Banco Ambrosiano: The Rumour of a Money Route from the Vatican to Blackfriars Bridge

At dawn on June 18, 1982, Roberto Calvi was found hanging beneath Blackfriars Bridge in London. Bricks and several currencies were in his pockets. Calvi chaired Banco Ambrosiano, an Italian bank that had just collapsed after its debts and overseas companies escaped ordinary control. Newspapers called him "God's Banker" because of his close relationship with the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, usually called the Vatican Bank. The rumour begins there: Calvi's death was connected to a money route linking Banco Ambrosiano, the IOR, the P2 lodge, and criminal groups.

Official records confirm the bank's collapse, its overseas companies, serious management failures, and a relationship with the IOR that required an explanation. They do not confirm every part of the hidden route told by later writers. The central questions are simple: which legal entities moved the money, who supported the loans, and why did Calvi die when the scheme was being exposed?