John Paul II neglected to give the shareholders the dignity of a response. Instead, in a gesture of cold indifference to their pleas, the pope elevated Marcinkus to the position of president of the Pontifical Commission for the State of Vatican City. This position made “the Gorilla” the governor of Vatican City, in addition to head of the IOR. The promotion was made on September 28, 1981, the third anniversary of the death of John Paul I. Regarding this “appalling effrontery,” author David Yallop wrote: Through his Lithuanian origins, his continual espousal, in fiscal terms, of Poland’s needs,
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