Westphalia is quoted in the last document released by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and it is not a case. In the last years, many have talked about a New World Order. This new world order had been theorized in several think-tanks all over the world – from the Trilateral Commission to Bildeberg Group – and in the mean time finance prevailed on policy. The new world order will be an economic-based one. This seems to be the time for the change to come. So, while the Holy See was going on in signing Concordats with the national States, the world governance got always more supranational. The scenario is similar to the one of the Peace of Westphalia times. Within the Holy See, many are aware of the risk for the Church – and religions as well – to be put aside. This is the sense of the call for common rules and a world authority with universal competences.

When the document of Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace had been released, there had been a slight disagreement within the Vatican Curia. Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, president of the IOR, complained to have not been even consulted during the preparation of the document. No consulation was the fact that when one then delves into the analyses and specific proposals, it is also stunning how strong the divergence is between what is written in the document of the pontifical council for justice and peace and what has been maintained for some time in the financial commentaries published in L’Osservatore Romano by Ettore Gotti Tedeschi. For example, not even one line in the document attributes the global economic and financial crisis to the collapse in the birth rate and to the resulting higher and higher costs of population aging.

 Gotti Tedeschi did not remain silent. On November 4  L’Osservatore Romano published an editorial by him that reads like a complete repudiation of the document of the Pontifical Council for justice and Peace. Gotti Tedeschi wrote that «the true origins of the collapse of birthrates and the consequences of the increase of taxes on the GDP to absorb the costs of the ageing of the population were wrongly interpreted. The effects of the decisions made to compensate for these phenomena were underestimated, especially with the de-localization of production and consumer debt». For the president of IOR,  «to deflate the total debt – public, banking, business and family – and bring it back to pre-crisis levels, that is, to around 40% less, it is possible, though not advisable, to cancel a part of the debt with a type of “preventive agreement,” where creditors are paid at 60%».

More. Someone inside the Roman Curia – sources whisper that it was Gotti Tedeschi himself, very active indeed (he also wrote down an article for the Italian magazine Tempi) – complained about the document with the cardinal Bertone, secretary of State. Medias report that Bertone complained to have not been even informed by document. It was not true, since he had been constantly kept informed of the document. And this is what he said, sources from inside the Curia report. Probably, the truth is in the middle: pressed by the vain discontents memeber of the Curia that were protesting, Bertone said that he knew about the document, not about his contents, and he managed a summit to solve the question. The news about a summit convened in the Secretariat of State on November, 4^th leaked to the press. The conclusion of the summit was that this binding order would be transmitted to all of the offices of the curia: from that point on, nothing in writing would be released unless it had been inspected and authorized by the Secretariat of State.

This is how the red alarm for the new document of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has been defused. In the mean time, very few know about the international activities of the Holy See, and the financial transparency brought on with the establishment of the Authority for Financial Information can have some contraindication. The game is on the international impact of the Holy See. The same game the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace played by asking for an World Authority with Universal Competences. Since the world is now globally ruled, the Holy See want to give is contribution to write common rules. In order these common rules will be for the common good of humanity, and not just for the good of few. Will this commitment be consumed in the bonfire of vanities?

Even Scola wants to be archbishop of Milan. It is not just a sort of vindication for the Patriarch of Venice, since he comes from Milan but he was not ordained priest in his home-diocese. Cardinal Giovanni Colombo, archbishop of Milan at the time, had strong reservations about Communion and Liberation, the ecclesial movement whose Scola was a strong activist, and so Scola was ordained priest in the diocese of Termoli. From there, he had begun an ascent who brought him, from being number 2 of  Fr. Luigi Giussani, founder of Communion and Liberation, to a free-thinker activist within Communion and Liberation itself, until his appointment as Patriarch of Venice. In Venice, Scola did not typify himself as a man of Communion and Liberation. He founded a «Studium generale» there named after Saint Mark, the patron of the city, which covers all of the stages of learning, from childhood to university, with students from many countries, with courses in various disciplines and theology embracing them all, and with its own publishing house. He then created a magazine and an international cultural center named «Oasis», as a bridge to the East, from Eastern Europe and Northern Africa all the way to Pakistan, in multiple languages including Arabic and Urdu, with marked attention to Islam and Christianity in those countries, with periodic conferences between bishops and Christian and Muslim experts.

In Milan, Scola will have two tasks: the first one is to keep culturally active and at the same time anchored to orthodoxy the diocese of Milan; the second one will be to chair the board of administration of Istituto Toniolo, the “strongbox” of Catholic University and of other 13 universities inspired to Catholicism, schools and hospitals. But his main task will probably be another one: to open – and hopefully to close – the beatification process of Fr. Luigi Giusanni. It is very important for Benedict XVI – who celebrated Fr. Giussani funeral as pontifical delegate – that the beatification process would be brought on in the best way possible. Scola is the right man to do it.

Behind the shadows of the dome of Milan, a larger game has been played. It was a sort of «chess» played by large sectors of the Curia, with the goal to occupy every single space of power. There is the strong impression that it is now the time of a crucial transition for Vatican balances. After this transition, nothing will be the same.

Two of the main characters of the last part of John Paul II pontificate, cardinals Angelo Sodano and Camillo Ruini, retired some time ago and will not be able to take part to the next conclave since they are older than 80. Yet, both of them have still their importance and influence in the Sacred Palaces. Sodano, former secretary of State, had a brief interregnum before he had to give up his charge – Bertone was nominated in June 2006, but he took possession of his new charge in September. Then, Sodano extended the interregnum by not leaving his office until his new office of Dean of the College of Cardinals had not been completed. In his new office, he still meets his faithful friends, prelates that together with him and thanks to him made career in the Vatican diplomacy. Mons. Gabriele Caccia and Mons. Pietro Parolin often go and visit him when they are in Rome – they are now appointed as nuntii in Lebanon and Venezuela. Mons. Parolin suddenly jumped forward in the rose of candidates to be archbishop of Milan, and there is now the possibility that he will then appointed as successor of card. Scola as Patriarch in Venice.

Even card. Leonardo Sandri often meets card. Sodano. Sandri is the prefect of the Congretation for the Oriental Churches, and owes his career to Sodano. This latter appointed him as Apostolic Nuntio in Mexico, in order to face the mounting denounces to Legionaries of Christ – Sodano was very linked to the Congregation founded by Marcial Maciel. Then, Sandri became Substitute in the Secretary of State, and then he had the charge of Prefect of the Oriental Churches, a very important one.

Card. Ruini is now president of the scientific committee of Ratzinger Foundation, but he is also president of Progetto Culturale, the organization that manages the money for the Culture of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Even the founding for Istituto Toniolo pass through the Progetto Culturale.

And the Istituto Toniolo has been – and is – the key issue. The Istituto is controlled by Ruini fellowships after a cocaine scandal that brought the previous board to resign, and has constantly been under attack during the last year. Dino Boffo, former director of Avvenire (the news daily owned from the Italian Episcopal Conference) was obliged to resign after being put under attack from Il Giornale (the news daily owned by Berlusconi’s brother).   This was the full-page headline in the August 28, 2009  issue of Il Giornale: “Sexual incident of ‘Avvenire’ director. The supermoralist charged with harassment. Dino Boffo, at the helm of the newspaper of the Italian bishops and involved in the fiery press campaign against the transgressions of the prime minister, intimidated the wife of the man with whom he had a relationship”. The article based on an anonymous flier. The same flier that had been passed from hand to hand in the rooms of the Toniolo since 2005. The flier had the same peculiarities of the informative footnotes written by Carabinieris of the Borgo quarter in Rome (where the Vatican is sited) and usually passed to Secretariat of State for «good neighborhood relationships»

Nowadays, it’s Bertone that is running for the Istituto Toniolo, anxious to have fellowships within the strongbox of Catholic culture. Bertone is backing as new president of the Board of the Administration Gian Maria Flick, former Italian minister for the Justice.

The name of Flick resounds of the third empire that is now firing for the last times. Card. Achille Silvestrini had been a powerful and admired member of the Roman Curia. His career has nevertheless drowned, even after the publication of Via col Vento in Vaticano, a poisoned-pamphlet written with the task to attack the Silvestrini-Casaroli cartel in the State Secretariat. Yet his opinion seems to be important again. Gian Maria Flick would be – according to rumors – part of the Silvestrini-cartel. He was one of the lawyer of the trial that abolished the crime of slavery, and consequently the crime of plague. There were several law proposal in Italy to reintroduce at least the crime of psychological plague, but none of that succeeded.

The appointment for the new archbishop of Milan and the struggle for the new board of Istituto Toniolo were just the pretext for a sort of  game for the power that seems to be a struggle to survive, since the cartels are going to fall. Even the links with the external world of the Vatican are at risk. Gianni Letta, the shadow of Silvio Berlusconi, Gentleman of His Holiness, the man who links Italian State and Church, is now under attack. There were at least three judicial inquiries that stroke him and his men: one against him, the other one against Guido Bertolaso that brought to Propaganda Fide scandal, the last one against Luigi Bisignani, exponent of the masonry well known in the «good society». Cesare Geronzi, the banker that sponsored the 2005 World Youth Day, is now out of scene. Giulio Tremonti – Italian Minister for the Economy, appreciated by Benedict XVI and close to the ecclesiastical environments, that his aiming to be Prime Minister – risks to be marginalized. In the mean time, the last true exponent of the finance inspired on Catholic values, Antonio Fazio, has been subjected to a controversial first appearance sentence.

This is the temperature of the Roman Curia. A Curia too appeased on Italian issues, sometimes – but there is a Vatican diplomacy who is alive and not taken in account by medias – with no awareness of the universal mission of the Church. After these last fires, everything will change. Now Marc Ouellet – a Canadian – is the Prefect of the Congregation of Bishops, and this fact is emblematic: the new Episcopal appointments will be done with a different point of view from the Italian one, even if they concern Italy. The Joseph Ratzinger’s Papacy was not a transition papacy. It is the quiet transition to a revolution.

The idea of expelling the Holy See from the concert of nations is not new.  Since 1995, “Catholics for a Free Choice” has tried to do this through petitions signed by various countries. The American group is led by a former religious sister, Frances Kissling – who has been officially excommunicated by the bishops of the United States. The campaign was called «See Change».  and it was aimed at expelling the Holy See from the United Nations.
Because – they said – the Catholic Church is the only religion in the world that sits at the UN as a permanent observer, with “privileges” similar to those of sovereign nations.

In the bureaucracies of the UN and of the other major international organization that is the European Union, in which the Holy See has the rank of observer, the desire to expel it is fairly widespread, and sometimes it comes to light. The reasons in support of this expelling Holy See from the concert of nations seems to be paradoxical. If the Church strives to bring peace in the world, that’s unobjectionable, but when it opposes abortion and euthanasia, no.  «It is not right – said they who protest against the Holy See international status – that in order to support its own interests it should make use of an international juridical status that doesn’t truly belong to it». Even if the Church claims for religious freedom, world governments don’t seem to appreciate it.

The last Benedict XVI’s message for the World Day of Peace was precisely about religious freedom. Nowadays,  religious freedom is a crucial challenge, and this was even more evident by analyzing the international reactions to the Message. The Pope underlined that «the same determination that condemns every form of fanaticism and religious fundamentalism must also oppose every form of hostility to religion that would restrict the public role of believers in civil and political life». Benedict XVI so outlined two risks for religious freedoms: the attacks coming from fundamentalism and the attacks coming from the secularism. No-one of the world governments underlined the attack coming from the secularism, but every-one declared to be on the Pope’s side in defending religious freedom from fundamentalisms. All right, but what about secularism? As Benedict XVI stated in the traditional speech held at the beginning of the year to the Ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, there are «Countries which accord great importance to pluralism and tolerance, but where religion is increasingly being marginalized. There is a tendency to consider religion, all religion, as something insignificant, alien or even destabilizing to modern society, and to attempt by different means to prevent it from having any influence on the life of society». The Pope also condemned the fact that «Christians are even required at times to act in the exercise of their profession with no reference to their religious and moral convictions, and even in opposition to them, as for example where laws are enforced limiting the right to conscientious objection on the part of health care or legal professionals».

These words remained unheard. While – on the other hand – governments’ foreign offices claim themselves as promoters of religious freedom. Recently, Mr. Franco Frattini, Foreign Affairs minister of Italy, met card. Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State. They officialy talked about “Arab spring” and European Union issues. But it also was the occasion for Mr. Frattini to underline Italian efforts in favor of religious freedom. Mr. Frattini  has certainly remembered the efforts of Italy to keep the crucifix exposed in Italian classrooms and his personal battle against the absence of the Christmas holidays in the calendar of the European Parliament. Anyway, when the aim to eject the Holy See from the concert of nations comes down to action, it never succeeds. In July of 2004, the UN general assembly approved a resolution that not only confirmed, but even reinforced the Holy See’s presence in the organization. The Holy See has been at the UN since April 6, 1964 with «permanent observer status».

Since the Holy See’s ejection is far away to come, there is a more subtle strategy, in order to undermine the moral power of the Church and of religions in general. It is brought on by considering religious freedom as one of the freedom of expressions, or by considering religions no more than a tradition. One example – according to many observers – is precisely the crucifix verdict. According to this verdict, crucifix is just a tradition and the Great Chamber does not pronounce about the traditions of the countries. So, the problem is only postponed to when the tradition will change.

Another strategy is to weaken the Social Doctrine of the Church. The Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church is very fair: the Church has an evangelical vocation to take care of social issues. This social-evangelical vocation has an even important meaning nowadays. Fifty years ago, Pope John XXIII defined the world imbalances in the encyclical Mater et Magistra. Now, these imbalances need to be updated with new ones, as an international congress pointed out. But in Ubicumque et semper – the Motu Proprio which promulgates the new Vatican Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization – the Social Doctrine of the Church is never mentioned.

On the other hand, some of the Justice and Peace Commissions in the world are thinking to change their name from Justice and Peace to Caritas in Veritate. Caritas in Veritate is an encyclical considered by many Vatican insiders a “little miracle”, since many put their hands on the text. Ettore Gotti Tedeschi – now president of the I.O.R. (Institute for Religious Works), Giulio Tremonti – minister of Economy and accredited by many as the next Italian premier, Mario Draghi – governor of Bank of Italy and now running for the presidency of European Central Bank, had the opportunity to make their observations to the text of the encyclical. And the Italian bank world took possession of the topics of the encyclical taking part to a Congress about Caritas in veritate and organized by the Pontifical Council for Laity. No member of Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace – who had in charge the writing of the encyclical – had been invited.

Even Vatican diplomacy can be undermined. Rumors from diplomatic environments said that there is the intention to let some lay take important charges in Vatican Diplomatic Corps. Pontifical Legates must be priests, because they represent the Pope. This rule is valid only for Papal nuncios. Papal nuncios are the Pope’s ambassador, but at the same time they work as bishops. They weigh up candidates for episcopate in the countries in which they are nuncios, they speak to Episcopal conferences, and  they  also have relationships with governments. On the other hand, nuncios who are appointed as permanent observer (at United Nations, Unesco, Fao, European Parliament) just have in charge to maintain relationships among Holy See and States. Appointing lay people as permanent observers would not be out of Canonical Law. Would this  be a defeat for the Holy See diplomatic tradition?

As the patriarch was unaware, on that day Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio had become effective. The Motu Proprio, which regulates Vatican finances, has become the law no. 127 of the Vatican State.It regulates the competences of the Authority for Financial Information, wanted by Pope Benedict to fight money laundering. From now on, nobody can enter the Torrione Niccolò V with more than 10,000 euros cash. If they do, they need to pass very strict checks, justifying the money transfer. All information will be stored in the archives of the Authority for Financial Information, which will also work to guarantee that all operations be conducted at their best and according to European regulations.

But the question of who controls the controllers was, since the start, a thorny issue. All members of the Authority are, in fact, ‘internal’. Their president is Card. Attilio Nicora, who is also head of the Apsa, the “central bank” of the Vatican. Moreover, Giuseppe Dalla Torre, president of the Vatican Court, and Marcello Condemi former appeals attorney for the Bank of Italy and former member of the Gafi (the Financial Action Task Force against money laundering) figure among the members of the board, while the director apppears to be Francesco Di Pasquale, current appeals attorney, and anti-money-laundering expert.

The authority had to be formed according to the agreement between the EU and the Holy See, which allowed the latter to adopt the Euro as a currency while binding it to agree to European norms regarding financial instruments and currency circulation. If the Holy See had not agreed in an year’s time, they would have not been allowed to issue currency or stamps. On December 30, 2010, the Authority for Financial Information was instituted with Pope Benedict’s Motu Proprio.

In this span of time, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi’s “black Tuesday” had taken place. On the 21^st of September, in fact, the president of the IOR was being investigated from judicial authorities under suspicion of omitting anti-money-laundering procedures. This emerged in operations regarding one of the IOR funds in an Italian bank, for a total of 23m euros.

The IOR, in fact, is not a bank in the strict sense of the term. In order to operate financially, it needs other banks’ accounts. There are IOR accounts held, for example, in Deutsche Bank, Credito Artigiano or Unicredit branches. In 2009, an investigation had been launched starting from one of these accounts. However, the investigation led nowhere. Many thought that this transparency move was due to the investigation on Gotti Tedeschi, but that was not the case. Others noticed instead the IOR’s president’s choice to spontaneously testify in front of Italian judges with the general manager Roberto Cipriani. In the 91-page report -much of which is, predictably, kept secret- they explained the mechanisms of the Vatican Bank. But that did not satisfy the jury, and the 23 millions remained confiscated.

It is paradoxical that Gotti Tedeschi, the man designed to bring to a close the ‘transparency move’, had been investigated for money laundering. The IOR president is now the last representative of a so-called ‘finanza bianca’, a Catholic-inspired kind of finance. He can boast a sound educational track record, a powerful bank, and the ability to open his way through the Catholic world through his well-known laissez-faire and books such as ‘Denaro e Paradiso’ (Money and Heaven) , for some an enlightened book;  for some others, heresy.

However, Gotti Tedeschi is not the only heretic in the Vatican. As head of the IOR he is, in fact, a second choice. A quality second choice, of course. Backed by Mr. Gian Maria Vian, director of Osservatore Romano – the daily news of the Holy See – and therefore card. Tarcisio Bertone, Vatican Secretary of State (who would have backed as well Giovanni Bazoli, president of Gruppo Intesa San Paolo, the other big Italian bank), Gotti Tedeschi got the better of Giovanni De Censi, president of Credito Valtellinese, which also controls the Credito Artigiano. And it was Credito Artigiano the one involved in the 23m confiscation affair. It might have been a simple bank transfer, an operation that could be solved with a simple phone call between De Censi and Gotti Tedeschi. That phone call never happened, and De Censi has recently left the board of the Vatican Bank -officially for medical reasons. He was replaced by Antonio Maria Marocco, a solicitor from the Unicredit group.

In the meantime, the IOR money is still under confiscation, while the financial scenario around has changed. On the Financial Times, the news regarding the investigation on Gotti Tedeschi obscured the one regarding the Ceo Alessandro Profumo’s farewell to the former bank of Cesare Geronzi. After moving to the insurance company Generali, Geronzi was forced to resign confronted by the board’s lack of trust. A certain part of the Vatican world trembled in front of the ‘fall’ of one of their gods.

The other god is Mr. Tremonti. The Italian Minister of Economy has Ettore Gotti Tedeschi as financial advisor and paved his way in the Catholic world a long time ago. Mr. Tremonti‘s participation to a periodic Ior meeting with its account holders was meaningful.  Somebody claims it was him to lure behind Geronzi’s fall and he’s aiming at a ‘winner-takes-all’ situation as next prime minister and controller of Italian finances.

His ‘rival’ is Mario Draghi, the Bankitalia governor. He is the one who had been handed a draft of the Caritas in Veritate, Pope Benedict’s social encyclical. Draghi had (in the first months of 2010) a meeting in the Vatican Social Sciences Academy with Hans Tietmeyer (former president of the BundesBank), Ettore Gotti Tedeschi and the president of the Bank of Greece Lukas D. Papademos, in order to solve the Greek financial crisis. Some press even claims there was Draghi behind some advice during the make-up of the Authority of Financial Information.

The bond between Italy and the Vatican is therefore tighter than ever. This is not seen as favourable throughout the whole of the Holy See, and some would like to pursue a different line. Thus it happened that Gotti Tedeschi went to speak about the Caritas in Veritate to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, with spectators such as the vice-president of UniCredit Luigi Gilli and the president of the Banca Monte Paschi di Siena, Giuseppe Mussari -as well with other entrepreneurs, priests and intellectuals. They were all engaged in a discussion on the ethical basis of finance. The Osservatore Romano highlighted Gotti Tedeschi’s speech. However, nobody told of a small diplomatic accident between the Pontifical Council for the Laity and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. The two councils are, in fact, based one a few yards from the other, and while it had been the latter to be involved in the edition of Pope benedict’s last social encyclical, only the former took part in the initiative.