It seems that the Vatican just cannot keep its nose clean from one year to the next…..it was part of the Nazi conspiracy in the 40’s and then came the sexual abuses of the last several decades and then there was the gay porn thing from last year….where several of the Pope’s personal choir was engaging in a gay escort business…..and just when you thought you had heard it all about the Vatican…there comes a story like this….

Italian authorities seized euro23 million ($30.18 million) from a Vatican bank account Tuesday and said they have begun investigating top officials of the Vatican bank in connection with a money laundering probe.

In Tuesday’s case, police seized the money from a Vatican bank account at the Rome branch of Credito Artigiano Spa, according to news agencies ANSA and Apcom. The bulk of the money, euro20 million ($26.2 million), was destined for JP Morgan in Frankfurt, with the remainder going to Banca del Fucino.

According to the reports, the Vatican bank had neglected to communicate to financial authorities where the money had come from. The reports stressed that Gotti Tedeschi wasn’t being investigated for laundering money himself but for a series of alleged omissions in financial transactions.

The Vatican bank, located in a tower just inside the gates of Vatican City, isn’t a typical bank. Its stated mission is to manage assets placed in its care that are destined for religious works or works of charity. But it also manages ATMs inside Vatican City and the pension system for the Vatican’s thousands of employees.

The bank is not open to the public. Depositors are usually limited to Vatican employees, religious orders and people who transfer money for the pope’s charities.

The Pope wears Prada and blesses new Ferraris….seems it is just an extension of the greed and avarice that is consuming the rest of the financial world….go figure…

“One man’s theology is another man’s belly laugh.”
Robert A. Heinlein