VATICAN BANK UNDER INVESTIGATION

MyitthaDecember 15, 201015min1140

Wow! 200 million US dollars in money laundering!

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In every religion, there are some monks who are quite arrogant and conceited. They think they are above the laws of the Land. In fact, some fawning trustees will flatter them to high heavens as “Ah Shin payar, phone ta goe, gyi lo” meaning “O Living God! you are so supernormal.”

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BTW, Lord Buddha’s Vinaya monks’ rules require the monks to also follow the laws of the land, wherever they are. They are in addition to the already stricter monks’ rules. Monks are not allowed to dabble in lay people’s affairs (including church or temple’s administration) or to handle moneys or to accumulate wealth.

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They must focus on the study and preaching of the Dhamma. They are supposed to live by their vows of poverty and celibacy.

In Christianity, Franciscan monks’ code of conduct are stricter than those of the Dominican monks. In that sense, they are more similar to those noble Buddhist monks.

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In Bank Inquiry, Vatican Faces the Modern World – NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/world/europe/30vatican.html?_r=1&ref=vaticancity

ROME — When Rome magistrates opened an investigation last week into the Vatican bank over transparency issues, it was not only a bold assertion of state over church, it also pointed to one of the Vatican’s greatest continuing challenges: facing modernity.

As in the sexual abuse scandal, in which for years the Vatican appeared to declare itself outside — or above — civil law, this time the issue is the Vatican’s famously opaque finances, which for the first time are being held to tightened European Union anti-money-laundering statutes.

While Europe remade itself after the Second World War, balancing its powers through treaties and linking itself together through banking agreements, the Vatican remains an anomaly as the last absolute monarchy in the West. But today, its ancient ways are running up against civil institutions that increasingly view the church as they do any other multinational….

YouTube – Vatican Bank charged with Money-laundering Jan. 27, 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xzkAQc9hXs&feature=related

Vatican Bank charged with Money-laundering

vatican is more of a business than a religious organization. kind of like enron

YouTube – News Update: Vatican Bank faces money laundering investigation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wskuJZpvKtc&feature=related

CNN reports that Italian authorities are investigating the Vatican Bank for possible money laundering.

Another Italian bank alerted the Bank of Italy to two Vatican Bank transactions that did not appear to comply with anti-money laundering requirements, which require detailed information about transfers. The Vatican Bank’s lack of information on the two transactions–one for 20 million euros (about $26 million) and one for 3 million euros (about $4 million)–was enough to get it suspended automatically.

The Vatican said Tuesday it is “perplexed and baffled” by the public prosecutor’s actions and said the Holy See aims for “complete transparency” in its financial operations. The Vatican also said it has “full trust” in head of the bank, Ettore Tedeschi.

YouTube – HEAD OF VATICAN BANK UNDER INVESTIGATION 9-21-2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-GqOlGGjKM&feature=related

The head of the Vatican bank has been formally placed under investigation by judges looking into claims of money-laundering.

A statement from the Vatican says it is “perplexed” and “surprised” by the action taken against Ettore Gotti Tedeschi.

YouTube – Vatican Bank accused of money laundering

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EnGD6DT2gM

RT – The Vatican Bank has been accused of laundering $200 million through the accounts of Italys UniCredit Bank, one of the world’s largest financial institutions