12/1/2015BookFilter | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=c2a50c2f-2e97-4795-b402-c86507b825fd&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&1/2HomeTop Picks: All BooksGod’s Bankers A History of Money and Power at the Vatican MoreGod’s Bankersby Gerald PosnerPrice: $30.00(Hardcover)Published: February 03, 2015Rating: 0.0/5 (0 votes cast)From the Publisher: A deeply reported, fast-paced exposé of themoney and the cardinals-turned-financiers at the heart of theVatican—the world’s biggest, most powerful religious institution—from an acclaimed journalist with “exhaustive research techniques”(The New York Times).</p><p> From a master chronicler of legal andfinancial misconduct, a magnificent investigation nine years in themaking, this book traces the political intrigue and inner workings ofthe Catholic Church.</p><p> Decidedly not about faith, belief in God, orreligious doctrine, this book is about the church’s accumulation ofwealth and its byzantine entanglements with financial marketsacross the world.</p><p> Told through 200 years of prelates, bishops,cardinals, and the Popes who oversee it all, Gerald Posneruncovers an eyebrow-raising account of money and power inperhaps the most influential organization in the history…Rate This Book|Rate/ReviewAdd To BookshelfGet This Book Go to your preferred retailer, click to choose a format and you' ll be taken directly to their site whereyou can get this book.BookFilter12/1/2015BookFilter | Evernote Web https://www.evernote.com/Home.action#n=c2a50c2f-2e97-4795-b402-c86507b825fd&ses=4&sh=2&sds=5&2/2 Personalize / Add More ChoicesWhat We SayNine years in the making? Obviously, Gerald Posner works on more than one project at a time since he's publishednumerous investigative works in that time.</p><p> But of course when you try to plumb the mysteries of the Vatican, it cantake many years to gain trust (and gain more info via Freedom of Information requests and so on).</p><p> The result isunquestionably a solid history of the Vatican Bank, an institution tagged by numerous international organizations as ahaven for shady financial practices, to say the least.</p><p> But "God's Bankers" is more than that.</p><p> It uses the prism ofmoney to look at the last one hundred years of the Church and put varied events like the Pope's behavior duringWorld War II or the Church's tone-deaf response to child molestation scandals in a new, telling light.</p><p> The endlessscandals can overwhelm at times, but Posner keeps things moving along.</p><p> Everything from the politics around thechoice of a new pope to why the butler that betrayed Pope Benedict was treated gingerly comes under focus.</p><p> It'sdisquieting to learn that the head of the Vatican Bank for many years couldn't even read a balance sheet when hebegan.</p><p> That alone tells you a lot about the complicated dealings in this sovereign state.</p><p> Luckily, you don't need toknow how to read a balance sheet either to enjoy this compelling tale.</p><p> There's even a glimmer of a happy ending withPosner convinced that Pope Francis is taking serious, substantive steps to reform the Vatican Bank once and for all.-- Michael GiltzLessWhat You SayFilter byNo Reviews Found .....
