Ior: Still No President but Cardinal Turnaround Just around the Corner

By Andrea Tornielli
Vatican Insider
January 28, 2013

http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/ior-ior-ior-21694/

The IOR headquarters

Last June, the appointment of a new president of the Vatican Bank (IOR) in September 2012, after the Pope returned from his trip to Lebanon, was said to be a dead cert. The new president will succeed banker Ettore Gotti Tedeschi who was dismissed in a way that had never been seen before in the history of the Holy See. Then the appointment was postponed to the end of the year. Last 10 December, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl Andersson - a member of the IOR’s board of lay members and author of the harsh indictment against Gotti Tedeschi, which was deliberately leaked to the press – said it was up to Cardinal Bertone to decide and that the new president would be nominated in January. Now that January is almost over there is word going round that the president will be appointed next month. But probably after the turnover of the Commission of Cardinals that oversees the IOR, which expires on 23 February. The Secretary of State explained that this is a routine change that takes place every five years as in the dicasteries. In this case the turnover could be of crucial importance to the choice of Gotti’s successor.

On 23 February 2008, Benedict XVI renewed the Cardinals’ Commission that oversees the Institute for Works of Religion for another five years, appointing Secretary of State and Camerlengo, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone and Attilio Nicora - who was president of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA) at the time - as its heads. Cardinals who were chosen again included Frenchman Jean-Louis Tauran (President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue), Telesphore Placidus Toppo (Archbishop of Ranchi, in India) and Odilo Pedro Scherer (Archbishop of Sao Paulo, in Brazil). In September the following year, 2009, cardinals renewed the IOR’s board of lay members which elected Ettore Gotti Tedeschi as the bank’s president. Gotti Tedeschi was called to develop the bank’s objective of transparency and bring it in line with international anti-money laundering laws as requested by the Pope and Cardinal Bertone.

After just two years and eight months, in May 2012 Gotti Tedeschi was dismissed in a way that was unprecedented in the history of the Holy See. When the Vatileaks scandal broke out, the Holy See decided to send the press a harsh document carrying Andersson’s signature, which not only accused the president of being incapable of carrying out his duties and of lacking prudence and precision, but expressed suspicions about him being involved in the Vatileaks scandal. Suspicions were roused after he was apparently unable to provide an explanation for the publication of documents held by the president.

The Vatican clearly stated that the no-confidence motion adopted by the Supervisory Council was based on objective reasons linked to the bank’s governance and was not determined by an alleged opposition to transparency which Holy See leaders and the IOR hold close to heart. Events relating to the anti-money laundering law (No. 127) contributed to the deterioration of relations between Gotti Tedeschi and leaders of the Secretariat of State. The law was hastily re-written during the Christmas holidays in 2011 as requested by Moneyval, but introduced some changes which limited the autonomy of the Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (FIA), led by Cardinal Nicora. These modifications underwent further corrections in recent weeks, after a series of observations made by Moneyval.

Despite the usual denials and the attempt to place responsibility for the decision solely on the board of lay members, the way in which Gotti Tedeschi was dismissed, caused disputes among the Commission’s cardinals. According to unconfirmed reports, Nicora and Tauran – who are not among Gotti Tedeschi’s supporters and had initially expressed reservations about his nomination - for apparently raised objections. When this rumour got out last June, the director of the Vatican Press Office, Fr. Federico Lombardi denied the existence of internal divisions within the commission, explaining that cardinals had “taken note” of Gotti Tedeschi’s dismissal. It is still a mystery as to why it is taking so long for a new president to be selected, almost nine months on from Gotti Tedeschi’s dismissal.

Meanwhile, the names of two potential new entries to the IOR’s supervisory commission have been circulating: Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, Nicora’s successor as President of APSA and a supporter of Bertone and Cardinal Leonardo Sandri, Prefect of the Congregation for Oriental Churches and formerly a Substitute of the Secretary of State. 76-year old Nicora’s role would not be renewed , partly because the Moneyval report published last July (par. 797) states that the cardinal’s dual role - he is a member of the IOR’s supervisory commission and President of the FIA – represents a “serious conflict of interests.” Moneyval’s assessors had previously not made much of Nicora’s presence: the preliminary report dated 27 April 2012 (par. 294) stated there was nothing to indicate that this dual role would jeopardise the FIA’s independence. In Tauran’s case, age and dual assignments don’t come into it: if his role were not to be renewed it would simply be because of a routine turnover. However, the turnover could also involve Cardinals Scherer and Toppo.