From the Dark to the Bizarre: Crazy and Unsettling Conspiracies of the Vatican

There is little doubt that some of the most intriguing and thought-provoking conspiracies that permeate our existence swirl around the Vatican, both the Vatican Church and Vatican City. And while we should treat some, if not all, of these with a pinch of salt, they are, nonetheless, very much worthy of our examination. Indeed, outside of the world’s intelligence agencies, the Vatican arguably has more conspiracies and wild claims connected to it than any other organization.

The Vatican Archives, for example, have been the center of multiple conspiracies for decades, perhaps even centuries, with much speculation as to just what is contained there, and what else might be hidden away even more in secret underground locations. While a full exploration of the realities of just some of the conspiracies of the Vatican Archives would take an article in its own right, it is worth touching on some of them here.

Perhaps the most captivating of these claims is that somewhere deep within these archives (once more, perhaps hidden away from the archives that are “publicly” on display), there are ancient writings of interaction between humanity and non-human intelligences in antiquity. Not only that, but these interactions have been twisted and repurposed as Biblical writings – essentially, they form the basis of many Western religions. A good example might be stigmata, which some researchers have suggested is simply wounds from interactions with these non-human intelligences, or even with UFOs.

There are, of course, many more Biblical accounts that we could suggest are, in fact, twisted accounts of interactions with otherworldly entities in the distant past. The Jacob’s Ladder account, for example, or the guiding light and column of smoke that guided the Exodus, are just two examples. We could even look at the account of Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden and theorize it was actually documentation of genetic experiments in a controlled, perhaps bio-dome-type environment. The fact is, though, as intriguing as these suggestions are, without proof, they remain exactly that. Could the proof reside within the Vatican Archives?

We might also consider the many alleged appearances of such figures as the Virgin Mary that have been deemed miraculous by the Church. However, when some of these encounters are more closely examined, it appears they, too, have been twisted from encounters with otherworldly figures, some of which appear to be far from friendly, to encounters with divine intelligences. We might ask why they would choose to do this. Is it simply to accrue miraculous legends as their own to bolster their position on the world stage, or might it be to cover up the nature of our reality and protect their status amid the ever-changing collective understanding of our reality?

It is also worth highlighting some of the research of Leonardo da Vinci, who conducted much of his work within the walls of the Vatican, particularly his autopsies and dissections, which were highly illegal at the time, to study human anatomy. We might ask if this research was not known by the Church, or if they simply turned a blind eye, perhaps in exchange for access to that research. I should stress, this is just speculation on my part, but when we consider how closely the Vatican treats space research, even owning several observatories around the world, it is perhaps not unreasonable speculation.

It is clear, then, that the conspiracies surrounding the Vatican have been swirling around the Church for hundreds of years, arguably since the very beginning of its official foundation. Indeed, for centuries, the Church controlled multiple countries through the royal families of Europe, while also maintaining control of the respective populations of those countries through the dreaded Inquisition, which claimed the lives of millions of people over hundreds of years.

In more recent times, as we will explore in a little more detail later, the Vatican has become involved in several questionable financial investments, with some accusations of misuse of funds. Moreover, many of these claims appear to be much closer to the mark than the Church would perhaps like. However, before we explore these grittier and decidedly darker conspiracies of the Vatican, we will turn our attention to one of the more thought-provoking, if bizarre, conspiracies of the Church.

Although it is a conspiracy that we should most certainly treat with caution, the claims of a high-tech device that allows those who use it to see into the past, as well as into the “near future”, are of interest to us here. The device in question is known as the Chronovisor, claims of which first began circulating in conspiracy circles following the release of the 2002 book The Vatican’s New Mystery (Le Nouveau Mystere de Vatican) by Father Francois Brune, who, incidentally, is an authority of sorts on paranormal encounters and religion. However, perhaps lending a little more credence to the claims, an account of the Chronovisor can be found in a 1972 Italian newspaper article titled A Machine That Photographs The Past Has Finally Been Invented!

According to the article, the Chronovisor project began in the 1950s, when Father Ernetti, who was an Italian physicist before he joined the priesthood, was tasked with leading the program and creating the device. The device itself was rather small, and was “composed entirely of precious alloys” and utilized a screen that was connected to various tubes and tuning dials. Interestingly, Ernetti had several people working closely with him as advisors, including Nobel prize-winning physicist Enrico Fermi, and one-time member of the Third Reich and Operation Paperclip transplant, Wernher von Braun, who, essentially, guided NASA to the Moon. With von Barun’s involvement in particular, it is interesting to note the similarities of the Chronovisor to the alleged secret device of the Third Reich, Die Glocke (The Bell), which was said to also show visions of the past, as well as the future. Moreover, in the early years of the regime, the Catholic Church supported the Third Reich, so there was certainly some crossover previously between those involved.

According to the reports, the Chronovisor works by utilizing “residual electromagnetic radiation left over by numerous processes!” The energy released from these processes allowed the device to “detect” certain frequencies and energies in space and time and then process and present them as “moving images like a film!” Unfortunately, the processes themselves are not detailed, so we have little understanding of how the device actually works. Nor was the location of the Chronovisor ever revealed, with Ernetti, perhaps understandably, stating that he feared if it fell into the wrong hands, it could result in the “scariest dictatorship the world has ever seen!”

Ernetti did offer some details on the places and events from the past he had seen, however, including the founding of Rome in 753 BC, as well as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. However, it was his claims of witnessing “the crucifixion of Christ” that drew most interest, and criticism, not least as he also offered a clearly faked photograph as proof. While it might be easy to dismiss Ernetti as a fraudster and the claims of the Chronovisor as nothing but nonsense, the Vatican itself had some very interesting things to say on the matter.

Ernetti eventually admitted the photograph was a fake, but insisted that the device itself was very real, and that it worked. He then stated rather matter-of-factly that “Pope Pius XII forbade us to disclose details about this device because the machine was very dangerous!” What makes Ernetti’s claims all the more intriguing is a decree issued by the Vatican on the subject that stated, “anyone using an instrument of such characteristics (as the Chronovisor) would be excommunicated!” Make of that what you will. There are, though, further twists in the tale of the Chronovisor.

On September 24th, 1953, on the other side of the Atlantic in Los Angeles, California, publisher Douglas K. DeVross was shot dead at point-blank range in his office. The man who pulled the trigger claimed DeVross was having an affair with his wife (something, incidentally, that she denied), and he was ultimately imprisoned for second-degree murder.

It was, though, the publishing project he was working on at the time of his death that is of most interest to us here – the life’s work of Baird T. Spalding, Life and Teachings of the Masters of the Far East. Spalding, who had passed away several months previously at the age of 95, was a controversial figure who made some interesting claims during his life, some of which were now within the pages of his multi-volume work. According to Spalding, from 1894 to 1897, he had toured India, Tibet, China, and Persia (now Iran) with a “party of 12”, soaking up the “wisdom of elder brothers” as he did so. It was this wisdom that resulted in his life’s work, and it has to be said, they are remarkably insightful and thought-provoking. However, it appeared, at least to some, that all was not quite as Spalding was offering.

It was noted that he was absolutely “penniless” at the time of his death. Moreover, there were no records of him ever accruing any type of moderate wealth, certainly not enough to have funded such an extensive multi-year trip that he claimed to have embarked on. As we might imagine, this led many people to question if Spalding was nothing more than a fraud. However, despite this, many people were equally insistent that the authenticity of his writings shone through, and certainly didn’t appear to have been written by a fraudster. It was, though, some of Spalding’s other claims that some eagle-eyed researchers picked up on.

He claimed that after returning from his extensive travels, he became involved in a project with an engineer, Charles Steinmetz. This project eventually resulted in the invention of a “camera of past events” that could “peer back in time”. We might ask if this project, if indeed it took place, was an early version of the Chronovisor, and if this device assisted Spalding in attaining the knowledge and wisdom he seemingly undoubtedly had. We also might consider whether the plans or blueprints for this device found their way to DeVross when he got the four-volume work he was publishing at the time of his death. Could it really be possible that he was murdered for what he had suddenly discovered? It is only wild speculation, but it is certainly speculation worth considering.

Of course, if there is any truth in the notion that DeVross was murdered due to his discovery of knowledge of a device that could view the past, then we might consider what became of that information. Did it somehow find its way across the Atlantic Ocean and to the Vatican? And if so, does that mean the Vatican, or organizations sympathetic to the Vatican, were behind DeVross’ murder? Or might the intelligence agencies of the United States have been involved, and did they then “farm out” the technology to the safety of the Vatican? We might consider that the agency involved would have simply advanced the technology themselves behind closed doors, but claims that surfaced in the late 2010s perhaps make the claims that the Vatican ended up with Spalding’s technology a little more credible.

In early 2017, author and researcher Alfred Lambermont Webre claimed that as far back as the 1960s, the Vatican granted access to the CIA to “quantum access technology”. Moreover, he stated that proof of this could be found in the WikiLeaks files. Webre continued that the CIA and the Vatican were very “close organizations” and that the Vatican was instrumental in the intelligence agency’s beginnings. He continued that the Vatican had “subcontracted out” the Chronovisor, not only to the United States, but to other countries, including the United Kingdom, which were “sympathetic” to the Vatican’s ideology. We should note that many people, even in the conspiracy community, are skeptical of Webre’s claims, considering him eccentric and unpredictable. Perhaps in his defense, we should also state that he holds a law degree from Yale University.  

There can be little doubt that there are no darker conspiracies than those surrounding the sudden death of Pope John Paul I on September 28th, 1978. Although Pope John Paul I’s – real name, Albino Luciani – death was from a sudden heart attack, there are genuine reasons to be suspicious, not least when Masonic connections were highlighted, as well as the fact that he died on the 33rd day after becoming pope.

This was documented masterfully in the book In God’s Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I by David Yallop. In fact, in the introduction to the book, Yallop issued a challenge of sorts: if anyone was able to disprove his evidence, particularly about a key piece of paper allegedly discovered in the dead Pope’s hand and who discovered his body, he would happily give all the royalties from the book to a charity of the Vatican’s choice. It is a challenge that was never undertaken.

Perhaps as good a place as any to start when exploring the death of Pope John Paul I is with the man himself, or more specifically, his political and religious ideology, which was, at best, a little at odds with the inner workings of the Catholic church and the Vatican. His views on birth control, for example, often put him at loggerheads with the official stance of the Vatican, as was the amount of wealth the Church itself seemed to keep hold of. And these were just two of such niggling disagreements. Perhaps of much more consequence to the events that would result in his (to some) untimely demise is his interest in the inner workings of the Vatican, particularly the financial workings, as well as outside forces that seemingly had vast influence within the Church.

As a good example of these inner workings, Pope John Paul I was seemingly immediately frustrated by the amount of control that these shadowy “lifetime residents” of the Vatican had over his daily life and routine. Everything from where he had his morning coffee to which “secret stairways” he could use and which room even he was forbidden to enter was made clear to him. However, it was quickly clear to the cardinals, bishops, and high priests who were more than happy with the perks of life in the Vatican that the new pope had little liking for “pomp and ceremony” and was unlikely to toe the line.

Bizarrely, although perhaps not so when we consider the Cold War climate, the pope’s apparent openness to the ideology of communism also made him a target of several organizations, including, according to some, the CIA. In fact, so concerned were the CIA that, at least according to some researchers, “elements” of the agency provided funding to the Masonic P2 Lodge, which held great sway in almost all aspects of Italian life, including the Vatican. In fact, while we could spend an entire article on it, it is worth also highlighting that this connection between the powerful lodge and intelligence agency, including the connection to the Vatican Bank (in Vatican City – a state within a state that was answerable only to itself), provided excellent cover for drugs and weapons smuggling, as well as money laundering.  

As this was unfolding, the P2 Lodge was under investigation for various terrorist acts, as well as various charges such as money laundering. Moreover, after Mussolini (like Hitler) had banned secret societies in Italy, their formation was legalized once more following the end of the Second World War. However, they had to make all of their details public, including their members. This was something that P2 pushed the absolute limits of these rules, which only put their activities even more under scrutiny. Furthermore, although it was frowned upon, rumors had swirled around Vatican City for years that many high-ranking members of the Church were members of the Masonic lodge, which only made the alleged connections between P2, the CIA, and the Vatican even stronger.

Of further interest, all the members of P2 had one thing above all else that united them – their hatred for communism. Indeed, many of the terrorist acts they were being investigated for had been against communist leaning politicians and persons of influence. The Grand Master of the lodge at the time was Licio Gelli, who had power and influence in all directions, including, it would seem, in the Vatican. It is also worth noting that one-time Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, one of the most powerful and influential people in recent Italian politics, was also a P2 member.

Without a doubt, though, what, if anything, put him in the speculative firing line more than anything else was his genuine desire to have a “poor church for the poor!” Of course, this meant not only would that mean an end to the needless perks of Vatican life, but a complete overhaul of the Church’s finances, and it is there, where the Vatican’s most deadly outside influence seemingly resided. The Church had multiple financial interests that made the Vatican Bank an abundance of tax-free money, money that, if they so chose, they could move around at will and without scrutiny.

The person largely responsible for this at the time was Bishop Paul Marcinkus, who, essentially, held the Vatican’s purse strings, and whose nickname, due to his imposing build, was The Gorilla. Marcinkus was seemingly at the center of all the questionable financial affairs of the Vatican, and was perhaps the ultimate target, at least internally, of Pope John Paul I’s overhaul of the inner workings of the Church. It is also worth mentioning that of all the people accused of having some kind of connection to the Pope’s death, all were either dead, in prison, or on the run in the years that followed, apart from Marcinkus.

With Marcinkus in mind, it is also worth mentioning Cardinal Cody of Chicago, who just happened to be Marcinkus’ hometown. While there is no evidence or suggestion that Cody had any direct connection to the death of Pope John Paul I, he was well versed in moving church funds around for his own ends, and was almost certainly going to be removed from his position by the Pope, after years of attempts to do so due to his overly lavish lifestyle, as well as claims of racism. In short, it certainly wouldn’t have done him any harm whatsoever if something were to happen to the new pope.

Marcinkus also had two other connections to the underworld, both of which were P2 Lodge members, and both of which perhaps stood to lose a lot off the back of the Pope’s desire to rid the Vatican of its wealth and the secrecy of how it conducted its financial affairs – Roberto Calvi (referred to as God’s Banker) and Michele Sindona (known as The Shark). Both had connections to crime syndicates and Masonic lodges, and both were experts at “playing” stock markets and banking sectors. Moreover, following respective investigations into their activities, several “gangland-style assassinations” of prosecutors and witnesses took place throughout the country. Whatever the truth and whatever involvement they might not have had in the death of Pope John Paul I, both men met harrowing ends.

Sindona was eventually arrested and imprisoned for 25 years for murder. While incarcerated, he was poisoned and died. Calvi’s fate was much darker and much more public. In July 1982, his body was found hanging from a bridge under Blackfriars Lodge. Rather than being a suicide, many believed his death was made to look like he had taken his own life. The location, some suggested, was a symbol of the Black Friars, or the Frati Neri, a name that members of the P2 Lodge used for themselves, and that Calvi had been murdered to keep him from speaking of what he knew about the death of Pope John Paul I. Even more interesting, at the same time that her boss seemingly decided to take his own life, Calvi’s secretary decided to “throw herself” from the window of their headquarters. Make of that what you will, of course.

Whether any of those mentioned above were involved, directly or indirectly, with the death of Pope John Paul I or not remains unknown. There are, though, many inconsistencies with the death itself, including just who found the body.

Initial reports of the Pope’s demise came via Vatican Radio, which announced his passing before the official time of death was officially recorded by the Vatican authorities. While some people dismiss this as nothing more than an administrative error, given the weight of the situation, others point this out as a glaring hole in the story of just what happened in the aftermath of the Pope’s death.

There was also, according to sources Yallop spoke with inside the Vatican, an urgent “desire to wrap everything up quickly” following the Pope’s death, and while it is perfectly within Vatican protocol that no autopsy takes place, many people highlighted this as an area of concern. Moreover, even though the Pope had complained of chest pains earlier that evening, these pains eased greatly as the evening progressed, so much so that it was decided there was no need to call the doctor. It was highlighted by some that the nuns close to the Pope, who had travelled with him from Venice to Rome and were fiercely loyal to him, would have insisted a doctor be called, even if the pains had eased. In fact, according to some researchers, including Yallop, it was one of these nuns, Pope John Paul I’s most loyal members of his inner circle, Sister Vencelza, who found the body, something the Vatican denied.

There was also an alleged piece of paper that, according to Yallop’s research, was found in the Pope’s hand when his body was discovered, a piece of paper that was said to contain the names of those inside the Vatican who had connections to P2, as well as to criminal activity involving the Vatican’s finances. Despite inside sources offering that this paper did indeed exist, official Vatican sources have always denied it.

The fact is, given that almost half a century has passed since the death of Pope John Paul I, barring some kind of smoking gun or a confession, it is unlikely we will ever know if there was anything untimely or unsavory about his demise. On the one hand, his desire to rid the Vatican of what he saw as unsavory characters, combined with such symbolism as his death occurring on the 33rd day of his papacy, makes it all the more believable that something untoward did take place. However, despite the Vatican’s obvious power on the world stage, we might suspect that if Pope John Paul I had been murdered, more evidence might have surfaced by now. Ultimately, his death, at least to some, will remain suspicious and unexplained for the foreseeable future.

What is perhaps more apparent is that while some of the claims and conspiracies surrounding the Vatican are wide of the mark in terms of accuracy and credibility, there is little doubt that the Church has, at times, found itself in questionable and/or secretive situations. Indeed, we might wonder just what is contained within the Vatican Archives, and what it might tell us about our collective history, and perhaps even about our reality.  

The fact is, the Vatican has influence and sway across the planet in various aspects of our society. That influence, though, could be more far-reaching and dominant than many people might realize. Indeed, the Vatican could be the public face – albeit a discreet and unofficial one – of the alleged secret society of world elites who hold the world on puppet strings. After all, they have been wielding power over most of Europe and through great parts of South America for centuries, with a foothold in almost every country on the planet. That is not to say that we should consider the Vatican, or indeed Catholicism, to be some kind of threat or ominous force, but we should most definitely be aware of the influence they have, and where that influence can be applied.