Next came an analysis of the portfolio value of the Vatican International Bank, the Instituto per le Opere di Religione. This body of stocks, bonds, securities and notes also turned out to be substantial. But even more astounding was the production of a receipt substantiating large stores of gold bullion stockpiled by the Vatican at the U.S. Fort Knox depository. The fabulous sums were added to the previous number.
“It's tike a telethon,” Feldman observed.
Turning to an analysis of the Church's corporate holdings, the announcer apologized for the incomplete data, which nevertheless provided enough end-of-year financial statements to document trillions more lire in assets. The tally at the top of the screen grew ever higher.
Moving on, the announcer presented a compilation of financial records from thousands of Catholic dioceses, bishoprics and cardinalships around the globe; records of the Vatican's worldwide ecclesiastical and nonecclesiastical real estate holdings that the Church had systematically and quietly accumulated over the millennia through third-party purchases, private donations, estate bequeathals and charitable gifts.
Next came an even more startling revelation. A fascinating account of a long-standing, on-again, off-again, direct and indirect involvement with the Sicilian Mafia. Cited were specific, significant financial contributions made by la Cosa Nostra through the years, which were demonstrated to have been accepted knowingly by the Church.
But, as the announcer pointed out, this odd-couple relationship grew more problematic. “In a 1988 internal report from the Vatican Prefecture for Economic Affairs is the disclosure of major financial fraud involving several disastrous investments of the Vatican Bank.
“It's shown that during the 1980s, the cardinal secretary of the Vatican Bank served in a personal capacity on the boards of several Italian companies in which the Vatican had majority holdings. Owning sizable shares in two of these companies, and known to the Vatican at this time, was a Mafia-controlled entity called Finia C.C.”
The report went on to explain how the Vatican had allowed Finia to pool their collective holdings for the purpose of acquiring shares of international companies through bulk stock transfers. Later, Mafia financiers manipulated these holdings into a complicated foreign exchange pyramid scheme in a hostile takeover attempt of the ailing insurance firm International Fidelity Trust of New York.
Ultimately, the venture ran afoul of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. But the Vatican, alerted beforehand by a sympathizer in the SEC, sounded the alarm to Finia, which then divested the conglomerate of all relevant holdings before the investigation became public. The unfortunate companies and individuals who acquired the problem holdings, however, were left with massive losses and tangled legal actions which continued to this day.
The reporter concluded this account by displaying a compromising Vatican file of dates and financial figures, including the names of Mafia individuals involved in the illegal transactions.
The revelations continued.
More records showed that, near the end of World War II, the Vatican had accepted from Nazi Germany many important art objects and other spoils of war. Included in this trove were more than 139 master paintings, extensive collections of valuable jewelry and miscellaneous rare antiquities, rightful ownership of which was never questioned by Curia officials.
“Until now,” the announcer expounded, “all of these valuables were presumed lost or in Russian hands. As detailed in these Secret Archive records, however, this priceless art collection is now known to reside in the private repositories of St. Peter's Treasury.”
And on the topic of St. Peter's Treasury, more disclosures. An incomplete cataloguing of some of the Vatican's prized collection of modern masterpieces: oils by Matisse, Chagall, Gaugin; watercolors and drawings by Klee, Kandinsky, Moore, Dali and Modigliani. All told, over eight hundred signed works by more than two hundred fifty of the world's most renowned and accomplished artists. And beyond this, a fabulous wealth of statuary, tapestries, rare furnishings and artifacts of inestimable worth.
Although incomplete, the news report's final assessment of the Church's assets, as calculated on the toteboard in U.S. dollars, came in at an astronomical sum in the staggering billions.
Feldman whistled in astonishment. He could only wonder what other surprises had been intercepted by the Swiss Guard and reconsigned to the dust and cobwebs of the Vatican's eternally mysterious Bibliotheca Secreta.
The report ended and neither Anke nor Feldman spoke.
At length, Anke looked sideways at her companion and suggested, “Maybe we should take our minds off all this unpleasantness.” She turned, slipped her hand slowly under his T-shirt, up his flat stomach to his muscled, furry chest. Caressing him slowly and lovingly, her fingers worked their way up to the tense muscles of his shoulders and neck.
But none of the familiar stirrings were there for him. He gazed back into her enticing eyes, and while he felt her sensuality, he couldn't return it. She kissed him, but his response wasn't heartfelt. She backed off.
Without sufficient nurturing, the interlude withered.
87
National Ministry of the Universal Kingdom, Dallas, Texas 10:00 A.M., Thursday, March 23, 2000
At the knock upon his door, the Right Reverend Solomon T. Brady, D.D., rolled himself away from his mahogany desk and leaned back in his kidskin leather chair, a look of peace and contentment on his face. He ran a grooming hand through his perfect white pompadour and waited.
The magnificent burl-wood doors at the far end of his office swung wide and an attractive, well-dressed young woman entered the room, calling out across the expanse of marble flooring.
“Dr. Brady, your ten o'clock appointment.”
“Thank you, Ms. Conners,” the Reverend replied brightly to his new secretary, and the young woman stepped back to admit a gaunt, gray, up-spirited-looking gentleman with thick glasses and loose-fitting suit.
“How are you today, Walter?” The Reverend greeted his chief accounting officer with a warm grin.
The accountant returned the smile. “Very well, sir, I must say!” He walked forward and placed on Brady's desk a thick report of the Universal Kingdom's latest income figures.
Brady didn't care to inspect it. “Just tell me, Walter, in round percentages.”
“Well, sir, we're up nearly seventeen points. Your venture with the Mexican Jeza Hotline has proven a real winner. I have to tell you, I fully expect our next returns to post an all-time record.”
Solomon Brady's eyes glistened. “Thank you, Walter. I'll go through the report over lunch and get back to you if I have any questions. Be sure to have Ms. Conners give you a framed copy of the new Jeza Bible Study Center architectural drawing on your way out. It's a marvel.”
“Yes, sir. I'm anxious to see it I'll certainly do that. Good day.”
As his visitor exited, the clergyman swiveled his chair toward the window to view the rather deserted campus below. Despite the fact that enrollments were dramatically off, the Reverend's fortunes had never been better. He exhaled contentedly, looking ahead, beyond the Jeza era, to the next cycle where the Reverend would once again preside over a thriving divinity college and a burgeoning, national-perhaps international-congregation. It was merely a matter of time. For those with foresight.
88
Palace of the Sanctum Officium, Headquarters of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican City, Rome, Italy 9:00 A.M., Friday, March 24, 2000
Antonio Cardinal di Concerci presided over a dispirited quorum of his congregation. To the prefect's side at the head of the table, in his accustomed velvet armchair, sat the pope, looking pale, tired and distracted. On the
