Day of Confession - Allan Folsom [43]
To watch him work the room, and revel in it—renewing old friendships, making new ones, then moving on to the next, made him seem more a politician on the stump than the second-most powerful man in the Roman Catholic Church. Yet it was as a representative of that Church, of the pope himself, that he and the others were here, their presence, even in the shadow of grave tragedy, speaking for itself, reminding all that the Holy See was tirelessly and unremittingly committed to the future of the European Community.
Across the room, Cardinal Marsciano turned from the representative of Denmark and glanced at his watch.
7:50
Looking up, he saw Swiss investment banker Pierre Weggen enter the room. With him—and immediately causing a turn of heads and a very noticeable drop in the conversation level across the room—were Jiang Youmei, the Chinese ambassador to Italy, his foreign minister, Zhou Yi, and Yan Yeh, the president of the People’s Bank of China. The People’s Republic of China and the Vatican did not have official diplomatic relations, and had not since the Communist takeover of China in 1949, yet here were its two ranking diplomats to Italy and one of the new China’s most influential business leaders striding into the Vatican Embassy in public view with Weggen.
Almost immediately Palestrina crossed to greet them, bowing formally then smiling broadly and taking the hand of each, and afterward motioning for drinks and chatting happily as if they were his old and dear friends. Chatting, Marsciano knew, in Chinese.
China’s expanding relationship with the West, coupled with its rapid emergence as a towering economic power, had had little or no effect on the all but nonexistent relations between Rome and Beijing. And while there remained no formal diplomatic communication between them, the Holy See, under Palestrina’s careful posturing, was attempting to pry open the door. His immediate goal was to arrange a papal visit to the People’s Republic.
It was an objective that had far-reaching implications because, if his overture was accepted, it would be a sign that Beijing was not simply opening its doors to the Church but was ready to embrace it. Which was something, Palestrina was certain, China had no intention of doing—today, tomorrow, or, in all likelihood, ever; making his objective exceedingly ambitious at best. Yet, the secretariat of state was no wallflower. And moreover, the Chinese were here, and publicly.
That they were here was due chiefly to Pierre Weggen, with whom they had worked for years and whom they trusted implicitly. Or, as implicitly as any Oriental trusted any Westerner. Seventy, tall, and genteel, Weggen was a preeminent international investment banker. World renowned and immensely respected, he functioned primarily as liaison between major multinational companies looking to create global working partnerships. At the same time, he continued to work as a private counselor to longstanding clients and friends; the people, companies, and organizations who, over the years, had helped build his reputation.
It was a client base that had always been and still remained confidential. The Vatican was among them. And Nicola Marsciano, the man responsible for Vatican investments, had spent the entire afternoon sequestered in a private apartment on Via Pinciana with Weggen and a battery of lawyers and accountants he’d brought with him from Geneva.
For more than a year Marsciano and Weggen had been belt-tightening the Holy See’s portfolio, narrowing the range of investments to focus on energy, transportation, steel, shipping, heavy equipment; corporations, companies, and spin-off companies that specialized in major international infrastructure development—the building and rebuilding of roads, waterways, power plants, and the like in emerging nations.
The Vatican’s investment strategy was the kingpin in Palestrina’s mandate for the future of the Holy