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1991-08-18
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The Wealth of The Papacy
Written By a Former Catholic
This paper will detail the material wealth of the Catholic
church. It will reveal that the Catholic church is much, much
more than a religion. It is an empire, with tentacles reaching
every corner of the world. It deals not only in religious
matters, but also in political and economic matters.
ALL INFORMATION FOR THIS PAPER COMES FROM:
"The Vatican Empire", by Nino Lo Bello
(c) 1969, by The Benjamin Company
On the back cover of this book, in large letters, is
printed: "THE FULL, VIVID STORY OF THE WORLD`S LARGEST, OLDEST,
MOST SECRET CORPORATION."
THE ABOVE-MENTIONED BOOK WAS WRITTEN BY A CATHOLIC! Since he
is apparently an `average` Catholic (ie, ignorant of Biblical
Doctrine), he saw nothing `wrong` with the Vatican having immense
wealth. He felt the wealth was `good`, since the Catholic church
`needs` its immense wealth to `spread the Gospel`.
For anyone who ridiculed the collapse of the Jim Baker
empire, Baker`s wealth was `pocket change` when compared with the
wealth of the Vatican.
Before beginning, we must elaborate on the subject of
wealth, as regarding its `place` in any religion. Personally, I
do not believe that any religion should be wealthy, other than
the expenses necessary to continue its ministry. And even then, I
do not believe that extravagance of any sort has a place in any
Christian church. Do my beliefs have a Biblical foundation? I
think so.
First, the pope occupies the LARGEST RESIDENTIAL PALACE IN
THE WORLD. Is this Biblical?
From Matthew 8:20:
"And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the
birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not
where to lay his head."
Thus our Lord provided a direct statement about His material
wealth. Jesus Christ never really even had an `official` place of
residence. His only concern was the Gospel. Material possessions
meant virtually nothing to Him. His attitude toward wealth, or
`riches`, was made abundantly clear throughout the New Testament:
"And when he was gone forth into the way, there came one running,
and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do
that I may inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why
callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God.
Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not
kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Defraud not,
Honour thy father and mother. And he answered and said unto him,
Master, all these have I observed from my youth. Then Jesus
beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou
lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the
poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up
the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went
away grieved: for he had great possessions. And Jesus looked
round about, and saith unto his disciples, How hardly shall they
that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!"
Mark ----- 10:17-10:24
"Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that
shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments
are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of
them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as
it were fire.
James ----- 5:1-5:3
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor
rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor
steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be
also."
Matthew ----- 6:19-6:21
"And he (Jesus) spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of
a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought
within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room
where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will
pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow
all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou
hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat,
drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night
thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things
be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself, and is not rich toward God. And he said unto his
disciples, Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your
life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye shall
put on. The life is more than meat, and the body is more than
raiment."
Luke ----- 12:16-12:23
"Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags
which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth
not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."
Luke ----- 12:33-12:34
"Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods,
and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I
counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou
mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed,
and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint
thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see."
Revelation ----- 3:17-3:18
Thus it is obvious that `riches` were usually spurned or
condemned by the Bible, and its writers. That is because riches
corrupt people. They begin thinking about their money, and its
power. They begin trusting money, instead of trusting God. Their
inevitable ruin is guaranteed by the Bible.
The following information is in the form of selected
passages from the above-mentioned book. It may not always follow
a course that is constant, logically leading to a grand finale.
Rather, it is `bits and pieces` that each contribute to a final
`picture`. To do otherwise would require typing half of the book.
Numbers that appear in parentheses following excerpts from the
book reveal the page number(s) that contain said excerpts; thus
(99) would mean page 99 in the book. ANY EMPHASIS SUCH AS CAPITAL
LETTERS HAVE BEEN ADDED BY MYSELF.
REMEMBER that the book was printed in 1969. It would not be
illogical to assume that the financial figures quoted would be
conservative in the extreme, since the papacy has done nothing to
indicate a significant change in papal financial matters has
occurred.
"While no one person actually knows the full worth of the
Catholic church, conservative (1969) estimates of the Vatican
investment portfolio - ALONE - amount to more than $5.6 BILLION."
(Inside front book cover)
-----
DID YOU KNOW:
The Vatican owns the "Acqua Marcia," the water utility of
Italy? (10)
The Vatican owns the gas utility company of Italy? (10)
The Vatican largely controls the public telephone company
of Italy? (10)
-----
"The Vatican is not only in the BUSINESS OF SELLING GOD.
Its total enterprise goes BEYOND GOD."
(11)
"The church`s art treasures, many of which are in the
Vatican Museum, include literally thousands of
masterpieces, paintings, sculpture, tapestries, and
maps, to which no dollar amount can be assigned."
(12)
"Because none of the treasures will ever be put on the
market, it is folly to even hazard a guess as to the
cumulative worth of these items. But, conceivably, they
could bring A BILLION DOLLARS under an auctioneer`s
gavel."
(13)
"Perhaps the most prophetic words ever written by a
pope..are those of Pius XI in a now-famous encyclical,
`Non Abbiamo Bisogno (We Don`thave need)`. Published in
France, THE ENCYCLICAL HAD TO SMUGGLED OUT OF THE
VATICAN.. It reads:
`Immense power and despotic economic domination are
concentrated in the hands of a few, who for the most part
are not the owners, but only the trustees and directors
of invested funds, which they administer at their own
good pleasure....for that reason, supplying, so to speak,
the life blood to the entire economic body and grasping
in their hands, as it were, the very soul of production,
SO THAT NO ONE DARE BREATHE AGAINST THEIR WILL.`"
(14)
"...the fact stands that Italy`s regard the Pope as one
of the richest men in the world - not personally, but by
virtue of his office, his position, his status, his
power."
(16-17)
"In a weak moment, another elderly churchman, HIMSELF A
MILLIONAIRE, sighed and admitted, `Ours is a dilemma
indeed; if we give the image of being too rich, people
won`t lend us their support; if we appear too poor, we
lose their respect.`"
(17)
"The organization that through 1967 was the backbone of
papal business interests and served as a kind of finance
ministry was the one known as the Special Administration
(now absorbed under the new setup. Established in
1929...the Special Administration took the sum of nearly
$90 MILLION granted to the Holy See by dictator Benito
Mussolini as an indemnity for the loss of the Papal
States and, by careful investing, increased it to ABOUT
$550 MILLION."
(20)
"The late Domenico Cardinal di Jurio, the pope`s
Secretary of State, once maintained in a press interview
that whispers about the Vatican`s great wealth were
exaggerated - that the image had been distorted. Yet a
serious reporter who puts two and two together does not
get four, or even twenty-two; but a sum that adds up to
HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS."
(21)
"As far as its public image is concerned, the Vatican
prefers to encourage the impression that it is an
organization with a modest income and huge expenditures.
Vatican City does, for example, issue new stamps and
special series of stamps several times a year. In this
way, it is not unlike other small countries that produce
and sell stamps in order to add foreign exchange to their
bank accounts. Vatican stamps, however, are very much in
demand, and the sales BRING IN CLOSE TO $400,000 EACH
YEAR."
(21-22)
Much of the Vatican`s wealth can be directly attributed to
one Bernardino Nogara. His excellent expertise in financial
matters has been matched by few men in the history of the world.
Hereafter in this paper, Mr. Nogara will be simply `Nogara`.
"...Nogara spent $26.8 MILLION to buy gold from the
United States at the official rate of $35 per fine troy
ounce..."
(25)
"Vatican coins, which are the same size as the equivalent
Italian coins, have the pope`s head engraved on them and
usually bear a motto. `This is the root of all evil` is
the translation of one such motto; it is better to give
than to receive,` the translation of another."
(39)
"The Pope HAS TEN PRIVATE CARS, and these are parked in
the Apostolic Stable, which was once used for papal
horses."
(40)
"Estimates at the turn of the century (1900) indicated
that the Vatican needed $4 million a year to make ends
meet. During this period, the Vatican had its then-usual
sources of income. There were monies from DIRECT TAXATION
- that is to say, FROM FEES ATTACHED TO VARIOUS FUNCTIONS
LIKE MARRIAGES, BAPTISMS, AND FUNERALS."
(53)
"Masses were sold (to mitigate the purgatorial sufferings
of the dead), as were relics (articles of saints`
clothing, eating utensils saints had used, etc.), as were
images of the Madonna, as were candles and rosaries - and
pieces of straw from the straw bed of the self-imprisoned
Pope Pius IX. COUPONS - REPAYABLE IN HEAVEN - WERE SOLD.
and last but not least, there was the sale of
annulments."
(54)
THE PAPACY AND MUSSOLINI
"An extremely superstitious man, and quite unashamed of
it, Benito Mussolini, who ruled Italy from 1922 until
1943, often during public appearances unabashedly put his
hand into his pocket to tap his private parts for good
luck. He believed the gesture would protect him in case
someone in his presence had the `evil eye.` Mussolini had
some other questionable beliefs. He gave credence to the
ill effects of the cold light of the moon upon the face
of a sleeping man and to the prognostications of the
fortune-tellers and palm readers. Swayed though he was by
the occult sciences, Mussolini never believed in God,
nor, except for political convenience, did he ever call
himself a Catholic. Yet no man did more for the Vatican
than did the Italian dictator. When he signed the Lateran
Treaty with the Pope on February 11, 1929, he gave the
Church a `shot in the arm` that proved to be critical in
its economic history."
(59)
"Before and after he assumed power in 1922, Mussolini had
frequently boasted of being a nonbeliever; in fact, no
one who knew him had ever known him to attend mass.
Realizing, however, that Church support was indispensable
to his plans, he sought to cater to the clergy. Among
other things, he brought the crucifix back into the
classrooms of Italy, abolished Freemasonry, and granted
churches substantial amounts of money to repair the
buildings damaged during World War I. (He) even went so
far as to go through a belated religious marriage to his
wife and to have his children baptized in the Catholic
rites. In time, the man who had written a pamphlet
entitled `God Does Not Exist`, and who had freely
blasphemed and frequently attacked the church, through
propaganda, attempted to palm himself off as a practicing
Catholic and a professed believer. Very few people ever
questioned him about his change of heart. MEMBERS OF THE
CLERGY WERE PARTICULARLY SILENT ON THE SUBJECT, FOR THE
(CATHOLIC) CLERGY MORE THAN WELCOMED HIS STENTORIAN
SUPPORT."
(60)
"It was raining heavily when Pietro Cardinal Gasparri
drove into the Piazza Laterana on February 11, 1929, the
day the agreement (the Lateran Treaty) was to be signed.
The noontime bells of the churches rang out, and
Mussolini and his aides entered the Lateran Palace, to be
greeted by Pope Pius`representatives. In silence the
dictator went to the table and sat down alongside the
Cardinal. Pius had sent a gold pen, blessed by him, and
after the Duce had affixed his signature and all the
documents had been exchanged, Gasparri presented him the
pen as a gift from the Pope. The whole affair had lasted
less than thirty minutes."
(61)
"The Italian public, clearly pleased, accorded Benito
Mussolini an overflow of support. He became an idol to
Catholic Italy. Young women by the thousands offered
their favors to his virility - and let it be said that
many of them, in fact, were ushered into the Duce`s
chambers."
(62)
The Lateran Treaty did three things for the papacy:
1) It created the new State of Vatican City
2) It granted payments to the church for the loss of its
temporal powers
3) It gave the Vatican powers and privileges to control its
own special (and SECRET) affairs
Among other things, the Treaty excused members of the
Catholic clergy and citizens of the Vatican State from paying
Italian taxes. The church was given control of....various
organizations, which were referred to and defined as
"ecclesiastical corporations." The Treaty also prevented the
Italian government from ever intervening in the operation of
these `corporations`.
"MUSSOLINI WAS THE MAN SENT BY PROVIDENCE."
(59)
"The Concordat also stipulated that Protestant Bibles
could no longer be distributed in Italy, that private
evangelical meetings in private homes were forbidden, and
that Catholicism was to be Italy`s official religion."
(64)
"Today Italgas (the Italian gas utility), which sold a
total of 679,000,000 cubic meters of gas during the
fiscal year 1967-68, is the sole supplier of gas for
Italian homes in 36 cities. The Vatican remains its
controlling stockholder."
(64)
"Between 1929 and the outbreak of World War II, Nogara
assigned Vatican capital and Vatican `agents` to work in
diversified areas of Italy`s economy - particularly in
electric power, telephone communications, credit and
banking, small railroads, and the production of
agricultural implements, cement, and artificial textile
fibers. Many of these ventures paid off."
(66)
"The cunning Nogara euchred Mussolini into granting every
Catholic corporation, whether its actual function was
ecclesiastical or fiscal, either FULL EXEMPTION FROM
TAXES OR SUBSTANTIAL TAX ABATMENTS. Somehow, Mussolini
was convinced that a Vatican-owned bank was a `temple
doing the work of God` and that what was good for God was
good for the Vatican - and that that was good for Italy."
(66)
"A Nogara munitions plant supplied arms for the Italian
army."
(66)
Speaking of the Vatican, frequent commentator Avro Manhattan
had the following comments about the Catholic church:
"Her administration is unique. Although a church, she is
at the same time a sovereign government. Although a
mighty religious institution, she is also a mighty
political presence and a major economic center. Although
her officials are drawn from many nationalities, when
acting as members of her government they have none;
while speaking the major languages of the world, she
issues her ordinances in one which only a few can
understand. Although territorially the smallest state in
existence, hers is the most significant in the world. And
although neither an empire, a kingdom, nor a republic, it
is a mixture of all three. The head of such government
wears not one but three crowns. Although without an army,
a navy, or hydrogen bombs, HE HAS MORE POWER THAN IF HE
HAD AT HIS DISPOSAL THE GREATEST ARSENAL ON THE GLOBE.
SPIRITUALLY AND HIERARCHICALLY, NO ONE IS ABOVE HIM
EXCEPT GOD, THE SOURCE OF HIS AUTHORITY."
(74-75)
"Various countries of the world....maintain diplomatic
relations with the Vatican. Papal ambassadors are to be
found not only in Catholic nations but also in
Protestant, Islamic, Buddhist, and atheistic countries.
An ambassador of the pope is called a `nuncio`, and he
has the same status as the ambassador of any great power.
At this writing, (1969)........the Vatican maintains
official ambassadors in the following countries:
Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burundi,
Cameroon, Chile, China (Taiwan), Colombia, the Congo
(Leopoldville), Costa Rica, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, the
Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia,
Ethiopia, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Haiti,
Honduras, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland,
Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea (Seoul), Latvia, Lebanon,
Liberia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malawi, Malta, the
Netherlands, Nicaragua, Pakistan, Panama, Paraguay, Peru,
the Phillipines, Poland, Rumania, Rwanda, Senegal, Spain,
Switzerland, Syria, Turkey, Uruguay, Venezuela,
Yugoslavia, and Zambia."
(78)
"Vatican officials are inclined to believe the pope is
one of the best-informed chiefs of state in the world -
better, they assert, than the President of the United
States."
(81)
"Any bishop - or for that matter, any clergyman of any
rank - who has a report of an urgent nature can
communicate IN CODE with the Vatican`s secretary of state
by cable or by radio."
(82)
"Perched atop Monte Mario and overlooking a panorama of
ancient ruins and Renaissance settings is the busiest of
Rome`s new international hotels, the one flying the
Hilton flag. Of the thousands who use the 400 rooms and
suites in the Cavalieri Hilton each year, few are aware
that the hotel is largely owned by the Catholic church.
Said interest is, to be exact, A THREE-QUARTER
OWNERSHIP."
(83)
"In 1966, in Rome alone, the Vatican`s construction
society (Vatican-owned companies) completed or nearly
completed three apartment houses, seven garden villages,
twelve luxury homes, a five-building apartment
development, an office building with ground-floor stores
and a cellar garage, two other office buildings
(comprising 174 office units), and a twelve-villa garden
development."
(84-85)
"As the largest of Italy`s construction companies, the
VATICAN-OWNED `Societa Generale Immobiliate` (SGI) has
been in business for more than a century."
(83)
"SGI`s investment in construction projects has jumped to
over $45 MILLION at this writing (1969). Its gross
assets, which were approximately $50 MILLION IN 1955,
were about $170 MILLION IN 1967, WHILE NET EARNINGS WENT
FROM $2.4 MILLION IN 1955 TO $6.2 MILLION IN 1967. Today,
SGI holds a controlling or substantial interest IN OVER
FIFTY ITALIAN COMPANIES."
(84)
"During 1966,in Milan, SGI finished a three-building
housing project that has sixty-two family dwellings,
eighteen offices, seventeen stores, and an eighty-car
garage. Plans have been drawn to add two more buildings
to the project by replacing the old Vatican-owned
structures on an adjoining site. Elsewhere in Milan, and
also in 1966, SGI completed a seven-building (196
apartment) housing complex and was in the process of
putting up a shopping center. The shopping center`s site
is the famed `Piazza Loreto`, the square where the
bullet-riddled bodies of Mussolini and his girl friend
were hanged upside-down during the closing days of the
war."
(85)
"In Genoa, in 1966, SGI nearly finished a 150-apartment
development along the Via Bobbio, opened and rented to
capacity its plush Residence Park Riviera, and began
construction of a new 92-apartment development."
(85)
"Italy has no regulations or laws against private holding
companies, and SGI controls several. One of the largest
is the Societa Generale per Lavori e Pubbliche Utilia
(SOGENE), a construction company with extensive
experience in public works. In recent years the
VATICAN-OWNED SOGENE has built a 328-foot-high dam at
Mulargia in Sardinia, a 430,000-square-foot, reinforced
concrete flood-water diversion for the Arno River at
Pisa, a 125-foot dam at Gramolazzonear Lucca, a
hydroelectric power plant near Terni, a 54-mile
consortium aqueduct for the cities of Ascoli and Fermo, a
29,950-foot tunnel for the pipes of the projected Frida
Aqueduct, hundreds of miles of embankments for Italy`s
main superhighway, the tunnel for the Gran San Bernardo
highway connecting Italy to Switzerland, concrete
emplacements for much of Milan`s new subway, the
4.5-mile-long highway between Chiasso and San Gottardo,
and a number of bridges and viaducts in various parts the
country."
(86)
"Demonstrating a know-how that makes it far more than an
ordinary general contractor, SOGENE has even produced
ENTIRE FACTORIES under private contract. The impressive
new Colgate-Palmolive plant at Anzio, which covers
430,000 square feet of land and has over seventeen
million cubic feet of interior space, was designed and
put up by SOGENE technicians and engineers - that is, by
experts who DREW THEIR PAY FROM VATICAN COFFERS. This
same team of experts also built the $565 MILLION
Italsider iron and steel complex; THE LARGEST SUCH
COMPLEX IN EUROPE, this one, in Taranto, sprawls over 3.9
MILLION SQUARE FEET OF LAND. A telecommunications plant
at San Siro was set up by SOGENE, which handled the
entire project. In Sardinia the SAME VATICAN CONTRACTORS
set up...a 64,000-kilowatt thermoelectric power plant
(near Calgari) and a 480,000-kilowatt plant (at Sucis).
Working for Italy`s nationalized electric industry
(ENEL), busy SOGENE teams installed a 200,000-kilowatt
thermoelectric power plant at Civitavecchia and a
300,000-kilowatt plant near Perugia. On the opening day,
ALL OF SOGENE`S PROJECT ARE GIVEN THE CUSTOMARY BLESSING
BY AN ATTENDING CARDINAL, AND OFTEN THERE IS A SPECIAL
GOOD LUCK MESSAGE FROM THE POPE HIMSELF. The sign of the
cross was made many times in 1966, WHEN SOGENE COMPLETED
PUBLIC AND PRIVATE WORKS THAT TOTALED $27.6 MILLION."
(87)
"In the past seven years (1962-1969), SGI has acquired a
controlling interest - nearly 70 percent of the common
stock and 50 percent of the preferred - IN WATERGATE
IMPROVEMENTS, INC., of Washington, D.C. Through it, the
Vatican is playing a major part in the completion of a
large office-and-apartment complex on the edge of the
Potomac. The first stage of the project was completed in
1965 with the completion of Watergate East, a
thirteen-story cooperative apartment building with 238
apartments, 60,000 square feet of commercial space, and
five acres of parking on four underground levels. During
the project`s second stage, completed in 1967, a
thirteen-story apartment hotel with three underground
levels, 221 suites, 10,000 square feet of commercial
space, and a 40,000-square-foot indoor garage was built,
as was an eleven-story office building with 180,000
square feet of office space. Work on the third stage
began in 1967, and by 1969 a building of 144 apartments
near Washington`s Rock Creek Parkway is expected to be
finished. Then the fourth and last stage of the project
(not yet made) will begin. Altogether, the luxury project
in the Foggy Bottom section of the U.S. capital is
expected to cost $65 MILLION."
(89)
"In Canada, SGI is active through subsidiary companies.
For instance, it is the largest single stockholder,
owning 85 percent of the shares, in Montreal`s Redbrooke
Estates Limited. Redbrooke recently completed, in one of
the most fashionable sections of Montreal, a
thirty-three-story apartment building with three
underground levels. Including 224 apartment units and
100,000 square feet of indoor parking, the
structure...has been taken over by the Vatican company
Immobiliare-Canada Limited. The company has a capital (in
Canadian dollars) of $456,900 and share obligations of
$14.4 MILLION, OF WHICH SGI HOLDS 93 PERCENT.
Immobiliare-Canada owns the forty-seven-story Montreal
office building, the Stock Exchange Tower, that houses
the Canadian and Montreal stock exchanges. The building
cost approximately $47 MILLION Canadian dollars, and was
designed with the cooperation of Rome`s Pier Luigi Nervi,
the cement wizard."
(89)
"In Mexico, the Lomas Verdes S.A. de C.V. construction
company is building a suburban city on some 1,300 acres
of scenic land outside Mexico City, near Tlalnepantla;
the city will ultimately house about 100,000 persons. SGI
owns about 30 percent of the Mexican company`s stock and
is providing the technical consultants and the project
manager. A four-lane, tree-lined superhighway, La
Superavenida, connecting the new city to the main highway
and thus to the center of Mexico City, has already been
completed by Lomas Verdes. Another Vatican-affiliated
company (SGI holds a 30-percent interest), Immobiliaria
Cortino S.A., is engaged in building five sixteen-story
apartment houses in Mexico City`s fashionable Pasco de
Las Palmas sector."
(89)
"In France during 1967, the Vatican`s SICE company, a
French company with its head office in Paris, completed
work on an elegant marble-faced office building on Paris`
Avenue des Champs-Elysees. The nine-story structure, with
four underground levels, provides 110,000 square feet of
office space and 87,000 square feet of indoor parking."
(90)
"In 1958, shortly before Italy took on the responsibility
of hosting the Olympics in Rome, the Vatican owned more
than 102 MILLION SQUARE FEET OF PROPERTY INSIDE ROME`S
CITY LIMITS. These holdings MADE IT (THE VATICAN) THE
BIGGEST LANDOWNER, OUTSIDE OF THE GOVERNMENT, IN ALL
ITALY. They were accumulated by the Vatican through quiet
purchases, inheritances, donations, and foreclosures over
a long period of time. The National Italian Olympic
Committee purchased large stretches of land from the Holy
See for an unspecified sum and erected some fifteen
stadiums at a cost of almost $29 million. To connect the
sport structures located in the northern part of the city
with those in the southern sector, Rome built the Olympic
Highway. The throughway followed a circuitous route
because it was placed on land that the city of Rome had
purchased from front companies owned by the SGI."
(90)
".....the Olympic Highway began to sprout major cracks
and crevices shortly after the Olympic athletes had
returned to their homelands. SGI, which had participated
in the building of the road through several front
companies, at that point offered to resurface the holes
under a series of new contracts from the municipal
government; the offer was accepted, for sums that were
never disclosed, and the potholes and splits in the
Olympic Highway were finally covered up."
(91)
"There is hardly a sector of Italy`s economy in which the
Vatican`s `men of trust` are not representing the
church`s interests. Almost all of these men hold high
positions in companies in which the church is financially
involved. They hold their responsible posts year in and
year out, sometimes ON THE BASIS OF THE PERCENTAGE OF
PROFIT THAT THE `HOLY SEE` REALIZES ON ITS INVESTMENT."
(94)
"Since the death of Nogara, several Vatican watchdogs
have replaced him on the company`s board and take part in
all the important decisions, such as that in 1966 to
merge Montecatini and the Edison Company. For that year
of the merger Montecatini Edison REPORTED TOTAL SALES OF
$683.9 MILLION AND A NET PROFIT OF $62.6 MILLION. The
1967 report and balance sheet showed substantial boosts
in nearly all sectors of the company`s activities, with
TOTAL SALES HAVING JUMPED TO $854 MILLION AND THE NET
PROFIT TO $66.1 MILLION. Montecatini`s investments in
other companies amount to better than $22 MILLION, its
real estate holdings to better than $22 MILLION, and its
industrial plants to APPROXIMATELY 1.3 BILLION."
(94)
"In Italy, Monetcatini owns or controls NINETEEN
COMPANIES."
(95)
"Now in its second century of existence, `Italcementi` -
which came under Vatican control after the war and is run
by papal `agent` Carlo Pesenti - accounts for 32 percent
of the total cement production in Italy; it is the
world`s fifth largest producer of cement and the second
largest in Europe. In 1967, Italcementi, which employs
6,500 workers, REPORTED A NET PROFIT OF $5.5 MILLION,
and it produced more than 26 MILLION TONS OF CEMENT. The
company, with its headquarters in Bergamo, HAS A CAPITAL
OF $51.2 MILLION."
(95)
"One of the most ramified, fully Vatican-owned companies
is `Italgas`, which has its main office in Turin. WITH A
CAPITAL OF ALMOST $59.9 MILLION, Italgas controls gas
companies in 36 Italian cities, including Rome, Turin,
Florence, and Venice.
(97-98)
"Trending upward for more than two decades, Italgas also
controls a number of companies that are related to the
gas industry. The Cledca Company (tar), Iclo
(anhydrides), Funvie Savona San Giuseppe (iron ore and
phosphorous), Fornicoke (coke for steel mills), Pontile
San Raffaele (coke), Cokitalia (distillates), Societa
Acque Potabili de Torino (drinking water), Carbonifera
Chiapello (real estate heating plants), Propaganda Gas
(gas stoves), and Urbegas (gas appliances)."
(98)
"....the Vatican....owns outright, controls, or
influences by its substantial though minority holdings
all of the following companies:
1. Societa Mineraria del Trasimeno
(mining - CAPITAL: $3.2 MILLION;
2. L`Instituto Farmacologico Serona
(pharmaceuticals - CAPITAL: $1.4 MILLION);
3. La Societa Dinamite
(dynamite and ammunition - CAPITAL: $624,000);
4. La Torcura di Vittorio Venento
(yarn - CAPITAL: $800,000);
5. Fisac-Fabbriche Italiane Riunite di Torino
(silk - CAPITAL: $3.4 MILLION);
6. Concerie Italiane Riunite di Torino
(furs - CAPITAL: $4 MILLION);
7. Zuccherifico di Avezzano
(sugar - CAPITAL: $1.6 MILLION);
8. Cartiere Burgo
(paper products - CAPITAL: $23.2 MILLION);
9. Industria Libraria Tipografica Editrice di Torino
(publishing - CAPITAL: $1.6 MILLION);
10. Sansoni di Firenze
(publishing - CAPITAL: $1.08 MILLION)."
(97)
"So much for private enterprise."
(97)
"The greatest amount of Vatican money....is probably in
the Alfa Romeo automobile company (CAPITAL: $72 MILLION).
Italy`s second largest producer of autos, Alfa Romeo
makes about 75,000 vehicles a year; by 1971, with the
help of a new $500 MILLION COMPLEX in Naples, it hopes to
be producing more than 250,000 cars annually."
(103-104)
"With all its affiliated companies, `Finmeccanica` is the
biggest industrial concern in Italy, operating in almost
every branch of the engineering industry - automotive and
electrical engineering, electronics, design of aircraft
and railway cars, of heavy machine tools and of precision
instruments, of hearing equipment and of modern armaments
(especially armored vehicles and tanks). Aided by heavy
Vatican investments, the Finmeccanica group has shown
remarkable progress since 1959, when its ANNUAL PROFITS
BEGAN TO RISE FROM $185.6 MILLION TO THE PRESENT-DAY
FIGURE OF OVER $420 MILLION (AND ITS EXPORTS FROM $41.6
MILLION A YEAR TO NEARLY $100 MILLION)."
(105)
"The extent of the Vatican`s investment in and control of
Italy`s main telephone company cannot be accurately
ascertained, but it is safe to say that both are
considerable and that Vatican influence has made STET
(the telephone company) the respected and solid
organization it is. At its last stockholders` meeting in
July 1968, STET closed out its books with a declared NET
PROFIT OF $20 MILLION FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW.
HAVING RECENTLY INCREASED ITS ITS CAPITAL BY $16 MILLION,
STET TODAY (1969) IS WORTH $304 MILLION. With more than
six million telephones, double the number in operation in
1958, STET today employs 58,000 persons. By 1970 it
expects to have invested a total of $1.12 BILLION IN NEW
FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT and to have increased its
number of employees to 68,000."
(105-106)
"STET has also managed to spread itself into other
companies. It is the SOLE OR MAJORITY STOCKHOLDER in many
of these. In:
1. Societa Italiana Telecommunicazioni Siemens, 98%
of the shares;
2. Italcable (cables and telegrams), 60%
3. SETA-Societa Esercizi Telefonici Ausiliaria, 99.99%
4. FONIT-CETRA (phonograph records), 99.99%
5. SAIAT-Societa Attivita Immobiliari Ausiliarie
Telefoniche, 100%
6. CSELT-Centro Studi e Laboratori Telecommunicazioni,
100%
7. SAGAS-Societa per Azione Grandi Alberghi e Stazioni
Climatiche, 100%
8. SEAT-Societa Elechin, 100%."
(106)
"As for the Banco di Santo Spirito, which was founded by
pope Paul V in 1605, and which is one of the oldest banks
in the world, its social capital is set at $12.8 MILLION.
From a 1966 total of $667 MILLION, the bank hiked its
total deposits last year (1968) to $729 MILLION and
reported a NET PROFIT FOR 1967 OF $1.24 MILLION, an
increase of $226,000 over the previous year."
(107)
"...the Vatican`s real banking strength lies in the north
of Italy. Foremost....is the Banco Ambrosiano in Milan,
which was founded in 1896 and a capital of $6.24 MILLION.
At the end of 1967...the Banco Ambrosiano reported a net
profit of $1.4 MILLION, virtually the same amount...it
had declared for the preceding year."
(107)
"Finally it must be mentioned that the THOUSANDS AND
THOUSANDS of small rural banks SPREAD ALL OVER ITALY ARE
OWNED 100 PERCENT BY EITHER THE VATICAN OR BY THE LOCAL
PARISH CHURCH, WHICH SUBMITS TO VATICAN CONTROLS AND
REGULAR AUDITS BY A PERIPATETIC VATICAN FINANCIER."
(109)
"One credit institution that is owned fully and outright
by the Vatican is the Societa Finanziaria Industriale e
Commerciale, with a CAPITAL OF $480,000. Other special
credit institutions owned partially or controlled by the
Vatican are:
1. La Societa Capitolina Finanziaria (CAPITAL:
$400,000);
2. Credito Fondiario (CAPITAL: $16 MILLION);
3. Societa Mineraria del Predil (CAPITAL: $384,000);
4. Il Finanziario Investimento Piemonte (CAPITAL:
$182,800);
5. Societa Finanziaria Italiana di Milano (CAPITAL:
$400,000);
6. Fiscambi di Romea di Milano (CAPITAL: $1.6 MILLION);
7. Efibanca-L`Ente Finanziario Interbancario (CAPITAL:
$16 MILLION); and
8. La Sind di Milano (CAPITAL: $1.6 MILLION)."
(115)
"A number of insurance companies are Vatican owned,
others are merely controlled by the apostolic financiers.
Two important companies that fall into the former group
are:
1. Assicurazioni Generali di Trieste e Venezia
(CAPITAL: $23.2 MILLION), which turned a PROFIT OF OVER
$4.67 MILLION in 1967, and;
2. Riunione Adriatica di Sicurta (CAPITAL: $6.9
MILLION), which reported a PROFIT OF MORE THAN $1.27
MILLION in the same year."
(114)
"Following is a list of other Italian insurance companies
that are connected with and to the Vatican:
1. La Compagnia di Roma...(CAPITAL: $960,000);
2. L`Unione Italia di Riassicurazione
(CAPITAL:$960,000);
3. Assicurazioni d`Italia (CAPITAL: $2 MILLION);
4. Fiumeter (CAPITAL: $1.68 MILLION);
5. Compagnia Tirrena di Capitalizzazioni e
Assicurazioni (CAPITAL: $2.4 MILLION);
6. L`Unione Finanziaria Italiana (CAPITAL: $640,000);
7. Finanziaria Tirrena (CAPITAL: $160,000);
8. Lloyd Internazionale (CAPITAL: $800,000); and
9. Fata-Fondo Assicurativo Tra Agricoltori (CAPITAL:
$1.2 MILLION)."
(115)
BECAUSE OF THE SECRECY OF THE CHURCH`S COMPLEX BUSINESS
OPERATIONS, THE PUBLIC IMAGE OF THE VATICAN REMAINS
ECCLESIASTICAL. The revelation of the church as a big
business often upsets people who should know better.
Former Rome correspondent Barrett McGurn once reported
the astonishment of U.S. Secretary of Labor James
Mitchell after a visit with pope Pius XII. McGurn
interviewed Mitchell immediately after the visit. `The
Pope knew all about the International Labor
Organization,` Mitchell said, surprised, `and he was
already aware that the recession in the United States is
over. Why, we have just learned that ourselves!`"
(116)
"The Roman leftist magazine, L`Expresso, maintains that
the Vatican owns one-fifteenth of ALL THE STOCKS ON THE
ITALIAN EXCHANGE. THE TOTAL VALUE (BASED ON THIS
ESTIMATE), WOULD COME TO $733 MILLION."
(120)
"A....1962 decision by the Italian government - that to
nationalize the electric current industry - also aroused
interest in Vatican finances. When the national electric
agency, called ENEL, was formed, it was learned that the
special credit institute La Centrale, a
Vatican-associated agency that specializes in electric
power companies, had a portfolio of 8,235 shares (WORTH
$24,801,600) in the Selt Valdarno electric works and
8,417 shares (WORTH $25,153,600) in the Romana di
Elettricita Company; that another Vatican special credit
agency, Bastogi, had 10,265 shares (WORTH $13,838,400) in
the Societa Meccanica Elettrica electric company; 6,407
shares (WORTH $8,441,600) in the Finanziaria Adriatica
company; 5,385 shares (WORTH $12,146,000) in the SGES
company; 4,013 shares (WORTH $10,038,400) in Edison;
1,137 shares (WORTH $4,782,400) in the Elettricita Sarda;
and 996 shares (WORTH $2,659,200) in the Selt Valdarno."
(126)
"According to an appraisal made by London`s `Economist` a
few years ago, the Vatican`s portfolio contains about
one-fifteenth of Italy`s total shares on the ten Italian
stock exchanges; the value of these shares, said `The
Economist`, WAS $8.8 BILLION AT THE END OF 1964. This
would put the amount of capital invested by the Vatican
in Italian stocks at AROUND $586.6 MILLION... A more
realistic estimate of the Vatican`s penetration into
Italy`s stock market would place it between 40 AND 50
PERCENT OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SHARES... Hence, it would
bring the Vatican figure WITHIN THE $5 BILLION RANGE."
(127)
"Improbable as this may seem at first glance, the fiscal
truth has been KEPT HIDDEN by the Vatican itself, by a
sympathetic Italian press, and by the corps of foreign
correspondents in Rome. Deferring to the notoriously
thin-skinned Vatican, most correspondents avoid the
subject in their dispatches."
(127)
"Many Italians believe that if you want to get something
done, you play the game of `bustarella` (literally,
`little envelope`) in government offices - or you take
money to the Vatican. The more cynical Italians will tell
you that service is rendered in direct proportion to the
thickness of the envelope.... An Italian who wants
something done will usually go either to his parish
priest or to the bishop of his diocese, who will, as
often as not, intervene with a key cardinal - who has the
right connections."
(129)
"That brings to mind a friend of mine, a tenor, who
approached, through the usual channels, a highly placed
cardinal in the Vatican. The singer, thinking he would
enhance his career immeasurably if he could have the
honor of opening the season at one of Italy`s major opera
houses, asked the cardinal to get him the lead part for
the first night. The cardinal suggested that a sum of
approximately $32,000 might be appropriate - `for
services rendered.` My friend declined making the
payment. Later, an American tenor snapped up the part.
The American, traveling the same path as his Italian
contemporary, had found the same prelate, whose interest
in C-notes was more financial than musical."
(129)
"In another case, the husband of a family friend was
killed by an Italian army truck while he was sitting in
his parked auto. The widow easily won her suit against
the Italian government, but payments on the $25,000
judgment never reached her. After FOURTEEN YEARS, and no
payments, she enlisted the aid of a powerful cleric
inside the Leonine Walls. His fee for `making the
necessary phone call` came to approximately $12,000.
WITHIN SIX MONTHS the widow got all her money from the
Italian state."
(129)
"There was a time when the Vatican would have nothing to
do with the ballot box. It is not difficult to discern
that that time is now past. The Vatican...plays politics
partly because it wants to keep the Communist Party at
bay and partly because a heavy hand in the Italian
cabinet and the 26 ministries is a kind of guarantee that
the financial interests of the church will be served."
(130)
"The Vatican does not directly control the `Christian
Democrats`, who are popularly known among the Italian
people as `democristiani`, and also as `i preti` -
literally, `the priests`. It does not give instructions
to its men - but it doesn`t have to. It does not express
opinions on given political issues - but the party
leadership is ALWAYS AWARE of the Vatican`s views.
Ostensibly, Italy`s is a secular government, but the
rules of conduct are formulated by the Vatican. For this
reason, the Vatican has allowed ONLY TRUSTED PRACTICING
CATHOLICS who will do the church`s bidding to rise to the
top political jobs in Italy."
(130)
The `Catholic Action` is a powerful political group in
Italy. It has the power to mobilize millions of voters, who will
gladly cast a vote supporting the Vatican`s views on any issue.
"We all know that with Vatican approval the Catholic
Action effort to create civic committees was responsible
for the amazing victory registered by the Christian
Democrats in the 1948 election.... Indeed, Catholic
Action made the difference. Because the Vatican has these
Catholic Action committees ready, THE POPE`S POWER AS A
POLITICIAN IS TREMENDOUS. The committees can defeat
Christian Democrats who do not cooperate, or at the very
least, they can make the re-election of these individuals
extremely difficult."
(141)
"To understand Catholic Action`s enormous power, it is
necessary to recognize the EXTRAORDINARY CONTROL Catholic
Action has over Italy`s women voters. Of the 12,000,000
ballots guaranteed to the Christian Democratic party in a
given election, 7,000,000 come from female voters, who
are dominated by local Catholic Action workers. Generally
speaking, Italian women have very little grasp of
politics. But Italian women do have the right to vote.
And local Catholic Action workers do not fail to take
advantage of the situation."
(142)
"One British author perhaps put his finger on it when he
interviewed a Sicilian peasant and recorded her
statement:
`The cross bears us to heaven. Who does Padre Pietro
tell us to vote for? Always for the cross (the symbol of
the Christian Democrat party is a red cross emblazoned on
a white elongated shield), for God knows how to reward
us. My mother, PARALYZED AS SHE IS - THEY CARRY HER TO
VOTE - and I go into the room where you vote, and I put
the sign for her, on the shield with the cross. I am not
two-faced with God. I do not betray Him... There are many
priests in the Christian Democratic party, and there is
the Pope himself, too - and how can these make
mistakes?`"
(142)
"In the summer of 1962, Vatican officials received a
letter from Mrs. Elina Castellucci, a 79-year-old woman
who lived twenty miles outside of Florence. Contending to
be a direct descendent of Michaelangelo, the woman wrote
that she had a `small` claim on the Sistine Chapel but
that she was not asking to be paid. All she wanted was a
check for 300 lire (48 cents) to pay for a ticket to the
Vatican Museum so that she could see her great great
great great great great great-granduncle`s masterpiece.
`I would like the satisfaction of visiting the Sistine
Chapel free,` she told a reporter. `Why should I buy a
ticket to see something a member of my family painted?`,
she asked. Although Mrs. Castellucci`s claim to being
related to Michaelango had been checked by gynaecological
experts and found to be true, Vatican officials did not
answer her letter. One Italian critic chose to explain
the Vatican`s silence this way: `The Pope economizes and
saves his company three hundred lire!`"
(143)
"Among the Ialians, particularly among the residents of
Rome, the Vatican has a reputation for being `cheap`,
`tight`, `stingy`. Without much provocation, the ordinary
man on the street is likely to tell you, `Il Vaticano
riceve - ma non da a nessuno!` - `The Vatican receives -
but gives to no one!`"
(143-144)
------
"Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at
the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour. And a certain
man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they
laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called
Beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the
temple; Who seeing Peter and John about to go into the
temple asked an alms. And Peter, fastening his eyes upon
him with John, said, Look on us. And he gave heed unto
them, expecting to receive something of them. THEN PETER
(THE FIRST "POPE"!) SAID, SILVER AND GOLD HAVE I NONE;
BUT SUCH AS I HAVE GIVE I THEE: In the name of Jesus
Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by
the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his
feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up
stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple,
walking, and leaping, and praising God."
- Acts 3:1-8
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