Vatican: Gotti Tedeschi Resigns from the Ior

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
May 25, 2012

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/homepage/the-vatican/detail/articolo/ior-15356/

Gotti Tedeschi

The President of the IOR has resigned from his post in light of the tensions over the Saint Rafael case and the Vatican transparency law. He will be succeeded by Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz

Ettore Gotti Tedeschi has resigned from his post as President of the IOR, the Institute for the Works of Religion. He did so during a meeting of the Supervisory Council, the Vatican bank’s administrative council for the laity, before a no-confidence vote was passed. He is to be succeeded by Vice President Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz. The reason behind the Italian banker and economist’s decision seem to be the internal tensions that have been growing over the past months over the new transparency law which was supposed to get the Holy See onto the white-list of financially virtuous countries.

Gotti Tedeschi was appointed as President of the Vatican bank in 2009, to advance financial transparency work, as Benedict XVI had requested. A few months after his arrival, the IOR became involved in an inquiry carried out by the Roman magistrate into some money transfers: Gotti Tedeschi had decided to collaborate with the judges, agreeing to answer all questions without the need for any international letters of request.

A communique issued by the Holy See Press Office says that "after deliberation, the Board decided unanimously on a no- confidence vote against the President, on the grounds that he failed to carry out functions that were of primary importance to his office."

The content of the text is very clear: "Members of the Council are saddened by the events that have led to this vote of no confidence, but consider this action to be important in maintaining the Institute's vitality." It goes on to say that: "The Council now looks ahead to the search for a new and excellent President who will help the Institute restore efficient and extensive relations between the Institute and the financial community, based on mutual respect of internationally recognised banking standards."

Finally, the communique informs that the Commission of Cardinals will meet tomorrow to "draw together the conclusions of the Council's deliberation and decide on the next steps to take for the future."