[papacy] fact or assertion

I call a ‘fact’ something which neither side in a dispute seriously questions. These below fall into that category. I have avoided all reference to Opus Dei or Dan Brown:

Luciano:

# had one of the shortest reigns in papal history – 33 days

# was the first to use "the first" in his regnal name

# participated in all the sessions of the Second Vatican Council

# was elected on the third ballot after Siri and Benelli supporters found a compromise

# claimed to his private secretary, John Magee, that he had sat facing the next pope, Karol Wojtyła after the August 1978 conclave

# was a pastor more in the spirit of Vatican II than an austere intellectual

# had no open enemies through his career

#caused journalists, even before the conclave to ask, "What is the state of the man's health?"

#was claimed by his niece, a medical doctor, and many senior Vatican figures, to have suffered from swollen ankles and feet, a sign of poor circulation and excessive coagulability of the blood

#was, according to journalist Vincent Browne, who claimed that he had been told by a senior Vatican source that a number of cardinals had already decided informally amongst themselves to elect Luciani pope and to expect a quick election

#was the first to refuse the sedia gestatoria until Vatican pressure convinced him of its need

# told cardinals in the conclave, "May God forgive you for what you have done on my behalf"

#defied the Romano Pontifici Eligendo explicitly requiring that he be crowned

#expressed reservations to Paul VI on the church’s opposition to birth control

#supported the devolution of one per cent of each church's entries for the poor churches in the Third World

# was seen within the Vatican by Villot and John Magee, among others, as an intellectual lightweight, not up to the responsibilities of the papacy

#caused one senior cleric to comment "they have elected Peter Sellers"

#was the first pope in decades not to have had either a diplomatic or curial career

#was accused of being unable to handle the endless supply of documentation sent to him by Villot [which in itself raises certain questions]

# was claimed by Magee [interesting name for a Vatican official] to have found Luciano crying and that he had to send the pope to bed, where he later found him lying in a foetal position saying the Rosary

The Vatican:

# said Luciano died of myocardial infarction

#insisted, through both papal secretaries and a confidante of the late Sister Vincenza that the body was discovered about 5:30 a.m.

#did not order an autopsy, despite the sudden death

# claimed a papal secretary discovered that the Pope had died, whereas in fact a nun who had come to bring him some coffee found him in the Papal Household

#claimed he had been reading Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ, yet his copy of that book was still in Venice

# hinted that his ill health was due to heavy smoking; whereas he never smoked

#gave unsupported accounts of his time of death

#embalmed his body within one day although there were good grounds for this after the experience of Pius’ rotting body

# claimed heart problems, flatly contradicted by his own doctor

# through the Vatican carpool log shows the embalmers were sent for at 5:15 p.m and the procedure began about 7 p.m.

# Magee talked on the night of the Pope's death to the nuns in the Papal Household about the possibility of the Pope's death that night

# the other secretary spoke of the pope's back and feet still being warm when he lifted him

The Vatican Bank:

# owned many shares in Banco Ambrosiano

# its head, Paul Marcinkus, along with Roberto Calvi had connections with P2 and figures within the mafia [not officially confirmed]

#Marcinkus was seen on foot near the papal residence at an unusually early hour on the morning of the pope’s death by Swiss Guard Hans Roggen, though Marcinkus was a demonstrably early riser and had driven in at his usual time.

# Barbara Honegger wrote that a P2 informant claimed to her that before Olaf Palme's death, Gelli [head of P2] sent a message to former Republican National Committee advisor Philip Guarino, assuring him that "the Swedish tree will be felled," and to "tell our good friend Bush."

#on state television (RAI) an agent nicknamed "Agent Zero" described how Palme (Prime Minister of Sweden Olaf Palme) had been caught in a deal between the CIA and Iran to release American hostages in Tehran. "Palme was a fly in the ointment so we got P2 to rub him out." [no later substantiation though]

# Marcinkus said, "You can't run the Church on Hail Marys"

# Marcinkus received Vatican immunity from Pope John Paul II, when it became apparent Italian authorities intended to prosecute him

# Cardinal Villot, Masonic name Jeanni, lodge number 041/3, enrolled in a Zurich lodge on August 6, 1966

# Foreign minister, Monsignor Agnostino Casaroli, the cardinal vicar of Rome, Ugo Poletti. Cardinal Baggio and Monsignor Donato de Bonis of the Vatican Bank were all confirmed Masons

#Calvi was found hanging from a rope beneath London's Blackfriar's Bridge, his hands tied behind his back and 12 pounds of bricks stuffed in his pockets and his feet dangling in the ebb and flow of the tide

#since 1738 when Clement XII issued his bull In Eminenti against the 'depraved and perverted' societies of Freemasons, the Roman Catholic Church has condemned Freemasonry

#John XXIII, in 1962, in his Second Vatican Council, promoted a new climate of religious tolerance and raised hopes of a coming together of all churches and faiths, including Masonry, whose moral values encourage men to embrace their own religions even more strongly, so that Catholics who are Masons become even better Catholics. In 1968 a prominent English Mason named Harry Carr persuaded the Cardinal Archbishop Heenan of Westminster to propose a softer line on Freemasonry to the Vatican. The Cardinal then took up the cause of 'regular' Freemasonry with Pope Paul VI. By 1971 he was able to report some progress

# the Vatican made a 1981 declaration that Catholic Masons still faced excommunication

#forty-three MPs (among them three cabinet ministers), forty-three generals and eight admirals (including the current heads of all the armed forces), security service bosses, hundreds of public servants and diplomats, the police chiefs of Italy's four biggest cities, industrialists and financiers, television stars and twenty-four journalists, including the editor and publisher of Corriere della Sera were listed in the investigation as P2

# In 1980 Gelli was the Guest of Honour at one of Ronald Reagans Presidential Inauguration Balls.

# Ronald Reagan received an "honorary" 33rd Scottish Rite Freemason Degree after he was elected President.

#Michele Sindona, who in 1972 purchased controlling interest of Franklin National Bank was Pope Paul VI's banker and confident.

#March 23, 1986: Michele Sindona found dead of poisoning in the Italian jail to which he had been extradited on charges of ordering the murder of Giorgio Ambrosioli.

# January 12, 1981: A group of shareholders in Banco Ambrosiano send a letter to John Paul II outlining the connections between the Vatican Bank, Roberto Calvi and the P2 and the Mafia. The letter is never acknowledged.

Assertion

My assertion is that John-Paul I was planning to expose the corruption. It is in line with his wanting to bring [naively] a pastoral flavour to the Vatican. His whole demeanour illustrates his nature. Contrast that with Ratzinger and Wojtyla in their photos - different men altogether.