Vatican caught in financial scandal, Financial scandal hits Vatican city

The recent visit by Pope Benedict XVI to the UK was long awaited and received a lot of media interest. The last time a Pope visited was in 1982 and now, twenty eight years later, the visit to the UK seemed to be quite good.

However, the Pope and the Catholic Church did come under scrutiny over several matters such as child abuse, contraception, HIV and homosexuality, it also received good support from Catholics in the UK and from those who made the pilgrimage. There were some arrests but these were isolated occurrences and concerned only a small group of people.

Pope Bennedict is now back in Vatican City, although whilst in London he really should have considered finding a west London solicitor judging from the recent news regarding the Vatican. Reports are emerging that the Vatican is being investigated over money laundering cliams.

So far 23 million Euros have been seized and following dubious transactions a complete inquiry is already underway . It is alleged that the head of the Vatican Bank did not divulge to the financial authorities where the funds had originated from.

The news and allegations have come as a big shock to the Vatican. Fortunately the Vatican does have access to some of the very best legal aid in the world and they will do as much as humanly possible to guarantee the problem is settled as soon as possible. This is further bad publicity towards an establishment which is currently under the international spot light for the wrong reasons.

All things considered it does appear somewhat ironic that a religious institution with more than a billion followers preaches about the need for far better morality in the monetary systems all over the world and is then investigated for financial irregularities and potentially money laundering.

Often referred to as the Vatican Bank, its real name is the Institute for Works of Religion. Unfortunately this latest scandal isn't the first the Vatican Bank has seen. The institute was involved in a major financial and political scandal in the early 1980's concerning the $ 3.5 billion collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, which it was a major shareholder.

Ask a west London lawyer and they will say that as the Vatican doesn't come under EU law it is somewhat of a distinctive institution. It is located in Vatican City and has no other branches, running as an institution outside EU protocols. Unlike many other banks and financial institutions which have policy makers and shareholders, the Vatican Bank has none, which is a blessing considering that all profit is set aside for charitable and religious works.