Now, I would like to find a comparable book on the Muslim religion. Kudos to Kerrigan for putting together a book that is informative, somewhat easy reading, objective and informative. Once again, history shows us that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The view I was presented attending a Catholic parochial school in the 1960s was so one sided that it resembles Putin's view of the Ukrainian war. As a person born into the Catholic faith to Irish immigrants, the book only reinforces my personal sense of the Catholic Church as a controlling bureaucracy clinging to the past and unwilling to admit its failings.

But there is no denying the stain and stigma of many of its past deeds. The author does point out multiple times that the Catholic Church does a plethora of good around the world. While this is not a condemnation of the church, it does cast a heavy acrid smoke across its history. Given the breath of the subject, long detailed accounts are kept to a minimum and highlights of each area are covered. For the first time ever, the International Narcotics Control Strategy Report said the Vatican city as an area 'of concern' when it comes to money laundering, and the Milan branch of JPMorgan Chase closed the Vatican bank account at the end of March 2012, citing a lack of transparency and insufficient information concerning money transfers.ĭuring the height of the scandal, one letter sent to the highest Vatican officials warned of a potential plot to kill Benedict XVI.Ĭuriously, Nuzzi himself has told Der Spiegel that the target of the leaks isn't the pope himself, instead arguing that Benedict XVI was revolutionary, and clearly wanted to bring transparency to the Vatican bank.Dark History of the Catholic Church – non-fiction – 2015 - ***** - Kerrigan covers the entire history of the Catholic Church from Roman Empire beginnings, through the crusades, the inquisition, colonization of Americas and Africa and Asia, the reformation, and past and current sex scandals. Regardless, the leaks appear to have prompted official reactions from other entities. Journalist Nuzzi has refused to say anything about the person who gave him the Vatileaks documents. The theory is that Gabriele could never had access to some of the documents, and others must have been behind the leak. While the arrest was to the delight of headline writers around the world, there's a significant amount of people who don't buy it. At the beginning of the book, he depicts a Vatican monsignor, a member of the COSEA commission. The butler was later pardoned by Benedict himself, however, and he is now reportedly working in a hospital. Fittipaldi’s book, Greed, offers a somewhat different picture of the principal leaker. Gabriele was found guilty by a Vatican court in October, and was sentenced to 18 months in jail. In May 2012 Vatican authorities finally arrested one man thought to be behind the leaks - the Pope's butler, Paolo Gabriele. 'VatiLeaks' became a major headache for the church, with the Vatican's secretary of state, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, insisting it's just the result of journalists 'pretending to be Dan Brown' and, more cryptically, the 'devil'.

Denaro is still at large and is considered by many as the most wanted man in Italy. The stories about Pedis had circulated for years, but one new note leaked from the Vatican press office suggested that Pedis may have played a role in the disappearance of a Vatican employees 15-year-old daughter.Īnother scandal involving Father Ninni Treppiedi and Sicilian mafioso Matteo Messina Denaro broke later, with reports that millions of Denaro's euros had been laundered through Treppiedi's former parish Aclamo, the richest parish in Sicily.

Vbook on vati an corruption