US State Dept puts the Vatican on Financial Crimes List

[JReducation]

Oh it was pefectly legal, but the fact is, Cadinal Sodano, his nephew and cohort, screwed the Boston Archdiosese out of a million and a half dollars and the money went into his and nephews pockets.

The New York real-estate appraiser and broker which Sodano and his nephew used, ended up in jail on another money fraud scheme.

The point here is, it’s no surprise why the US has the Vatican on a financial crimes list.

Jim

That’s not the problem, because the US has itself on the same list.

People are not objecting to that. The objection is to how this was leaked to the press. If you read the headlines, you’re not told what this list is about. It does not tell you that the nations on this list are not criminals. It does not tell you that the USA is on that list as well. Nor do the headlines tell you that the list is a list of vulnerable nations.

What is a person supposed to think when they read this headline, without the rest of the information?

Did you know there was such a list and what it was about? I didn’t.

When I read this headline, I was stunned. When I Googled the subject and read what that the list is about vulnerable countries and saw names on there like USA, Poland, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, and others, then I did and, “OHHHHHHHHH, that makes sense.”

But how many people did their research?

This is like when a lawyer says something and the judge says to the jury, “Ignore that comment.” Too late. The jury already heard it.

When the Dept of State comes out, after the fact, and explains that being on the list is not a bad thing, it’s like the case of the lawyer, the judge and the jury. That’s what I find is wrong here, not to mention that the list has a horrible name for nations that have not committed a crime. I’d like to know who’s bright idea it was to give it that name.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[karaleigh]

Let’s sort out two things here.

1. Money contributed to the Church in the USA is not being directly contributed to the Vatican. What goes to the Vatican from the different dioceses around the world is different from this money.
2. I’m not talking about income. I’m talking about crimes. If someone commits a crime in another country, that country has no obligation to report it to the US Dept of State. The US Dept of State is not the world police.

Sharing economic information through formal means of reporting to the international community is one thing, reporting crimes that take place in your country to a second country is another thing. The Vatican has put in a request to be admitted to the EU’s banking and economic system. I don’t know at what stage of the process that’s in.

In any case, I was speaking about crimes, not sharing information about economics and financial transactions. And as I said, the Church in the USA keeps independent accounts from those of the Vatican. They separate monies.

There is a system of collecting revenue from the dioceses across the world, but that’s not the same as being in possession of the money that every diocese has. The Holy See makes the rules as to how those assets are to be manages. But those are very broad rules that have nothing to do with the State Dept. They’re really rules about who gets to make what decisions and how they must go about making them. There are other rules about what happens to a Catholic organization ceases to exist. Who gets the assets? It’s stuff like that. Not of any particular interest to the Dept of State for their crimes list.

As everyone has said, there is no complaint about being on the list as a vulnerable country. The USA is on that list too, along with I don’t remember how many other countries.

The problem is that what was leaked to the public was horribly worded, “Vatican on Financial Crimes List”. Most people don’t know what that is. I personally did not know there was such a list. When I saw that headline, I was stunned. When I took the time to find out what the list is about, my astonishment changed to indignation that they would publish it that way without explaining that the Vatican is on the list in good company and the purpose of the list.

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

Between the two of us, we are obviously reading the article in different frames of mind. I can’t seem to illustrated to you my point of view as you feel very defensive about remarks towards the Vatican. Personally, I think the Vatican was not harmed in any way, but accredited for disclosures by the Vatican of possible crimes lurking within its boundaries …your pointed and continual defense of a public awareness in the media confuses me.

I’ll drop it there.
:heaven:

 

[Tenofovir]

That’s not the problem, because the US has itself on the same list.

People are not objecting to that. The objection is to how this was leaked to the press. If you read the headlines, you’re not told what this list is about. It does not tell you that the nations on this list are not criminals. It does not tell you that the USA is on that list as well. Nor do the headlines tell you that the list is a list of vulnerable nations.

Well said. It’s another smear against the Catholic Church by some atheist or anti-theistic editor/writer. It’s disguised bigotry. The comment about the lawyer is entirely spot on.

 

[Tsuwano]

No news here. According to the article the State Department has also placed the United States on the list and in a more critical position than the Vatican. It is not actually a list of countries engaged in financial crimes, but rather a list of countries where financial crimes, such as money laundering, are possible.

 

[losh14]

When I read this headline, I was stunned. When I Googled the subject and read what that the list is about vulnerable countries and saw names on there like USA, Poland, Switzerland, Cayman Islands, and others, then I did and, “OHHHHHHHHH, that makes sense.”

But how many people did their research?

One of the first things we learned in Communication Theory was that making an observation that “news” has happened intrinsically puts some bias upon it. From the little experience I had in journalism, I can tell you that there are strong anti-religion biases in general. Part of this is a distrust of institutions, period, and a desire to lift up the individual. This explains why news stories about the Catholic Church are so often negative despite all the good we do.

You’re right, this is a rather complex story because it deals with the structure of financial interchanges and security rather than with evidence that anything illict has actually occurred.

 

[JReducation]

One of the first things we learned in Communication Theory was that making an observation that “news” has happened intrinsically puts some bias upon it. From the little experience I had in journalism, I can tell you that there are strong anti-religion biases in general. Part of this is a distrust of institutions, period, and a desire to lift up the individual. This explains why news stories about the Catholic Church are so often negative despite all the good we do.

You’re right, this is a rather complex story because it deals with the structure of financial interchanges and security rather than with evidence that anything illict has actually occurred.

What got the attention of clergy and religious was the way the headline was worded. It almost sounded as if the Vatican had committed a crime. Then you read the article and you find out that it’s about some list that most people have never heard of. I had to go Google this list. I didn’t know there was such a list. It doesn’t surprise me. My father worked for the State Dept all his life and the have lists of the lists they have. LOL

Fraternally,

Br. JR, OSF

 

[devoutchristian]

It’s another smear against the Catholic Church by some atheist or anti-theistic editor/writer.

I doubt that. Given the political leanings of The Blaze it’s more likely that their trying to portray Obama as anti-religion (which he does just fine by himself).