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CHAPTER IX JOHN PAUL I, VICTIM POPE
OPE Paul VI died on August 6, 1978. The day before his departure for Rome, where he was to take part in the conclave, Cardinal Luciani took a stroll through the alleys of Venice’s deprived districts. Some children shouted merrily: «Look! Look! There goes the next Pope!» The Cardinal smiled and answered: «Oh no! It won’t be me, it will be someone else. Let’s say a Hail Mary together for him.1» The episode is worthy of the fioretti of Saint Pius X2. Despite his denials, Cardinal Luciani must have felt, in the circumstances, that truth comes from the mouth of children, at least, that is, if he had learned through his conversation with Sister Lucy (as everything seems to prove) that he would become Pope. In Rome, on August 10, the Patriarch of Venice and his secretary Don Diego Lorenzi took lodgings in the International College of the Augustinians, situated in the Via di Sant’ Uffizio, not far from the colonnade in Saint Peter’s Square. He mingled discreetly among the community of friars as though he were nothing but a humble brother. In the mornings he made his way to the general congregations of the cardinals. «He did everything he could to keep out of the limelight», Cardinal Gouyon would attest3. In the afternoons he kept away from the consultations of the cardinals preparatory to the conclave. He would retire to the Augustinians, there to prepare the retreat lectures he was shortly to preach to the Venetian clergy. Then he would go for a private walk in the college gardens, saying his breviary. Sometimes he would stop for a friendly chat with the octogenarian brother-gardener, Franceschino. Finally he would sit down on an old bench to say his Rosary. Hiding deep within himself the graces he was receiving, Cardinal
Luciani did not disclose all those he was obtaining through the prayer of
the Holy Rosary. Nevertheless he did confide, «If one knows how, the
Rosary becomes a gaze directed towards Mary which gradually grows in
intensity as one says it… It helps us to abandon ourselves to God, to
accept suffering with generosity.4» «AFFLICTED WITH SUFFERING AND PAIN» The Patriarch could not think about the conclave and all the difficulties Paul VI’s successor would encounter without being seized with dread. One day, in the Vatican, a Venetian who worked in the security services said to him as their paths crossed, «Eminence, allow me to offer you my best wishes for the conclave. – How do you mean? That proves you wish me ill. – On the contrary… At the 1958 conclave, Cardinal Roncalli said, “None of you desires to become Pope, but one of you must accept the position.”» The Patriarch answered him, his face visibly grave, «If that was what was needed to get into Paradise, one might just about accept it.5» On August 22, during a friendly conversation, Senator Lino Innocenti di Conegliano informed him that journalists were predicting that he would be the choice of the Sacred College. The Patriarch protested, declaring that «this report was baseless and that, if it were confirmed at the conclave, it would be a tragedy for him»6. The day before the conclave opened, on Thursday, August 24, Cardinal Thiandoum invited him to dine with him at the Madri Pie Sisters in the Via Alcide De Gasperi. «The prognosis», the Archbishop of Dakar told him, «is that the Sacred College could well vote for you. – That’s no business of mine», the Patriarch replied, becoming preoccupied and pensive7. That day he hastily wrote several notes. To Doctor Gianni Urbani he wrote: «Even though, in the final analysis, it is the Lord who guides the Church, it is particularly important that the Vicar of Christ be a true man of God. To play a part in choosing him by one’s vote, to point one’s finger at someone and say to the Lord, “Take him”, is a great responsibility which fills me with awe. Fortunately I am confident that I will not be that person, despite several “tales” put about by journalists. “All that is pure conspiracy”, Pius X would have said.8» «I don’t know how long the conclave will last», he remarked to his niece Pia Luciani. «It’s difficult to find someone capable of facing so many problems, problems that will become truly heavy crosses. Happily I am out of danger. Casting one’s vote in such circumstances has already become a heavy responsibility.9» «Reading these lines», his niece would state, «I readily grasped his anxiety and his fear. The fear of one who knows that, in all probability, it is he who will be elected.10» «His insistent claim that he was “out of danger”», remarks Regina Kummer, «seems to have been a way of easing his mind, an attempt to free himself from the anguish gripping him. If he had really had no belief in the possibility of his being elected, why would he have seen it as a danger?» If he had thought it was totally out of the question that he might be elected, it would not have occupied his mind with such an intensity. «No, he was not “out of danger”. On the contrary, the danger was imminent. He knew it, or at least envisaged it, and he sought to conceal his feelings from all those who were close to him.11» The conclave opened on Friday, August 25, 1978, late in the afternoon. When the Patriarch set off for the Vatican, Don Diego said to him, «Eminence, tomorrow, at this hour, you will already have received a great many votes. – At any rate, if they make me Pope, I will refuse… I will tell them, “My dear Cardinals, I am very sorry but you must choose someone else.”12» After the opening ceremony, the Patriarch passed with a heavy tread along the corridor of the loggia on the Vatican’s second floor, his Rosary in his hand13. The next day, at the second ballot, the cardinals’ votes swung behind him in great numbers. «Around 4 o’clock in the afternoon, as I was going to the Sistine Chapel for the third vote», Cardinal Malula would relate, «I met Patriarch Luciani. I embraced him because the way the conclave was going already showed that something was afoot. He said to me, “Tempestas magna est super me. A great storm is over my head.”14» At the count for the fourth ballot, he «became very pale»15 as his share of the vote increased. «Several times», recounts one prelate, «I saw him clasp his face in his hands.16» His colleague on his right, Cardinal Willebrands, whispered in his ear, «Courage! When the Lord gives a burden to carry, He also gives the grace to bear its weight.» As for his colleague on his left, Patriarch Ribeiro from Lisbon, he whispered to him, «Don’t be afraid. There are so many people throughout the world praying for the new Pope.17» «As his election grew ever more likely», Cardinal Deardon remarked, «his face became more strained. After that he displayed a kind of resignation and even a great serenity.18» Cardinal Pericle Felici came up to the Patriarch and handed him an envelope: «A message for the new Pope. – Thank you, but it is not certain yet.» Discovering in the envelope a small Way of the Cross, the Patriarch added that he hoped that Cardinal Felici might help him through Rome’s hazardous paths by becoming his Simon of Cyrene: «The way of the Popes is marked by the Cross. Help this poor Vicar of Christ to carry the Cross. Help him to ascend Calvary, for the good of the Church, the good of souls and the good of mankind.19» The counting of the fourth ballot was over. Albino Luciani had been elected Pope, almost unanimously. One cardinal exclaimed, «Et exaltavit humiles. And God has exalted the humble.20» There then came to him the idea of taking the name Pius XIII. He had a great veneration for Saint Pius X and he knew, as he sometimes reminded his close associates, that the Popes named Pius had been those who had had the greatest sufferings. But he abandoned this idea because he was afraid, as he would later confide, that «certain groups in the Church would take advantage of this choice»21. Around 6:20 p.m., having taken the name of John Paul I, he appeared on the balcony of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Thousands of the faithful, who had hastened to the square, were moved, struck and even in some cases overwhelmed by the strength of his feelings and his lovely smile. «The enduring memory is of that smile», writes David Yallop. «It touched the very soul […]. After the gloom and the agonizing of Paul VI, the contrast was an extraordinary shock. As the new Pope intoned the blessing Urbi et Orbi to the city and the world, the effect was similar to a burst of bright dazzling sun after an eternity of dark days.22» «John Paul I’s smile», observed Raimondo Manzini, «revealed the man. It was the expression of his gentleness, his goodness, his unalterable simplicity. It was a smile that was virtually inexplicable, reeling as he was under the emotion of having received such an awe-inspiring responsibility, an emotion that tore through his soul like a subterranean flood of anxiety, but a flood that his faith, humility and confidence in the assistance of the Almighty succeeded wonderfully in calming.23» On August 27, 1978, in his first message to Catholics throughout the world, John Paul I confessed his fears and anxieties: «Our soul is still overwhelmed when we think of the terrifying ministry for which we have been chosen. Like Peter we seem to have stepped out on to the perilous waters and, battered by the raging waves, we have cried out with him, “Lord, save me.” (Mt 14:30)» But he regained his confidence as he raised his eyes towards the Immaculate: «The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of the Apostles, will be the resplendent star of Our pontificate.» In this same speech we can already discern what was to become his ultimate testament: «The Gospel invites all its sons to place their personal energies, and even their very lives, at the service of their brothers, in the name of Christ’s love: “No greater love is there than to give one’s life for those one loves.” (Jn 15:13) At this solemn moment We wish to consecrate everything We are, and everything of which We are capable, to this supreme end, right up to Our last breath, conscious of the task that Christ has entrusted to Us: “Confirm thy brethren.” (Lk 22:32)24» Several days later, when he granted an audience to members of his family, he appeared completely calm and revealed his truly supernatural spirit: «Our Lord will come to Our aid, precisely because I have done nothing to attain this position. So I am at peace. You also should be.25» Nevertheless, he knew he was destined for martyrdom, or so at least we may presume. Several of his replies or private remarks clearly seem to be reminiscences of the mysterious prophecy that Sister Lucy had made to him. Cardinal Sin, one of his neighbours in the conclave, had declared to him at the opening of the third ballot, «I am sure it is you who will be the new Pope.» Once he had been elected, John Paul I said to him, «You were a prophet, but my papacy will be short.26» The day after his election, he had a conversation with his friend,
Cardinal Felici: «I have placed on my table the Way of the Cross you
offered me», he confided to him. «It has already begun.» The Cardinal
remarked that at the top of the little Via crucis could be seen the
risen Christ in triumph, to which John Paul I replied, «Indeed, but only
after His death.27» In his official speech to the Sacred College, on August 30, had he not declared, «We would like to reaffirm, along with you all, a readiness to be totally open to the inspirations of the Spirit for the good of the Church, which each of us, at the time of his elevation to the cardinals’ purple, promised to serve “even to the shedding of his blood”.» And he reminded the cardinals of Our Lord’s words pronounced on the dark night of His Passion: «Take heart, I have conquered the world.» (Jn 16:33) Clearly John Paul I was going to be a sacrificial Pope. Regina Kummer writes, «John Paul I was himself to be the victim, just as a grain of wheat can only yield its fruit by dying. We should not be surprised that he sometimes asked in distress and amazement, “Why did they elect me? They should have chosen another prelate, one better equipped than I am.” But in God’s eyes, he was better equipped than any other for the mission for which he was destined, he and only he: to die like a divine seed and to bear fruit.28» The Roman prelate who had the job of guiding him inside the Vatican was charmed by his goodnaturedness, but also by the pious invocations that sprang from his heart. «When I went to fetch him in his private apartment to escort him to an audience or to a ceremony», he recounts, «he would always ask me, “Where are you taking me?” Then he would add smilingly, “Take me wherever you want!” And often I head him murmuring, “Be Thou my guide, O Lord!”29» From the day after his election, John Paul I began resolutely to fulfil all the duties of his office. Msgr. Giuseppe Caprio, Substitute of the Secretariat of State, remembers the new Pope’s first telephone call, on Sunday, August 27. «My telephone rang and John Paul I told me in a firm voice, “This is the Pope here.” I was surprised by the determination and conviction with which he had pronounced these words: he was asking me to go up to the papal apartments. After that we saw each other two or three times a day. We worked together. I used to sit next to him, I would submit files to him, and he would make decisions. He was determined that his directives and orders should be followed. “If anyone makes difficulties for you”, he would say to me, “point out that it is the Pope who wants it.”30» Twenty-four hours after his election, on August 27, the Holy Father took his first decisions regarding the Vatican finances. David Yallop recounts that, having provisionally reinstated Cardinal Villot in his office as Secretary of State, «he instructed him to initiate an investigation immediately. There was to be a review of the entire financial operation of the Vatican; a detailed analysis of every aspect. “No department, no congregation, no section is to be excluded”, Luciani told Villot. He made it clear that he was particularly concerned with the operation of the Istituto per le Opere di Religione, the Institute for Religious Works, generally known as the Vatican Bank. The financial review was to be done discreetly, quickly and completely.31» The following day, when Msgr. Martin, Prefect of the Pontifical House, presented himself to John Paul I, he noticed that the latter was in the middle of devoutly saying his Rosary32. After his audience, Msgr. Martin noted in his diary, «The Pope is not taken in by popular acclamations. He remembers those which greeted Pius IX in 1846: “And after that came the crosses! For me the first of them have already arrived”.33» «The first thing he asks for», remarked Cardinal Confalonieri, Dean of the Sacred College, «is prayers, prayers that he might worthily accomplish his mission.» To the Superior General of the Jesuits the Holy Father wrote on August 30, «I send you and the whole Society of Jesus my thanks for your warm words and especially for the Masses and the prayers that you have said that the Lord may come to the poor Pope’s aid and allow him to tackle all the hard work and terrible problems lying in wait for him.34» On September 3, the Feast of Saint Pius X and the day of the solemn inauguration of his own pontificate, before the ceremonies began, John Paul I spent a long time in prayer in the Crypt of the Vatican Basilica, in front of the tomb of Saint Peter, below the Altar of the Confession, just as Saint Pius X had done at the same moment of his election in order to calm the horrible tumult of his soul. Everyone was waiting for him. Cardinal Felici approached and whispered in his ear the liturgical greeting, «May the Lord make you happy on this earth!” To which this holy Pope, regaining his composure and spirit of adoration, smilingly replied, “Yes, happy on the outside, but if only you knew, Eminence what I am feeling on the inside!35» John Paul I similarly opened his soul to Msgr. Pierre Canisius van Lierde, his Vicar General for Vatican City: «I want to let you into a secret. You see, Monseigneur, I’m always smiling but, believe me, deep down I’m suffering.36» And so, from the beginning of his pontificate, John Paul I found himself, as in the vision of the Third Secret of Fatima, «afflicted with pain and sorrow». In his biography of John Paul I, published in 1988, twelve years before the Secret was revealed, Regina Kummer wrote in a wonderfully apposite manner: «The smile of the “smiling Pope” was not a happy smile, contrary to what one might think, but a heroic smile, illumined by Christ. He was called to tread the way of the Cross, in accordance with the divine decree.» Now that Sister Lucy’s manuscript has been published, we can state that this “decree” had been recorded in the Third Secret. «John Paul I continued along his path, docile to the divine will.
Humbly accepting its plans, he found in the Cross his true and authentic
joy. Smiling, he climbed Calvary during those thirty-three days; smiling,
he drank the chalice of his passion. He knew himself to be in the hands of
the Father and the instrument of His designs. What a seismic upheaval this
soul had to undergo!37» AN INSPIRED CONCLAVE Very early on the Abbé de Nantes had a presentiment of John Paul I’s special vocation. In his editorial, “Another Saint Pius X without knowing it”, published on September 3, 1978, he wrote: «As the 263rd successor of Saint Peter, he becomes Pope one hundred years after the death of Pius IX, seventy-five years after the election of Pius X, and twenty years after the death of Pius XII and the beginning of the Church’s great tribulation – twenty years of decadence under the names of John and Paul, the very names chosen by the new Pontiff. «Signs? portents? Malachy calls him de medietate lunae. The half moon is the symbol of Venice, the gateway to the East, from whence he comes. But one should rather interpret it: from the split in the Church. A sign of woe. Whoever lives shall see. Here is something more serious though. At the very hour in which the Pope was elected, there took place the first showing of the Holy Shroud in Turin, the exhibition of the Holy Face of Jesus Crucified, the memorial of His Passion and the proof of His Resurrection, in the presence of 80,000 people. The Pope is our “sweet Christ on earth”, he is sometimes another Crucified One, like Saint Peter. Whoever lives shall see.38» However, above all it was a sense of joy and exhilaration which gripped the Abbé de Nantes and filled his heart the day after the new Pope had been elected. It seemed like the good tidings that he had been awaiting for almost twenty years. Under the title “An Inspired Conclave”, he wrote: «According to the Roman correspondent of the Figaro, “a fair number of cardinals, from the time of their arrival in Rome, had not concealed their desire to elect a Pope capable of continuing the work of clarification demanded by Paul VI at the Consistory of May 1976 and of restoring, if necessary, a little domestic order.” Right from the beginning these cardinals had voted for the Italian candidate recommended to their vote by the Roman cardinals in the Curia39. But the fact that two thirds of the assembly, perhaps even a unanimity40, should have rallied behind him without obstruction, without tumult, is mysterious and indeed quite extraordinary.41» «The conclave had been expected to last a long time», said Cardinal Lorscheider. «However, the habitual opposition between conservatives and progressivists was brushed aside. This was truly down to a providential intervention by the Holy Spirit.42» The Abbé de Nantes continued: «Without denying the College of Cardinals its surprising, indeed amazing merit, one must truly talk of a miracle in connection with this rapid, unanimous conclave and this general satisfaction throughout the whole Church. It is as though the election and the humble appearance of the new Pope had caused a grace of renewal – I was going to say an exorcism – to pass over the world, everyone feeling and showing themselves to be better, happier, more united, and in some manner, liberated. It is though there had been a miraculous conversion of hearts. Msgr. Etchegaray was correct when he spoke of “the massive confidence of the electors and, beyond the conclave, of all Catholics. It is a sign of hope for the Church to see a Pope elected in these conditions.” It is wonderful, it is truly encouraging to think that the cardinals were won over by virtue, even more so by the faith of one of their peers. A faith that is firm, a virtue that is humble and prefers to remain hidden but is all the more visible for that.43» Our Father Superior was overjoyed because he discerned the clear signs of a Catholic renaissance, one that John Paul I was already in the process of implementing. «This Pope, pious and firm in the faith, so good and so gracious, through his appearance alone has restored the heartfelt unity of the Christian people over that which is essential, namely the worship of God, faith in Him, personal piety, and the practice of the virtues, especially fraternal charity. And the Church felt she was coming alive again, freed from the shackles of the postconciliar novelties, the tyranny of the reformist intellectuals and the intolerable demands made by the opening to the world. Was it really so simple after all to be a Catholic? The Pope’s smile showed that it was; it preached that it was a joy, a real happiness. «To the applause of the whole Church, John Paul I was restoring that religion of all time which we had been defending against the tide for twenty years – and openly! – in the face of the all-powerful conciliar and postconciliar revolution.44» The smile, and even happy laugh of John Paul I, occasionally shot through with the keenest emotion, «was not indicative of a joking or carefree attitude. It was a communicative demonstration, an invincible preaching of supernatural faith, hope and charity. Did he not hold up as an example, on September 20, “those joyous and energetic saints” who make us overlook, during the catastrophic periods of the Church, “any over-pessimistic affirmations and tendencies? Saint Thomas Aquinas, for example, ranks iucunditas among the virtues, that is the ability to convert into a joyous smile – in an appropriate manner and degree – what one has seen and heard. In keeping with the joyous news announced by Christ, in keeping with the hilaritas recommended by Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas thus imparted a note of joy to the Christian life and invited us to draw good cheer from the pure, wholesome joys that we encounter on our way.” «John Paul I had hit the nail on the head. Behind all the official declarations of optimism, the faithful could not take any more of the climate of failure and the collapse of the past ten years. They reacted to this smile with a tremendous ovation which reverberated to the four corners of the earth. For this smile, this laugh, were in their own way an affirmation of heroic self-giving, of trust in God, in the Church, in all of us, and of love. «Speaking to his people in Saint John Lateran’s on September 23, he
said, “It is the law of God that one cannot do good to anyone unless one
love him first. That is why Saint Pius X exclaimed on the occasion of his
enthronement in Saint Mark’s, What would become of me, Venetians, if I
did not love you? Well, I say the very same thing to you Romans.”45» THE CATECHIST POPE «It is a remarkable fact», noted the Abbé de Nantes, «and one we should keep in mind in the dark times that will soon be upon us, that the satisfaction manifested by everyone is accompanied by a lucid, premonitory and equally unanimous judgement concerning the person of John Paul I. Everyone knows who the newly elected pope is; he is the man of their choice and they accept him. He is an “enlightened realist”, the opposite of a benighted utopian. “He has the face of an honest man”, wrote the Venice Journal of their new Patriarch in 1969. “He is a wise and saintly man”, today pronounces Cardinal Lercaro. Beneath this smiling face, in this truly lovable holiness which reveals the fervent disciple of Saint Francis de Sales, all have seen, admired, accepted and loved these two major virtues: a doctrinal rigour and unbending morality, tempered by a great kindness towards people and especially the poor.46» The true religion appeared or rather radiated from the gestures, prayers and words of the Holy Father. «I will make few speeches», he had warned. «They will be short and within the grasp of everybody. I will make use of all forms of collaboration, but I wish to write my speeches myself.47» John Paul I was always inclined to improvise, and that is why his allocutions were not exactly the same as those that had been prepared and which appeared the following day in L’Osservatore Romano. He had renounced the use of the sedia gestatoria. But the faithful were disappointed not to be able to see him, especially as John Paul I was of small stature: 1.67 m. So he took it up again from September 13. His public audiences attracted an ever more numerous crowd: there were twenty thousand people on September 27, and on that day the audience had to be held twice. The Pope inspired the humble faithful with enthusiasm by the very style of his allocutions which were peppered with images, anecdotes, memories, aphorisms and parables. «How well he preaches! We can understand everything.» This praise had come from a woman in the crowd, and Cardinal Felici, who had heard it with his own ears, had no difficulty showing how well deserved it was48. The journalist Jean Bourdarias recalled that this type of preaching by a Pope was not unprecedented: «Pius X used to give catechism classes on Sundays in Vatican Square.49» Beginning with his first general audience on Wednesday, September 6,
1978, John Paul I preached on humility. Thus he began to purify the Church
from «the pride of the reformers»50.
«Before God the attitude of the just man is that of Abraham who said: “I am but dust and ashes before Thee, O Lord!” We must see ourselves as small before God. When I say, “Lord, I believe”, I am not at all ashamed of feeling like a little child before his mother; he believes in his mother; and I believe in the Lord, in what He has revealed to me […]. «I am in danger of saying something outrageous, but I will still say it: Our Lord loves humility so dearly that He sometimes permits serious sins. Why? Because those who have committed them and who subsequently repent are humble. One has no wish to see oneself as a little saint or a little angel when one knows that one has committed enormous sins. “Be humble!” That is what Our Lord so strongly recommended to us. Even if you have done great things, you should say, “We are only unprofitable servants.” But, on the contrary, we all have a tendency to put ourselves forward. Be humble, truly humble.51» The audience of September 13, on the Faith, gave a fresh radiance to Catholic truth: «When the poor Pope, when the bishops and the priests teach doctrine, they are merely assisting Jesus. This doctrine does not come from us, it is Christ’s: we are nothing but its guardians, we must simply make it known.52» What judicious reflections in his speeches! What well-chosen stories to enlighten souls of good will. Listen to him replying during this same audience to one of the objections so often trotted out against the Church’s holiness: «If a mother is unwell, if my mother should become lame, I would only love her all the more. It is the same in the Church. If there are defects and shortcomings within her – and there are –, I must not love her any the less for that. «Yesterday I was sent an edition of Citta nuova where there was transcribed a short talk I had given in which I related the story of a British preacher called McNabb who used to talk about the Church in Hyde Park. At the end, someone asked to speak and said, “All that is very well, but I know a Catholic priest who has no time for the poor and who has grown very wealthy. I also know Catholics who have deceived their wives. I don’t like this Church which is made up of sinners.” The Father answered, “There’s something in what you say. But may I make an objection?” – “All right.” – “Excuse me if I am mistaken, but isn’t the collar of your shirt a little dirty?” – “Yes, so what?” – “If it’s dirty, it is either because you didn’t use soap on it, or else because you did use soap but it did no good!” – “It is because I didn’t use soap on it!” – “Ah well! the Catholic Church has an extraordinary soap: the Gospel, the sacraments and prayer. The Gospel read and practised, the sacraments properly celebrated, and prayer well said are a marvellous soap capable of making us all into saints. But we are not all saints, and that is why we have such great need of this soap.”53» His sermon of September 20, on Christian hope, revealed his deep inner joy at knowing himself «swept up in a destiny of salvation that would one day open onto Paradise […]. I would love it if you had read an Easter Sunday sermon of Saint Augustine’s about the alleluia. The true alleluia, he says, will be sung by us in Paradise. It will be the alleluia of a love that is full. Here below we sing the alleluia of a love that remains unsatisfied, an alleluia of hope.54» Finally, on September 27, he continued his truly evangelical teaching by speaking of the third theological virtue, charity, as ever with the same joyous simplicity. «In a word, to love means making a journey, running with all one’s heart towards the object loved. The Imitation of Christ says, “He who loves runs, flies and leaps with joy.” (chapter 42) To love God is therefore to travel with one’s heart towards God. It is a really beautiful journey! When I was a child, I was thrilled by the journeys described by Jules Verne: Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, From The Earth To The Moon, Around The World In Eighty Days, etc. But the journeys of love for God are far more interesting. An account of them can be found in the lives of the Saints. Saint Vincent de Paul, whose feast we celebrate today, for example, is a giant of charity. He loved God more than one loves a father or mother, and he himself became a father for prisoners, the sick, orphans and the poor. Saint Peter Claver signified his total consecration to God by signing himself, “Peter, the slave of the Negroes for ever.” «This journey also involves sacrifice, but this must not hold us back. Jesus is on the cross. Do you want to embrace Him? You cannot do less, then, than to bend over the cross and let yourself be pricked by a thorn from the crown on His head (cf. Saint Francis de Sales, Oeuvres, Annecy, vol. 21, p. 153). You cannot act like that good Saint Peter who boldly exclaimed, “Long live Jesus!” on Mount Thabor where there was joy, but who did not show himself alongside Jesus on Mount Calvary where there was danger and suffering (cf. ibid., vol. 15, p. 140).55» In his catechism instructions, the Holy Father re-taught the humble faithful to believe, to adore, to hope and to love, just as the Angel had done in 1916 for the three shepherd children, preparing the way for the Queen of Heaven. In his address to the clergy of Rome on September 7, he visibly sought to revive in his priests the spirit of prayer, sacrifice and supernatural union with God: «High discipline requires a suitable climate. And, above all, recollection. One day in the railway station in Milan I saw a porter who was sound asleep, his head resting on a sack of coal propped against a pillar. Trains pulled away whistling or came to a halt grinding their wheels; the loudspeakers continually broadcast deafening announcements; passengers came and went noisily. But he – sleeping on – seemed to say, “Do what you like, but I need to be left in peace.” «We priests should behave in a similar manner. All around us there is incessant agitation; people, newspapers, radio and television drown us in words. With priestly moderation and discipline we must say, “Beyond certain limits, for me who am a priest of the Lord, you do not exist. I need a little silence for my soul. I detach myself from you in order to be united with my God.”56» This truly evangelical teaching was an invitation to piety, to charity,
to apostolic zeal: once more it was a question of working out one’s
salvation, of pleasing the Lord within through the practice of the virtues,
of continuing the Church’s tradition of holiness, and then all the rest
would be granted in addition. «HALF TREMBLING, WITH HALTING STEP». However, John Paul I was proceeding «half trembling, with halting step», as in the vision of the Third Secret, because he professed to accept the full legacy left by Paul VI and the Vatican II Council. Now the Council’s novelties, particularly its worldly and temporal humanism wholly directed towards building the earthly city, cannot be squared with a divine, Christian and supernatural moral code, whose essential end is the acquisition of eternal blessings. What is more, John Paul I’s official adoption of the doctrines of Paul VI and Vatican II placed him in a weak position to challenge the more revolutionary theories deriving from those doctrines. His speech of September 20 shows just how uncertain and perilous was the path he had taken:
He thus took issue with the thesis developed by liberation theologians, without however disowning conciliar humanism.
Very much impressed by so-called modern ideas, the new Pope could not clearly see how to resolve certain doctrinal and moral difficulties. In his homily of September 23, in Saint John Lateran’s, he confided this fact with great modesty: «The second reading, taken from the last chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, is applicable to the faithful in Rome. It was chosen by the master of ceremonies. I confess that what it says about obedience embarrasses me a little. It is difficult nowadays to be convincing when one weighs the rights of the human person against the rights of authority and the law!58» The beloved Pontiff lacked the mastery needed, the expertise of one who had conceived a vast synthesis that would have allowed him to oppose modern errors with a renewed body of Catholic doctrine. Nevertheless, under the leadership of such a Pope, the differences in the Church might have been regulated in a climate of true charity. «John Paul I had none of the arrogance of the innovators», observed the Abbé de Nantes, «none of the incredible dogmatism of the new theologians and reformers assured of their infallibility in everything, even against the age-old Church and her magisterium.59» Had not Albino Luciani admitted, «with his customary honesty and simplicity», that upon one point in the Council his conscience had rebelled? And the Abbé de Nantes had drawn an important lesson from this: «Between John Paul I and ourselves, between the legacy of John and Paul which he had professedly espoused and our League of the Counter-Reformation, there remained an insurmountable opposition on precise, significant points of the faith. We could not, and shall never be able to, accept as a new dogma the so-called social right of Man to religious liberty. No more can we accept the cult of Man proclaimed by Paul VI before the whole Church on December 7, 1965, for the closing of the Council. Consequently, we had been told for fifteen years, both in France and in Rome, that we were pursuing a dead end. «However, John Paul I has reopened the path before us by his simple words of honesty and humility. His words alone are the unmaking of heresy, they have unblocked the conciliar impasse. By themselves these words would justify the all too brief reign of the Pontiff on Saint Peter’s throne, in the unanimity of the Church unanimously recognising herself in him. Confessing his inner struggles during the Council and the difficulty he had had in coming round to the theses of the innovators, particularly the theory of religious liberty, he openly admitted, “The most difficult thesis for me to accept was that of religious liberty. For years I had taught the thesis that I had learned in Cardinal Ottaviani’s course on public law, according to which error has no rights. I studied the problem thoroughly and finally I became convinced that we had been mistaken.60” Another version of the same admission reads: “They persuaded me of my error.61” «At one blow, the Pope’s candour restored everyone’s right to be heard, even after Vatican II, without any fraudulent excommunications. The true proportions of the present drama were reinstated, namely that some had ended up allowing themselves to be persuaded (or else had managed to persuade themselves) that the Church had previously been mistaken, while others remained persuaded (or else came ultimately to understand) that the ones who had been mistaken and deceived us were the innovators of this Council rather than the Church of all time. To admit the possibility of error, whichever side the mistake actually lies on, is to restore peace to the Church by relegating these difficult questions to the domain of free opinion pending a dogmatic Vatican III or the Pope’s infallible definitions.62» John Paul I was certainly proceeding «with halting step», but he did so whilst manifesting an extraordinary gift and charisma for touching and rekindling hearts. His exhortations, like a shockwave, led to an emulation of spiritual conversion, of reconciliation between brothers and, even beyond this, of peace for men of good will. On Sunday, September 24, at the Angelus, he spoke of «the violence continually experienced by our poor, troubled society». He cited the pitiful case of Luca Locci, a «child of seven, kidnapped three months earlier». Then he continued: «People sometimes say, “We live in a society that is totally rotten and dishonest.” That is not true. There are still plenty of honest and decent people around. We should rather be asking ourselves: what needs to be done to improve society? Let each one of us make an effort to be good, so that the goodness we spread around us, totally permeated with the meekness and love taught us by Christ, becomes infectious. Christ’s golden rule was, “Do not do unto others what you do not wish them to do to you; do to others what you wish them to do to you; learn from Me because I am gentle and humble of heart.” He Himself was always giving. When they put Him to the cross, not only did He pardon His executioners, He also excused them: “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” That is Christianity. If such sentiments were put into practice, they would aid society greatly.» John Paul I then went on to talk about the thirtieth anniversary of the death of Georges Bernanos, alluding to his book Dialogues des Carmélites, which gave him an opportunity describe their martyrdom: «In 1906, here in Rome, Pius X beatified the sixteen Carmelite Nuns of Compiègne, who died as martyrs during the French Revolution. The tribunal condemned them to death for “fanaticism”. One of them, in her simplicity, had asked: “My Lord Judge, if you please, what does fanaticism mean?” And the judge replied, “It means your stupid adherence to religion.” «“Oh my Sisters”, she then exclaimed, “did you hear that? We’ve been condemned for our attachment to the faith. What happiness to die for Jesus Christ!” «They were taken from the Conciergerie Prison and made to climb up onto the deadly cart. On the way they sang hymns. When they arrived at the guillotine, they knelt down, one after the other, before the Prioress and renewed their vow of obedience. They then intoned the Veni Creator. But the song became fainter and fainter as the heads of the poor Sisters fell one by one under the guillotine. Remaining behind until last, the Prioress, Mother Thérèse de Saint-Augustin, pronounced these final words, “Love will always be victorious; love is capable of everything.63” How true. It is love, not violence, that can achieve everything. «Let us ask Our Lord for the grace of a new wave of love for our neighbour, one that will submerge this poor world.64» Thus did the Holy Father remember this poor child, Luca Locci, a kidnap
victim. Well, on the following night, just as on Christmas night in the
Pastorales Provençales, she was freed by her kidnappers. Such were the
wonderful fruits of Albino Luciani’s radiant goodness and evangelical
teaching. THE CHOSEN ONE OF THE IMMACULATE On September 3, during his enthronement ceremony, John Paul I spoke a few words at the end of his homily expressing his tender devotion for the Immaculate. He consecrated himself to Her with all his heart: «We commence our apostolic service by invoking as the splendid star who will enlighten our path, the Mother of God, Mary, Salus populi romani and Mater Ecclesiae, She for whom the liturgy has a special veneration in this month of September. «May the Virgin who guided with a motherly tenderness my life as a child, seminarian, priest and bishop, continue to enlighten and direct our steps, so that, having become the voice of Peter, with our eyes and heart fixed on Her Son Jesus, we may proclaim before the world, with a joyous steadfastness, our profession of faith: “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Mt 16:16)65» That day, he received the respects of the Cardinals with his wonderful cordiality. To each he said a kindly word, and above all he begged their prayers: «Eminence, remember to say an Ave Maria for the Pope.66» We rediscover his filial devotion to Our Most Blessed Mother in Heaven in his Apostolic Letter of September 24, addressed to his dears sons in Ecuador: «We know that you are currently celebrating the third National Marian Congress on the theme “Ecuador for Christ through Mary.” Taking this theme as your starting point, make progress in life and apostolic action. May Mary, the Mother of Christ, the Mother of the Church and the most tender Mother of each of us, always be your model, guide and path towards the Elder Brother and Saviour of all, Jesus. And may She likewise, in these times both difficult and yet full of hope, be the star of evangelisation in Ecuador. 67» What a programme! The path proposed to the Church by John Paul I was the Virgin Mary Herself. The Holy Father had appointed Cardinal Ratzinger, the then Archbishop of Munich, as the Apostolic Legate to this Marian Congress. The quotation from Saint Augustine accompanying the mission briefing was clearly chosen deliberately as the very expression of his soul: «At Guayaquil let there shine out with a new Marian splendour that mystery about which Saint Augustine exclaimed in wondrous admiration: “What mind could contemplate, what tongue could express the fact that not only did the Word exist in the beginning without any principle of birth, but also that the Word was made flesh, that He chose a virgin to become His mother, a mother who remained a virgin... What can this be? Who could tell of it? Who could remain silent about it? Strange to say, but what we cannot express we cannot remain quiet about either; we loudly preach what our intelligence fails to grasp.”68» John Paul I proclaimed the Blessed Virgin Mary “Heavenly Patroness of the City of Itabirito”, in the diocese of Mariana in Brazil, under the title of Our Lady of the Safe Journey, and he elevated the sanctuary of Bedonia in Italy, dedicated to the Virgin of Consolation, to the rank of a minor basilica. How joyfully these two titles must have sounded in his ears! We know not whether, during the thirty-three days of his pontificate, he ever read the Third Secret, kept in the palace of the Holy Office, and what his intentions were in its regard. Before making it public, he doubtless wished to revive devotion to Our Lady of Fatima amongst the faithful. On July 11, 1977, he had spoken to Sister Lucy about the “Marian Tour” which was to commence in Italy, in preparation for the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of that nation’s consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary69. And indeed, in the autumn of 1978, a statue of the Virgin of Fatima began to wend its way throughout the dioceses of Italy on a journey that took two years. The truth is that the thought of Fatima and Sister Lucy never left him. He spoke about this to Don Germano Pattaro, a theologian from Venice, whom he had invited to Rome to be his adviser: «It is something that has troubled me this whole year. It has robbed me of my spiritual peace and tranquillity. Ever since that pilgrimage, I have never forgotten Fatima. What Sister Lucy told me has become a weight on my heart. I sought to convince myself that it was all an illusion. I prayed to forget about it. I would liked to have shared all this with someone close to me, to my brother Edoardo, but I never managed to. The thought was just too huge, too embarrassing, too contrary to my whole being. It was unthinkable, and yet Sister Lucy’s prediction has turned out to be true. Here I am. I am Pope. «It is repugnant to me to speak of these things, but I do it in order to open my soul to you, to confide to you that I never wanted to become Pope. «If I live, I shall return to Fatima to consecrate the world and particularly the peoples of Russia to the Blessed Virgin, in accordance with the instructions She gave to Sister Lucy.70» So John Paul I had decided to accomplish the request of Our Lady of Fatima in an act of obedience and filial love towards Her Immaculate Heart. It is not surprising that he spoke of a consecration of the world and of the peoples of Russia for, at that time, the Virgin Mary’s exact request, namely the consecration of Russia and of Russia alone, was little known, having been widely misrepresented. Let us admire rather his inner dispositions: Pope John Paul I had resolved to perform the consecration «in accordance with the instructions given by the Blessed Virgin to Lucy». He had therefore entered into the divine plan with a childlike docility. In his humility, he wanted to do what the Blessed Virgin had requested, in exactly the manner She had requested it, and for the sole reason that She wished it thus. «If I live...», he had said to Don Pattaro, as though he had been
warned that he would not live. In fact everything indicates that this is
precisely what he had learned from his conversation with Sister Lucy. PIERCED WITH «ARROWS» The Secret of Fatima shows us «a Bishop dressed in White killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him». In his exegetical commentary on the vision, Brother Bruno de Jésus writes: «This “group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him” represents the armies of Gog and Magog, symbolic names given by the Book of the Apocalypse to the nations conspiring against the Church at the end of the times: “When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison and will come forth to seduce the nations from all four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, and mobilise them for war, their numbers being as great as the sands of the sea; they went up throughout the entire land and besieged the camp of the saints, the beloved City.” (Ap 20:7-8) «Already prophesied by Ezekiel, these armies are equipped with bows and arrows (Ez 39:3 and 9)!71» It is important to remember the biblical and symbolic significance of arrows in the eternal plot of the wicked against the Servant of God. Let us quote Psalm 64:
Jeremiah was the emblematic, figurative victim of this conspiracy, foreshadowing the suffering Messiah, Our Lord Jesus Christ exposed to the conspiracy of the Pharisees and Herodians from the very first day of His public life:
The «arrows» are the malevolent remarks of false brothers: «Their tongue is a deadly arrow; the words of their mouths are nothing but deceit; they speak peaceably to their friends, but in their hearts they lay a snare for them.» (Jr 9:7) During his pontificate John Paul I was pierced by murderous «arrows». Whereas the simple folk in Rome were moved and enlightened by his short, joyful catechism lessons, the mainstream journalists mocked his preaching. In France Le Monde meanly insinuated that the popular character of his catechesis and his aversion for the contortions of theology «arose from a lack of study on his part». The Minute contained this headline: «Don Camillo in the Vatican.» The Informations catholiques internationales distinguished itself by its perfidy: «Seen from close up, his ever-present smile lacks that touch of candour apparent in photographs; it expresses something akin to wiliness. An Italian friend explained this to me on the telephone, and he understood it as a compliment: “He is furbo”. By which he meant not a wicked rogue, as in the French fourbe, but someone who was crafty all the same.72» It was not only attacks from malevolent journalists and modernist theologians now feeling threatened that the Holy Father had to put up with. He was persecuted by several prelates based in the Curia. Andrea Tornielli, his biographer, writes: «His simple style of preaching at the Wednesday audiences drew criticism and fierce comments from the Vatican establishment.73» «His naive questions», writes J.-J. Thierrry, «his spontaneity, his indifference to formality, his ignorance of palace etiquette and of the Pope’s job, gave rise all around him to pitying smiles, condescending derision, indeed suspicions that were already hostile.74» John Paul I suffered all this privately, but it was not the first time he had experienced acerbic criticisms of this kind. In Venice, let us remember, he had come into conflict and dispute with the progressivist minority of his clergy. «Msgr. Luciani», writes Don Francesco Taffarel, «encountered difficulties and trials, often painful, which afflicted him; but he strove to conceal them, disguising them under a smiling face. He was in the habit of saying: “It is enough for me if God is happy with me. What I think of myself, I must play down; what others think of me, I must overlook; but what God thinks of me, that alone is what matters to me.”75» Sometimes, almost overwhelmed, he would nevertheless react with his supernatural spirit: «Say a Hail Mary for me», he would ask those close to him, «so that the devil may not carry me off and that I may not sit down on the side of the road. Let us forge ahead. I did not move even my little finger to occupy this post. In fact my desire is to relinquish it, to retire, but let us go forward with confidence.76» Sister Vincenza Taffarel, already in his service at the Archbishop’s house in Vittorio Veneto and at the Patriarch’s house in Venice, had followed him to Rome. When she spoke to him one day about the enthusiasm he was generating and the applause of the faithful, he replied: «Trust not a crowd that cries “Hosanna” and then just as easily “Crucify him”. It is on God that we must count, and it is through Him that things are done.77» Rapidly did the Abbé de Nantes, in that month of September 1978, understand the imminence of the drama: the modernists, disturbed by the sudden resurgence of Tradition, were looking to compromise the Pope, or to discredit him and bring him down. «A confrontation was going to take place, one that was inevitable, implacable and deadly.» It would be «a great dramatic confrontation between those who hold the faith and those who are perverting it, between those who are building up the Church and those who are destroying it, between the men of God and the mercenaries of Satan, for that is what they are78». The theologian of the Catholic Counter-Reformation had discerned what was still hidden from everyone’s eyes. Several of John Paul I’s parables «heralded the controversy to come, as did Christ’s terrifyingly clear allegories in Jerusalem, which made the scribes and Pharisees grind their teeth, as they saw that they had been exposed, and so made them want to kill Him. The sublime little parable about the Milan porter79 ostensibly teaches religious recollection and the worship of God even amidst the din of our great cities. But the intimate disciple – as well as the enemy whose hatred gives him a certain lucidity –understood therein an invitation to despise the world and its excessive demands, for God alone must be the master of all things in His Church.80» On September 23, in his homily given in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, John Paul I announced that he would fulfil the duties of his charge by imitating Saint Gregory the Great, one of his predecessors on the see of Rome: «The third book of his Regula pastoralis has as its theme: Qualiter doceat, How the pastor should teach. In forty chapters, Saint Gregory indicates in a concrete way various forms of instruction according to the circumstances, such as social condition, age, health, and temperament of the audience. Poor and rich, cheerful and melancholic, superiors and subjects, learned and ignorant, bold and timid, and so forth; all are there in this book. It is like the valley of Jehoshaphat. At Vatican Council II, what was called the “pastoral approach” seemed to be something new. It no longer referred to that which was taught by the pastors, rather to that which the pastors did to respond to men’s needs, aspirations and hopes. This new approach had already been applied many centuries earlier by Saint Gregory, both in preaching and in governing the Church [...]. «I would also like to see Rome give a good example in matters of liturgy, of a liturgy celebrated devoutly and without ill-placed “creativity”. Certain abuses in the liturgy have, by reaction, fostered attitudes that have led to positions that are in themselves untenable and contrary to the Gospel. By appealing with affection and hope to everyone’s sense of responsibility before God and the Church, I would like to be able to be assured that every liturgical irregularity will be carefully avoided [...]. «In Rome I shall put myself in the school of St Gregory the Great who writes: “The pastor should, with compassion, be close to each of those who are subject to him. Forgetful of his rank, he should consider himself the equal of his good subjects, but he should not fear to exercise the rights of his authority against the wicked.”81» The Abbé de Nantes understood the import of such a warning: «Words long meditated upon, make no mistake! For the good they were the announcement of an exceptional season of gentle charity, of warm understanding and of an unaffected papal welcome, a renewal of patristic times under the easily discernible influence of Rosmini. To the bad – ah yes, the bad exist and they need to be accorded the charity of some rather more robust treatment – to the bad his words represented the authoritative imposition of respect for the divine faith and law, assisted, if need be, by the threat of ecclesiastical sanctions.82» The journalist Jean Bourdarias revealed that John Paul I had lost his smile, with his collaborators, when he learned of the files left behind by Paul VI83. The Holy Father was to discover «that total leukaemia of disorder, apostasy and immorality, all of which had been spread, officially installed and encouraged from the top to the bottom of the hierarchy»84. John Paul I had discovered the files containing requests for laicisation and dispensation from celibacy. Paul VI had granted them, from the very beginning of his papacy, at an average rate of ten per day85. In Vittorio Veneto, and later in Venice, the defections of certain of his priests had been like a wound in Msgr. Luciani’s heart, even causing him sleepless nights. He therefore took the courageous decision to arrest this haemorrhage. «John Paul I asked for an immediate revision of the criteria used for granting priestly dispensations, as he considered the number of requests reaching his desk to be excessive.86» But he had heavier concerns: he found himself facing insurrection from senior prelates in the Curia who neglected his orders and contravened his directives. Msgr. Giuseppe Caprio, Substitute of the Secretariat of State, recalls one especially dramatic evening: «There was a very important problem to resolve. John Paul I was keen to handle it personally. Just when he thought he was getting there, the affair began to take a different turn. It was only natural that he was concerned, as I was myself. We had drawn up a plan and now someone had blown apart this plan.87» Sister Vincenza witnessed a scarcely believable scene, one that allows us a glimpse of the terrible pressures and threats that John Paul I had to suffer. «While I was at Rome», she recounts, «I used to clean the sitting room around 8 a.m., for there was no one there at that time. One morning, making my usual visit, I was too late to notice that the Holy Father was already there. His posture revealed his profound affliction. By his side was his secretary. I made my apologies and hastily withdrew. Nevertheless, I had time to hear his secretary saying to him: “Holiness, it is you who are Peter! It is you who wield authority! Do not let yourself be intimidated...” That phrase spoke volumes.88» «Poor Holy Father!» ... so spoke the Blessed Jacinta, a true prophet. John Paul I was in conflict with Cardinal Sebastiano Baggio over the nominations of new bishops to several diocesan sees, including that of the Venice patriarchate. «The Pope», writes Andrea Tornielli, «had two possible candidates in mind for Venice: the Jesuit Bartolomeo Sorge, then director of the Civilta Cattolica, the Jesuit monthly journal, and the Salesian Egidio Vigano. But the Congregation of Bishops, headed by Cardinal Baggio, had different views and presented the Pope with three candidates who were already bishops.» Andrea Tornielli reports the testimony of Don Licio Boldrin. «In 1981», recounts this Venetian parish priest, «I met Cardinal Agostino Casaroli outside the Church of the Piazza del Gesù. I stopped to greet him and we spoke about Pope Luciani. “You know”, the Cardinal told me, “that the Pope had to find a successor for Venice and that he already had a number of names in mind. The Congregation of Bishops also had their own suggestions to submit to him. John Paul I insisted in one particular direction, the Congregation in another. Cardinal Baggio therefore asked me to win the Pope over, assuring me that the candidatures proposed had been thoroughly examined, and adding, You know, we don’t want anyone to speak ill of the Pope afterwards. So the following morning I took the liberty of telling Pope Luciani, Holiness, try to follow the Congregation’s directions. At least, like that, the Pope will not be criticised. He took me by the hand and said, Excellency, don’t talk like that, for if I needed to be wary of those who speak ill, I would have dismiss you from here immediately.”89» The Pope confided to Don Pattaro, «I am beginning to understand things that I had previously not noticed. Here, everyone speaks ill of each other. If they were able, they would even speak ill of Jesus Christ.90» Thus it was that, in the «great city half in ruins», John
Paul I encountered «corpses» on his path, men for whom he
could do nothing but «pray». THE CONSPIRACY, IN ALL ITS TRUTH The sudden death of the beloved Pope, on the night of September 28 to 29, 1978, immediately aroused grave suspicions amongst the citizens of Rome. In his editorial of October 1978, entitled “The Saint that God gave us”, the Abbé de Nantes wrote: «“Hanno mazzato il papa! They have killed the Pope!” That is what they always whisper in Rome every time a Pope dies. But this time the rumour has become so widespread that even La Croix is informing its readers of it: “They killed him, say the Romans. He was too nice, too kind.” It then rather awkwardly adds: “By they is doubtless [without the slightest doubt!] meant the cares of the universal Church, and even more so the administration of the Vatican with all its complex machinery... For it appears that John Paul I collapsed under the weight of the papal office, each new day forcing him to confront new dossiers with difficult problems to resolve.” (La Croix, October 1-2) «Let’s suppose we believe Jean Potin: what killed the Pope was doubtless the system, the dossiers, the problems, and not those who stand accused by the people of Rome. Will we ever know? God has permitted the death of His servant, that is for sure, and the Church will continue down the same path despite her enemies. For myself, in this murder I make no distinction between the dossiers and those who brought him the dossiers. What killed the holy Pope John Paul I was opening the secret dossiers of Paul VI. «As for his other crosses, he would have borne these. Yes, Bernert of L’Aurore is right: the genocide coldly perpetrated by the Syrians against the Catholic Lebanese community was one such cross, and a heavy one at that: “It is imperative to stop this massacre”, said this great-hearted Pope on the very morning before his death, “to intervene as rapidly as possible on behalf of the Christians. I have just written to President Carter along these lines. We cannot leave these people to die.” (L’Aurore, October 3) It made him weep, he wanted to go to Beirut himself to be with his children in that bombed town [...]. «But the Vatican dossiers are truly of a different order. They reveal the immense auto-destruction of the Church and the smoke of Satan eloquently referred to by the previous pope, the full extent of which Cardinal Luciani had never previously considered. He had left all such matters to supreme authority, while he got on with fulfilling to perfection his own responsibilities, holding out his hand to everyone in his Venice patriarchate, but without tolerating the least disorder. Now what killed him was this: to have seen that he had to quit the peaceful paths of a prudent and professedly conciliar reformism in order to cut into the quick and combat the postconciliar disorder. If he felt himself too weak for such a struggle, then it is true that this was the cause of his death; but if, on the other hand, he had determined to immediately put up a fight, then perhaps they may indeed have killed him.91» Although the Abbé de Nantes did not at the time know the true reasons for John Paul I’s murder as we know them today, he had at least a presentiment of them when he declared in this same editorial: «Had he lived a month longer, John Paul I would have started cleaning out the Augean stables, beginning with the Vatican. And it is for this very reason that he was not allowed to live. He was already aware of this, and yet he continued on his path with a smile in his eyes and the firmest resolve in his heart.92» The Abbé de Nantes’ intuitions and suspicions were confirmed over the following months by information privately communicated to him93, then by the research of the writer Jean-Jacques Thierry94, but above all by the implacable demonstration published in May 1984 by the English journalist David Yallop in his book In God’s Name95. After three years of secret investigation, this seasoned investigator revealed how it was money that hatched the conspiracy against John Paul I. Yallop, whose information was «verifiable on a thousand points»96, revealed the precise reasons and circumstances behind the Holy Father’s assassination by poisoning: «He denounces the six presumed partners and authors of this crime, men who were also totally bound up in a tissue of other sordid and financial crimes, both before and after. It is a fine and intelligent piece of work... He determines their motives and then, in an amazing fashion, minutely reconstitutes Cardinal Jean Villot’s activities in the twelve hours following the crime in order to make it look like a natural death.97» In his gripping review of this work98, the Abbé de Nantes presented the remote cause of the financial embezzlement and fraud in which the Vatican was directly implicated, and which John Paul I had stood up against. In the Lateran Treaty agreed between Pius XI and Mussolini in 1929, the Church had received a colossal fortune in compensation for renouncing her rights over the Papal States: the lira equivalent of 81 million dollars at the time. «The Vatican thus became a financial consortium, an element of that “anonymous and vagabond fortune’ so vigorously denounced by the Duke of Orleans in 1900, which knows of no lucrative activity other than speculation on the money market, stockjobbing, that vicious game of seesaw played out on the international markets with industrial and commercial stocks, the laundering of dirty money, the evasion of capital taxes, etc, all of which activities are simply illegal or absolutely criminal. «The German ecclesiastical tax, the Kirchensteuer, instituted under the Hitler-Pacelli Concordat of 1933, added its own powerful and regular income to the already large flow of capitalist profit brought in through the Italian treasury. An easy speculation on gold at the approach of the war, which Pius XI knew to be unavoidable, allowed the financial power of Vatican Incorporated to be increased in a fabulous manner. «In June 1942, all the assets and real estate entrusted to the Church for her pious charitable and apostolic works were entered into the dance of the stock market with the creation of the Institute for Religious Works. This was a cover for an audacious misuse of the gifts of the faithful, now no longer being used in conformity with their donors’ primary intention but for an intermediate one: speculation. The IOR is no longer a religious administration, but simply a bank, the Vatican Bank, receiving stolen goods and exploiting the gifts of the faithful without their knowledge.99» In the course of that same year, 1942, Mussolini dispensed the Holy See from the requirement to pay tax on its dividends. However, twenty-five years later, in 1967-1968, the Italian State wished to abolish this fiscal exemption. Paul VI therefore called upon Paul Marcinkus, a native of Chicago, and on Michele Sindona, a Sicilian mafioso, to organise a flight of capital of such enormous proportions that Italy was plunged into an economic crisis. This was the starting point of an infernal web of corruption so rigorously reconstituted by David Yallop that no one has ever been able to repudiate it in the smallest detail: systematic blackmail, corruption, and finally the Italian solution which consists in creating a climate of intimidation through murder, sometimes killing a magistrate who wants to know too much, sometimes a troublesome detective. In 1978 the mafiosi who had been feeding their own bank accounts by siphoning off funds from “Vatican Incorporated”, were tracked down by the international police and prosecuted by the Italian and American justice systems for theft, forgery, illegality, crime and even for murders already committed under the cover of “Vatican Incorporated”. «In August, pressed hard on all sides, Roberto Calvi saw his empire breaking up, under suspicion, threatened. He felt the need for a change of air in South America where Licio Gelli was also looking for a little peace and quiet. Meanwhile their friend Michele Sindona lay in a New York prison, trembling at the imminent prospect of being extradited and handed over to Italian justice. One common point united them: as long as Bishop Marcinkus stayed put in Vatican Incorporated, they could breathe. Were he to leave, it would mean for each of them, in one way or another, a harsh return to reality, ruin, prison or suicide... or all three misfortunes together.100» Yallop writes: «When the cardinals elected Albino Luciani to the Papacy on that hot August day in 1978, they set an honest, holy, totally incorruptible Pope on a collision course with Vatican Incorporated.101» A pope who had not forgotten how his priests and the poor were robbed by the Milanese and Vatican mafia when the Banca cattolica del Veneto was sold, nor all that he had learned from his friend, Cardinal Benelli102. «The irresistible market forces of the Vatican Bank, APSA and the other money-making elements were about to be met by the immovable integrity of Albino Luciani»103. Those directing the Vatican Bank were Cardinal Villot and Archbishop Marcinkus, their accomplices Michele Sindona and Roberto Calvi, all from the “P2 Lodge” or affiliated thereto, and their protector Licio Gelli, its Grand Master. The day after his election, «on Sunday, August 27th», recounts Yallop, «John Paul I asked Villot to continue as Secretary of State for “a little while, until I have found my way.”»104 This provisional measure constituted in itself a silent threat. In this manner he kept his enemies under his thumb and within his sight while he contemplated the regal blow that would bring them down for certain, remarks the Abbé de Nantes. As we have already stated, on that very day John Paul I ordered his Secretary of State to re-examine all the Vatican’s financial operations. The Pope, after having read and studied his report, would then take any measures he deemed necessary. On September 12 «a scandal sheet landed on the Holy Father’s desk
claiming to reveal the names of 121 members of the Roman Curia registered
as Freemasons. Among others: Cardinals Villot, Baggio and Poletti, Msgr.
Casaroli, Bishop Marcinkus and his confederates, and Pope Paul’s secretary,
Pasquale Macchi... One man was apparently the cover for them all: the
Secretary of State, Jean Villot!105»
This list could not leave Pope John Paul I indifferent. «He had an aversion to Freemasonry», notes Camillo Bassotto. «It was almost an idée fixe, a kind of distrust that I would term instinctive.106» He consulted Cardinal Felici who advised him that this list had been circulating in Rome for several years and that «it needed to be examined carefully and with prudence. Among the 121 prelates accused, some were certainly Masons, others were not.» His adviser told him a significant fact concerning Villot: the Secretary of State was one of the most active proponents of relaxing the canonical penalties against Roman Catholics who became Freemasons107. In short, John Paul I sought the advice of his friend so that he might prepare within the Curia a number of enforced resignations, liberating transfers and honest appointments. However, the mafiosi of the “P2 Lodge”, particularly Calvi, had anticipated these sanctions ever since the Patriarch of Venice had been elevated to the See of Peter. «Calvi», writes Yallop, «was fully aware of the anger his takeover of the Banca Cattolica del Veneto had generated in Venice; aware that Luciani had gone to Rome in an attempt to regain diocesan control over the bank. He was equally aware that Luciani was a man with a formidable reputation for personal poverty and intransigence towards clerical wheeler dealing. The episode of the two priests and the speculating salesman in Vittorio Veneto was legendary in northern Italy.108» At last, «Calvi heard the news he had been dreading. Bishop Paul Marcinkus’s days were numbered.109» Turning to Licio Gelli, he confided his fears. «As they conversed in a variety of South American cities, Roberto Calvi felt some relief. Gelli had reassured him. The “problem” could and would be resolved.110» The Abbé de Nantes writes: «It reminds one of that verse from Saint Mark’s Gospel: “Then the Pharisees went out and at once began to plot with the Herodians against Him, discussing how to destroy Him”, Him, Jesus (Mk 3:6). And that was right at the beginning of His ministry...111» The assassination of John Paul I was planned and organised with the complicity of Cardinal Villot: «It was Licio Gelli who was the initiator and overall organizer of the crime, Roberto Calvi was his partner and it was to cost him dearly, more and more dearly, to the point where he could take no more and he also had to be suicided. The executor of the crime was some hitman who had received the contract of his life from an agent of Ortolani’s in the Via Archimede. The whole of this little world, consisting of the mafia, the underworld, the bank and Vatican village, is now well known to us. And Marcinkus? Ah, Marcinkus! He was biding his time and waiting...112» The murder, remarks Yallop, was executed by stealth so that public questions and anxiety would be reduced to a minimum. «The most efficient way to kill the Pope was by poison – a poison that when administered would leave no tell-tale external signs. Research indicates that there are over two hundred such drugs which would fulfil the task. The drug digitalis is but one of this number...113» Since his election to the sovereign pontificate, John Paul I had never displayed any especial fatigue, despite his new responsibilities. This is one of the reasons why Edoardo Luciani said his brother had an «iron constitution»114. Doctor Antonio da Ros, his private doctor, who had examined him regularly for almost twenty years, certified that «he was not unwell»115. On September 3, the day of his enthronement, the doctor gave him his “usual check-up” and took his blood pressure. The next day he told Edoardo Luciani that the Pope «was in excellent health»116. He examined him again on September 13 and then on the 23rd. «Your heart is fine»117, he told him on that last visit of his. Four days later, on Wednesday 27, John Paul I gave an audience to Msgr. Giuseppe Bosa, his former vicar general, who was temporarily managing the Venice Patriarchate. «The Pope», he would relate, «seemed to be in good health.118» Yes, he was just like he was in Venice, «he was not suffering from any illness»119. Msgr. Bosa, who had seen him governing for almost ten years, knew his determination and firmness in executing any difficult project or unpopular decision. «His mind was as strong, as hard and as sharp as a diamond. That was where his real power lay. He possessed the ability to get to the core of problems. He did not allow himself to be overwhelmed. While everyone was cheering the smiling Pope, I was waiting for him to reveal his claws (tirare fuori le unghie).120» Such were the thoughts of Msgr. Bosa on September 27. Well, it was precisely on the very next day that John Paul I did reveal
his claws. He was about to undertake a profound reform of the Roman
Church, the sick head of a large decomposing body. SEPTEMBER 28, 1978: THE REGAL COUP On that day, before his audiences began, the Holy Father signed a letter addressed to a German Bishop, Msgr. Hugo Aufderbeck, on the occasion of the seven-hundredth anniversary of the Church of Saint Severus in Erfurt. In it he referred to the blessed life in Heaven, as though the hope of arriving there one day was his principal consolation – and this at a time when he was about to confront corrupt and rebellious senior Roman prelates:
In the course of the morning John Paul I received Cardinal Bernardin Gantin along with members of the Cor Unum association. «As soon as we entered his office», the Cardinal would relate, «the Pope immediately came to receive us. I found him very lively, very engaging, very attentive. He moved a few chairs around himself in order to position us for the photograph. He was in great form from what I could see.122» Then he received Msgr. Rocco, the Nuncio to Brazil. «I found the Holy Father in perfect health», he would confide. «I would even go further: I was struck by his energy, and I marvelled at his perfect knowledge of Brazil’s problems. To look at him, I would not have believed he was sixty-five.123» In his speech to the Philippine bishops, who were making their ad limina visit that day, the Holy Father spoke again of Christian hope and its foundations, as if his heart and soul were wholly occupied with the thought of eternal blessings. He must clearly have had a presentiment that the hour of his ultimate sacrifice was approaching.
At the end of the morning, he gave the first of the two dreaded audiences. He received Cardinal Baggio who was contesting his choice of episcopal appointments. The Holy Father informed him that Cardinal Cody, the scandalous Archbishop of Chicago, would be removed from office without delay. As for him, Baggio, he was to be relieved of his job as Prefect of the Consistorial Congregation: the Pope was appointing him Patriarch of Venice. The Cardinal was furious and refused to leave Rome. «The meeting between Baggio and Luciani», writes Yallop, «has been described to me as “a very violent argument with the violence and anger entirely deriving from His Eminence. The Holy Father remained calm.”125» After lunch and a short siesta, John Paul I remained in his apartments. He paced up and down the sitting room saying his Rosary: he prayed for the souls of the corpses he had been meeting, ever since his arrival in the Vatican, on his way. The interview with Cardinal Villot took place late in the afternoon. John Paul I had studied his report on the Vatican Bank. First decision: Marcinkus was to be replaced with Msgr. Abbo, a man of integrity. Not in a month, nor in a week. The very next day. All of Marcinkus’s mafia were to be dismissed, and all ties with Sindona’s and Calvi’s Banco Ambrosiano group had to be cut as soon as possible. Then the Holy Father informed him of his determination to see Baggio go where he was told to go... But the Sovereign Judge had not finished yet: he, Villot, would be replaced as Secretary of State by Cardinal Benelli126. As the Abbé de Nantes writes, «never had such an act of authority been seen since Saint Pius X. Pius X, seventy-five years earlier, demolishing the formidable Secretary of State of his predecessor Leo XIII, the Freemason Cardinal Rampolla!127» Cardinal Villot pretended to reflect deeply at this regal blow, this quiet thrust which had completely unseated him and deprived him of all his powers at the same time. «I thought you were considering Casaroli as my replacement?» With Casaroli there would be no getting away from the mafia... Cardinal Villot objected that these appointments were contrary to the late Holy Father’s wishes and would be seen as a disavowal of his papacy: «It will be said that you betrayed Paul.128» John Paul I remained unshakeable. That evening he dined as usual with his two secretaries, Father John Magee and Don Diego Lorenzi. «I had decided», Father Magee relates, «to remind the Pope over dinner that he had to choose a preacher for the Lenten spiritual exercises in good time. “Yes, yes I’ve already taken that in hand, everything’s fine. But the retreat I’d like to make at the moment is a retreat to prepare me for a good death.” It was 8.15 p.m. I ventured to reply, “Surely not, Holy Father.” I was still feeling the death of Paul VI and I didn’t want to hear any more about death. But he went on: “Yes, yes, that is the kind of retreat I need.” Don Diego uttered a prayer, but the Pope pulled him up: “No, those aren’t exactly the right words. The correct words of that prayer are, O my God, give me the grace to accept death in whatever form it should strike me.” |
Sister
Lucy came to the city of Tuy in 1926 to make her novitiate with the
Dorothean Sisters. It was here that the Holy Trinity and the Virgin
of the Immaculate Heart descended on June 13, 1929, in an
incomparable theophany.
