Vatican defends late archbishop accused of hiring hitmen to kill girl

THE Vatican defended the late archbishop Paul Marcinkus, the head of the Vatican Bank whose tenure was marred by financial scandal, from reports yesterday that he ordered the killing of a 15-year-old girl in 1983.

Marcinkus, an American who died in Arizona in 2006 at the age of 84, was accused by the girlfriend of a slain mobster of hiring hitmen to kidnap and kill Emanuela Orlandi in 1983, the Italian media said.

“Defamatory, baseless accusations were published regarding Mons Marcinkus, who has been dead for some time and is unable to defend himself,” responded the Vatican in a statement.