Word: marcinkus
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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High-ranking Vatican sources have already suggested that Marcinkus will be staying behind when Pope John Paul II travels to Spain next month. The reason is that Vatican officials want the archbishop around to answer any questions that might arise concerning his role in the Banco Ambrosiano affair...
...there may be more to the decision than that. Some Vatican officials are concerned that Marcinkus, his subordinates Mennini and De Strobel, or all three, might be indicted. There is concern in the Holy See that they could be arrested if they should so much as step outside the Vatican, thus setting the stage for a legal battle between the church and civil authorities. The ultimate decision about Marcinkus' fate rests with the man in whose name one of the inquiries is being conducted: Pope John Paul. The Holy Father may choose not to do anything until the Holy...
Says Sindona: "Our goal was to buy control in Banco Ambrosiano." Sindona says that he first introduced Calvi to Archbishop Paul Marcinkus in 1971, the year the priest became president of the Vatican bank. Sindona strongly denies that he paid Calvi and Marcinkus a $6.5 million commission as part of a business deal in the early 1970s, as has been widely reported. Says Sindona: "I did give $6.5 million to Calvi, much more than that, but that was to buy shares of Ambrosiano and other stocks. None went to Marcinkus unless Calvi gave it to him." Sindona insists that Marcinkus...
With me he never even brought up the possibility." But Sindona believed Marcinkus was "incompetent" in choosing Vatican investments. "He is a good bodyguard," quipped Sindona, "but no banker...
...Pope John Paul II look more closely into his bank's affairs? "John Paul is not a financial man," says Sindona. "The people around him were afraid of Marcinkus' power." Sindona claims that Ambrosiano paid the I.O.R. some $20 million in fees and interest in 1981 alone. Sindona was critical of his carefully chosen colleague. Calvi, says Sindona, "had no interests, only money and power. He was no good at choosing other people. If counts or barons went to him, he was immediately impressed. Calvi was known for paying a lot of money in Italy...