Merchants in the Temple by Gianluigi Nuzzi Page B

revealed that it had moved the priest from one parish to another for almost a quarter of a century. But it concluded with a reassuring sentence: “Nothing has come out in the newspapers and no investigations are under way.”
    Ratzinger’s reply has never been found. The only thing we know for certain is that after the letter, the priest was moved to Portio Magnone (twelve kilometers away from Feglino), reappearing magically at another Boy Scout camp in the area. And once again, a youth at the camp reported him for sexual molestation. The man continued to be a priest until 2010, when, thirty years after the first reports of abuse, he wrote in his own hand a letter requesting his dismissal from the priesthood.
    The television report, which included the testimony of five boys describing incidents of abuse they had suffered between 1980 and 2005, cast a shadow over Calcagno but did not interrupt his brilliant career. Only four days before becoming Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio—hounded by journalists about Calcagno’s participation in the Conclave—preferred not to take any questions.
    Calcagno had also appeared in the news recently because of a rather unique extravagance for a prelate: his passion for firearms. The journalist Mario Molinari of Savonanews reported on the cardinal’s rich private collection of revolvers, Smith & Wesson .357 caliber magnums, an Escort pump rifle, and many more, all duly registered and declared. There was a small arsenal of collector’s items and more modern pieces that the Cardinal used at the firing range, where he had been a member since 2003. When he was asked for an explanation, Calcagno is said to have replied with the comforting tones of a good country priest: “They are all kept safe in a vault under lock and key.”
    Relations between Calcagno and Francis were only good on a formal level. The Argentine Pope distrusted the old guard and its shadowy management of the Curia’s books.
    Few people realize that there are actually two active banks at the Vatican. In addition to the IOR, there is APSA, a little-known entity at the heart of the Vatican financial web that is recognized throughout the world as a full-fledged central bank. One of its two sections, the special section, performs a sensitive function: it handles investments in stocks and bonds, and manages bank accounts and deposits. In practice, it manages the cash flow of the Holy See. Until November 2013, the head of the special section of APSA was Paolo Mennini, the son of Luigi Mennini, the historic right-hand man of Monsignor Paul Marcinkus, the most controversial figure in Church history because of his role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal culminating in the death of “God’s banker,” Roberto Calvi. 1
    APSA would be yet another source of serious problems for the pontificate of Francis.

    The Incredible Case of Monsignor Scarano
    In March 2013, before the election of the new Pontiff, the prosecutors’ offices in Salerno and in Rome had begun an investigation into the financial activities of Monsignor Nunzio Scarano, the chief accountant of the special section of APSA. According to the indictment, the evidence gathered, and various wiretaps—even during the tense, frenzied days of Benedict’s resignation and the preparations for the Conclave—instances emerged of money laundering and attempts to import large amounts of capital from abroad through illegal channels. In practice, according to the indictment, Scarano provided a simple system of laundering money through his account at the IOR: he offered cashier’s checks for hundreds of thousands of euros in exchange for suitcases stuffed with 500-euro bills, which earned him the nickname, “Monsieur 500.”
    Scarano, originally from Salerno, had worked in a bank before becoming a priest at the age of twenty-six. A lover of luxury, he had always enjoyed rubbing shoulders with celebrities, and could