One of the most interesting interviews Zach and I did for this podcast was with Gerald Posner,

who wrote the New York Times bestselling book, God's Bankers.

I found myself constantly referring to Gerald's book and telling this story.

It helped us understand so much about the Catholic Church and how the Vatican Bank became entangled

in one of history's largest bank scandals.

It's a complicated story, but Gerald made it easy to understand.

It all started back in 1929, when dictator Benino Mussolini was trying to earn favor with the Catholic

Church and gave Vatican City what it always wanted, full autonomy, basically creating another

country in the middle of Rome.

And this is the, not the farce would be too much, but this is the, almost the joke of Vatican

sovereignty. The irony. Yeah, the irony is that you're standing on one corner in Rome and you're

in Italian territory. You cross the street, you're in Vatican

territory. You do something, and the Italians have to ask you to be extradited, which is remarkable.

Then, after World War II broke out, the Vatican Bank was established, presumably to manage the money

of the church, and directed toward administrative and charitable pursuits.

But in effect, it was a way for the Vatican to do business in secret.

It didn't take long for certain people to realize that having a secretive offshore bank in the middle of Rome

offered some distinct advantages.

The great thing about the Vatican Bank, as long as you know a Monsignor or somebody who would

deposit the money for you, the Vatican accepted physical deposits.

So you could come in with a suitcase of cash or a suitcase of gold.

You can come up with an old modern painting.

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