Vatican "Perplexed" at Bank Investigation

VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 21, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican today expressed its "greatest confidence" in the president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, affirming his efforts to protect "full transparency in regard to financial operations."

This affirmation came in a statement from the Secretariat of State after Italian finance authorities seized some €23 million ($30 million) of Vatican funds.

They also announced an investigation of Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, the president, and Paolo Cipriani, the director-general, for money-laundering.

The Institute for the Works of Religion (IOR) exists mostly to manage monies for the Vatican and religious congregations around the world.  

Leaders of the bank have already been in processes with international groups such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCDE), so that the Holy See can be included in its so-called White List, the Vatican statement noted.

It further affirmed its perplexity since "the necessary informative data is already available in the competent office of the Bank of Italy."