A Grave Financial Scandal or Papal “Get Tough” Posturing?

Vatican police raided offices of the Secretariat of State and the Financial Information Authority, the Vatican’s financial “watchdog” agency, on Tuesday, Oct. 1.

“They seized documents, computers, telephones and passports and blocked bank accounts,” Edward Pentin reported.

Five employees were suspended, including a priest. The police issued a circular to all security personnel, including the Swiss Guards, that the four lay persons were banned from entering the Vatican City State. (The priest resides in the city.)

The circular had photographs of the five employees “designed in the manner of a ‘Wanted’ poster or mugshot.”

Two days later, “Pope Francis named a top anti-Mafia prosecutor, Giuseppe Pignatone, as president of the Vatican criminal court over the alleged financial wrongdoing.”

Why Catholic Officials Have Been So Deferential to Trump

“More judges, more judges, more judges,” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) declared in addressing a meeting of some affluent Catholics, bishops, and priests in July. “Graham lauded Trump’s Supreme Court appointees Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch, and reminded the audience that two more Supreme Court vacancies could occur during the next presidential term,” Dan Morris-Young reported.

“Trump has confirmed 150 lifetime judges…. piles of unqualified and ideologically extreme people many of whom have records of being anti-abortion [and] anti-LGBTQ rights,” noted Jennifer Bendery on Sept. 17.

The Vatican City State of Dark Money

The Vatican City State is an independent country. The head of state is addressed as “Holy Father” and his government is called the Holy See. There is no complete and accurate account of the Vatican’s investments, commercial real estate, bank accounts, currencies and gold because, with few exceptions, the Holy Father wants his wealth to remain hidden.

Two recent reports provide some additional information as to why this is true. The first not only gives us a hint of the Vatican’s massive wealth, but also “money laundering and fraud” are possibly involved. The second informs us that the Vatican’s top financial policeman was accused of money laundering and collusion in the cover-up of a financial crime. 

Cardinals McCarrick, Wuerl, and Farrell: A Web of Sex Abuse, Bribes, Financial Misconduct and Cover-ups

These men claim to be religious leaders, spiritual guides, moral authorities. They are addressed as “His Eminence.” The man who appoints and promotes them is addressed as “Holy Father” and his government is the “Holy See.”

Theodore McCarrick, Donald Wuerl and Kevin Farrell were among the officials who received thousands of dollars from West Virginia Bishop Michael J. Bransfield. Bransfield was seeking to “purchase influence” with “those whose opinions carry weight with the Vatican” according to a recent Washington Post investigation.

A Dependable Ally, Pope Francis Met with Putin for the Third Time

No other head of state has been granted a private meeting with the pope more often. And Putin kept the pope waiting each time – 50 minutes late for their first meeting, more than an hour late for their second and an hour late on Thursday.

Putin’s July 4th visit to the Vatican came “amid signs of closer ties between the Kremlin and the Roman Catholic Church,” reported Bloomberg and “at a time when Russia is playing a more ambitious and divisive role around the world” noted the Washington Post.

Afterwards, Putin thanked Pope Francis for “a very substantive discussion.” The subjects were Venezuela, Ukraine and Syria according to the Vatican.

Lest We Forget the Victims: The Catholic Church’s Complicity in the Croatian, Argentine and Rwandan Atrocities

On June 2, Pope Francis completed his visit to a third Balkan country this year and the sixth in that region during his pontificate, but not Croatia. Since his election, the pope has also traveled to ten Latin American nations but not Argentina, and three in Africa but not Rwanda.

Nevertheless, the millions who were tortured and killed must not be forgotten.

WikiLeaks Helped Expose A Vatican Scandal

In February 2017, posters appeared around Rome denouncing Pope Francis’ “decapitation” of the Knights of Malta. At the heart of the pope’s sacking of the Grand Master is a multi-million dollar donation. WikiLeaks provided critical information about what Vatican officials knew and when they know it.