Vatican Scandal: First Money, Now Sex. Only Five Sins left!

Vatican Scandal: First Money, Now Sex. Only Five Sins left!, The ongoing Vatican Scandal (now Scandals) is probably causing Pope Francis to wonder whether getting the job was such a great idea.

Of course, scandal in the Catholic Church is nothing new. His predecessors had more than their fair share, so he is simply continuing the tradition.

The resignation on Monday of Paolo Cipriani, Director of the Vatican Bank, and his deputy, Massimo Tulli, triggered a wave of negative publicity.

Cipriani has been investigated since 2010 on suspicion of involvement in money laundering. Now the charges have been widened, and it is now alleged that the bank was used as an offshore tax haven. The Vatican Scandal thickens…

But that’s not all!

Monsignor Nunzio Sarrano, an accountant in the bank, is being investigated by the Rome prosecutor on criminal charges of corruption and slander. He tried to smuggle 20 million Euro ($26 million) from Switzerland without telling the authorities.

He is also suspected of money laundering further sums from 2009. We now know that police wiretapped conversations he had with the other bank officers who have just resigned.

The Vatican Bank, or, to give it it’s correct title, The Institute for Religious Works (IOR), is not short on historical scandal. In the 1980s it was embroiled in the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano. The head of the bank was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London in 1982. The circumstances surrounding this incident have never been explained.

But the current Vatican Scandal is not only about money.

Sadly, the Church and it’s servants, are no strangers to accusations of sexual abuse in (almost) all of it’s forms.

Documents released yesterday (Monday) show that the Cardinal of the Archdiocese of New York warned Cardinal Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) about the claims of sexual abuse by priests.

The former Archbishop of Milwaukee, Timothy Dolan, simply fired those priests when they were accused. However, the documents show that others simply transferred the problem priests elsewhere. The new parishioners were never told the truth.

By June 2012, the archdiocese had spent over $30 million on litigation and assistance related to the sexual abuse claims of 570 victims.