My take is that this is just another step in the efforts to destroy all religions and for the introduction of the "New Age, Mother Gaia, and The Great Global Warming Swindle".

Italian authorities froze nearly £20 million belonging to the Vatican’s bank on Tuesday in an unprecedented investigation into alleged money-laundering by the Holy See.

The Vatican says it is 'perplexed' by the investigation, which is being conducted by Italy's tax police.

The head of the Vatican bank, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, was placed under investigation for allegedly failing to communicate to financial authorities where the money had come from Photo: REUTERS

It was the first time that such action has been taken against the bank, which is formally known as the IOR or Institute for Religious Works.

Prosecutors placed the bank’s director-general and its chairman under investigation in connection with two allegedly suspicious transactions which may have breached Italy’s anti-money laundering laws.

Investigators have spent more than a year scrutinising millions of euros of Vatican bank transactions to see if they violated regulations.

The inquiry culminated in Monday's raid, in which police froze €23 million (£19 million) of Vatican bank funds, held by a private bank.

The Vatican bank’s chairman, Ettore Gotti Tedeschi, who was appointed last year, was placed under investigation for allegedly failing to communicate to financial authorities where the money had come from.

He is not being investigated for laundering money but for omitting to disclose key information.

The Vatican said it was “perplexed” by the investigation, which is being conducted by Italy’s tax police.

“The Holy See is perplexed and surprised by the initiatives of the Rome prosecutors, considering the data necessary is already available at the Bank of Italy, and similar transactions commonly take place with other Italian banks,” it said in a statement.

The Vatican expressed “the utmost confidence” in the bank’s senior executives, including Mr Gotti Tedeschi.

A member of the conservative religious movement Opus Dei, he has spoken out on the need for more morality in financing.

Mr Gotti Tedeschi is a close adviser to Italy’s finance minister, Giulio Tremonti.

The IOR manages the Vatican’s finances as well as the accounts of Catholic organisations and religious orders.

Telegraph.co.uk