"Private property is not, for no one, neither some inalienable right, nor some absolute one. No one has the prerogative to have the exclusive possession of goods beyond his needs, since there are those starving to death. These are severe words. In the light of them, not just financier but everyone, especially us, within the Church should ask to ourselves: "did we fulfill the task that Jesus Christ assigned to us when he said: Love Your Neighbor as Yourself?"...Pope John Paul IHe was born Albino Luciani in Forno di Canale in Belluno, a province of the Veneto region in northern Italy. He reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and as Sovereign of Vatican City from August 26, 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history.
On the evening of September 28, 1978, Pope John Paul I is talking to Cardinal Villot (the then Secretary of Vatican State). There was an angry dispute. The reason is that Pope John Paul I was planning to revolutionize many facets of Vatican, especially Vatican's hierarchy, but he also planned to start investigations on Vatican's involvement in unusual stories of money laundering through its bank, Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR), the Vatican's connections with "bad associates" like Mafia, Masonic lodges, etc....and to replace Villot himself with Benelli. Many parties in the Vatican were very concerned about these proposed changes and obviously interested in keeping the then status quo.
The Pope had started reforming customs and habits within the Church:
- refusal to use the majestic plural
- refusal to be crowned during the first official ceremony
- refusal to wear the Papal Tiara
- stated to be "open minded" about contraception for some conditions
- he had reservations towards the Opus Dei
The morning after the aforementioned dispute, at 4:30 am local time, as she has done every day for the past 33 days, sister Vincenza Taffarel carries a coffee to the Pope, leaves it on the desk of the office connecting with the room where John Paul I is asleep. She knocks on the door and says: "good morning Holy Father"
Fifteen minutes later, sister Vincenza comes back, and immediately notices that the coffee is still there: since this is very unusual, she decides to knock repeatedly on the door and finally, after having got no response, she enters the room.
John Paul I is sitting on his bed, leaning on a couple of pillows, his head slightly inclined towards his right. The lamp on the night table is turned on and he's still wearing glasses and holds some papers in his hands. Sister Vincenza takes his pulse and realizes that the Pope is dead.
The first press release states:
This morning, September 29, 1978, around half past five, the Pope's private secretary, having not found, unusually, of the Holy Father in the chapel of his private apartment, has searched his room and found him dead in bed with the light on, as if he was reading. The death was confirmed by Dr. Renato Buzzonetti:
After attesting his death, he stated that the death allegedly occurred about eleven o'clock last night, and argued it was sudden death that might have been caused by acute myocardial infarction.
In the official press release, it had been stated that the body was found by the Pope's private secretary, but actually, he was found by Sister Vincenza. Why the lie? The presence of a woman in the room of the Pope could have been considered somehow improper.
The statement by Renato Buzzonetti: “Death caused likely by acute myocardial infarction” This was accepted by the College of Cardinals. Autopsy? Not needed....the doctor was right. No autopsy has ever been made on the body of Pope John Paul I. Besides, it's likely any 'difficult' autopsy results would be covered up anyway.
What happened to Sister Vincenza? She was shipped off to a convent and she can’t speak. The Vatican encouraged her to agree with a Vow of Silence though, she did manage to tell John Paul I biographer, Camillo Bassotto... "I leaned my hand close to his forehead and he was still warm." It's interesting to note that the embalmers, who had arrived at around 10:00 am that morning, stated that “the hypostasis was not complete: we can esteem that the death occurred four-five hours before our arrival”
David Yallop, author of In God's Name: An Investigation Into the Murder of Pope John Paul I
suggests that the possible cause of death could be a type of poison that didn't leave trace evidence of use. Giovanni Gennari, journalist and Theologist, stated that “someone” highly placed in Vatican entrusted him that the Pope had been prescribed a vasodilator drug for high blood pressure and that the Pope 'received' an overdose by mistake. It was later revealed that John Paul I talked to his personal doctor (Antonio Da Ros) by phone that same evening. He didn’t mention anything about any problem or distress. The physician assessed the Pope as healthy and feeling fine. Over the years, the Vatican has hired 'investigators' to research the available evidence of the Pope's death, including John Corwell, who wrote A Thief in the Night: Life and Death in the Vatican
He stated that the Pope was not murdered but died of a pulmonary embolism, possibly brought on by overwork and neglect. For the record, the Vatican never hired a licensed physician to investigate this case. BTW, Corwell was also author of Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII
in which he accused Pope Pius XII of assisting in the legitimization of the Nazi regime through the pursuit of a Reichskonkordat in 1933 and of remaining silent during the Holocaust.So, if Pope John Paul I was murdered, who would be the most likely suspects? The Istituto per le Opere di Religione (IOR) AKA "Banca Vaticana", between the years 1946 and 1971, was a shareholder of Banco Ambrosiano. On 1978, the chief inspector of Bank of Italy, Giulio Padalino, discovered a money laundering operation between the Banco Ambrosiano and several foreign entities. Later, it was be confirmed that Paul Casimir Marcinkus, Archbishop from Illinois, President of IOR, was the behind the illegal activities. Some letters of patronage signed by Marcinkus himself to Roberto Calvi (manager of Banco Ambrosiano) were found, proving that Vatican, directly and indirectly was controlling Manic. S.A. (Luxembourg), Astolfine S.A. (Panama), Nordeurop Establishment (Liechtenstein), U.T.C. United Trading Corporation (Panama), Erin S.A (Panama), Bellatrix S.A (Panama), Belrosa S.A (Panama) and Starfield S.A (Panama).
These enterprises were established to “clean” money coming into Banco Ambrosiano which was later proved and confirmed by an Italian magistrate. The Minister of the Interior, Beniamino Andreatta, decided to close the bank since 2 billion dollars was "missing". Later, Arcibishop Marcinkus was investigated for links to the Mafia, association with the Italian Masonic order, money laundering and the collapse of Banco Ambrosiano.
Arcibishop Marcinkus: The Vatican's Banker
Marcinkus was the President of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, also known as the Vatican Bank, from 1971 to 1989. As early as April 24, 1973, Marcinkus was questioned in his Vatican office by federal prosecutor William Aronwald and Bill Lynch, head of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section of the United States Department of Justice, about his involvement in the delivery of 14.5 million US$ worth of counterfeit bonds to the Vatican in July 1971, part of a total request of 950 million US$ worth stated in a letter on Vatican notepaper.His name and the official letter had arisen during the investigation of an international gang which included Vincent Rizzo, who eventually served twelve years in prison. Marcinkus "said he considered the charges against him serious but not based enough on fact that he would violate the Vatican Bank's confidentiality to defend himself. Back in the United States it was agreed on the highest levels that the case against Marcinkus could not be pursued any further."
In July 1982, Marcinkus was implicated in financial scandals being reported on the front pages of newspapers and magazines throughout Europe, particularly the collapse of the Banco Ambrosiano, in which Propaganda Due (aka "P2"), a masonic lodge, was involved (Marcinkus had been a director of Ambrosiano Overseas, based in Nassau, Bahamas, and had been involved with Ambrosiano's chairman, financier Roberto Calvi, for a number of years). He was also involved with Michele Sindona, who had links with the Mafia.
In 1984, Marcinkus was named as a possible accomplice in the murder of Pope John Paul I by investigative journalist David Yallop in his book In God's Name. Yallop made allegations regarding a number of suspects associated with Marcinkus' business dealings, claiming involvement of members of the Mafia on behalf of the Vatican Bank, further stating that Marcinkus might face criminal exposure, should he be removed from his position at the bank.
Upon the election of Pope John Paul II, Marcinkus was promoted within the Vatican bank and remained in office for several years before the scandal widened, after the body of Calvi, whose Banco Ambrosiano had dealt with Marcinkus, was found hanging under London's Blackfriars Bridge in June 1982. The death of Calvi was seen by some as symbolic, since Propaganda Due referred to themselves as the "Black Friars." Adding to the troubles, journalist Mino Pecorelli, who had been investigating Marcinkus, the Vatican Bank and ties to organized crime, was found dead in 1979. Marcinkus, however, escaped indictment.
He stepped aside as head of the Vatican Bank soon after, with a board of laymen assuming control of the bank. The Vatican eventually paid £145 million in a settlement with creditors, with Marcinkus observing in 1986 that: "You can't run the Church on Hail Marys."
He returned to the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1990 before retiring to Arizona, where he lived as an assistant parish priest. He declined to discuss his role in the Ambrosiano scandal. Archbishop Marcinkus died in Sun City, Arizona aged 84, of undisclosed causes.
Marcinkus was played by actor Rutger Hauer in the Italian film The Bankers of God. In Francis Ford Coppola's The Godfather Part III, actor Donal Donnelly portrayed Archbishop Gilday, a character based on Marcinkus.
There have been other suspects mentioned over the years but all had some association with those groups involved in the Vatican Bank scandals.
All in all, IMO, the death of John Paul I was a result of him pushing at tradition, then tradition pushing back much harder. Old ties are hard to break and scandal in the Roman Catholic Church will continue, as evident today. The Vatican is a huge conglomerate with a huge number of confederates on it's side. Because of that caveat, it's nearly impossible for the truth to be disclosed....let alone, for the truth to be acknowledged. Lon
Sources:
vatican.va
abovetopsecret.com
Murder In The Vatican: The Revolutionary Life Of John Paul And The CIA, Opus Dei And The 1978 Murders
tldm.org
dreamscape.com
crisismagazine.com
insidecatholic.com
In God's Name: An Investigation Into the Murder of Pope John Paul I
churchandstate.org.uk
