The Vatican Bank Facilitated Money Laundering

Italian investigators have determined that the Vatican Bank operated in a manner that facilitated money laundering, according to Italian media reporting the results of a three-year secret investigation.

The bank, officially known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR), did not conduct sufficient control of its clients, allowing account holders to transfer large sums on behalf of others.

There is a high risk that the way IOR operates, without specifying actual clients, could be used as a cover for illegal operations, states a document from the prosecutors reported by the daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

They also accused Italian banks of accepting money transfers from IOR without determining the origin of the funds that were then transferred to third banks. IOR could easily become a channel for money laundering originating from criminal circles, investigators emphasized.

Investigators also dismiss IOR’s claims that account holders were only religious congregations or clergy. Among them are private individuals who, due to their special relationship with the Holy See, can deposit money into accounts and open new ones.

At the center of the investigation is a transfer of $30 million from the Vatican Bank to the Italian Credito Artigiano in September 2010. Three million euros were then transferred to Banc del Fucino, and 20 million to JP Morgan Frankfurt.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis has urged Catholics not to fear the reform of “outdated and fragile structures” of the Church, such as the bureaucratic and structural frameworks of the Vatican Bank.

In Christianity and the Church, there are outdated and fragile structures. They need to be renewed, the Pope said during a private mass for the Swiss Guard.

He also called on thousands of young priests and novices from around the world, gathered at an audience in the Vatican, not to forget their vow of poverty.

I feel bad when I see a priest or a nun behind the wheel of the latest model of some modern car. This is unacceptable, concluded Pope Francis.