February 1, 2015
Stories of the inner workings of the Vatican Bank are popular among those fascinated by conspiracy theories. A mysterious organization managing billions of dollars in assets and controlled by the largest church in the world naturally invites intense interest and scrutiny. Posner (Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald and the Assassination of JFK) is no stranger to such stories, having written books about theories surrounding the deaths of both John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. Here he expertly shows that theory and conjecture aren't necessary when the real-life narrative is compelling enough. Despite its extensive length, with nearly 200 of those pages as notes, Posner's history of the institution reads like a sprawling novel, full of complex characters and surprising twists. The book also serves as a modern history of the Catholic Church, showing how the institution's financial issues connect with its broader goal of maintaining and growing its influence over the faithful. VERDICT Readers interested in issues involving religion and international finance will find Posner's work a compelling read. [See Prepub Alert, 8/22/14.]--Brett Rohlwing, Milwaukee P.L.
Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
January 1, 2015
A decade of exhaustive research into the deep and mysterious history of the Vatican's finances is a monumental task, but controversial author Posner proves more than up to this daunting challenge. The tireless and prolific historian and investigative journalist has also written weighty tomes on such conspiracy-laden topics as the assassination of John F. Kennedy (Case Closed, 1993) and the 9/11 attacks (Why America Slept, 2003). Unsurprisingly, the Catholic Church had no interest in welcoming him inside its secrecy-shrouded archives, so Posner had to sift through thousands of government papers, court records, and private-company documents scattered around the world, in multiple countries, just to piece his remarkably taut expos' together. He also interviewed a handful of clerics and officials in Rome who spoke only on the condition of anonymity for fear of retribution. At 700-plus pages, the book's sheer size might intimidate some readers, but it's a fast-paced read that brings history alive on every page. The book will captivate those who prefer their historical nonfiction spiked with real-life tales of murder, power, and intrigue.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
Starred review from December 22, 2014
Posner (Miami Babylon) uses his superlative investigative skills to craft a fascinating and comprehensive look at the dark side of the Catholic Church, documenting “how money, and accumulating and fighting over it, has been a dominant theme in the history of the Catholic Church and its divine mission.” He opens with the various spiritually creative methods the Church has used to make ends meet, such as the sale of indulgences and Pope Urban II’s offer of full absolution to those who volunteered to fight in the Crusades. The bulk of the book focuses on the mid-20th century and includes the Papacy’s accommodations to the Nazis. While this is familiar terrain, Posner convincingly buttresses his unusual position that money swayed Pope Pius XII “to remain silent in the face of overwhelming evidence of mass murder.” And the author’s access to previously undisclosed documents enables him to flesh out the Vatican Bank scandal, which reached its nadir with the mysterious hanging—from London’s Blackfriars Bridge—of Italian banker and convicted fraudster Roberto Calvi. Accessible and well written, Posner’s is the definitive history of the topic to date.
December 1, 2014
A dogged reporter exhaustively pursues the nefarious enrichment of the Vatican, from the Borgias to Pope Francis.In one of his previous works, Mengele (1986), former Wall Street lawyer-turned-accomplished historian and author Posner (Warlords of Crime; Hitler's Children, etc.) followed the money connection from the Nazi criminals fleeing the Third Reich to Argentina-and struck Vatican gold. Laundering Nazi booty extracted from the Jews, protecting Nazi criminals as they found refuge across the globe, providing hush money for egregious cases of pedophiliac priests-these are just some of the tentacles of Vatican bankrolling since World War II. Having overcome its aversion to moneylending and capitalism as being practices of Protestants and Jews after Italian unification, the Vatican later established a stabilizing appeasement policy with secular leader Mussolini in the form of the Lateran Pacts. Pope Pius XI's financial adviser, Bernardino Nogara, diversified Vatican finances through the Depression era, entangling Vatican and Fascist ties. The Reichskonkordat, a series of pacts signed by Hitler, extracted taxes from Catholic churches and guaranteed the Vatican's silence regarding the Holocaust; it also funneled "blood money" from Nazi victims and supported the "ratline" for escaping Nazi criminals. Posner tracks the formation of the Institute per le Opere di Religione (the Vatican bank) in 1942 through its troubled survival into the present era, as it has battled accusations of mob ties, "gay lobby" scandals, WikiLeaks disclosures, lawsuits by victims of sex abuse and the insistence by the European Union on more transparency in the bank's dealings. Pope Francis' promises of reform are going to be closely watched. Posner bases his massive research on extensive interviews and documents found in the archives of governments and private companies across the world (the author was barred from the Vatican's own Secret Archives). A meticulous work that cracks wide open the Vatican's legendary, enabling secrecy.
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September 15, 2014
An investigative journalist who's gone to the brink with books like Pulitzer Prize finalist Case Closed, Posner digs into 200 years of history to show how the Catholic Church has accumulated wealth. Lots of dead prosecutors, business moguls, and private investigators; not a spiritual read.
Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.