MONSIGNOR NUNZIO SCARANO |
APART FROM SEX SCANDALS THERE IS A HUGE PROBLEM IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH INVOLVING FINANCIAL SCANDALS.
I DO BELIEVE THAT POPE FRANCIS REALLY WANTS TO ADDRESS THESE SCANDALS
A Vatican official already under investigation in a purported
money-laundering plot involving the Vatican bank was arrested Friday in a
separate operation: Prosecutors allege he tried to bring 20 million euros ($26
million) in cash into Italy from Switzerland aboard an Italian government
plane, his lawyer said.
Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, a recently suspended
accountant in one of the Vatican's main financial departments, is accused of
fraud, corruption and slander stemming from the plot, which never got off the
ground, attorney Silverio Sica told The Associated Press.
He said Scarano was a middleman in the operation: Friends had asked him
to intervene with a broker, Giovanni Carenzio, to return 20 million euros they
had given him to invest. Sica said Scarano persuaded Carenzio to return the
money, and an Italian secret service agent, Giovanni Maria Zito, went to
Switzerland to bring the cash back aboard an Italian government aircraft. Such
a move would presumably prevent any reporting of the money coming into Italy.
The operation failed because Carenzio reneged on the deal, Sica said.
Zito, nevertheless, demanded his 400,000 euro commission. Scarano paid
him an initial 200,000 euros by check, which Zito deposited, Sica said. But in
a bid to not have the second check deposited at the bank, Scarano filed a
report for a missing 200,000 check, even though he knew Zito had it, Sica said.
Carenzio and Zito also were arrested Wednesday along with Scarano, Sica
said.
It's not the only troubles facing Scarano.
Prosecutors in the southern city of Salerno have placed him under
investigation for alleged money-laundering stemming from his account at the
Vatican's bank, the Institute for Religious Works. Just this week, Pope Francis
named a commission of inquiry into the bank to get to the bottom of the
problems that have plagued it for decades and contributed to damaging the
Vatican's reputation in global financial circles.
That investigation concerns transactions Scarano made in 2009 in which
he took 560,000 euros ($729,000) in cash out of his personal IOR bank account
and carried it out of the Vatican and into Italy to help pay off a mortgage on
his Salerno home.
To deposit the money into an Italian bank account _ and to prevent
family members from finding out he had such a large chunk of cash _ he asked 56
close friends to accept 10,000 euros apiece in cash in exchange for a check or
money transfer in the same amount, Sica said earlier this week. Scarano was
then able to deposit the amounts in his Italian account.
The original money came into Scarano's IOR account from donors who gave
it to the prelate thinking they were funding a home for the terminally ill in
Salerno, Sica said. He said the donors had "enormous" wealth and
could offer such donations for his charitable efforts.
He said Scarano had given the names of the donors to prosecutors and
insisted the origin of the money was clean, that the transactions didn't
constitute money-laundering, and that he only took the money
"temporarily" for his personal use.
The home for terminally ill hasn't been built, though the property has
been identified, Sica said.
"He declares himself absolutely innocent," Sica said of the
Salerno investigation.
The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, told the AP earlier
this week that the Vatican is taking the appropriate measures to deal with
Scarano's case.
IT IS NOT ONLY IN THE VATICAN THAT THERE ARE CHURCH FINANCE SCANDALS.
MANY PARISH PRIESTS IN IRELAND PLAY FAST AND LOOSE WITH PAROCHIAL FUNDS.
THERE IS NO ONE TO STOP A BISHOP USING DIOCESAN FUNDS FOR WHATEVER HE DECIDES
THE LATE FATHER MICHAEL KEANE, FOUNDER OF THE KNOCK MARRIAGE BUREUA WHO INHERITED A FAMILY FORTUNE ONCE TOLD ME THAT THE THEN ARCHBISHOP OF TUAM OFFERED HIM A BISHOPRIC IF HE GAVE SOME OR ALL OF HIS INHERITANCE TO HIM
THE THREE GREAT TEMPTATIONS IN LIFE AND IN THE CHURCH ARE SEX, MONEY AND POWER.
Bishop Pat Buckley 28.6.2013
IT IS NOT ONLY IN THE VATICAN THAT THERE ARE CHURCH FINANCE SCANDALS.
MANY PARISH PRIESTS IN IRELAND PLAY FAST AND LOOSE WITH PAROCHIAL FUNDS.
THERE IS NO ONE TO STOP A BISHOP USING DIOCESAN FUNDS FOR WHATEVER HE DECIDES
THE LATE FATHER MICHAEL KEANE, FOUNDER OF THE KNOCK MARRIAGE BUREUA WHO INHERITED A FAMILY FORTUNE ONCE TOLD ME THAT THE THEN ARCHBISHOP OF TUAM OFFERED HIM A BISHOPRIC IF HE GAVE SOME OR ALL OF HIS INHERITANCE TO HIM
FATHER MICHAEL KEANE |
Bishop Pat Buckley 28.6.2013
The Vatican no longer needs to be an independent state but part of Italy. Treasures etc can be held in trust for "the people of God"
ReplyDeleteI agree
DeleteThe Legionaries of Christ could be the vault keepers, they are very trustworthy money people - it would be like the bank in Harry Potter!!
ReplyDeleteThe PP's can do what they want when they what and OUR people sit back and let them! The Catholic people are to blame in my opinion - they allow the PP to hold such accounatable power over them with some fair serious consequences, not just the wholesale child abuse scandal, but the remarriage issue, the mixed marriage issues etc! But them again the PEOPLE of GOD will PAY for it all, if a PP today was to rubbish hundreds of thousands of euros, a nice wee PERSON of GOD will start a campaign, collect the money and send it to HIS LORDSHIP in his PALACE! Why would the PP NOT dip in and out of the money - HE will be pulled out of the HOLE by the wee JONNY AND JANE FAITHFUL!!!
ReplyDeleteWake up PEOPLE OF GOD!