Two parallel developments in the Vatican were described yesterday by Reuters as a "widening scandal." Last Thursday the Supervisory Board of the Institute for the Works of Religion (the Vatican Bank) dismissed the president of the bank, Prof. Gotti Tedeschi. (Vatican press release.) Tedeschi says he was ousted because of his attempts to make the bank more transparent. The band has been attempting in recent years to meet international anti-money laundering standards. (See prior posting.) However Vatican officials say the ouster had nothing to do with that. Reuters says that instead it was the result of "progressively erratic personal behavior" and his failure to defend the bank "in the face of inaccurate media reports".
Meanwhile, on Saturday the Pope's personal butler, Paolo Gabriele, was arrested (Vatican press release) in an ongoing investigation of theft of confidential papers that have been published. They allege cronyism and corruption among the Cardinals. (See prior posting.) AP reports that Gabriele has agreed to cooperate with investigators.
