Pope John Paul II Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! === Banco Ambrosiano scandal === {{Main|Banco Ambrosiano}} John Paul II was alleged to have links with [[Banco Ambrosiano]], an Italian bank that collapsed in 1982.<ref name="NYTimes" /> At the centre of the bank's failure was its chairman, [[Roberto Calvi]], and his membership in the illegal [[Masonic Lodge]] [[Propaganda Due]] (aka P2). The Vatican Bank was Banco Ambrosiano's main shareholder, and the death of [[John Paul I]] in 1978 is rumoured to be linked to the Ambrosiano scandal.<ref name="Salinger2005" /> Calvi, often referred to as "God's Banker", was also involved with the Vatican Bank, [[Istituto per le Opere di Religione]], and was close to Bishop [[Paul Marcinkus]], the bank's chairman. Ambrosiano also provided funds for political parties in Italy, and for both the [[Somoza]] dictatorship in Nicaragua and its Sandinista opposition. It has been widely alleged that the Vatican Bank provided money for [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]] in Poland.<ref name="NYTimes" /><ref name="Salinger2005" /> Calvi used his complex network of overseas banks and companies to move money out of Italy, to inflate share prices, and to arrange massive unsecured loans. In 1978, the [[Bank of Italy]] produced a report on Ambrosiano that predicted future disaster.<ref name="Salinger2005" /> On 5 June 1982, two weeks before the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, Calvi had written a letter of warning to John Paul II, stating that such a forthcoming event would "provoke a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions in which the Church will suffer the gravest damage".<ref name="TimesOnline" /> On 18 June 1982 Calvi's body was found hanging from scaffolding beneath [[Blackfriars Bridge]] in the financial district of London. Calvi's clothing was stuffed with bricks, and contained cash valued at US$14,000, in three different currencies.<ref name="GodsBanker" /> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page