Watchman Newsletter

Pope’s defence of Christians sparks new row with Islam

WorldWide Religious News (Link) - Deutsche Presse-Agentur - Peter Mayer (January 12, 2011)

Repeated calls by Pope Benedict XVI in favour of religious freedom, especially for Christians living in Muslim- majority nations, are triggering angry responses, including from Egypt which is widely regarded as a moderate Muslim state.

Benedict’s appeals for a stop to anti-Christian persecution culminated this week in his annual speech to ambassadors of the 178 states that have diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

In what Vatican observers described as a “very focused” address, the pontiff condemned assaults against Christians, citing specific examples in Iraq, Egypt, Nigeria, Pakistan and China.

He also denounced the growing “marginalisation” of Christianity in secular Europe.

The speech echoed an earlier message on New Year’s Day by the pontiff, in which he also called for greater protection of Christians around the world.

Vatican Bank hit by financial scandal... again

The Independent (Link) - Victor Simpson and Nicole Winfield (December 19, 2010)

This is no ordinary bank. The ATMs are in Latin, priests use a private entrance, and a life-sized portrait of Pope Benedict XVI hangs on the wall. Nevertheless, l’Istituto per le Opere di Religione (the Institute for Religious Works) is a bank, and it is under harsh new scrutiny, including money-laundering allegations that led police to seize €23m (£19.5m) in Vatican assets in September. Critics say the case shows that the “Vatican Bank” has never shed its penchant for secrecy and scandal.

The Vatican calls the seizure of assets a “misunderstanding” and expresses optimism that it will be cleared up quickly. But court documents show that prosecutors say the Vatican Bank deliberately flouted anti-laundering laws “with the aim of hiding the ownership, destination and origin of the capital.” The documents also reveal investigators’ suspicions that clergy may have acted as fronts for corrupt businessmen and the Mafia. The documents pinpoint two transactions that have not been reported: one in 2009 involving the use of a false name, and another in 2010 in which the Vatican Bank withdrew €650,000 from an Italian bank account but ignored bank requests to disclose where the money was headed.

The new allegations of financial impropriety could not have come at a worse time for the Vatican, already hit by revelations that it sheltered paedophile priests. The corruption probe has also given new hope to Holocaust survivors who tried unsuccessfully to sue the Vatican in the US, alleging that Nazi loot was stored in the bank.

Vatican Bank reported to be facing money-laundering investigation

Times Onine (Link) - Josephine McKenna (December 7, 2009)

The Vatican Bank is under investigation for alleged involvement in a money-laundering scheme using accounts at one of Italy’s largest banks, according to a weekly investigative magazine.

Panorama reports that officials from the Bank of Italy’s Financial Intelligence Unit (UIF) have identified transactions worth up to €180 million (£160 million) that allegedly violated anti-money-laundering regulations in accounts held at a UniCredit branch in Via della Conciliazione, next to St Peter’s Basilica. Prosecutors in Rome, led by Nello Rossi and Stefano Rocco Fava, are reported to be working with a special unit of the Guardia di Finanza, the Italian tax police, to investigate the bank — which is formally known as the Institute for Religious Works (IOR).

The investigation relates to alleged breaches of financial regulations and disclosure obligations at the branch, but it is possible that the investigation may be broadened to include accounts held at other Italian banks. Investigators are examining every transaction in accounts held by the IOR from 2006 to 2008, the magazine reported.

What’s Germany Up to Now?

The Trumpet (Link) - Ron Fraser (November 23, 2009)

Those who watch what happens on the surface in Europe were left scratching their heads over the appointment of two unknowns to the two top positions created by the Lisbon Treaty/EU constitution. Dig below the surface, however, and the plot becomes clearer.

To really appreciate what is happening in Europe today, and in Germany in particular, one needs a historical perspective. But that perspective need not be long. Just a little over 100 years is sufficient. True, the political vision of Germany’s elites tracks back to Charlemagne in terms of its post-Roman Empire phase. Yet its true metamorphosis in a modern setting commences with the unification of Germany under Count Otto von Bismark.

Bismark was expert in creating alliances to favor German expansion by treaty. The strength of those alliances, as the French found out in 1871, was twofold. There was the power of the German military machine, especially its High Command. Then there was the influence of the elite bankers and industrialists who funded the war effort.

In terms of the process that seeks the extension of German power, nothing has really changed over the past 120 years. The European Union has been built via a series of treaties in which German politicians, its elite banker and industrialist cadre and its military officer cabal have, often behind the scenes, continued to wield primary influence.

Two entities have vied for power using the repetitively resurrecting Holy Roman Empire—the papacy and the German state.

Catholic bank owned pill shares

BBC News (Link) (August 3, 2009)

A Roman Catholic bank in Germany has apologised after admitting it bought stocks in defence, tobacco and birth control companies.

Der Spiegel newspaper discovered the bank had invested 580,000 euros (£495,310, $826,674) in British arms company BAE Systems.

It also invested 160,000 euros in American birth control pill maker Wyeth and 870,000 euros in tobacco companies.

The bank apologised for behaviour "not in keeping with ethical standards".

Pax Bank has previously advertised ethical investment funds, specifically claiming to avoid arms and tobacco companies along with organisations that do not adhere to Catholic beliefs.

Pope Criticizes World Economic System, Urges Social Responsibility

The Washington Post (Link) - Jacqueline L. Salmon (July 8, 2009)

Pope Benedict XVI criticized the international economic system yesterday and called for a new global structure based on social responsibility, concern for the dignity of the worker and a respect for ethics.

"Today's international economic scene, marked by grave deviations and failures, requires a profoundly new way of understanding human enterprise," Benedict wrote in his latest encyclical, which is the most authoritative document a pope can issue. "Without doubt, one of the greatest risks for business is that they are almost exclusively answerable to their investors, thereby limited in their social value."

In the sweeping 144-page document, Benedict sketches a radically different world economy, in which access to food and water is a universal right, wealthy nations share with poorer ones and profit is not the ultimate goal of commerce. He advocates the creation of a "world political authority" to manage the economy.

He blames "badly managed and largely speculative financial dealing" for causing the economic meltdown. The primary capital to be safeguarded is people, he says, adding that economic systems need to be guided by charity and truth.

The encyclical comes a day before President Obama and leaders of other industrial nations are to gather in L'Aquila, Italy, to discuss the global economic crisis at a Group of Eight summit. The timing demonstrates that Benedict, 82, aims to insert his voice into that discussion by focusing on the moral underpinnings of the meltdown.

The New Muslim-Catholic Coalition

The Washington Post (Link) - Anthony Stevens-Arroyo (June 10, 2009)

The political experts will decide if President Obama's speech at the University of Cairo on June 4 was a factor in the unexpected electoral defeat of Hezbollah in Lebanon's elections on June 7. But while the international effects may be murky, a clear and immediate result of the Cairo speech is its impact on Muslims living in the U.S. Pride about praise of one's religious traditions from political leaders often adds votes and voices within U.S. society. Catholic America should know: this was part of our past journey to inclusion.

But more than a touchy-feely sort of thing is the likelihood that the Cairo speech will produce greater support for socialized health care and an end to Israeli settlements. Those Catholics in America who agree with the bishops and the pope have long supported a universal health care plan and a two-state solution for Palestine and Israel. With the President's speech, Muslims in the U.S. have been invited to make an alliance with Catholics.

Obama's speech aligned the U.S. treatment of Muslims and the Muslim world with the vision of Pope Benedict XVI. That's not my opinion, but one found in the Vatican's newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano and echoed by Archbishop Wilton Gregory who speaks for the U.S. bishops: "Both the pope and president concur that a dialogue of civilizations must supplant the specter of a clash of civilizations ... All Catholic Americans who hope for a more secure world, and peace among the religions, can feel grateful that the president underscored the indispensable role of religion in advancing educational, economic, and scientific goals."