Does anyone else feel that it was utterly immoral, not to mention stupid, of Michael to put Mary as the head of the Vito Corleone Foundation? Surely he knew how dangerous it was?

He used the money from that Foundation to buy out Immobliare, which he knew all the other Families wanted a piece of, and much of the Corleone Family's wealth seemed to be allocated or invested into the Foundation.

Even Don Altobello comments, saying that if Michael dies, "the daughter" (meaning Mary) "gets everything". Meaning all the Family's accumulated wealth, along with Immobliare. And Anthony tells her point blank she was being used as a front, to make the Immobliare deal appear to have the total seal of legitimacy.

Who better could he use than his pretty, young, pristine daughter? It'd be like Vito putting Michael (pre the Five Families War) in charge of the Genco Olive Oil Company--An innocent put as the guardian of the war chest.

He was using the clean image of Mary--the innocent, young, totally legitimate daughter--to cloak himself in legitimacy. Using her as the head of the Foundation to help buy his own redemption. Putting her in charge of millions, if not billions, of dollars of blood money. Money earned from illegal gambling, narotics, prostitution, in essence blackening her own soul unwittingly--tying her destiny to his through BUSINESS.

Yes, Michael got his redemption. He got his legitimacy. But it came with the heavy price of a bullet in his daughter's chest. The daughter who he used as a front to buy that legitimacy. He was in essence trading her soul or her life for his salvation. And he had to know what he was doing.

I actually think putting her in that position was as immoral as anything he ever did. Because he was smart enough to know how dangerous it was. Smart enough to know all the money was blood money--putting Mary in charge of it. The fact that he put his children in charge of something that even had the possibility of having a TINGE of illegitimacy is disgraceful.

He was using his daughter's clean soul, to clear his own blackened soul of it's sins.

Buying fake "redemption" from the Church. What he didn't realize is that redemption can't be bought. it can't be paid for with a gift of $500 million. It can't be awarded with the pin from the Pope. It has to earned by actually repenting and seeking forgiveness, and he could never truly repent as Cardinal Lamberto said. It can't be earned simply by giving up the title of Mafia Boss, while knowing that giving it up meant more murder would ensue, just not ordered by him. He was not ordering murder nor was he a Don, but was still an accessory to it nonetheless.

He was in essence, if you want to go deeper, sullying the Church--though they went along with it--making a farce of the idea of Redemption--and sullying and dirtying his daughter's spirit with his blood money and putting her in grave danger only to help himself. If the Church were the Borgias as he called them, he was any corrupt Catholic buying an indulgence--But using his daughter's soul to make the transaction look innocent.

I agree he got his redemption from blood money. Just like that church ceremony which kay says was "very expensive". I think once he knew anthony didnt want to be apart of his business he moved onto mary

Covering the Vatican Bank's shortfall was how he secured the Vatican's endorsement of his Immobiliere purchase. The Sicily donation was completely separate.

It was in Michael's nature to be manipulative--he was the past master at it--so it's hardly surprising that he manipulated Mary toward his own legitimization. The Robber Barons of the Industrial Age did that, too--John D. Rockefeller wasn't president of the Rockefeller Foundation, his son was. Michael learned the fundamental truth: in America, money washes away sins, but it has to be shown publicly, and by someone not directly connected to acquiring it.

I don't believe Foundation money was used to acquire Immobiliare--Federal law says you can't use tax-exempt Foundation money for any other than charitable purposes. But there's no doubt that Foundation largesse bought the Vatican's approval for the deal.

No question about it.

TB, I don't see how. Michael didn't even know abou the Vatican Bank shortfall until his conversation withthe Bishop which took place after the Commendatore party, right?

I should have been clearer, Oli. Foundation largesse bought Michael's Knighthood. Bailout of the Vatican Bank bought Vatican approval of his takeover of Immobiliare. I don't think he could have legally used Foundation money for the bailout--it must have been his own fortune.

That's an awful lot of numbers money .

Possibly some drugs money too, it must have been.

Drug money + Numbers, Loansharking and Extortion money + the Casinos + Kickback from Genco Olive Oil (even though he sold the company to Frankie, I imagine he still got a cut of Genco's profits perpetually) + Prostitution, Nightclubs, etc + Union corruption + The Garment Industry + Sale of the Lake Tahoe Property + Stocks in IBM and IT&T

Of course, didn't Michael state that he received no proceeds from current illegal activities and that he had sold the casinos and divested himself of any interests in gambling, etc?

Yes, but it just seems that that is a recent development--I doubt he sold the Casinos or gave up other interests years before. My point is that likely up to at least the mid 1970s Michael still actively profited from illicit dealings. Even the current cash he had, the billions, the vast majority of it was probably gotten through illegal activities, so it's still blood money in any case.

Fun fact btw: I did some inflation calcuation. Michael's $2 million in 1958 (the amount he was going to invest in Cuba) is the same as about $15 million today. Even in the 50s he and the Corleone Family were very rich.

Well, for one, the casinos in which he held an interest were not illegal.

Hey, Michael wasn't a nice guy, okay?

But.. Mike did force his nephew to break off his relationship with Mary in order to protect her. He forced the breakup because he was having flashbacks of his first wife Apollonia and wanted to spare her the same fate.

It may have been unwise, but I don't see any malice in putting Mary in charge of a charitable foundation and wanting his children to inherit his legitimate estate. Kind of normal for a parent. Mike probably imagined that once he became fully legitimate, his family would be safe.

I agree. Also, the incestuous angle was disgusting.

Lol, at one time it wasn't too uncommon in Italian families for first cousins to marry. But that's the subject of a different thread.