-Caveat Lector- http://www.spiritdaily.com/cabal.htm Question of secret influence continues to haunt Vatican by Michael H. Brown The notion that a secret cabal of men intent on controlling or even destroying the Church has established itself at key positions in the Vatican is again gaining currency with a hotly controversial book that's about to hit the U.S. after some officials of the Church sought to have it banned. The book, Shroud of Secrecy, was written by a group of purported prelates and insiders who have remained anonymous except for a former official named Monsignor Luigi Marinelli, who for years worked in the Vatican department of the Congregation of Eastern Churches and who died last October. The fact that the others are anonymous gives me pause, leaving little chance of analyzing motives and verifying some of the claims. Moreover, there should be a wariness with conspiracy theories: it's always exciting to imagine great intrigue. But the allegations are serious enough to warrant further investigation, and what the authors claim is dramatic indeed: that the Vatican's bureaucracy has been contaminated by careerism, homosexuality, and outright corruption. They also indicate influence by a "Masonic" element that has installed a group of cardinals known as the "Emilia Romagna group," which according to an archconservative Catholic newspaper, The Wanderer, includes cardinals who have served as officials in congregations or delegations dealing with foreign affairs, education, and even consecrated life. "A comparison of various papal yearbooks over the last twenty years would reveal the overwhelming influence the Church has endured at the hands of harmful conniving people," asserts the book, which is being distributed by an organization called Roman Catholic Faithful in Petersburg, Illinois. "With this kind of ruling influence, the ways of the Lord are few, and the followers of those with power adorn all of the curial ministries with their presence. They are almost all either members of the gang from Piacenza or from Emilia Romagna, whose names, even as simply priests, appeared twenty years ago on the Masonic list" -- a reference to a list of more than a hundred names published in the 1980s after a Vatican banking scandal. The Masons are a cult based on medieval occultism (and even further back on Egyptian rituals). It is the claim of Shroud of Secrecy that Church officials with Masonic leanings have not only influenced financial and state decisions but also the appointments of bishops. They claim that at least a hundred cardinals, bishops, and monsignors belong to the "Ecclesia Lodge," which has close ties to a Masonic lodge in England. The Masons have long been the bane of the Vatican. In 1884 Pope Leo XIII wrote an encyclical warning of their danger, and there have been rumblings of their influence at the Vatican itself since the pontificate of Pius IX. In one case the authors claim the files of Cardinal Edouard Gagnon (at the time a monsignor) were burgled and his report stolen after he had completed an investigation of the Curia. Although no proof has ever been established, there have even been speculation that a secret element was behind the untimely death of Pope John Paul I, who died in 1978 after just a month on the Throne of Peter and who had expressed an intent to clean up the Vatican. Whether or not the Masons are directly involved, for years there has been concern that a small group of liberals and modernists have sought to undermine Church traditions. In distributing the book the RCF describes it as "a sizzling account of intrigue, homosexuality, and corruption within the Vatican bureaucracy." Once more, we have to warn that this is a controversial view that needs far more scrutiny. Indeed, some Vatican officials have sought to have the book, known in Italy as Gone With the Wind in the Vatican, banned. <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
