As the conclave started on the quest for a new pope, two dark clouds put a damper on the day for the Vatican bank.

First the ninth circuit court of appeals in San Francisco ruled that a WW2 restitution lawsuit filed in 1999 against the Vatican Bank and the Franciscan Order could proceed. Previously some US courts have been cautious about opening the door for cases involving activities beyond the jurisdiction. Yesterday's judgment paves the way for claims arising from the Nazis and their Croatian allies converting the property looted from Serbs, Jews, and former Soviet citizens into funds that were subsequently laundered by the Vatican Bank.   

Anticipating an adverse judgment and realising that the amount at issue could exceed $100 million, the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano, appealed to Condoleezza Rice to intervene, but the US state department declined to get involved.

For anyone interested, the court decision is here: here.

The second bit of news the Vatican Bank will not have wanted to hear is that four people have been indicted in Italy for the murder of the financier Roberto Calvi, who was found hanged under a bridge in London way back in 1982. For many years his death was passed off as suicide - a verdict vigorously challenged by, among others, David Yallop, in his book "God's Banker." The Italian indictments will once again put under the spotlight the financial scandals in which the Vatican was involved at that time (as a result of which Bishop Marcinkus had to be harboured in the Vatican as a fugitive from justice) - and also the extent of its links with some of Italy's leading players in organised crime.