How the Vatican built a secret property empire using Mussolini's millions

[Pastadamus]

How the Vatican built a secret property empire using Mussolini's millions | World news | The Guardian

Few passing London tourists would ever guess that the premises of Bulgari, the upmarket jewellers in New Bond Street, had anything to do with the pope. Nor indeed the nearby headquarters of the wealthy investment bank Altium Capital, on the corner of St James's Square and Pall Mall.
But these office blocks in one of London's most expensive districts are part of a surprising secret commercial property empire owned by theVatican.
Behind a disguised offshore company structure, the church's international portfolio has been built up over the years, using cash originally handed over by Mussolini in return for papal recognition of the Italian fascist regime in 1929.

I'm surprised how few people actually know about this. The connections between the Catholic Church and the Far Right have always more or less been an open secret if not to the general public then to the academic world. It was the underpinning of the regimes of Mussolini in Italy, The National Catholicism of Francisco Franco, in Spain; The Parti Rexiste in Belgium; The Irish Blueshirts; The Croatian Ustaše, the Nazi puppet government in Croatia, and ultimately, was the kind of Catholicism practiced by the Sainted Josemaría Escrivá, founder of the Catholic order Opus Dei.

This kind of relationship is even manifesting itself today although just less overtly in the way that the RC church is trying to extend its influence over not just social issues (which it certainly does) but also over the banking world.

 

[dust1n]

Indeed. Nothing sketchier than a religious state with it's own laws and banks that are protected from scrupulous examination, especially with a history that ties in which the Mafia, various corrupt governments, and business entities.

 

[Wirey]

And....?

 

[dust1n]

And....?

Presumably you are to find the RM Church distasteful if not corrupt.

 

[England my lionheart]

How the Vatican built a secret property empire using Mussolini's millions | World news | The Guardian


I'm surprised how few people actually know about this. The connections between the Catholic Church and the Far Right have always more or less been an open secret if not to the general public then to the academic world. It was the underpinning of the regimes of Mussolini in Italy, The National Catholicism of Francisco Franco, in Spain; The Parti Rexiste in Belgium; The Irish Blueshirts; The Croatian Ustaše, the Nazi puppet government in Croatia, and ultimately, was the kind of Catholicism practiced by the Sainted Josemaría Escrivá, founder of the Catholic order Opus Dei.

This kind of relationship is even manifesting itself today although just less overtly in the way that the RC church is trying to extend its influence over not just social issues (which it certainly does) but also over the banking world.

They aren't that smart,they never invested in contraception.

Edit: still that missed opportunity did help to create millions.

 

[Wirey]

Presumably you are to find the RM Church distasteful if not corrupt.

I do. But I cannot find myself surprised that an oranization with as much cash as the RC's have wound up owning a lot of crap. This just in: Slutty girls more popular, say highs school boys! It wasn't that hard to guess.

 

[dust1n]

I do. But I cannot find myself surprised that an oranization with as much cash as the RC's have wound up owning a lot of crap. This just in: Slutty girls more popular, say highs school boys! It wasn't that hard to guess.

Indeed, they do. How many of those old churches go abandoned. It's a real estate business in this regard.

 

[Revoltingest]

I do. But I cannot find myself surprised that an oranization with as much cash as the RC's have wound up owning a lot of crap. This just in: Slutty girls more popular, say highs school boys! It wasn't that hard to guess.

But wealthy mysterious churches are like sluts, ie, we sort of know what they have, but I wanna see the assets.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Just another thing in the Vatican's long history of vast wealth and power.

 

[Pastadamus]

Just another thing in the Vatican's long history of vast wealth and power.

A lot of the Vatican's wealth and power comes from arms trading and bank-rolling dictators and military conflicts. They also control a significant amount of the media in both the US and in many European countries.

The majority shareholder of the Pietro Beretta arms factory Ltd. (the largest arms industry in the world) is the Institute for Works of Religion, a private institution founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII and headquartered in Vatican City.

Vatican Bank is the main shareholder in ‘Pietro Beretta’ arms

 

[Shadow Wolf]

A lot of the Vatican's wealth and power comes from arms trading and bank-rolling dictators and military conflicts. They also control a significant amount of the media in both the US and in many European countries.

The majority shareholder of the Pietro Beretta arms factory Ltd. (the largest arms industry in the world) is the Institute for Works of Religion, a private institution founded in 1942 by Pope Pius XII and headquartered in Vatican City.

By long history, I mean closer to 2,000 years worth of corruption, coercion, etc. Such a thing is nothing new, especially something that happened less than 100 years ago.

 

[arhys]

Meh. Ever take a look at the shady deals Saudi Arabia and China get up to? Much more frightening than the Papacy buying a jewelry store with money they extorted from Benito Meathead.

 

[Pastadamus]

Meh. Ever take a look at the shady deals Saudi Arabia and China get up to? Much more frightening than the Papacy buying a jewelry store with money they extorted from Benito Meathead.

I won't dispute that the Chinese and Saudis are involved in some pretty shady deals. The Chinese are some of the most sneaky people in the world.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I won't dispute that the Chinese and Saudis are involved in some pretty shady deals. The Chinese are some of the most sneaky people in the world.

Have you taken a look at your own government lately? Especially if it's the United States government?

 

[Pastadamus]

Have you taken a look at your own government lately? Especially if it's the United States government?

I'm not saying that no other country has shady deals, but in terms of corruption, China tops the world:

[youtube]J3IgAGBwlgY[/youtube]
China Rated Most Corrupt Across all Sectors: Report - YouTube

 

[Shuddhasattva]

Corruption ratings? What a joke.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

Corruption ratings? What a joke.

Such a thing can only be summed up as the pot calling the kettle black, which last I knew the United States and China were doing just that.

 

[Straw Dog]

Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Anyone that thinks the Vatican is the perfect representation of Jesus' teachings is delusional. Sorry, should I be more 'politically correct'? Don't worry, though, because it's a part of the human condition. We're social animals that like to put faith in our social institutions. We just have to change our institutions to make them worthy of faith to begin with.

I just don't know... Is this attempt at new dialogue even worth it or are we condemned to hashing out the same predetermined human scenarios that we've been bred into? Can we transcend the status quo? Is any endeavor other than seeking transcendence truly worth it?