"Pope Was Poisoned After 33 Days" | Christian Assemblies International "Pope Was Poisoned After 33 Days" Printable PDF Version Book reveals background to death of John Paul I London (ap/dpa) Pope John Paul I, who was head of the Catholic Church for only 33 days in 1978, was murdered, claims the British author David Yallop in his book "In God's Name", which was published in 1984. After 3 years of investigation he has come to this conclusion, having found out that members of the forbidden Italian secret lodge "P2" allowed the pope to be poisoned. Mysterious death 33 days after election: John Paul I John Paul I was found dead in his bed by his private secretary on the morning of 29th September 1978. The official cause of death: heart attack. Yallop, however, says it was murder. He is relying on interviews with "highly positioned sources within the Vatican" and states as evidence a series of inexplicable occurrences which accompanied the pope's death.

There was no post-mortem, according to Yallop, although the 65-year-old church leader had never had any heart problems before his death. All his personal belongings, including his last will, were removed from his room and were never seen again. There are conflicting opinions about the exact time of his death, and it was officially stated that the deceased was holding a book in his hand, although it was actually documents, said Yallop. He sees the motive of the murder as being due to the intention of John Paul I to bring an end to the ecclesiastical prohibition of artificial birth control. But most of all he wanted to relieve a few high dignitaries of their offices and to substantiate the finances of the Vatican. Yallop also names suspicious members of the secret union "P2". For instance, the founder of the fascist-orientated Free Mason Lodge, Licio Gelli; or Jean Villot (at that time cardinal-state secretary); or bishop Paul Marcinkus who, as governing head of the Vatican Bank, did fraudulent business with the "Ambrosia" (private bank); or their director Roberto Calvi, who himself lost his life in mysterious circumstances.

Translated from the German: "Papst wurde nach 33 Tagen vergiftet" Source: Newspaper article - Munich TZ (12.06.84) 1978- Year of 3 Popes - TU ES PETRUS 1978: The Year Of The Three Popes The year 1978 will long be remembered as the year of the three popes. The not unexpected death of Pope Paul VI on August 6th, 1978 was followed on August 26th by the election of the "Smiling Pope," John Paul I. Reigning only 33 days, the length in years of Our Lord's earthy life, he died in his sleep of a heart attack on September 28th. Only a few weeks later on October 16th, 1978 the College of Cardinals elected the "Polish Pope" John Paul II to the chair of Peter. Pope Paul VI Giovanni Battista Montini was born on September 26th, 1897 in Concesio, 8km. (5 miles) from Brescia, in the Lombardi region of northern Italy.

Ordained to the priesthood at Brescia on May 29th, 1920, he undertook further studies in Rome, including the Gregorian University. From 1924 until his ordination as archbishop of Milan on December 12th, 1954, he served the Secretariate of State of the Holy See in various capacities, including a 17 year tenure (1937-1954) as Undersecretary of State during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, with whose own career he was closely associated. Pope John XXIII elevated him to the College of Cardinals on December 15, 1958. he succeeded this greatly beloved Pope as Supreme pontiff on June 21st 1963, taking the name of the Apostle to the Gentiles. Pope John Paul I Albino Luciani was born on October 17th, 1912 in Forno de Canale. This small town is called today Canale d'Agordo, and is located 29 km. (18 miles) from Belluno in the province of Veneto, Italy, in which Venice is also to be found.

He was ecucated in the minor (high school) and major (college) seminaries of the diocese of Belluno and ordained to the priesthood on July 7, 1935, later receiving a doctorate in sacred theology (S.T.D.) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He returned to the diocese to serve as seminary vice-rector from 1937 to 1947, also teaching in the areas of dogmatic and moral theology, canon law and sacred art. From 1947 he served as vicar general of the diocese, until his ordination as bishop of Vittorio Venuto on December 27th 1958. Bishop Luicani participated in all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and on December 15th, 1969 was appointed Archbishop and Patriarch of Venice. Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal on March 5, 1973.

On being elected to succeed Pope Paul as Supreme Pontiff on August 26, 1978, he took the names of his immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI, the first Pope in history to do so. Significant acts of his papacy: While Pope John Paul I delivered 19 addresses and was noted for his good humor, especially with children, no significant papal acts are attributed to his pontificate. Pope John Paul II Karol Wojtyla was born in Wadowice, Poland (near Krakow) on May 18, 1920. In 1938 he became a student of theatre and poetry in the university of Krakow, but had to undertake manual labor in a stone quarry and chemical plant when the Nazis invaded Poland at the beginning of World War II. In 1942 he began secret studies for the priesthood in an "underground" seminary of the Archbishop of Krakow and was ordained to the priesthood on November 1, 1946. After ordination he was sent to Rome to complete doctoral studies at the University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum).

He then undertook a brief parish career, combining pastoral work with the attainment of a second doctorate at the Catholic University of Lublin, to which he was assigned to teach ethics in 1954. On Septemeber 28th, 1958 he was ordained to the episcopacy as the Auxiliary Bishop of Krakow, to which See he succeeded as Archbishop on January 13, 1964. As Auxiliary and then Archbishop he participated in all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council. Pope Paul VI made him a Cardinal on June 26, 1967. After the death of Pope Paul he was an elector in the conclave that chose Pope John Paul I, whom he succeeded as Pope on October 16, 1978, taking his name. Year of the Three Popes: 1978 Year of the Three Popes The year 1978 will long be remembered as the year of the three popes. The not unexpected death of Pope Paul VI on August 6th, 1978, was followed on August 26th by the election of the "Smiling Pope," John Paul I.

Reigning only 33 days, the length in years of Our Lord's earthly life, he died in his sleep of a heart attack on September 28th. Only a few weeks later on October 16th, 1978, the College of Cardinals elected Karol Cardinal Wojtyła, Archbishop of Krakow, Poland, as the first non-Italian Pope since Adrian VI (1522-1523). His pontificate has been one of the most remarkable in history. Both its length and its accomplishments has set the course of the Church for decades, if not for centuries. Pope Paul VI (1963-1978) Giovanni Battista Montini was born on September 26th, 1897 in Concesio, 8km. (5 miles) from Brescia, in the Lombardi region of northern Italy. Ordained to the priesthood at Brescia on May 29th, 1920, he undertook further studies in Rome, including the Gregorian University.

From 1924 until his ordination as archbishop of Milan on December 12th, 1954, he served the Secretariate of State of the Holy See in various capacities, including a 17 year tenure (1937-1954) as Undersecretary of State during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII, with whose own career he was closely associated. Pope John XXIII elevated him to the College of Cardinals on December 15, 1958. he succeeded this greatly beloved Pope as Supreme pontiff on June 21st 1963, taking the name of the Apostle to the Gentiles. Pope John Paul I (Aug.-Sep. 1978) Albino Luciani was born on October 17th, 1912 in Forno de Canale. This small town is called today Canale d'Agordo, and is located 29 km. (18 miles) from Belluno in the province of Veneto, Italy, in which Venice is also to be found.

He was ecucated in the minor (high school) and major (college) seminaries of the diocese of Belluno and ordained to the priesthood on July 7, 1935, later receiving a doctorate in sacred theology (S.T.D.) from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He returned to the diocese to serve as seminary vice-rector from 1937 to 1947, also teaching in the areas of dogmatic and moral theology, canon law and sacred art. From 1947 he served as vicar general of the diocese, until his ordination as bishop of Vittorio Venuto on December 27th 1958. Bishop Luicani participated in all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), and on December 15th, 1969 was appointed Archbishop and Patriarch of Venice. Pope Paul VI made him a cardinal on March 5, 1973.

On being elected to succeed Pope Paul as Supreme Pontiff on August 26, 1978, he took the names of his immediate predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI, the first Pope in history to do so. While Pope John Paul I delivered 19 addresses and was noted for his good humor, especially with children, no significant papal acts are attributed to his pontificate. The Mysterious Death of Pope John Paul I [A Treatise] by Gregory Christiano The Mysterious Death of Pope John Paul I [A Treatise] by Gregory Christiano (Age: 69) copyright 07-04-2003 Age Rating: 13 + _______________________________________________________ Pope John Paul I died only 33 days into his Pontificate (August 26, 1978 - September 28, 1978). It was one of the shortest reigns in the annals of the papacy. The official cause of death was myocardial infarction (a heart attack). But there was a great deal of confusion in the details of his sudden death, and many were crying - murder!

The "Smiling Pope," as he was affectionately called was born Albino Luciani on October 17, 1912 near Belluno, Italy. He was ordained in 1935, made Bishop in 1958 and became patriarch of Venice in 1969. He received his cardinal's hat in 1973. He was a staunch believer in ecumenism and the reduction of Church wealth. He was warm, humble and had no aspirations for the papacy. After Pope Paul VI died, Luciani was elected on the second day of the Conclave in 1978. He refused to wear the papal tiara or to be carried in the gestatorial chair. He was praised as a liberal reformer who read Mark Twain. He was on a mission to reverse the Church's position on contraception, cleaning up the Vatican bank and dismissing many Masonic cardinals. A word here about the Masonic cardinals: The P-2 Lodge, as it was called, was founded in 1877 to provide for provincial Freemasons - known as Propaganda Due (P-2).

It became a secret lodge in 1970 to recruit men of right-wing persuasion to prevent a Communist takeover. It was involved in a financial scandal and its offices were raided and membership lists were found. Many heads of the Italian State services, government officials, police chiefs, businessmen, journalists etc. were listed. This organization was disbanded but still operated secretly. In fact, they are still operating within Vatican circles to this very day. Many Roman clerics were hostile towards Luciani. It was rumored he was deliberately elected by cardinals keeping secrets that he was too weak to bother them and his health would cause him to die prematurely in office. However, to the surprise and consternation of those very same cardinals, Pope John Paul I immediately investigated the Vatican Bank and wanted to clean house of any prominent prelates who were Freemasons. He was about to make a series of dismissals and new appointments and remove those accused of financial and other misdeeds. All this has been construed as a motive for his murder. The Vatican Bank Scandal: The Vatican Bank (or The Institute for Works of Religion - IOR), was personally owned and operated by the Pope and made loans to religious projects all over the world.

It was discovered that the bank exploited its high status and engaged in risky speculation and illegal schemes, including money laundering. Money was invested with Robert Calvi, head of the bank in Milan. He was eventually convicted for currency fraud in 1981 - (over $1.3 billion dollars was missing from bank funds). Calvi fled to England where he was found dead, hanging from a bridge in London. Another participant in the scandal was Michele Sindona, an advisor to Pope Paul VI. Sindona was poisoned in 1986 in his prison cell. This sordid financial fraud also was linked with the Masons, the Mafia, arms dealers, political kickbacks and monies funneled through the CIA to support Solidarity in Poland. Was the Pope Poisoned? Davis Yallop's book, "In God's Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I," (1984), speculates that digitalis was the poison used. The Pope was taking medicine for low blood pressure, and just half a teaspoon of digitalis could cause a fatal heart attack. But the Pope also suffered from poor circulation and had suffered an eye embolism in 1975.

Switching pills or forgetting to take medication could also have proven lethal. But it is uncertain who would have been able to slip the digitalis into the Pope's liquid medication - Effortil. There are many contradictions surrounding his death. The initial report issued by Cardinal Villot said the Holy Father had been found dead by Sister Vincenzia and not by a secretary. One report had him dead in his bathroom, the other by his desk in his bedroom. There were also discrepancies about the time the body was found, 4:30 am or 5:30 am? The official estimates was that he died at 11pm on September 28th. No autopsy was performed. (The last Pope to be autopsied was Pius VII in 1830). Another report stated the Pope complained of feeling sick but wouldn't call a doctor. He suffered a pain and a violent cough during that afternoon. It might have been a minor embolism. He was conferring with two secretaries around 8pm. After dinner, he rushed down the hallway to get a telephone call around 9:15 pm. This may have triggered the fatal heart attack. Both cases are plausible. But what really happened that night?

The Motives for Murder: This spiritual leader of all the Roman Catholics, Albino Luciani, was actually embarking on a revolution. He wanted to set the Church in a new direction which was considered highly undesirable and dangerous by many high ranking Church officials. He wanted, first of all, to strip many of powers by dismissing them or reassigning them into harmless positions. This directly involved the Freemasons. There were over one hundred Masons within Vatican City ranging from Cardinals to priests. Canon Law stated that to be a Freemason was grounds for automatic ex-communication. Six men in particular, stood to lose a great deal if Pope John Paul I remained in power. (These were - Marcinkus, Villot, Calvi, Sindona, Cody and Gelli). There was a suspicion of a conspiracy among these men with Villot the instigator and Gelli the executioner. Motives for the Pope's murder were in these series of dismissals and new appointments he was about to make. The Pope also wanted the Church's wealth shared with the poor. He was also on the verge of reversing the Church's position on artificial birth control, as well as cleaning up the messy Vatican Bank scandal. He was about to approve the birth-control pill.

In his "Humanae Vitae," he urged pastoral clergy acceptance of contraception and also acknowledged those children born by in-vitro fertilization. A remarkable and radical change from current Church policy, indeed. Does this prove assassination by poisoning? The alleged conspirators tried to make it look like a natural death, according to Yallop. His Holiness' domestics, secretaries, doctors, Swiss Guards, police force and judiciary of the Italian State were forced into silence. Sindona, Calvi (The Banco Ambosiano Group), Marcinkus and Cardinal Cody stood to lose much if Albino Luciani were to carry out his specific course of action. There was a growing list of people about to be seriously affected by the purported action of the Pope, especially Cardinal Jean Villot, the Pope's Secretary of State. Bishop Marcinkus was to be replaced by Monsignor Abbo and Cardinal Villot was to be replaced with Cardinal Benelli as Secretary of State for the Vatican. There was apparently much corruption that the Pope was about to root out. Poison was the most efficient way to have his death appear natural. It would leave no tell-tale external signs. Digitalis was the most probable. It would mask the conspiracy.

This plan would have had to involve intimate knowledge of Vatican procedures. There would also be no autopsy. Other incriminating and outward signs of foul play would be removed. The Details: Cardinal Villot's account was that it was a tragic accident. He alleged that the Pope overdosed on his own medication. This explanation was most improbable and defamatory. It almost insinuated that the Pope, so overwhelmed with this burden of his office, committed suicide! Everything was done to cover up this crime. However, no one would believe in an accidental death. And Cardinal Villot happened to be a Grand Master of the Masonic secret. He concocted a story for Sister Vincenzia who discovered the body. Then he made her take a vow of silence afterwards. She said she found the body in the bathroom, not his bed. The bottle of Effortil disappeared along with the Pope's glasses and slippers, probably because there were traces of vomiting on them. This was a symptom of digitalis poisoning. Also, the Pope's Will had disappeared. The embalmers were called immediately after Cardinal Villot confirmed the Holy Father's death at 5:30 am. The Cardinal then made Sister Vincenzia take the vow of silence.

Dr. Buzzonati (not Prof. Fontana of the Vatican medical service, she should have been called in), confirmed the death and attributed it to acute myocardial infarction. The death occuring at 11 pm last evening (Sept. 28th). This report was made around 6:00 am. A whole hour had passed. Eventually Villot informed the other cardinals from around 6:30 am onward. No sacrament of extreme unction was given! The hypothesis of a sudden death seemed untenable to the personal doctor of the Pope's faithful secretary Don Lorenzi. In death, the Pope's features were twisted and contorted in agony. The Signoracci brothers, the embalmers, attempted to remodel the face so his death agony would be changed to show a calm expression. Many people, however, had already seen the distorted features before these embalmers did their work. The sisters who served as maids and domestics, cleaned and polished the Pope's chambers soon after his death. Any evidence, such as fingerprints, was destroyed. Again, vomiting was one of the early symptoms of a digitalis overdose. The secretaries packed up the Pope's clothes, letters, notes and personal mementos.

By 6 pm the evening of September 29th, the Pope's 19 rooms of the Papal Apartments had been thoroughly stripped. And the embalmed body would make an autopsy useless. By 11 pm that same evening, practically all traces of his reign had been removed. The memory of his presence in the Vatican had been wiped clean. The alleged assassination was complete. So the murder theory goes. Many causes for suspicion aroused: The Pope was in good health, according to his brother Edoardo. He reported that His Holiness was given a clean bill of health after a medical examination three weeks before his death. A report in Time Magazine - October 9, 1978 - relating an opinion that the untimely death of Pope John Paul I stirred deep suspicions of him being poisoned. The Third Secret of Fatima, which was never made public, revealed, some authorities say, the outlines of the murder of a Pope. The Vatican has thwarted any research and suppressed any investigation into this matter from the very beginning. SUMMARY OF EVENTS: Early September 1978: Pope John Paul I asks Cardinal Jean Villot, the Secretary of State for the Vatican, to investigate the Vatican Bank operations.

He also is considering the reversal of the Church's stand on artificial birth control. Later that month he presents Cardinal Villot with a list of those to be transferred, reassigned or asked to request for resignation. These lists are persons suspected of being Freemasons (that group called P-2). Cardinal Villot happened to be Grand Master, and his name was at the head of the list. This shift of power would have had a major impact on the existing Vatican hierarchy and would also have affected its financial practices. September 29, 1978: John Paul I found dead in his bed. Cardinal Villot issues false statements, removes key evidence from John Paul's room and orders the body embalmed before an autopsy can be performed. FURTHER EVENTS AFTER HIS DEATH: October 1978: John Paul II replaces the dead Pope. None of Luciani's instructions or edicts are carried out. January 21, 1979: Murder of Judge Emillio Alessandrini, a magistrate investigating the Banco Ambrosiano activities. Calvi and Sindona have close ties to the Vatican.

March 20, 1979: Murder of Nino Pecorelli, an investigative journalist, exposing membership and dealings of the Freemason's P-2 group. July 11, 1979: Murder of Giorgio Ambrosioli following his testimony concerning Sindona and Calvi in Vatican business circles. July 13, 1978: Murder of Lt. Col. Antonio Varisco, head of Rome's security service also investigating the activities of the P-2 group and was speaking with Giorgio Ambrosioli two days before Ambrosioli's death. July 21, 1979: Murder of Boris Guilano, the Palermo police deputy who spoke to Ambrosioli also two days before his death. This concerned Sindona's money laundering of Mafia money channeled through the Vatican Bank to Switzerland bank accounts. October 1979: Bomb explodes in the apartment of Enrico Cuccia of Mediobanca and a witness of G. Ambrosioli. February 2, 1980: The vatican withdraws an agreement to provide videotaped depositions of M.

Sindona in his trial in the U.S. on charges of fraud, conspiracy and misappropriation of funds in connection with the collapse of the Franklin National Bank. May 13, 1980: Attempted suicide of Sindona in jail. June 13, 1980: Sindona sentenced to 25 years. July 8, 1980: Attempted suicide of Roberto Calvi, also jailed for fraud. September 1, 1981: The Vatican Bank acknowledges its controlling interests in a number of banks controlled by Calvi for more than one billion dollars of debt. January 2, 1981: A group of shareholders in Banco Ambrosiano send a letter to John Paul II exposing connections between the Vatican Bank and Roberto Calvi, P-2 and the Mafia. The letter is never acknowledged. April 27, 1982: Attempted murder of Roberto Rosone, General Manager of Banco Ambrosiano as he was trying to clean up the bank's operations. June 17, 1982: Roberto Calvi found hanged to death from a bridge in London.

Days later $1.3 billion dollars was found missing from the Banco Ambrosiano, Milan. October 2, 1982: Guiseppe Dellacha, executive of Banco Ambrosiano found dead from a fall out of one of the bank's windows. March 23, 1986: Michele Sindona poisoned to death in the Italian jail for which he was serving time for ordering the death of Giorgio Ambrosioli. PREDICTIONS OF THE MURDER OF JOHN PAUL I BY NOSTRADAMUS Century 3, Quatrain 35: When the sepulcher of the great Roman is found, The day after a Pope shall be elected; The Senate (Conclave) will not approve of him. His blood is poisoned in the sacred chalice. Century 10, Quatrain 12: The one elected Pope will be mocked by his electors, This enterprising and prudent person will suddenly be reduced in silence, They cause him to die because of his too great goodness and mildness. Stricken by fear, they will lead him to his death in the night.

Century 4, Quatrain 11: He who will have the government of the great cape Will be lead to execute in certain cases. The twelve red ones will spoil the cover. Under murder, murder will come to be perpetrated. _______________________________________________________ Based upon the evidence and events, only one conclusion is evident. But still, there were no indictments, no subpoenas issued, no trials, no convictions made. It has been twenty five years since the death of Pope John Paul I and the mystery will continue to be debated. _______________________________________________________ A poll conducted recently, resulted in 30% of the Italians are convinced that John Paul I was assassinated...(that's 15 million people). _______________________________________________________ Pope John Paul I dies | World History Project Sep 29 1978 Pope John Paul I dies John Paul I was found dead sitting up in his bed shortly before dawn on 29 September 1978, just 33 days into his papacy. The Vatican reported that the near-66-year-old Pope most likely died the previous night of a heart attack. However, a degree of uncertainty accompanies this diagnosis since an autopsy was not performed.

This uncertainty, coupled with inconsistent statements made following the Pope's death, has led to a number of conspiracy theories concerning his death. These statements concern who found the Pope's body, at what time he was found, and what papers the Pope had in his hand. Immediately following the Pope's death, rumours began. One rumour claimed that a visiting prelate, Nikodim, had recently died from drinking "poisoned tea" prepared for the pope. The visiting prelate actually had died some days earlier and there was no evidence of any poison, but again, no autopsy was performed because Nikodim was embalmed almost immediately. Another unsubstantiated rumour described the Pope's plans to dismiss senior Vatican officials over allegations of corruption. The suddenness of his embalming raised suspicions that it had been done to prevent an autopsy. The Vatican insisted that a papal autopsy was prohibited under Vatican law. However, one source (the diary of Agostino Chigi) reports that an autopsy was carried out on the remains of Pope Pius VIII in 1830.

Nevertheless, suspicions persist to this day, particularly given the sweeping changes to Vatican personnel this Pope had already penned, along with the Mafia-riddled Italy of the time, and the number of subsequent murders of officials investigating the Vatican Bank along with its associates. Source: Wikipedia Added by: Kevin Rogers Pope John Paul I died only 33 days into his Pontificate (August 26, 1978 - September 28, 1978). It was one of the shortest reigns in the annals of the papacy. The official cause of death was myocardial infarction (a heart attack). But there was a great deal of confusion in the details of his sudden death, and many were crying - murder! The "Smiling Pope," as he was affectionately called was born Albino Luciani on October 17, 1912 near Belluno, Italy. He was ordained in 1935, made Bishop in 1958 and became patriarch of Venice in 1969. He received his cardinal's hat in 1973. He was a staunch believer in ecumenism and the reduction of Church wealth.

He was warm, humble and had no aspirations for the papacy. After Pope Paul VI died, Luciani was elected on the second day of the Conclave in 1978. He refused to wear the papal tiara or to be carried in the gestatorial chair. He was praised as a liberal reformer who read Mark Twain. He was on a mission to reverse the Church's position on contraception, cleaning up the Vatican bank and dismissing many Masonic cardinals. A word here about the Masonic cardinals: The P-2 Lodge, as it was called, was founded in 1877 to provide for provincial Freemasons - known as Propaganda Due (P-2). It became a secret lodge in 1970 to recruit men of right-wing persuasion to prevent a Communist takeover. It was involved in a financial scandal and its offices were raided and membership lists were found. Many heads of the Italian State services, government officials, police chiefs, businessmen, journalists etc. were listed. This organization was disbanded but still operated secretly. In fact, they are still operating within Vatican circles to this very day. Many Roman clerics were hostile towards Luciani.

It was rumored he was deliberately elected by cardinals keeping secrets that he was too weak to bother them and his health would cause him to die prematurely in office. However, to the surprise and consternation of those very same cardinals, Pope John Paul I immediately investigated the Vatican Bank and wanted to clean house of any prominent prelates who were Freemasons. He was about to make a series of dismissals and new appointments and remove those accused of financial and other misdeeds. All this has been construed as a motive for his murder. The Vatican Bank Scandal: The Vatican Bank (or The Institute for Works of Religion - IOR), was personally owned and operated by the Pope and made loans to religious projects all over the world. It was discovered that the bank exploited its high status and engaged in risky speculation and illegal schemes, including money laundering. Money was invested with Robert Calvi, head of the bank in Milan. He was eventually convicted for currency fraud in 1981 - (over $1.3 billion dollars was missing from bank funds). Calvi fled to England where he was found dead, hanging from a bridge in London. Another participant in the scandal was Michele Sindona, an advisor to Pope Paul VI.

Sindona was poisoned in 1986 in his prison cell. This sordid financial fraud also was linked with the Masons, the Mafia, arms dealers, political kickbacks and monies funneled through the CIA to support Solidarity in Poland. Source: Gregory Christiano Added by: Kevin Rogers Pope John Paul I died in September 1978, only a month after his election to the papacy. The timing of his death and the Vatican’s alleged difficulties with ceremonial and legal death procedures have fostered several conspiracy theories. British author David Yallop in 1984 wrote the book In God’s Name suggested that John Paul I died because he was about to uncover financial scandals allegedly involving the Vatican. John Cornwell responded to Yallop’s charges in 1987 with A Thief In The Night, in which he analyzed the various allegations and denied the conspiracy. According to Eugene Kennedy, writing for the New York Times, Cornwell’s book “helps to purge the air of paranoia and of conspiracy theories, showing how the truth, carefully excavated by an able journalist in a refreshing volume, does make us free.” Was Pope John Paul I murdered? John Julius Norwich's burning question...

| Daily Mail Online Was Pope John Paul I murdered? John Julius Norwich's burning question... A sealed bed chamber. An archbishop with links to the Mafia. An embalming carried out with indecent-improper-haste... 'The clear impression was that the Vatican was anxious to conceal evidence,' said John Julius Norwich On 26 August 1978, Cardinal Albino Luciani was elected Pope on only the fourth ballot, taking the name of John Paul I. He came from near Belluno, some 80 miles north of Venice, his father passing much of his working life as a seasonal worker – bricklayer and electrician – in Switzerland. Luciani had been Bishop of Vittorio Veneto, and subsequently for nine years Patriarch of Venice; he was however little known outside Italy, and it was a matter of considerable surprise that the 111 voting cardinals – of whom only 27 were Italian – should have chosen him so quickly. The English cardinal Basil Hume had an explanation: ‘Seldom have I had such an experience of the presence of God… I am not one for whom the dictates of the Holy Spirit are self-evident.

I’m slightly hard-boiled on that… But for me he was God’s candidate.’ Just 33 days later, on Thursday, September 28, the Pope sat down to dinner in his Vatican apartment with his two secretaries, the Italian Father Diego Lorenzi and the Irishman Father John Magee. It was a simple meal – clear soup, veal, fresh beans and salad. The secretaries had a glass of wine each; the Pope drank only water. When it was over, the three briefly watched a news programme; then, soon after nine, John Paul I retired for the night, setting his old wind-up alarm clock for the hour at which he normally rose, 4.30am. The next morning at exactly that time a nun named Sister Vincenza carried a flask of coffee to his study, as she had done every day for 20 years since his time in Vittorio Veneto, knocking at his bedroom door and bidding him good morning. Most unusually, there was no reply. A quarter of an hour later she returned and knocked again. Still no sound. By now seriously alarmed, she gingerly opened the door.

There was the Pope sitting up in bed, wearing his spectacles and with some sheets of paper clutched in his hand. She felt his pulse. There was none; the wrist was icy cold. Panic-stricken, she rushed to wake Lorenzi and Magee, who immediately telephoned the Secretary of State, Cardinal Jean Villot, in his apartment two floors below. Villot took matters in hand. It was now 5am. First he telephoned two or three of his senior colleagues; then he called the papal morticians and embalmers, the Signoracci brothers, telling them that an official car would be leaving at once to collect them and bring them to the Vatican. Finally, having forbidden any of those present to say a word to anyone until he gave them permission, he summoned the deputy head of the Vatican’s health service, Dr Renato Buzzonetti. Buzzonetti had no idea of the Pope’s medical history; as he himself admitted, ‘the first time I saw him in a doctor/patient relationship he was dead’. Nevertheless, after the most cursory of external examinations he unhesitatingly diagnosed a heart attack, putting the time of death at about 11pm.

Meanwhile Father Lorenzi, despite Villot’s strictures, telephoned John Paul I’s personal doctor, Giuseppe da Ros, in Venice. Astonished and horrified, da Ros jumped into his car and headed for Rome. He later declared that he had given the Pope, aged 65, a thorough examination as recently as the previous Saturday, and had reported to Lorenzi: ‘Non sta bene, ma benone’ – ‘He’s not well, he’s very well.’ Pope John Paul I's body lies in state in St Peter's Basilica, 1978. The behaviour of the authorities made a striking contrast to the way that the deaths of his predecessors had been handled for a century and more Such are the bare facts of the Pope’s death and the discovery of the body. Why, however, over the next 24 hours, were so many suspicions aroused? First of all, Villot had behaved very strangely. He had instantly pocketed the bottle of pills – Effortil – that the Pope took for his low blood pressure, together with his spectacles, his slippers, and the papers from his study desk. None of these were ever seen again.

The Secretary of State had also ordered the whole papal apartment – all 19 rooms of it – to be cleared of all John Paul I’s possessions; by six that evening there was no trace of the dead Pope anywhere to be seen. The apartment was then sealed until the arrival of his successor. That same evening – little more than 12 hours after its discovery – the Signoracci brothers returned to embalm the body. The clear impression – as the Italian press was not slow to emphasise – was that the Vatican was anxious to conceal evidence; and the case against it was strengthened by its categorical refusal to permit any kind of post-mortem. Buzzonetti’s diagnosis was simply not acceptable: a British heart specialist is quoted as saying: ‘For a doctor, any doctor, to diagnose myocardial infarction as the cause of death (when he does not know the patient extremely well) is wrong… He is taking a very grave risk and he certainly would not be entitled to take such a risk and make such a diagnosis in this country.

Such a diagnosis can only be given after an autopsy.’ It should be remembered, too, that John Paul I was a lifetime non-smoker, that he drank seldom and sparingly, and that he had a long history of low blood pressure. Anyone less likely to succumb to a sudden, fatal heart attack can hardly be imagined. How Pope John Paul I's death was reported in Corriere Della Sera. The headline reads: 'His smile lasted only 33 days' The Vatican tried to plead that post-mortems for popes were forbidden, which was untrue – they were performed on Pius VIII and Clement XIV for a start – and over the next few days several other official statements were similarly disproved. It was asserted, for example, that the body had been found by Magee rather than by Sister Vincenza; that the Pope had been reading Thomas à Kempis’s Imitation Of Christ; and that he had had a long history of heart trouble (of which his medical history had never revealed the slightest trace). The first two of these claims are not important; they were clearly fabricated simply to improve the image.

The last, however, can have been intended only to confirm Buzzonetti’s diagnosis and so make a post-mortem seem unnecessary. One wonders, too, why the embalmers were called at 5am. Was Villot hoping to persuade them to do their job on the spot? To the Italian press it was clear the Vatican had for some reason lost its head. The Pope’s death had admittedly come as a surprise; but the subsequent behaviour of the authorities made a striking contrast to the way that the deaths of his predecessors had been handled for a century and more, when the public announcements and funeral arrangements had always been detailed, dignified and unhurried. No wonder the Corriere Della Sera, the Roman Il Tempo and their fellows started asking awkward questions, to which the Vatican’s L’Osservatore Romano could only bluster in reply. So far we have established that John Paul I’s death had many suspicious circumstances; we have said nothing of motive. Why should anyone have wished to kill this gentle, smiling man, who seemed to overflow with genuine kindness and piety? Many reasons have been suggested.

Some of them accuse leading figures in the Church hierarchy – including Villot himself, several other members of the Papal Curia and even Cardinal Cody, the notoriously corrupt Archbishop of Chicago – who with good reason suspected that they were about to be dismissed, transferred or demoted. We now know that John Paul I, who despite his mild appearance never lacked courage, had been appalled at the inefficiency – and worse – in the way that the Vatican was conducting its affairs and had determined to clear out the stables; and that there was more than one highly placed churchman who would have been only too relieved to see him out of the way. Had any of those men really wished to do the job himself, he would have found it easy enough; the Vatican has no police force – the Italian police may enter its territory only if invited, which they weren’t. Moreover the Vatican’s own newspaper had actually published an illustrated map of the Papal Apartments on September 3. It is surely not too naive to doubt that any man of God would go as far as murder.

There were others, however, who had just as strong a motive and for whom murder was a way of life: principally the Mafia, which was almost certainly behind a financial racket involving the Banco Ambrosiano of Milan, and, unfortunately, the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, better known as the Vatican Bank, the president of which was an American of Lithuanian extraction, Archbishop Paul Marcinkus. The fact that Marcinkus was born in the Chicago suburb of Cicero, where Al Capone had his headquarters, should obviously not be held against him; despite his many years in Rome, however, he had retained the image of a golf-playing, cigar-chewing American tough guy, which had singularly failed to endear him to his colleagues. ‘You can’t run a Church on Hail Marys’, he used to say; he certainly ran the bank – and a good many quite unrelated companies as well, one of which made the contraceptive pill – with firm efficiency.

He also maintained close contacts with Sicilian Mafioso banker Michele Sindona – with whom he was fellow director of a bank in the Bahamas, and who in 1980 was sentenced in New York to 25 years’ imprisonment on 65 counts, including fraud – and the chairman of the Banco Ambrosiano (the ‘Priests’ Bank’) Roberto Calvi, whose body was found in June 1982 hanging under Blackfriars Bridge. The details of the activities of these men are far too long and complicated to go into here; but John Paul I, who had a remarkably good head for figures and could read a balance sheet like a thriller, was hot on their trail. He had already discovered – and revealed to the world – one nasty financial scandal in Vittorio Veneto; if he were allowed to remain, it was only a question of time before many more guilty heads would roll. In short, there was plenty of motive for murder; plenty of opportunity; and plenty of suspicious circumstances. That is all we can say. There is absolutely no conclusive proof of anything untoward, and John Paul I may have died a perfectly natural death.

Those wishing to know more are referred to two remarkable books: In God’s Name by David Yallop, who believes the worst, and A Thief in the Night by John Cornwell, for whom this is all just another baseless conspiracy theory. Both are the results of deep and meticulous research, yet they reach diametrically opposite conclusions. The mystery remains. ‘The Popes: A History’ by John Julius Norwich is published by Chatto & Windus, priced at £25

Question: Who was Pope for only 33 days in 1978?
Answer: John Paul I