When Albino Luciani, a modest, shy man who could not boast of a successful career in the Vatican, was elected head of the Roman Catholic Church on August 26, 1978, the cardinals in the papal conclave were as surprised as he was. However, Luciani was solemnly named the governor of God on earth. Soon, believers began to call him "the smiling pope." Catholics all over the world highly appreciated the behavior of this man during the coronation: he abandoned the papal tiara and only after lengthy persuasion agreed to be carried in a palanquin, according to tradition.
Found dead in bed
It seemed that the charm of the new Pope conquered everyone. However, very soon, on September 28, at about five o'clock in the morning, just 33 days after being elected to the papal throne, John Paul I was found dead in his residence.
The Vatican said the body was found by the papal secretaries Jono Maggi and Diego Lorenzi. The Pope died while sitting in bed with the book of Thomas Kempis "Imitation of Christ" in his hands. But later it turned out that he was found by a nun who brought him a cup of morning coffee.
The Pope's personal physician, Renato Buzzonetga, announced the death of his high-ranking patient from a heart attack. At 5.15 in the morning, the embalmers arrived at the Vatican. They got to work and did it for two hours. No autopsy was performed.
Poisoning?
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Of course, the death of any Pope is a great grief for believers. But death, just a month after the election to the throne, seemed to the flock something unimaginable. Rumors immediately spread about a conspiracy against the Pope. The most convincing of these were described in David Yallop's bestseller In the Name of God (in the Russian edition - Who Killed the Pope), published in 1984. Yallop has indicted an unholy trinity of Vatican conservatives with ties to the bankers' mafia and the Freemasons. It was alleged that Luciani was poisoned with a tincture of digitalis (foxglove purpurea), which is used in moderate doses as a medicine for heart disease.
Vatican Conservatives
The Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965 decreed the creation of a new, more open Catholic Church and allowed the liturgy in national languages instead of Latin. But the Church was split into warring factions. Some believed that Vatican II was dangerously liberal, others that it did not go beyond what was acceptable.
It is known that the Catholic Church does not allow the use of contraception, thereby discouraging birth control. However, the election of a liberal pope could overturn this prohibition. John Paul I, according to David Yallop, was precisely this very liberal Pope who intended to authorize the use of contraception.
But was Luciani really a liberal? Yes, he abandoned some of the traditions, making his own coronation less opulent and speaking about himself "I" instead of "we", but this, rather, could characterize him as a humble person, and not as a reformer. Yallop argues that Luciani, while still a cardinal, advised Pope Paul VI not to prohibit the use of contraception in his encyclical Humanae Vitae. In addition, Yallop argues that Luciani's speeches on the issue were heavily censored by the main Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, which stubbornly replaced his “I” with “we”.
Bankers of God
According to Yallop, Luciani's liberal views on contraceptive use were only one side of the problem. The real threat was his desire to reform the Institute of Religious Affairs (IRD), that is, the Vatican bank. The story is very dark, intimidating and has many different interpretations. Michele Sindona, a Sicilian tax specialist and international banker, was allegedly a key intermediary between the IRD, which was looking for ways to limit new tax liabilities, with the mafia, which needed ways to launder money - preferably through an opaque, difficult to control financial institution. Sindona's key instrument was Roberto Calvi, the head of the Ambrosiano Bank in Milan, who was involved in the most risky and dubious IRD speculations.including the transfer of billions of dollars to ephemeral and in some cases non-existent overseas accounts, apparently in cooperation with the American archbishop and IRD director Paul Kazimir Marcinkus. The latter has always denied any involvement in this. Likewise, the Vatican has never acknowledged its responsibility for the failure of the Bank of Ambrosiano, although it paid off about $ 250 million to creditors, presumably with the help of the Catholic organization Opus Dei. Sindona's fraudulent banking deals, by contrast, surfaced with the crash of his Franklin Bank in 1974. It was the largest bank crash in US history.in collaboration with the American Archbishop and IRD Director Paul Kazimir Marcinkus. The latter has always denied any involvement in this. Likewise, the Vatican has never acknowledged its responsibility for the failure of the Bank of Ambrosiano, although it paid off about $ 250 million to creditors, presumably with the help of the Catholic organization Opus Dei. Sindona's fraudulent banking deals, by contrast, surfaced with the crash of his Franklin Bank in 1974. It was the largest bank crash in US history.in collaboration with the American Archbishop and IRD Director Paul Kazimir Marcinkus. The latter has always denied any involvement in this. Likewise, the Vatican has never acknowledged its responsibility for the failure of the Bank of Ambrosiano, although it paid off about $ 250 million to creditors, presumably with the help of the Catholic organization Opus Dei. Sindona's fraudulent banking deals, by contrast, surfaced with the crash of his Franklin Bank in 1974. It was the largest bank crash in US history.although he paid out about $ 250 million to creditors, presumably with the help of the Catholic organization Opus Dei. Sindona's fraudulent banking deals, by contrast, surfaced with the crash of his Franklin Bank in 1974. It was the largest bank crash in US history.although he paid out about $ 250 million to creditors, presumably with the help of the Catholic organization Opus Dei. Sindona's fraudulent banking deals, by contrast, surfaced with the crash of his Franklin Bank in 1974. It was the largest bank crash in US history.
Freemasons in the Vatican
The ability to verify the Vatican bank was even the lesser of the threats Luciani could pose. Millions of people in Italy - according to some polls, almost a third of the population - were convinced that he, too, was preparing to expose the activities of the powerful Masonic lodge in the Vatican. The Masons are said to have included Cardinal Villot (Vatican Secretary of State and second in power after the Pope) and Archbishop Marcinkus. They are believed to have belonged to the Propaganda Due lodge, better known as P2. It was equally a Masonic network and a terrorist cell, whose goal was to create a fascist state. A police raid carried out in 1981 revealed a list of members of the organization, which included many influential representatives of the ruling elite of the state, police chiefs,business and media representatives and prominent citizens of the country. The names of Roberto Calvi and Michele Sindona were also on the list, but, curiously, not a single Vatican prelate was mentioned there. However, this fact does not disturb the supporters of the theory of the Vatican conspiracy, since the P2 member and journalist Mino Pecorelli, who repented of his own sins, stated in 1978 that both Marcin-cous and Villot were actually in the lodge. Pecorelli's testimony did not seem to merit much credibility until, in March 1979, he was found murdered.since the P2 member and journalist Mino Pecorelli, who repented of his own sins, declared in 1978 that both Marcin-cous and Villau were in fact in the lodge. Pecorelli's testimony did not seem to merit much credibility until, in March 1979, he was found murdered.since the P2 member and journalist Mino Pecorelli, who repented of his own sins, declared in 1978 that both Marcin-cous and Villau were in fact in the lodge. Pecorelli's testimony did not seem to merit much credibility until, in March 1979, he was found murdered.
Lefebvre and the Sedevacantists
The death of John Paul I is still politically charged. Sedevakantists (Sedevakantism is a conservative religious movement that does not recognize the popes who ruled after the Second Vatican Council. - Ed.) Are as ready to believe in a conspiracy as the left. As early as 28 August 1978, the dissenting French bishop-sedevacantist Marcel Lefebvre announced that the papal conclave had chosen its candidate with suspicious haste, given that the required two-thirds majority was obtained only in the third ballot. Some Lefebvists (a group of ultra-conservative clergy and believers who split from the Catholic Church due to rejection of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council. - Ed.) Went even further, announcing that Pope Paul VI had been replaced by an impostor.
As for Luciani's successor, Pope John Paul II, he was repeatedly accused of sympathizing with the Communists, on the one hand, and was named an instrument of liberal capitalism, personally responsible for the collapse of the Eastern Bloc, on the other. The left is convinced that the CIA was behind the death of Luciani, while the right is convinced that the hand of the KGB was involved. Catholics smell the Masonic conspiracy, while secular Italians see the Vatican's machinations in everything.
Source: “Secrets of the XX century. Golden Series No. 51-s
