WORLD : Marcinkus Quits Vatican Service
- Share via
VATICAN CITY — Archbishop Paul C. Marcinkus, the burly American prelate implicated in Italy’s biggest postwar banking scandal, retired from Vatican service today.
The 68-year-old native of Cicero, Ill., said he plans to return to the United States and take up pastoral work in Chicago.
The Vatican said Pope John Paul II had accepted the resignation, after repeated requests from Marcinkus, from his post as deputy governor of the Vatican city-state.
The 6-foot-4 prelate, who acted as a bodyguard to the Pope during his early foreign travels, headed the Vatican bank, formally known as the Institute for Religious Works, for 20 years.
But in a sweeping restructuring of the scandal-tainted bank last year, the Vatican eliminated Marcinkus’ post as president.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
