In God's Name Read online

  IN GOD’S NAME

  The Vatican commented:

  ‘Taking fantastic speculation to new levels of absurdity’ ‘Infamous rubbish’

  The World’s press disagreed:

  ‘His book has two strengths. It brings up to date and tells well the story of how the Vatican has conducted its financial affairs. The portrayal of the hitherto little-known John Paul I is also excellently done . . . an engrossing and disturbing book. It reflects no credit on the Vatican that its spokesmen affect to view the charges with contempt and ignore the questions raised’

  The Economist

  ‘An important and at times frightening book. The consequences of its publication are incalculable’

  Bolton Evening News

  ‘Deft and accurate’

  Morris West, Sydney Morning Herald

  ‘You didn’t know “the smiling Pope” was murdered after only a month in office? Read Yallop’s . . . exhaustively researched, fascinating material and, if not convinced, you will certainly wonder . . . the case he makes is indeed impressive, shocking and frightening’

  Variety

  ‘Deeply disturbing . . . if only a small percentage of it is true then the Vatican and the world has much to fear, for God appears far from home’

  Aberdeen Evening Express

  ‘He has surely proved that there is a case to answer’

  Irish Independent

  ‘Compelling reading’

  South Wales Argus

  ‘An astounding book . . . a story of corruption, lies and disinformation’

  The Daily Mail, Hull

  ‘Was John Paul I murdered? He may have been. To the extent the Vatican does not address itself to a responsible discussion of the evidence Mr Yallop has gathered, the probability of murder goes up’

  Father Andrew M. Greeley

  ‘He weaves a skilful tale of intrigue . . . the story has all the elements of a first-rate thriller’

  Calgary Herald

  ‘The book is fascinating reading’ Derby Evening Telegraph

  ‘David Yallop’s research is intensive, far-reaching and comprehensive . . . rich with plot arabesques and ingenious characters in a setting of international power and grandeur. However, this is no fiction; it is a documentary chronicle of greed, megalomania and the callous murder of the one good man capable of halting it’

  British Book News

  ‘A ruthless investigation’ NZ Herald

  ‘This is one of the most disturbing books I have ever read and the Vatican will dismiss or ignore it at its peril, for those millions around the world who look to Rome in their faith must surely want answers’

  Gloucester Citizen

  ‘It all makes marvellous reading’ The Yorkshire Post

  ‘Impressively researched . . . readers will have to look far and wide for fiction as gripping and downright readable’

  The Edmonton Journal

  ‘I read this book with the absorbing interest aroused by an expert prosecutor at a sensational trial’

  The Times

  David Yallop’s first book, To Encourage the Others, caused the British Government to reopen the Craig/Bentley murder case – a case which had been officially cleared for twenty years. The book, which provoked a major debate in the House of Lords, and the author’s television drama-documentary, convinced many, ranging from the former Lord Chancellor, Lord Gardiner, Lords Arran and Goodman, to authors such as Arthur Koestler, that a miscarriage of justice had occurred.

  Yallop’s second book, The Day the Laughter Stopped, was widely acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic as the definitive biography and posthumous rehabilitation of the silent film star Roscoe (Fatty) Arbuckle, which also solved a fifty-year-old murder mystery.

  His third book, Beyond Reasonable Doubt? led directly to the freeing of a man serving a life sentence for double murder in New Zealand. Following publication of Yallop’s book, Thomas was granted a Royal Pardon and, after a Royal Commission had deliberated, one million dollars compensation.

  Yallop’s fourth book, Deliver Us From Evil was stimulated by a desire to pull a man into prison, the Yorkshire Ripper, and his statements to Assistant Chief Constable George Oldfield in June 1980 proved uncannily accurate.

  Thus, David Yallop has established a reputation as ‘a seeker of justice’. He receives letters continuously from many parts of the world asking, demanding, pleading that he investigate this murder or that alleged miscarriage of justice. He received one particularly singular request, to investigate a very special death. The request came from within the Vatican, and the death was that of Pope John Paul I.

  David Yallop then began the extensive research for In God’s Name, which has been translated into nearly forty languages, sold more than 5 million copies worldwide, and won the Crime Writers’ Gold Dagger Award for the best non-fiction book of the year in 1984.

  In God’s Name

  David Yallop

  ROBINSON

  London

  Constable & Robinson Ltd

  55–56 Russell Square

  London WC1B 4HP

  www.constablerobinson.com

  First published in the UK by Jonathan Cape Ltd, 1984

  Copyright © Poetic Products Ltd, 1984, 2007

  The right of David Yallop to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988.

  All rights reserved. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  A copy of the British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available from the British Library

  ISBN: 978-1-84529-496-0

  eISBN: 978-1-47210-515-8

  Printed and bound in the EU

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Dedication

  To the memory of my mother, Una Norah Stanton, for the years that have gone – and to Fletcher and Lucy, love children of the middle years.

  Contents

  Illustrations

  Introduction to this Edition

  Preface

  Prologue

  The Road to Rome

  The Empty Throne

  Inside the Conclave

  Vatican Incorporated

  The Thirty-three Days

  We Are Left Frightened

  By Benefit of Murder – Business as Usual

  Epilogue

  Postscript to this Edition

  Index

  Illustrations

  PLATES

  1 Albino Luciani

  2 Luciani at Feltre seminary

  3 Giovanni and Bortola with Pia

  4 The newly ordained priest

  5 Cardinal Ottaviani

  6 Albino Luciani with his brother’s family

  7 Vatican City State

  8 The Patriarch of Venice with some of his priests

  9 Pope Paul VI and Luciani in Venice

  10 Pope Paul VI with Cardinal Villot

  11 Cardinal Cody with Pope Paul VI

  12 Licio Gelli with General Juan Peron

  13 Gelli waiting to be received by Pope Paul VI

  14 President Nixon, Pope Paul VI and Monsignor Macchi

  15 Michele Sindona as ‘Man of The Year’

  16 President Johnson meets Pope Paul VI, with Paul Marcinkus acting as interpreter.

  17 Important P2 members in President Leone’s entourage

  18 Gelli with Prime Minister Andreotti

  19–23 Some contenders for the empty throne: Cardinals Siri, Felici, Pignedoli, Gantin, Aloisio Lorscheider, Bertoli and Baggio.

/>   24 ‘We have a Pope!’

  25 The Pope receives the simple woollen pallium

  26–7 The response of young and old

  28 The Pope, Monsignor Martin and Father Diego Lorenzi

  29 Luciani meets Mayor Argan of Rome

  30 The Pope with members of the Curia

  31 Marcinkus arrives at the Vatican

  32–6 Men who stood to gain: Cardinal Villot, Roberto Calvi, Cardinal Cody, Umberto Ortolani and Michele Sindona

  37 Licio Gelli stood to lose most from Luciani’s reforms

  38 Albino Luciani

  39 Luciani with Cardinal Sin of the Philippines

  40 Father Magee

  41 Sister Vincenza

  42 The Papal embalmers

  43 The lying-in-state

  44 Prime Minister Andreotti prays by the body

  45 The new Pope with Cardinal Benelli

  46 The murder of Vittorio Occorsio

  47–8 The murder of Emilio Alessandrini

  49 The murder of Mino Pecorelli

  50 Mario Sarcinelli, falsely imprisoned

  51–2 The murder of Giorgio Ambrosoli

  53 Boris Giuliano, murdered and laid to rest

  54 The Milan headquarters of Roberto Calvi

  55 Bologna railway station after the bomb explosion

  56–7 Roberto Rosone and his assailant

  58 Flavio Carboni

  59 Calvi ‘suicided’

  60 Graziella Corrocher ‘suicided’

  61 Marcinkus still at the centre

  62 God’s Banker in his bank

  63 Umberto Ortolani

  64 Licio Gelli

  65 Michele Sindona

  66 Albino Luciani

  PICTURE CREDITS

  The author and publishers wish to thank the following for permission to reproduce black and white photographs: Agenzia Ansa, 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 24, 26, 29, 33, 35, 47, 51, 52, 54, 60; Associated Press, 7, 10, 15, 21, 25, 31, 32, 34, 36, 39, 40, 43, 45, 48; 49, 50, 57, 58, 61, 63, 64; Camera Press (photo by Michelle Noon), 62; Chicago Sunday Times, 11; Dufoto, 5, 8, 9, 14, 16, 19, 20, 22, 23, 46, 53, 55, 65; Bruno Ferrario, 12, 13, 17, 18, 37; Fotoattualita, 28; Foto Felici, 42; Liverani Foto Notizie d’Attualita per La Stampa (photo by Gianni di Mango), 56; L’Osservatore Romano Citta del Vaticano Servizio Fotografico (photos by Art uro Man), 27, 30, 38, 44; Private Collections, 59; Philip Willan, 41.

  Introduction to this Edition

  This book was first published in June 1984 and appeared simultaneously in many countries. To date it has been translated into thirty languages and the various editions have sold over six million copies. I have received many thousands of letters from readers; just seven letters were critical, the remainder were kind enough to praise the book and, more importantly, record the writers’ belief that Albino Luciani was in their view murdered and that the case has been powerfully proved.

  Vatican response was swift. Within days of publication and before any of these spokesmen had read the book the reaction that I had predicted in the first edition was there for all to hear.‘Taking fantastic speculation to new levels of absurdity.’ An Article of the Apostolic Constitution specifically ruled out post mortems on Popes.’ As this book demonstrates, that particular Vatican lie had served them well in 1978.

  The lies about the life and death of ‘The Smiling Pope’ began on the day his body was discovered. They have continued down the years to the present day. In June 1985 when the British paperback edition was first published I decided to make the Vatican’s task childishly simple:

  ‘If the Vatican can prove me wrong on just two simple questions of fact – if they can prove that my account of who found the dead body of Albino Luciani is incorrect and can prove that my account of the papers he was holding in his hands is incorrect, then I will donate every penny of my royalties from the sales of this book to cancer research.’ The Vatican account of who found the body was their first lie. The papers that Albino Luciani was clutching were the smoking gun.

  In the light of the Vatican’s initial statements that this book was ‘Infamous rubbish’ and ‘Absurd fantasies’ the Vatican should have been able to demonstrate how incorrect my evidence and conclusions were within hours of reading my offer. That challenge was the subject of worldwide media comment.

  Nearly twenty-two years later I am still waiting for the Vatican to respond. In the light of subsequent revelations the continuing failure within the Vatican City State to take up that challenge was a wise decision.

  Nothing has come to light from any quarter since 1984 to cause me to alter the conclusions I had arrived during the research and writing of this book. Indeed the additional evidence that has come to hand which is examined in a postscript to this edition further confirms those original conclusions.

  David A. Yallop

  January 27th 2007

  Preface

  This book, the product of nearly three years’ intensive research, would not exist without the active help and co-operation of many people and many organizations. Very many of these only agreed to help on the strict understanding that they remained publicly unidentified. As with previous books I have written under similar conditions I respect their wishes. On this occasion there is an even greater need to protect their identity. As will become clear to the reader, murder is a frequent accompaniment to the events recorded here. A considerable number of those murders remain officially unsolved. No one should doubt that the individuals responsible for those deaths have the capacity to murder again. To reveal the names of men and women who provided me with crucial help and who are now at risk would be an act of criminal irresponsibility. To them I owe a particular debt. Their reasons for divulging a wide range of information were many and varied but again and again I heard the remark, ‘The truth must be told. If you are prepared to tell it, then so be it.’ I am deeply grateful to all of them and to the following, who with the greatest respect I classify as the tip of the iceberg:

  Professor Amedeo Alexandre, Professor Leonardo Ancona, William Aronwald, Linda Attwell, Josephine Ayres, Alan Bailey, Dr Shamus Banim, Dr Derek Barrowcliff, Pia Basso, Father Aldo Belli, Cardinal Giovanni Benelli, Marco Borsa, Vittore Branca, David Buckley, Father Roberto Busa, Dr Renato Buzzonetti, Roberto Calvi, Emilio Cavaterra, Cardinal Mario Ciappi, Brother Clemente, Joseph Coffey, Annaloa Copps, Rupert Cornwall, Monsignor Ausilio Da Rif, Dr Guiseppe Da Ros, Maurizio De Luca, Danielle Doglio, Monsignor Mafeo Ducoli, Father François Evain, Cardinal Pericle Felici, Father Mario Ferrarese, Professor Luigi Fontana, Mario di Francesco, Dr Carlo Frizziero, Professor Piero Fucci, Father Giovanni Gennari, Monsignor Mario Ghizzo, Father Carlo Gonzalez, Father Andrew Greeley, Diane Hall, Doctor John Henry, Father Thomas Hunt, William Jackson, John J. Kenney, Peter Lemos, Dr David Levison, Father Diego Lorenzi, Edoardo Luciani, William Lynch, Ann McDiarmid, Father John Magee, Sandro Magister, Alexander Manson, Professor Vincenzo Masini, Father Francis Murphy, Monsignor Giulio Nicolini, Anna Nogara, Father Gerry O’Collins, Father Romeo Panciroli, Father Gianni Pastro, Lena Petri, Nina Petri, Professor Pier Luigi Prati, Professor Giovanni Rama, Roberto Rosone, Professor Fausto Rovelli, Professor Vincenzo Rulli, Ann Ellen Rutherford, Monsignor Tiziano Scalzotto, Monsignor Mario Senigaglia, Arnaldo Signoracci, Ernesto Signoracci, Father Bartolomeo Sorges, Lorana Sullivan, Father Francesco Taffarel, Sister Vincenza, Professor Thomas Whitehead, Phillip Willan. I am also grateful to the following organizations: the Augustinian Residence, Rome, Banco San Marco, the Bank of England, the Bank of International Settlements, Basle, the Bank of Italy, Catholic Central Library, Catholic Truth Society, City of London Police, the Department of Trade, Statistics and Market Intelligence Library, the English College, Rome, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Gregorian University, Rome, New Cross Hospital Poisons Unit, Opus Dei, the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, the Tribunal of the Ward of Luxembourg, US Department of State, US District Court Southern District of New York, Vatican Press Office, and Vatican Radio.

  Among those I cannot thank public
ly are the people resident within Vatican City who contacted me and initiated my investigation of the events surrounding the death of Pope John Paul I, Albino Luciani. The fact that men and women living within the heart of the Roman Catholic Church cannot speak openly and be identified is an eloquent comment on the state of affairs within the Vatican.

  Doubtless this book will be attacked by some and dismissed by others. It will be seen by some as an assault on the Roman Catholic faith in particular and on Christianity in general. It is neither of these. To a degree it is an indictment of specifically named men who were born Roman Catholics but who have never become Christians.

  As such this book is not an attack on ‘The Faith’ of the Church’s devout millions who follow it. What they hold sacred is too important to be left in the hands of men who have conspired to drag the message of Christ into the muddy market place – a conspiracy that has met with frightening success.

  As already indicated I am met with an insurmountable difficulty when faced with the task of naming specific sources within the text. Who exactly told me what or provided the documentary information must remain secret. I can assure the reader that all the information, all the details, all the facts, have been checked and double checked to the extent multiple sources were available. I take the responsibility for putting the evidence together and for the conclusions reached.