Thief in the night (1990)

A Thief in the Night (1990)

The following quotes are taken from John Cornwall's investigation into the death of Pope John Paul II and the rumours and suspicians surrounding his death. Although he doesn't always get the facts about Freemasonry right, Cornwall does vindicate the Freemasons from any part in his death.

"The traditionalist believed that Vatican Freemasons lay behind the reformist influences in the Church: lists had been published in various right-wing magazines citing Masonic code-names of Roman Catholic prelates, including Archbishop Marcinkus, head of the Vatican Bank; Cardinal Villot, Secretary of State; and Cardinal Baggio, the head of the Congregation of Bishops, who had brough sanctions against Lefebvre in 1976." [p. 20]

"The traditionalists' conspiracy theory continued to resurface over the years until 1983 when it reached a bizarre culmination in Jean-Jacques Theierry's La Vraie Mort de Jean Paul Ier, in which Cardinal Villet, the Secretary of State, was depicted as having substituted a double for Paul VI and of having planned the murder of John Paul I after the hapless new Pope had discovered a nest of Freemasons in the Vatican." [p. 21]

An unnamed Monsignor is quoted as saying, "All these allegations about Freemasonry are nonsense, stuff put out in the sixties by that rag of a magazine—Si si ... No no. One of the chief exponents nowadays is Archbishop Milingo, so that shows you the authority of the source." [p. 87]

Describing Archbishop Marcinkus: "His close associates included the convicted criminal financier, Michele Sindona (once a financial advisor to the Vatican), and Luceo Gelli, the Grandmaster of P2, the unofficial Italian Freemason's Lodge." [p. 118]

Describing Roberto Calvi's death under Blackfriars Bridge in London: "A half-brick was stuffed down his trouser pocket. It is pointed out that Blackfriars fratelli neri, is an Italian nickname for the Freemasons, and that the Masonic oath acknowledges that a traitor to the brotherhood should be roped down in the proximity of the rising tide. The brick could be taken as an item of 'Masonry'. It is likely Calvi acquiesced in a ritualistic 'suicide' for fear of something worse: threats perhaps to hs wife and children. But was this gruesome charade a Masonic retribution, or did it mask a more inscrutable executioner? If it was not suicide, Calvi's death remains one of the most intiguing murder mysteries of our time." [p. 119]

Interviewing Marcinkus, Cornwall asks: "'Is there such a thing as Freemasonry in the Vatican, Monsignor?'
"He looked at me narrowly.
"'There was a list of names and I was on it.' he said promptly. 'I was supposed to have been a Mason since 1963 or something, with a special code-name. How would you identify a Mason? If he's got a Mason's-badge or something, you might; but how do you identify him?'
"I said, 'I suppose that's the whole point. It's a secret, and you're only known to the lodge.'
"'Yeah,' he said, 'but I don't belong to a lodge. I don't even know what a lodge looks like. I was at the golf house the other day and somebody said to me, 'Monsignor, can a Mason go to communion with the new rules?' And I said, 'No, the Mason's still in mortal sin." And I'm a canon lawyer, see. I gave him a very frank answer.'
"He turned to me sideways on.
"'I presume and I say with utter conviction,' he said roundly, 'that inside the Vatican there is no such thing as Masonry. I swear it. I have no doubts in my whole mind about. They said Baggio was one. Villot was one, Benelli was one, Casaroli was one, but I coud swear....' He raised his right hand as if in the dock. 'I take an oath to say that all those people mentioned are not Masons.'
"He leaned across and opened the door for me, the pipe still clenched between his teeth.
"'Take care!' he said." [pp. 139-40]

Interviewing FBI agent, Tom Biamonte, Cornwall asks:
"'Let me ask you a question. Did you have any evidence that there were Freemasons in the Vatican?'
"'No!' he said bluntly. 'Never, ever. I knew some of the players in the P2 organization who ended up in jail. If there were any inside the Vatican, they were unknown to me.'" [p. 172]

John Cornwall, A Thief in the Night, The death of John Paul II. London : Penguin Book, 1990 pb.

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