The Vatican's "New Course"

The latest goings-on in the Vatican demonstrate that it was by no means absurd to think that Ratzinger's resignation had something to do with the internal rows between various factions (first and foremost Opus Dei) that have been ripping the Roman Curia apart over the question of the IOR, the Vatican's bank. [Italiano]

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The Vatican's "New Course"

The latest goings-on in the Vatican demonstrate that it was by no means absurd to think that Ratzinger's resignation had something to do with the internal rows between various factions (first and foremost Opus Dei) that have been ripping the Roman Curia apart over the question of the IOR, the Vatican's bank.

Though it may look like a small provincial branch, the flow of capital through the bank is actually immense, with figures for financial movements quoted in the region of hundreds of billions of dollars. It is through this Institute that some of the most hazardous operations are carried out in connection with the arms industry, the laundering of dubious money from every corner of the globe, pharmaceuticals trafficking, etc. The advantage offered by this tiny bank lies in the fact that so far it has been totally inaccessible and secret, with no international body controlling it. It is not quoted on the stock exchange and has partnerships only with several Swiss banks and certain tax havens.

As pope, Ratzinger wanted to put an end to all of this and nominated an anti-money laundering commission led by Cardinal Nicora, with Ettore Gotti Tedeschi at the head of the bank. Indeed both Gotti Tedeschi and the cardinal issued an anti-money laundering regulation (that was never applied) and contacted similar anti-money laundering institutes both in Italy and abroad. Furthermore, they showed a certain eagerness to cooperate with [Italian] legal investigators. But they were ousted at the hands of [Vatican Secretary of State] Cardinal Bertone and those around him, both prelates and financial speculators.

For Joseph Ratzinger, who was being blackmailed thanks to the documents purloined by his former butler, challenging all this could easily have resulted in a dose of poison in his afternoon tea. A danger which has not entirely disappeared, and which could even seriously threaten the new pope.

It is not by chance that the new pontiff has immediately showed his hand, with the probable intention of liquidating capitalism in order to promote the so-called "third way", that is to say the alternative (let's call it that) that the Holy Roman Church can represent. Just as the pontificate of Wojtyla (behind whom the then cardinal Ratzinger lay in the guise of adviser) had the task of liquidating Eastern Europe's real socialism. Of course, it's just my impression, but it is quite a strong one. Already one can see a good number of signs pointing in that direction. It is a fact that in today's historical phase - with its epochal crisis which is not only economic - the church is being forced to move closer to the disinherited peoples of the world. Nor should we forget that in the field of chameleonic strategies, the church is a past master, a world champion, so one should never undervalue its ambition.

This ambition is not a matter of the short or medium term - it is firmly pointed towards the long term. At this moment of history, marked by an irreversible crisis that affects capital on a global scale, the church - with all its ganglions and all its branches throughout the world - is fully aware of the moods and the suffering of people and in order to survive the crisis and the final collapse of capitalism, it is forced to show its evangelical spirit and make itself out to be a pauperistic, Franciscan church.

This, in fact, is the chameleonic strategy that the church knows it has to adopt in this historic phase, as it has done for the past 2,000 years. Otherwise it would have died out long ago.

We know that the church state is not in the best of health and that it reflects the general crisis that capitalist society is going through. Nonetheless the church has been through similar, if not worse, storms.

The church knows that now it must stick to the wishes and demands of the peoples of the earth, or at least pay lip service to them. It must stand with the poor, if only in word, and preach well. And we know that as far as preaching goes, priests are playing on home soil and history teaches us that they are masters at it, undefeatable champions. At the same time, they are not as obtuse and short-sighted as the capitalists.

Today's "New Course" in the Holy Roman Church seems to be oriented towards a sort of "pauperism" in a Vatican style. The church is drawing closer to the humble, disinherited masses of the planet, for its own good. Not by chance the church has survived for two thousand years, while capitalism is only a couple of centuries old and has been in crisis for at least a hundred years.

Lucio Garofalo


Translation by Anarkismo.net