Monday, June 11, 2012

Gotti Tedeschi, the Cardinals confirm their lack of confidence

The IorThe Oversight Commission of Cardinals that oversee the IOR, chaired by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has "taken note" of the decision of the board of lays of the Vatican bank to pass a vote of no confidence against the President, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi and notified Gotti “in writing" that the functions of President have passed "ad interim" to the Vice President, the German Ronaldo Hermann Schmitz.
 
The Oversight Commission of Cardinals, composed of Cardinal Bertone and Cardinals Attilio Nicora, Jean Luis Tauran, Telesphore Placidus Toppo and Odilo Scherer, met for the first time in the aftermath of the resounding dismissal of Gotti Tedeschi and a second time yesterday morning.  There has been talk of a rift among the Cardinals, which would have delayed the publication of a statement with the final decision.  What motivated the rumors regarding the alleged rift was that both Nicora and Gotti expressed doubts about changes to the AML Law.
 
In factthe dismissal of the President of the IOR was not officially communicated because these days there would be some difficulty in communicating with Gotti Tedeschi.  Before publicly sanctioning the end of his brief term at the head of the Vatican bank, the Cardinals wanted to meet with him also to settle any compensation due in connection with his departure from the scene. Yesterday morning a fax was sent anyway to announce the final decision.  For the official press release it was decided to await the termination of the VII World Meeting of Families in Milan.
 
It is therefore not true, as explained Father Federico Lombardi, that there is a split in the Oversight Commission of Cardinals, with Toppo and Schere sided with Secretary of State Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, while Tauran and Nicora find themselves on the opposite side.  

“The statements published by some newspapers regarding a split among the Oversight Commission of Cardinals of the IOR – said the head of the Vatican press office – are absolutely unfounded.  There is no split”.  And the written communication sent to Gotti Tedeschi, explained Lombardi, is the same as a “confirmation” of the no confidence passed by the Board of Lays.

 As recalled, the reason for the no confidence against Gotti Tedeschi were initially made ​​known in part by a statement from the Vatican press office and then, the next day,  by a memorandum of the meeting of the board of the IOR, signed by a member of the board, the Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, Carl Anderson.  

The document, given to the website of the Corriere della Sera, is a harsh indictment against Gotti.  Among the omissions for which the now former president is now charged, apart from the accusation leveled at him for not having steered the institution towards greater transparency, there is also that of not having been able to explain why certain documents in his possession had been published in vatileaks. 

Lombardi has confirmed that the Commission "wanted to contact" Gotti Tedeschi, "as a courtesy and not for uncertainty" and "to end the relationship", also with regards to the economic aspects, and with the hope - he added - "of reintroducing a climate of propriety also in communications”. 

Meanwhile the Catholic economist, who is working on a defense that he will present to the Pope, has now grossed the solidarity of various persons in the world economy and finance, such as, among others, Carlo Castellano, Director of the Bank of Italy, or Maurizio Lauri of Unicredit, who in a letter to the Corriere della Sera showed their solidarity, affirming that "never in recent history has the head of an institution been removed from his position with such brutality".