Murder in the Vatican: The Revolutionary Life of John Paul and The CIA, Opus Dei and the 1978 Murders [Paperback]

 

 

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Murder in the Vatican: The CIA and the Bolshevik Pontiff

This is the right book but I would strongly suggest getting the new edition (click on link above). The 2010 edition resolves aspects of the murders the author leaves open in this 2008 edition.

I happened to have been a young seminarian in the Vatican the night the Pope died. As we gathered in the cafeteria, having witnessed a vibrant driving fireball of a man the day before, the assumption was murder and our conversations focused on the two Opus Dei bishops `Murder in the Vatican' implicates in the crime. Both these bishops were made cardinals and promoted past 300 others who outranked them to two of the most powerful positions in the Church shortly after the death of John Paul I.

The author proves that Opus Dei was involved in a conspiracy with factions in the CIA and British Intelligence which carried out the murders of John Paul and a dozen of his closest friends in the fall of 1978. T. Francis Elliott (New York Times) is on the mark, "A monumental work of twentieth century capitalism as it was jointly embraced by the Vatican and the United States and those caught up in it. Top-shelf Vatican-CIA intrigue."

Yet, the legacy of this man is his life and not his death. Particularly enjoyable to me is the recounting of the author's conversations with John Paul when the latter was Bishop of Vittorio Veneto. In recording his many recollections of his struggles as an impoverished child, as a rebellious seminarian, and as an outspoken priest and bishop, Gregoire has preserved for the world an important part of history - something the present rulers in Rome would rather be forgotten. The reason why the Vatican has never commissioned a biography be written of the 33-day pope. The opening line of the `Preface' is clear. "For those of us who knew him, who remember him, I bring nothing new. But for those of us who have allowed the Church's misrepresentations of what he was all about, who have allowed Rome's falsehoods to distort his legacy, I bring a treasure trove of yesterday."

So, yes, I remember him. He was all that you say he was and much more. My hope for a more just Church and a better world died with him.

Toby Johnson, White Crane Journal, alludes to a secret given the author by John Paul, "In revealing the deep dark secret that must have haunted him all his life, Gregoire forces the transformation of Christianity."

Howard Greene (Times) probably said it best, "Like `The Davinci Code', `Murder in the Vatican' will infuriate the devout and other believers in the supernatural. But, unlike Brown, Gregoire has the proof!"

Avoid 2006 and earlier editions of this book, you will get only half the book.

What we have here is summed up in Gregoire's conclusion, "The lack of importance the United States gave to the election of a pope after the death of pro-American Pius XII through the election of John Paul II has become paramount in the thinking of subversive elements in America. The lingering evidence is too striking to be ignored . . .

The failure of the United States to influence the election of a pro-American Pope in 1963 was a lesson not to be repeated. The adverse consequence of that failure was enormous. The price astronomical in terms of lost opportunity and the deployment of United States policies and billions spent in counteracting Paul's subversive operations inside and outside the Church. . .

Paul VI disseminated his pernicious and anti-American principles via encyclicals condemning liberal capitalism, free enterprise, and the basic tenets upon which the United States was founded. He repeatedly condemned the imperialism of money in the Western world. He condemned private property claiming to give wealth and land to the poor was to give them God's province. . .

Paul's Marxist principles took on horrendous roots where the poor were collectively dominant in Latin America. The stability of Latin America was severely threatened. Military and undercover operations by the United States had to be undertaken to counteract the spreading of Paul's doctrines. When they reached Central America, the United States had to intervene. . .

Paul's death was wrapped with subtle speculations and vague rumors. His deterioration had been so extremely unusual whispers concerning the `acceleration of his demise' circulated. These suspicions were well justified when his death was met with delight in the United States, specifically the headquarters of the CIA and the Pentagon which had labeled him the `Bolshevik Pontiff.' . . .

Nevertheless, his providential death gave the CIA the opportunity to carry out its scheme; to force election of a pro-American Pope. The CIA joined factions inside and outside the Church sponsoring the Opus Dei anti-Communist candidate Polish Cardinal Wojtyla. When Luciani (John Paul I), an avowed Marxist in every sense of the word, particularly in his driving ambition to rid the world of poverty, was elected, it certainly must have struck a nerve of shattering proportions in the United States. Particularly, in that as a cardinal, Luciani had vigorously supported Oscar Romero and the revolutionaries in Central America. Yet, the straw that 'broke the camel's back' occurred three days before he was found dead. He announced that he, himself, would lead the upcoming Pueblo Conference (Mexico) and he changed its theme from 'Liberation Theology' to 'Liberation of the Poor' - he would feed them food rather than faith. The perils of potential multi-Cubas became imminent. The dangers to the security of the United States had become real. . .

Gregoire brilliantly puts together the historical record supported by over 400 press releases. For those who can't accept what the press has to say, he locks in his case with dozens of important historical photos - like one with Licio Gelli, Grandmaster of the P2 killer organization which had a presence in the Vatican the night John Paul died, standing next to former CIA Director George Bush as he took his presidential oath in 1989.

No one is going to walk away from this book without the absolute conviction that the deaths of Aldo Moro, Paul VI, John Paul I and a dozen of their closest allies in a world war on poverty had greater roots than John Paul's alleged involvement in the Great Vatican Bank Scandal which as a matter of historical record began and ended under the reign of John Paul II.

As a bonus, the reader gets Part I of this book - the only existing biography of the 33-day Pope; itself worth twice the price of admission.

This is an outstanding book. Yet, the author is wrong that in the pope's ten years at Vittorio Veneto he was loved. For the most part people hated him. I know because I grew up in Vittorio Veneto under his auspices. They didn't have popularity polls in those days, but I doubt if in his early years he ever went much over 25%. Yet, in the end he did have the vote.

I recall coming home from school and telling my parents sex was no longer considered sinful and I was no longer required to mention it in confession. Instead I was required to tell the priest if I had hatred of any other kinds of people. They were enraged as they had brought me up thinking sex was shameful and dirty. They banned together with others and went up the road to the bishop's castle protesting his heresy to no avail.

There was the time he built the clinic designed to take severely handicapped children out of institutions and allow them to live with the general public. My parents were among the crowds protesting the building of the clinic. There were the times he ordered local hospitals to allow partners of known homosexuals to enter intensive care units. Most damaging of all to his popularity was his work for born-out-of-wedlock children so perfectly portrayed by the author. When he reserved the first few pews for these children who never before had been allowed to enter church, it dropped his popularity to near zero. He was such a force behind the worker's revolution which he waged on behalf of these same children who had reached adulthood, the rich and powerful tabbed him `Veneto's Lenin.'

I will never forget the American priest the author speaks of as he taught me my first words in English which enabled me to learn English at an early age. Very few people in Vittorio Veneto could speak English at the time and this is still true today. I was quite distraught to learn what happened to him. I was the boy who delivered the newspaper to Papa Luciani the author speaks of in his book.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Squeal like stuck pigs

Like the Da Vinci Code. This book will rile up those who think men in Rome know something they don't know. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Ellen Maria Mario

1.0 out of 5 stars Self-indulgent and unconvincing
Lucien Gregoire's "Murder in the Vatican" bears all the hallmarks of vanity publishing (which is what it is): overlong, repetitious, full of spelling mistakes, printing errors and... Read more

Published 10 months ago by TRA

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but . . .
I have an interest in the life of Albino Luciani (John Paul I) which began when I read David Yallop's book, In God's Name, a number of years ago. Read more

Published 18 months ago by Mr. R. Hyde

5.0 out of 5 stars Sainthood?
Let's All Get Behind the Pope...: End of Faith = End of Prejudice

I have read most books on this subject. Read more

Published 20 months ago by Tristan Hamilton

1.0 out of 5 stars Bollocks on stilts
I read David Yallop's "In God's Name" and thought I'd read a bit more about Albino Lucini.I tried this,and when I got to a paragraph fairly early in the book which said the... Read more

Published 21 months ago by PygmyTwylyte

5.0 out of 5 stars I advise getting the 2010 edition now on amazon
Murder in the Vatican: The CIA and the Bolshevik Pontiff

The above lnk is to the complete 2010 edition. Read more

Published on 1 Jan 2009 by Lucien Gregoire

2.0 out of 5 stars Important Subject Matter but poorly written.
This is a very strange book. It's subject matter is important and one that I've been interested in since reading 'In God's Name' by David Yallop but it is so poorly constructed... Read more

Published on 29 Dec 2008 by T. G. Braithwaite

5.0 out of 5 stars Little frozen bodies in a cart
Gregoire does a riveting job in proving it was John Paul's obsession to do away with poverty in the world that cost him his life. Read more

Published on 20 Jun 2008 by Jonathan Grant O.S.B.

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