John Paul II’s dream of reviving EuroChristianity by funding the anti-communist movement in Poland. John Paul II imagined he could save the situation by overturning dictatorial atheism in eastern Europe, thereby inspiring a return to Catholic devotion in the west. The anti-communist Solidarity labor movement, for instance, needed large sums of money to be effective. This could only be done through illegal means, and it appears that John Paul II used the church’s well developed ties with organized criminal elements, such as Roberto Calvi to deliver about 100 million dollars to the Solidarity movement (Lech Walesa)
Eventually, Calvi and Marcinkus and the “Vatican Bank were caught up in the collapse of the Italian bank Blanco Ambrisiano in 1982.…. In this financial disaster the IOR’s involvement “stemmed from its alleged direct or indirect ownership of Panamanian shell companies used to funnel $1.3 billion. The scandal has deeply embarrassed the Vatican even though it refused to disclose its full role in the affair ….
While officially denying wrongdoing the Papacy tacitly acknowledged involvement when John Paul II paid $250 million to Ambrisiano creditors — the ability to raise such a large sum contradicts chronic Papal claims of Vatican poverty.