Paul Casimir Marcinkus (; January 15, 1922 – February 20, 2006) was an American archbishop of the Catholic Church and president of the Institute for the Works of Religion, commonly known as the Vatican Bank, from 1971 to 1989.
Early life
Marcinkus was born in Cicero, Illinois, the son of Lithuanian immigrants and the youngest of five children. His father worked as a window cleaner, among other occupations.
After attending Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary and St. Mary of the Lake Seminary, Paul was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Chicago on May 3, 1947, and served parish assignments with both St. Christina's and Holy Cross Church on the city's south side. By 1949, he had been appointed to the archdiocese's matrimonial tribunal, which processed petitions to recognize the nullity of putatively valid marriages.
International career
In 1950, Marcinkus began to fulfil special assignments for the Holy See and became friendly with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, later Pope Paul VI, while studying canon law at the Gregorian University. Upon earning his degree in 1953, he completed the two-year program for prospective diplomats at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy and was assigned to Bolivia in 1955 and to Canada four years later, serving as secretary in the nunciature of the Holy See in both instances.
Beginning in December 1959, he worked at the Secretariat of State in Rome and served on occasion as an interpreter for Pope John XXIII and as an English translator for Pope Paul VI. Under Paul VI, he helped manage arrangements for papal overseas trips. His height and muscular build served him well as an "informal bodyguard" for Paul VI, earning him the nickname "The Gorilla". On January 6, 1969, he received his episcopal consecration as Titular Archbishop of Horta.
In 1979, Marcinkus was reported as having been targeted by the Red Brigades, a far-left terrorist group, for possible kidnap or assassination after his address and other documents were found in the apartment of two group members, Valerio Morucci and Adriana Faranda.
In 1981, John Paul II promoted Marcinkus to archbishop and made him vice-president of the Governorate of the Vatican City state, in effect its governor.
In 1982, he allegedly thwarted an assassination attempt against Pope John Paul II in Fátima, Portugal, when Juan Maria Fernandez y Krohn, a reportedly disturbed priest, attacked the Pope with a bayonet. In fact, several Portuguese police officers grabbed and disarmed the attacker, preventing the Pope from being stabbed.
Vatican bank tenure
Paul VI appointed Marcinkus secretary of the Vatican Bank in 1968. He was named its president in 1971 at the age of 48, serving in that role until 1989. Although an able administrator, Marcinkus had no prior experience as a banker. Upon his initial appointment to the Vatican Bank, he underwent brief training and short (of days-to-weeks) observational periods at several financial institutions.
As early as April 24, 1973, Marcinkus was questioned in his Vatican office by United States federal prosecutor William Aronwald and Bill Lynch, head of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice, about his involvement in the delivery of $14.5 million worth of counterfeit bonds to the Vatican in July 1971, part of a total request of $950 million stated in a letter on Vatican letterhead. His name had arisen and the letter come to light during the investigation of an international gangster, who eventually served 12 years in prison. Marcinkus said "he considered the charges against him serious, but not based enough on fact that he would violate the Vatican Bank's confidentiality to defend himself...back in the States, it was agreed on the highest levels that the case against Marcinkus could not be pursued any further."
In July 1982, Marcinkus was implicated in financial scandals being reported on the front pages of newspapers and magazines throughout Europe, particularly the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano, in which Propaganda Due (aka "P2"), a Masonic Lodge, was involved. Marcinkus had been a director of Ambrosiano Overseas, based in Nassau, Bahamas, and had been involved with Ambrosiano's chairman, financier Roberto Calvi, for a number of years. He also was involved with Michele Sindona, who had links with the Mafia.
The scandal widened, after the body of Calvi, whose Banco Ambrosiano had dealt with Marcinkus, was found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge in June 1982. Marcinkus himself was never charged with a crime.