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Film withdrawn after lawsuit
Explored bank scandals of 1980s
A film about the life of Roberto Calvi—a key character in the banking scandals that scarred the Vatican in the 1980s—was withdrawn from Italian theaters in March after a 2-week run.

The film, God’s Banker, traced the history of the shadowy financier, who was found dead in London in 1982. Calvi, who had been president of the Banco Ambrosiano, was at the center of a massive banking scandal. Italian authorities have never fully unraveled the financial network that caused the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano, nor have the circumstances of Calvi’s death been fully explained. In God’s Banker, director Giuseppe Ferrara explores the Calvi network, putting heavy emphasis on the banker’s connections with the Mafia and with the Vatican bank, the Institute for Religious Works.

The Vatican bank suffered heavy losses in the banking scandal. Archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the American-born prelate who was president of the Institute for Religious Works at that time, stepped down after it became clear that he had been duped into investing Church funds in speculative financial schemes.

The film was pulled out of theaters after a prominent Italian, Flavio Carboni, filed a lawsuit charging that the film damaged his reputation. The Vatican had offered no comment on the movie.

Italian influence fading
A more international College of Cardinals
Two Italian cardinals reached the age of 80 in recent weeks, leaving just 126 cardinals eligible to vote in a papal conclave.

Cardinal Virgilio Noè celebrated his 80th birthday on March 30. Cardinal Dino Monduzzi passed the same landmark on April 2. Both prelates are veteran Vatican officials. Cardinal Noè, who for years was the master of ceremonies for papal liturgical celebrations, is still active as the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, while Cardinal Monduzzi has retired from his post as the prefect of the papal household.

Cardinal Noè is one of only four cardinals over the age of 80 still involved in active ministry. The others are Cardinals Paul Joseph Pham Dình Tung of Hanoi, Kazimierz Swiatek of Minsk, and Nasrallah Sfeir, the Maronite Patriarch of Antioch. The Vietnamese prelate is remaining in place because the Vatican and the Vietnamese government cannot agree on the appointment of a successor; the Maronite patriarch is unlikely to retire as long as he remains healthy enough to fulfill his responsibilities as head of that Eastern Church.

Once they reach the age of 80, cardinals become ineligible to vote in a papal election. As Cardinals Noè and Monduzzi dropped from the list, the number of Italian prelates among the cardinals stood at only 20, or 16 percent of the total—the lowest Italian representation ever.