UNITED STATES
Windy City Times
by Nick Patricca
2013-10-02
Institute for the Works of Religion, the proper name for ‘The Vatican Bank,’ was created in June 1942 by Pope Pius 12 to deal with the money crises caused by WW2, to prepare for post-war recovery efforts, and to work against communist takeovers, especially in Italy and France.
The IOR ( its Italian acronym ) is not a division of the Vatican City State; nor is it an office of the Catholic Church’s organizational and curial structures. It is an independent ‘charitable institute,’ run by a board of supervisors ( usually laymen ), overseen by a committee of cardinals under papal direction.
The principal purpose of the IOR is to promote acts of charity inspired by the Christian faith.
Of course, the Vatican had been in the banking business for a very long time prior to 1942. During the Avignon Papacy ( 1309—1378 ), bereft of its financial base in Rome and in the Papal States and ever at odds with Kings and Emperors, the papacy developed an extensive banking system in order to support its centralization of church authority and administration and to free itself from secular control, thus playing a crucial role in the rapid rise of banking in our modern sense.
One would think that with so much experience with money, power, and organization, the papacy would be competent to run a bank. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The administration of the Vatican Bank has been so unbelievably sordid and incompetent that it defies a rational presentation, giving rise to conspiracy theories ( IN HIS NAME, Yallop, 1984 ) and conspiracy theories about conspiracy theories ( A THIEF IN THE NIGHT, Cornwell, 1989 ).
THE CHICAGO CONNECTION. Although the Vatican is rich in real property holdings and art treasures, it is seriously and chronically short of cash. In 1032 the Norse King Canute imposed a tax ( Peter’s Pence ) upon all his subjects in the British Isles to assist the pope. This tax quickly developed into an independent revenue-stream for the direct support of the reigning pope and his projects, such as, protecting pilgrims and building St Peter’s Basilica. Among the biggest contributors of all time to the Vatican were Cardinal Spellman ( + December, 1967 ) of New York and Cardinal Cody ( + April 1982 ) of Chicago, giving these donors enormous clout with the pope. This clout led to the appointment of Archbishop Paul Marcinkus ( + February 2006 ) of Cicero, Illinois as president of the Vatican Bank for 18 years from 1971 to 1989. ( It is alleged that Marcinkus and Cody made frequent trips between Chicago and Rome carrying suitcases full of cash. )
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