Vatican grave sites sold to mobsters: what happened when the pope got caught?

Last time we talked about Vatican money-laundering and mentioned that a mobster was buried on Vatican property.  Enrico "Renatino" De Pedis a mobster was buried in the vatican’s basilica dell'Apollinare. The police thought that the missing girl (see 8/8/13 blog) or clues to her disappearance would be found in the tomb.  In May of 2012 CNN’s Barbie Latza Nadeau reported that the vatican allowed the mobster’s body to be exhumed. In the crypt, in addition to De Pedis' body, investigators found dozens of boxes of human bones.

The vatican would not explain why a mobster is buried in a vatican church but moved the body to a regular cemetery a month later. According to the article, De Pedis was gunned down in Rome in 1990 and his body was moved to the basilica before 1997. Either the vatican burial was part of a secret deal for a massive loan De Pedis made to the vatican or it was to protect his tomb from being desecrated by rival gang members. Since May 2012 there has been no news regarding the investigation of the human bones. The news just stopped dead.

Think before you take a trip to Rome and the Vatican.  The pope and all his followers have total legal immunity in Italy – the Italian government allows it.  So they can do anything they want: murder, torture, kidnap, detain you – there have been many disappearances and many unanswered questions.  More about Vatican relationships with organized crime and secret financial deals in the next blog.