View source for Unsolved:Vatican conspiracy theories

{{Short description|Theories involving the Roman Catholic Church}}
[[File:Saint Peter's Basilica facade, Rome, Italy.jpg|thumb|St. Peter's Basilica]]
'''Vatican conspiracy theories''' are [[Unsolved:Conspiracy theory|conspiracy theories]] that concern the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church. A majority of the theories allege that the Church and its representatives are secretly controlling secular society with a Satanic agenda for global domination.

==Conspiracy theories==

===Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories===
Pope John Paul I died in September 1978, only a month after his election to the papacy. The timing of his death and the Vatican's alleged difficulties with ceremonial and legal death procedures have fostered several conspiracy theories. British author David Yallop wrote extensively about unsolved crimes and conspiracy theories, and in his 1984 book ''In God's Name'' suggested that John Paul I died because he was about to uncover financial scandals allegedly involving the Vatican.<ref>{{Cite news
  | title = The man who says Pope John Paul II was a fraud - and why he tried to thump me
  | publisher = Independent
  | date = 2007-04-07
  | url = http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/cover-story--the-man-who-says-pope-john-paul-ii-was-a-fraud--and-why-he-tried-to-thump-me-42269.html
  | access-date = 2009-01-23}}</ref> John Cornwell responded to Yallop's charges in 1987 with ''A Thief In The Night'', in which he analyzed the various allegations and denied the conspiracy.<ref>{{Cite news
  | last = Gould
  | first = Peter
  | title = 1978: Year of the three popes
  | publisher = BBC
  | date = 2005-04-02
  | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/3008353.stm
  | access-date = 2009-01-23}}</ref> According to Eugene Kennedy, writing for the {{wipe|New York Times}}, Cornwell's book "helps to purge the air of paranoia and of conspiracy theories, showing how the truth, carefully excavated by an able journalist in a refreshing volume, does make us free."<ref>{{Cite news
  | last = Kennedy
  | first = Eugene
  | title = Was The Pope Murdered?
  | work = {{wipe|New York Times}}
  | date = 1989-11-05
  | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/05/books/was-the-pope-murdered.html
  | access-date = 2009-01-23}}</ref>

===Pope John Paul II's 1981 attempted assassination===
Various theories have been brought forward in regards to the attempt by Mehmet Ali Ağca to kill [[Biography:Pope John Paul II|Pope John Paul II]]. Those theories have involved the Grey Wolves,<ref name="Diplo">{{Cite news| first=Kendal|last=Nezan|title=Turkey's pivotal role in the international drug trade | work=Le Monde diplomatique |date = July 1998| url=http://mondediplo.com/1998/07/05turkey}}</ref> the Bulgarian Secret Service,<ref name=Henze>Paul B. Henze. ''The Plot to Kill the Pope'', Holiday House, 1985.{{Page needed|date=September 2010}}</ref> and others.

===Know Nothings===
The Know Nothings were an anti-Catholic political group in the United States, in the 1840s and 1850s, who claimed that the Irish and other Roman Catholic immigrants to the United States would be controlled by the Pope for anti-American purposes.<ref>Anbinder; Tyler. ''Nativism and Slavery: The Northern Know Nothings and the politics of the 1850s'' (1992). [https://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=52767975 Online version; also online at ACLS History e-Book], the standard scholarly study</ref>

=== Secret Archives ===
There are several theories about the contents of the Vatican Apostolic Archives: some theories claim that they contain secret information about the [[Unsolved:Priory of Sion|Priory of Sion]], proof that Jesus had a wife and descendants,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Vatican's newspaper dismisses 'evidence' Jesus had a wife|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/9574644/Vaticans-newspaper-dismisses-evidence-Jesus-had-a-wife.html|access-date=2021-04-25|website=www.telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> secret information about the [[Unsolved:Three Secrets of Fátima|third secret of the Fatima]], the real Spear of Destiny, secret information about the Holy Grail and/or the [[Engineering:Ark of the Covenant|Ark of the Covenant]],<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-05-04|title=Top 10 Things Possibly Hidden In The Vatican Secret Archives|url=https://listverse.com/2020/05/04/top-10-things-possibly-hidden-in-the-vatican-secret-archives/|access-date=2021-04-25|website=Listverse|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=2017-01-21|title=Why the Ark of the Covenant is one of history's enduring mysteries|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/ark-covenant|access-date=2021-04-25|website=History|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Apr 10|first=Anri Ichimura {{!}}|last2=2020|title=The Very Holy and Very Lost Foreskin of Jesus Christ|url=https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/lost-foreskin-of-jesus-christ-a00304-20200410|access-date=2021-04-25|website=Esquiremag.ph}}</ref> a supposedly-real [[Unsolved:Chronovisor|Chronovisor machine]], and many other secrets. There are also theories that claim that the Vatican has information about the [[Unsolved:Illuminati|Illuminati]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=6 Creepy Conspiracy Theories About the Vatican's Secret Archives {{!}} Realm Blog|url=https://www.realm.fm/blog/6-popular-conspiracy-theories-vaticans-secret-archives|access-date=2021-04-25|website=www.realm.fm|language=en}}</ref> and even secretly contains the world's largest collection of porn.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Adams|first=Cecil|date=1982-03-26|title=Does the Vatican have the world's largest pornography collection?|url=https://www.straightdope.com/21341245/does-the-vatican-have-the-world-s-largest-pornography-collection|access-date=2021-04-25|website=The Straight Dope|language=en}}</ref>

=== Jesuit conspiracy theories ===

==See also==
*[[Unsolved:List of conspiracy theories#Anti-Catholic conspiracy theories|List of conspiracy theories]] 
*Legends surrounding the papacy
*[[Philosophy:Anti-Catholicism|Anti-Catholicism]]
*[[Unsolved:Jesuit conspiracy theories|Jesuit conspiracy theories]]
*[[Unsolved:Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories|Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories]]
*Crypto-papism

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Conspiracy theories involving religion]]

{{Sourceattribution|Vatican conspiracy theories}}