Editing Paul Marcinkus (section)

==Vatican==
Entry into Vatican Service (1950–1968) In 1950, Marcinkus was sent to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he earned a doctorate in 1953. During this period, he befriended Cardinal Giovanni Battista Montini, the future Pope Paul VI, a connection that proved pivotal for his career. While in Rome, Marcinkus also attended the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy (1952–1954), training for the Vatican’s diplomatic corps. His first diplomatic postings were as secretary to the Apostolic Nunciature in Bolivia (1955–1959) and Canada (1959), roles that honed his Spanish fluency and diplomatic skills.

In December 1959, Marcinkus joined the Vatican’s Secretariat of State in Rome, where he occasionally served as an interpreter for Pope John XXIII and an English translator for Pope Paul VI. His physical presence and organizational skills made him a valuable asset during papal travels, managing logistics and acting as an informal bodyguard for Paul VI. A notable incident in 1970, when Marcinkus disarmed a Bolivian painter who lunged at Paul VI with a knife at Manila airport, cemented his reputation as a protector of the pontiff. His quip, “You can’t run a church on Hail Marys,” reflected his pragmatic approach, though he later claimed to have been misquoted, saying he meant pensions required more than prayers.

Rise in the Vatican and Vatican Bank Role (1968–1981) Marcinkus’s ascent in the Vatican accelerated under Pope Paul VI. In 1968, he was appointed secretary of the Vatican Bank (IOR), and on January 6, 1969, he was consecrated titular Bishop of Horta. In 1971, at age 48, he became president of the IOR, a position he held until 1989. Despite his administrative talent, Marcinkus had no formal banking experience, undergoing only brief training at financial institutions before taking the role. The IOR managed the Vatican’s investments and funds for religious orders, serving clients from clergy to diplomats, making its president a powerful figure in the Vatican elite.

Marcinkus’s tenure coincided with turbulent financial and political events. In the mid-1970s, he was linked to Sicilian financier Michele Sindona, who advised the Vatican on investments. Sindona’s financial empire collapsed in 1974, costing the Vatican tens of millions of dollars. Sindona was later convicted of fraud and arranging the 1979 assassination of a lawyer liquidating his bank; he died in 1986 after drinking cyanide-laced coffee in a Milan prison. Marcinkus was not charged in the Sindona affair, but the scandal damaged his reputation.

In 1979, Marcinkus was reportedly targeted by the Red Brigades, a far-left Italian terrorist group, after his address was found in the apartment of two members, Valerio Morucci and Adriana Faranda, suggesting plans for his kidnapping or assassination. Despite the Sindona scandal and the death of Paul VI in 1978, Pope John Paul II reappointed Marcinkus as IOR president and, in 1981, promoted him to archbishop and vice-president of the Governorate of Vatican City State, effectively its governor.