The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia (9 page)

Despite protests from Dr. Petacci, four physicians were asked to
remain in semipermanent attendance to the pope, in addition to two
nurse friars. Under the supervision of the medical team, the pope's condition appeared to improve and his condition was listed as "fair."27 But
between February 8 and 9 the pope's condition worsened, and Tisserant
and the other cardinals were told to prepare "for the worst."28

In the evening of February 9, the Pope seemed to recover and his
condition was listed as "well." Tisserant and the other cardinals
issued a sigh of relief, thinking that the Holy Father would be able to
issue the new encyclical, and plans got underway for the Holy
Father's audience with the Italian bishops on February 11.29

At 5:30 A.M. February 10, the pope was pronounced dead. Nobody
appears to have witnessed the death of the pope. He seemed to have
expired without anyone at his side. The only person who had access to
the pope's apartment immediately prior to his death was Dr. Petacci.

Dr. Petacci and Cardinal Pacelli, according to Tisserant, immediately gave an order for the body to be embalmed.-30 This was in violation of sacred tradition. No pope has been subjected to embalming,
not even popes who had died in the midst of summer and whose
remains had badly decayed before burial.

At 6:19 A.M. Cardinal Tisserant appeared at the door to the papal
apartment. When he asked about Pius XI, he was told that the condition of the papal patient had turned "serious."31 In his journals Tisserant says that he carefully noted the time. Later he would realize
that the Holy Father had been dead for forty-nine minutes before he had been told that the pope's condition had become "serious." He
would also realize that while he and the other cardinals were sitting
outside the papal apartment praying for the pope's recovery, preparatory measures were underway for the embalming of the body.

Tisserant insists that the only individuals who entered the papal
bedroom for the next two hours were Dr. Petacci and Cardinal
Pacelli. At last, Tisserant and the other cardinals were summoned into
the papal bedroom, where Pacelli, acting in capacity as Carmerlengo
(the cardinal in charge of the Vatican when a pope dies), uttered the
official pronouncement that the pope was dead. In accordance with
tradition, Pacelli then kissed the forehead and hands of the body of
the Holy Father.

In his journals, Tisserant recalls that the face of Pius XI was "distorted" and that the body bore "strange bluish markings." He further notes that these markings seemed to be covered with a white
powder to make them appear "less blue."" Tisserant asked for an
autopsy. But his requests fell upon deaf ears. Pacelli, who as Carmerlengo remained in charge of the funeral and burial, would not grant
permission and remained "stony" and "impassable" before Tisserant's pleas.

In his journals, Tisserant drops the second bombshell by writing
in his native French, "Its lout assassine"-"They have assassinated
him." Who, according to Tisserant, were the assassins? Cardinal Tisserant clearly suspected Pacelli and Dr. Petacci, especially after he
came to discover that Petacci's daughter was Mussolini's favorite mistress-Claretta Petacci, an Italian starlet. Tisserant also believed that
Monsignor Umberto Benigni, who acted as Pacelli's secretary, was
involved in the conspiracy. His suspicion of Monsignor Benigni was
well founded. After the war, Benigni was revealed to have been an
official of the OVRA, the Fascist Secret Police, who regularly
reported developments within the Holy See to Nazi officials.33

Throughout his long career as a Prince of the Church, Tisserant
would repeat this accusation to confidants. He also expressed his fear
that Vatican officials might seize his journals after his death in order
to destroy his revelations about the encyclical and the strange events
surrounding the demise of Pius XI.

On March 2, 1939, the college of cardinals elected Eugenio
Pacelli as Pope Pius XII. It was the swiftest conclave in three hundred
years, lasting only one day. Pacelli received sufficient votes for election on the second ballot, but he asked for a third ballot to confirm
the will of the cardinal-electors. Tisserant voted against Pacelli to the
bitter end.

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where
moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and
steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,
where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves
do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is,
there your heart will be also.

Matt. 6:19-21

he Instituto per le Opere di Religione (The Institute for Works
of Religion, IOR), commonly known as "the Vatican Bank,"
is one of the world's most mysterious institutions. It operates from a
tower in the heart of Vatican City. To reach the tower you must pass
through the Santa Anna Gates to the right of Bernini's colonnade,
past the Church of Santa Anna on the right and the Swiss Guards barracks on the left. The tower stands beside the wall of the Apostolic
Palace facing the Vatican Polyglot Printing House. It was built nearly
650 years ago as part of Pope Nicholas V's plans for the defense of the Holy See against republican uprisings. Only a select few may
enter. The entrance remains protected by Swiss Guards. The Vatican
Bank remains closed to outsiders, even many high-ranking members
of the Catholic clergy.

In recent years the Vatican Bank has become the source of international scandals involving billions of dollars and a considerable
amount of bloodletting. It has been the subject of numerous investigative reports and sensational best-sellers. The Vatican Bank
remains the target of hundreds of lawsuits, several filed by Holocaust
victims over the Vatican's possession of Nazi gold, its operation of
Nazi "ratlines,"and its laundering of ill-gotten gains.

Yet the Vatican Bank remains impervious to lawsuits and charges
of criminal misconduct. It represents a fiscal agency of a sovereign
state. As such, it cannot be compelled to redress wrongs-not even
the most egregious violations of international law. The only way it can
be made vulnerable to litigation is by the designation of Vatican City
as a "rogue state" and the Vatican Bank as a "rogue institution." This
requires that it be established that the Roman Catholic Church is a
corrupt organization and, as such, subject to prosecution under Racketeer and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statutes, which in recent history have been enacted against members of organized crime families.

Despite its claims otherwise, the Vatican Bank is not a branch of
the State of Vatican City (Stato Bella Citta del Vaticano). It exists as an
entity unto itself without corporate or ecclesiastical ties to any other
agency within the Holy See. It is under the direct supervision of the
pope. He is the one and only stockholder. He owns it; he controls it.'

Unlike any other financial institution, the Vatican Bank is audited
by neither internal nor outside agencies. Its worth remains a matter of
conjecture, even for members of the College of Cardinals. There is not
a scrap of its papers among all the other bureaucracies of the Roman
Church-not even ecclesiastical financial agencies-that attests to its
assets or accounts. In 1996 Cardinal Edmund Szoka, the internal
auditor of the Holy See, told investigators that he has no authority
over the Vatican Bank and has no knowledge of its operations.2

Even more bizarre, the Vatican Bank destroys all records every
ten years so that its workings will remain free and clear of public and private scrutiny. Anyone seeking information regarding the bank,
even its corporate structure, will discover little more than empty file
folders within the Vatican archives.

The inner workings of the Vatican Bank are incredibly complex
with trails of paper flowing among three separate and distinct boards
of directors. One board consists of high-ranking cardinals, the second
of prominent international bankers, and the third of Vatican financial
officials. Its bylaws, called chirographs, are filed with the Holy See.
But even these records cannot be subpoenaed for inspection. They
remain confidential matters of the sovereign state that may be
inspected only by special permission from the pope.3

The Vatican dutifully publishes financial reports on a yearly basis.
The reports, displaying modest gains and losses, appear to be exhaustive. They contain meticulous records of the incomes and expenditures of every agency within the Holy See-every agency, that is,
except the Vatican Bank. The name of this agency never appears on
any balance sheet. From all published reports, it would seem that this
ecclesiastical corporation is nonexistent and the Roman Catholic
Church exists as a charitable, hand-to-mouth institution. In 1990, for
example, the Vatican displayed a deficit of $78 million.4 While
making this claim, it made no mention of the holdings, estimated to
be far in excess of $10 billion,s within the vault of the Vatican Bank.

Investigators following the paper trail within the Holy See
inevitably come to a dead end. All internal documents and external
statements contain statements exempting the Vatican Bank, or IOR,
from any ruling or standard of procedure. They are punctuated by such
phrases as "always leaving intact the special character of the IOR," "not
including the IOR," or "with full respect for the juridical status of the
I0R."6 Not even top Vatican officials can gain a glimpse at the treasures within the vault. In 1967 Pope Paul VI created a general
accounting office within the Vatican called the Prefecture of the Economic Affairs of the Holy See. The main purpose of this office was to
produce an annual statement of the assets and the liabilities of Holy
Mother Church. The pope placed Cardinal Egidio Vagnozzi, one of his
closest friends, in charge of the new department. But Cardinal Vagnozzi
was immediately handicapped in his endeavor. He was forbidden to make inquiries into the assets of the Vatican Bank. Such information
was privy only to the Holy Father. This led Cardinal Vagnozzi to comment: "It would take a combination of the KGB, the CIA, and Interpol
to obtain just an inkling of how much and where the monies are."7

Because of its clandestine workings, millions may be deposited
into the Vatican Bank and disappear into numbered Swiss bank
accounts. This proved an ideal means of dealing with fraudulent securities, Mafia money, and Nazi gold.

Its origins can be traced to March 9, 1939, when Pius XII (former
Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli), ascended to the papal throne. Unlike his
predecessors, the new pope insisted on a grand ceremony in St. Peter's
Basilica, rather than a solemn ceremony in the Sistine Chapel. Moreover, he insisted that the event be broadcast from the newly established
Vatican radio station to stations throughout the world. In addition,
Pius XII, after receiving the pallium (the woven investment worn by
popes), was crowned with the papal tiara. He was the first pope to wear
the three crowns in more than one hundred years. The first crown represented the Church militant, the second the Church suffering, and
the third the Church triumphant. The crowning was performed on the
loggia overlooking St. Peter's Square before a vast crowd as the choir
sang "A Golden Crown upon His Head." Few could doubt that the
days of papal majesty and imperialism had returned.