The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia (32 page)

BOOK: The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia
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As further proof that business as usual has persisted at the Vatican
during John Paul II's reign, the Daily Telegraph, London's respected
newspaper, ran an article on November 19, 2001, that identified the
Vatican Bank-along with banks in "cut out" countries such as Mauritius, Macao, Nauru, and Luxembourg-as being one of the major
places in the world for laundering underworld cash.8

John Paul II, throughout one of the longest pontificates in ecclesiastical history, has remained remarkably immune from widespread
criticism. As scandal gives way to scandal, too many investigative
reporters and news commentators refuse to take the pope to task, not
even to question his judgment in allowing the money changers to
remain in the holy temple. Nowhere is this fact more apparent than
in the biography of the Polish pope by Carl Bernstein and Marco
Politi. The very title of the work, His Holiness: John Paul II and the
History of Our Time, betrays the obsequiousness of the authors
before their exalted subject. Throughout the lengthy text, Bernstein
and Politic, two of the world's leading journalists, never seek to investigate the nagging question of the pope's "lost years"; never make
reference to Sindona, Calvi, or Gelli; never press for information
about the Ambrosiano affair and the Sicilian connection; and never
make mention of Archbishop Paul Marcinkus and the Vatican Bank.

The accounts in these pages are not exaggerations and have not
been subjected to editorial amplification for popular consumption.
They are matters of recorded history. They have been captured on
camera and kept as evidence in crime labs, police files, and even
Holocaust museums. They have been documented by leading historians and journalists, such as Richard Hammer, David Yallop, Claire
Sterling, Nick Tosches, and John Cornwell. They have been broadcast by reporters and news commentators throughout the world even
though the matters have not captured the major attention of the
media. Such matters cannot be treated as matters of no substance or
importance. They have impacted all aspects of life-moral, spiritual,
political, and economic-at the turn of the twenty-first century.

In 1977, shortly before his death, Pope Paul VI said: "The smoke
of Satan has entered the Church. It is around the altar."9 When did Satan enter the holy sanctuary of the Roman Catholic Church? When
did the gates of heaven fail to prevail against him? Some say he
entered with the signing of the Lateran Treaty on February 22, 1929.
Others say this occurred at a much earlier date-on a bright October
morning in 312, when Miltiades, the old and feeble bishop of Rome,
knelt before the Roman Emperor Constantine to receive the title of
Pontifex Maximus and the promise of riches beyond measure.

 

St. Peter (32-67c.E.)

St. Linus (67-76)

St. Anacletus (Cletus) (76-88)

St. Clement I (88-97)

St. Evaristus (97-105)

St. Alexander I (105-115)

St. Sixtus I (115-125)-also called
Xystus I

St. Telesphorus (125-136)

St. Hyginus (136-140)

St. Pius I (140-155)

St. Anicetus (155-166)

St. Soter (166-175)

St. Eleutherius (175-189)

St. Victor I (189-199)

St. Zephyrinus (199-217)

St. Callistus I (217-222)

St. Urban I (222-230)

St. Pontain (230-235)

St. Anterus (235-236)

St. Fabian (236-250)

St. Cornelius (251-253)

St. Lucius I (253-254)

St. Stephen I (254-257)

St. Sixtus II (257-258)

St. Dionysius (260-268)

St. Felix I (269-274)

St. Eutychian (275-283)

St. Caius (283-296)-also called
Gaius

St. Marcellinus (296-304)

St. Marcellus I (308-309)

St. Eusebius (309 or 310)

St. Miltiades (311-314)

St. Sylvester I (314-335)

St. Marcus (336)

St. Julius I (337-352)

Liberius (352-366)

St. Damasus I (366-383)

St. Siricius (384-399)

St. Anastasius I (399-401)

St. Innocent I (401-417)

St. Zosimus (417-418)

St. Boniface I (418-422)

St. Celestine I (422-432)

St. Sixtus III (432-440)

St. Leo I (the Great) (440-461)

St. Hilarius (461-468)

St. Simplicius (468-483)

St. Felix III (II) (483-492)

St. Gelasius I (492-496)

Anastasius 11 (496-498)

St. Symmachus (498-514)

St. Hormisdas (514-523)

St. John I (523-526)

St. Felix IV (III) (526-530)

Boniface II (530-532)

John 11 (533-535)

St. Agapetus I (535-536)-also
called Agapitus I

St. Silverius (536-537)

Vigilius (537-555)

Pelagius I (556-561)

John III (561-574)

Benedict I (575-579)

Pelagius II (579-590)

St. Gregory I (the Great) (590-
604)

Sabinian (604-606)

Boniface III (607)

St. Boniface IV (608-615)

St. Deusdedit (Adeodatus I) (615-
618)

Boniface V (619-625)

Honorius 1 (625-638)

Severinus (640)

John IV (640-642)

Theodore I (642-649)

St. Martin I (649-655)

St. Eugene I (655-657)

St. Vitalian (657-672)

Adeodatus (II) (672-676)

Donus (676-678)

St. Agatho (678-681)

St. Leo II (682-683)

St. Benedict II (684-685)

John V (685-686)

Conon (686-687)

St. Sergius I (687-701)

John VI (701-705)

John VII (705-707)

Sisinnius (708)

Constantine (708-715)

St. Gregory II (715-731)

St. Gregory III (731-741)

St. Zachary (741-752)

Stephen 11 (752)

Stephen III (752-757)

St. Paul I (757-767)

Stephen IV (767-772)

Adrian I (772-795)

St. Leo III (795-816)

Stephen V (816-817)

St. Paschal I (817-824)

Eugene II (824-827)

Valentine (827)

Gregory IV (827-844)

Sergius II (844-847)

St. Leo IV (847-855)

Benedict III (855-858)

St. Nicholas I (the Great) (858-
867)

Adrian 11 (867-872)

John VIII (872-882)

Marinus I (882-884)

St. Adrian III (884-885)

Stephen VI (885-891)

Formosus (891-896)

Boniface VI (896)

Stephen VII (896-897)

Romanus (897)

Theodore II (897)

John IX (898-900)

Benedict IV (900-903)

Leo V (903)

Sergius III (904-911)

Anastasius III (911-913)

Lando (913-914)

John X (914-928)

Leo VI (928)

Stephen VIII (929-931)

John XI (931-935)

Leo VII (936-939)

Stephen IX (939-942)

Marinus II (942-946)

Agapetus 11 (946-955)

John XII (955-963)

Leo VIII (963-964)

Benedict V (964)

John XIII (965-972)

Benedict VI (973-974)

Benedict VII (974-983)

John XIV (983-984)

John XV (985-996)

Gregory V (996-999)

Sylvester 11 (999-1003)

John XVII (1003)

John XVIII (1003-1009)

Sergius IV (1009-1012)

Benedict VIII (1012-1024)

John XIX (1024-1032)

Benedict IX (1032-1045)

Sylvester III (1045)

Benedict IX (1045)

Gregory VI (1045-1046)

Clement II (1046-1047)

Benedict IX (1047-1048)

Damasus II (1048)

St. Leo IX (1049-1054)

Victor II (1055-1057)

Stephen X (1057-1058)

Nicholas II (1058-1061)

Alexander II (1061-1073)

St. Gregory VII (1073-1085)

Blessed Victor III (1086-1087)

Blessed Urban II (1088-1099)

Paschal II (1099-1118)

Gelasius II (1118-1119)

Callistus II (1119-1124)

Honorius II (1124-1130)

Innocent II (1130-1143)

Celestine II (1143-1144)

Lucius 11 (1144-1145)

Blessed Eugene III (1145-1153)

Anastasius IV (1153-1154)

Adrian IV (1154-1159)

Alexander III (1159-1181)

Lucius III (1181-1185)

Urban III (1185-1187)

Gregory VIII (1187)

Clement III (1187-1191)

Celestine III (1191-1198)

Innocent III (1198-1216)

Honorius III (1216-1227)

Gregory IX (1227-1241)

Celestine IV (1241)

Innocent IV (1243-1254)

Alexander IV (1254-1261)

Urban IV (1261-1264)

Clement IV (1265-1268)

Blessed Gregory X (1271-1276)

Blessed Innocent V (1276)

Adrian V (1276)

John XXI (1276-1277)

Nicholas III (1277-1280)

Martin IV (1281-1285)

Honorius IV (1285-1287)

Nicholas IV (1288-1292)

St. Celestine V (1294)

Boniface VIII (1294-1303)

Blessed Benedict XI (1303-1304)

Clement V (1305-1314)

John XXII (1316-1334)

Benedict XII (1334-1342)

Clement VI (1342-1352)

Innocent VI (1352-1362)

Blessed Urban V (1362-1370)

Gregory XI (1370-1378)

Urban VI (1378-1389)

Boniface IX (1389-1404)

Innocent VII (1406-1406)

Gregory XII (1406-1415)

Martin V (1417-1431)

Eugene IV (1431-1447)

Nicholas V (1447-1455)

Callistus III (1455-1458)

Pius II (1458-1464)

Paul II (1464-1471)

Sixtus IV (1471-1484)

Innocent VIII (1484-1492)

Alexander VI (1492-1503)

Pius III (1503)

Julius II (1503-1513)

Leo X (1513-1521)

Adrian VI (1522-1523)

Clement VII (1523-1534)

Paul III (1534-1549)

Julius III (1550-1555)

Marcellus 11 (1555)

Paul IV (1555-1559)

Pius IV (1559-1565)

St. Pius V (1566-1572)

Gregory XIII (1572-1585)

Sixtus V (1585-1590)

Urban VII (1590)

Gregory XIV (1590-1591)

Innocent IX (1591)

Clement VIII (1592-1605)

Leo XI (1605)

Paul V (1605-1621)

Gregory XV (1621-1623)

Urban VIII (1623-1644)

Innocent X (1644-1655)

Alexander VII (1655-1667)

Clement IX (1667-1669)

Clement X (1670-1676)

Blessed Innocent XI (1676-1689)

Alexander VIII (1689-169 1)

Innocent XII (1691-1700)

Clement XI (1700-1721)

Innocent XIII (1721-1724)

Benedict XIII (1724-1730)

Clement XII (1730-1740)

Benedict XIV (1740-1758)

Clement XIII (1758-1769)

Clement XIV (1769-1774)

Pius VI (1775-1799)

Pius VII (1800-1823)

Leo XII (1823-1829)

Pius VIII (1829-1830)

Gregory XVI (1831-1846)

Blessed Pius IX (1846-1878)

Leo XIII (1878-1903)

St. Pius X (1903-1914)

Benedict XV (1914-1922)

Pius XI (1922-1939)

Pius XII (1939-1958)

Blessed John XXIII (1958-1963)

Paul VI (1963-1978)

John Paul I (1978)

John Paul 11 (1978- )

 

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