Ouster of vatican bank chief takes strange twist as italy seizesmemo meant for pope

The seizure poses potentially thorny legal issues, since GottiTedeschi was until recently an official of a sovereign state— the Vatican — and as such enjoys some immunity inItaly. The Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said theHoly See was aware of the seizure but was waiting to clarify whatHoly See-related documents were taken. Only after such an analysiswould the Vatican consider any possible action, he said. The raid was the latest upheaval in one of the most convulsive fewweeks in the Holy See's recent history.

The Vatican is currently hunting down the sources of leakeddocuments alleging corruption, internal intrigue and politicalinfighting within the highest echelons of the Catholic Church'sgovernance that have been published in a new book. Already thepope's butler has been arrested in the case, accused of keepingpapal documents in his Vatican City apartment. Gotti Tedeschi's ouster was another jolt to the normally staidaffairs of the Vatican. The board of the bank, known as theInstitute for Religious Works, took a unanimous vote ofno-confidence May 24, accusing him of failing to do his job andimpeding the Vatican's efforts to be more transparent in itsfinancial dealings.

The ouster was unprecedentedly harsh — in none of the publiccommuniques was Gotti Tedeschi thanked for his service, as would beprotocol. Instead, the board secretary issued a scathing memolisting all Gotti Tedeschi's failures, leaving the bank's ultimateleadership — five cardinals including the Vatican secretaryof state — little choice but to take note and appoint aninterim president. Gotti Tedeschi, close to Benedict and, at least until recently thesecretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, has been silent abouthis ouster. But his lawyer confirmed Thursday that the memo thatwas seized contained "elements useful to strike back against theaccusations that were made against him" by the board. Gotti Tedeschi was named president of the Vatican bank, known byits Italian acronym IOR, in 2009, tapped by Bertone to help rid thebank of its reputation as a scandal-plagued tax haven and help getthe Vatican on the so-called "white list" of countries that sharefinancial information to crack down on tax evasion.

A critical step in that process is just weeks away with a Councilof Europe committee deciding in early July on whether the Vaticanhas complied with dozens of anti-money-laundering measures. Theupheavals of recent weeks have certainly clouded the Vatican'schances. Gotti Tedeschi and the IOR's general manager were placed underinvestigation in 2010 by Rome prosecutors for alleged violations ofItaly's anti-money laundering norms in conducting a routinetransaction from an IOR account at an Italian bank. Prosecutorsseized some 23 million ($28.97 million) from the account buteventually returned it after the Vatican passed an anti-moneylaundering law that went into effect last year.

Gotti Tedeschi has long called the investigation the result of amisunderstanding. He angered many in the Vatican for failing toassert his immunity as a Vatican official when he voluntarilyanswered Rome prosecutors' questions about the transfer. He enjoys no such immunity concerning the Finmeccanica probe, andNaples investigators raided his home in that context. But theycalled in Rome prosecutors in charge of the IOR money launderingprobe after coming across the Vatican documentation during thesearch. ___ Follow Nicole Winfield at /nwinfield.

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