Late last week we brought you news that a Vatican official had been arrested for allegedly participating in a scheme to smuggle millions of euros into Italy from Switzerland. The arrest, which was part of a lengthy investigation, came just days after the Vatican announced that Pope Francis had ordered an investigation into irregularities at the Vatican bank (officially known as the Institute for Works of Religion, or IOR).
Now it seems that the scandal has claimed two more victims. According to an announcement released by the Vatican today, Paolo Cipriani and Massimo Tulli, director and deputy director of the IOR, respectively, had tendered their resignations. While the rapidity of their resignations raises questions as to whether or not they were volutary, the Vatican statement said only that the two men had chosen to resign “in the best interest of the institute and the Holy See.”
The IOR’s president, Ernst von Freyberg, has been named interim director of the Vatican bank while a new director and deputy director are found.