Pope Cleans House at Vatican Bank

• Francis Sacks Four Cardinals on Vatican Bank Commission. The drama continues to grow over the scandal-ridden Vatican bank. In his latest move, Pope Francis has sacked four powerful cardinals from the five-member Vatican Bank Commission tasked with overseeing the reform inside the very secretive institution. Among the ousted cardinals: Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, formerly the Vatican’s second-ranking official under Pope Benedict XVI. All four dismissed cardinals were re-appointed less than one year ago by Pope Benedict XVI just 12 days before he resigned. The other ousted cardinals include: Odilo Scherer (Brazil), Telesphore Toppo (India) and Domenico Calcagno (Vatican). Pope Francis named four new replacement cardinals on Wednesday.
• Illegal Activity at the Vatican Bank. For decades, suspicions and allegations have swirled around the highly secretive Vatican Bank, including allegations that some accounts are being used as fronts for all sorts of illegal activities. Proof? There’s Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, who allegedly ‘used his influence to provide services to wealthy friends.’ Scarano was recently arrested and is now on trial in Rome after attempting to smuggle suitcases full of 20 million euros on a private jet. Then there’s the former head of the Vatican Bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who paid the price for his attempts at transparency when he was ousted from his position back in 2012. Soon after, Tedeschi claimed he was ousted because he got “too close to the truth” about the Vatican bank’s illegal activities, and admitted that he feared for his life.
• Should Pope Francis Fear For His Life? Pope Francis’ ouster of several key figures in recent months and his bold moves to reform the Vatican Bank are considered dangerous ground by some. For example, the last Pope that pushed this hard for reforms at the Vatican Bank died of mysterious causes just 33 days into his reign. On September 28, 1978, Pope John Paul I “informed his Secretary of State, Cardinal Jean Villot, that he was severing the ties between the Vatican Bank and Milan’s Banco Ambrosiano which had been laundering money to rightwing Latin American dictators and terrorists and defrauding investors. In addition, he was removing the members of the Curia associated with these criminal activities, including Villot. The next morning, after only 33 days as pope, Pope John Paul I was found dead. Villot first announced to the press that the pope died from an overdose of medicine; then he changed the cause of death to a heart attack. (This despite the fact that the Pope’s personal physician and family stated he had no heart disease and was in perfect health just days before his death.) The body was embalmed within a day and no autopsy was performed.” While there is plenty more to be said along these lines, one thing is certain: If history is any guide, Pope Francis should watch his back as he meddles with the rich and powerful.

Inside this Issue

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“Archiving the Rise of Big Brother, the Erosion of Personal Liberty, and the Fall of the Republic”

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“A Daily Dose of Financial Wisdom from God’s Word”

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