The Vatican Financial Empire: A Hidden History 2024 -
On a quiet night in 1982 Italian banker Roberto Calvi is on the run. He has spent a lifetime working for Banco Ambrosiano, a bank whose biggest customer is the Vatican. But now he’s fugitive, desperately trying to escape the long arm of the law. The Vatican Financial Empire: A Hidden History, Youtube 50.27, 2024
‘The body of missing financier Roberto Calvi, the central figure in a $790 million bank fraud scandal, was found hanging from a London bridge Friday, the police said.’ ibid. US news
For centuries the Catholic Church has been a monumental figure of human history … But it is also a powerful financial institution with the world’s largest real estate collections and vested interests in a vast number of corporations. ibid.
The Church reaches out to an unlikely financier – the Rothschilds … The Rothschilds lent the Vatican 40 million Euros in today’s money. It becomes a lifeline the Church desperately needs. ibid.
The Vatican Bank: It’s a perfect vehicle to hide and launder money. ibid.
Working with [Michele] Sindona is one of the worst mistakes the Church has ever made. ibid.
Within just a few short years, Calvi and Sindona have grown their own financial empires bigger and faster than almost anyone. ibid.
By 1982 Robert Calvi realizes that his financial schemes cannot be sustained any longer. ibid.
The Church agrees to pay $244 million in a legal settlement involving Banco Ambrosiano. ibid.
‘Michele Sindona, one of Italy’s most successful financiers whose empire collapsed amid charges of fraud and murder, died today in a Voghera hospital of cyanide poisoning.’ ibid. US news
Despite being implicated in the massive financial scandal surrounding the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano in 1982, [Archbishop] Marcinkus manages to avoid legal consequences. ibid.
In the 1990s the Vatican Bank faces unprecedented scrutiny and scandal. ibid.
A crisis is brewing, one that will expose a darkness far greater than any financial misdeeds. ibid.
Allegations of corruption, financial mismanagement, power struggles and internal conflict within the Vatican hierarchy. ibid.