The Science of Conspiracy Theories

Pope John Paul I conspiracy

Pope John Paul I conspiracy

This conspiracy arose because he died under suspicious circumstances, namely that he died only 33 days after his election.

Pope Jon Paul I's real name was Albino Luciani, and he was born October 17, 1912 and died suddenly on September 28, 1978 after only 33 days as pope.
There are many things that are strange with his election. For one, he didn't want to be elected pope. He was the first pope to have a double name, and the reason he chose the name is to honor John XXIII and Paul VI, his immediate predecessors. Paul VI made him a Cardinal on March 5, 1973.

After being elected pope, he had some controversial stands on church doctrine, namely on contraception. He didn't take Paul VI's strict view on it. Some thought that he was soft on some established strict views on Divorce, artificial insemination, and the ordination of women. He was also friendly with Muslims, and he expressed the view that there should be freedom of choice when it comes to religion.

John Paul I was considered to have personal warmth, but the conservatives in the Vatican did not consider him tough enough about church dogma and doctrine.

John Paul I was found dead in bed of an apparent heart attack. Of course this gave birth to many conspiracy theories that spawned several books and movies, some direct and others indirect, about the murder of John Paul I.

The problem is that the Vatican was not very clear about the circumstances of John Paul I's death, such as who found his body, what was reading (a open book was found on his bed), and whether an autopsy was done. I might add here that when an autopsy isn't done in a suspicious death of a important person, a conspiracy theory is bound to follow.

There was one report that John Paul I was trying to restore the old Tridentine Mass, which was replaced by the new right in Vatican Council II. There was also rumors that John Paul I had discovered corruption in the Vatican bank (no kidding) and had found Freemason priests in the  Vatican. There is also a report that the dead Pope had a crumpled paper in his hand that implicated high-ranking members of Curia who were involved in corruption scandals involving the Vatican bank.

I can believe that John Paul I had found corruption in the Vatican bank. The current Pope Francis has found it and is trying to reform the entire baking establishment. I believe that the current situation became so bad that the Vatican realized that it had to suffer reform or collapse in utter failure. Evidently, they didn't think that back in 1978. I'm not sure about the Freemason priests. I don't know if that would be good enough excuse for a murder. I don't buy the idea about the restoration of the Tridentine Mass. That sounds too far fetched.

There will always be conspiracy theories about the Vatican because it is a prestigious and mostly secret institution that has had a duplicitous history. That's the way it goes these days.

Thanks for reading.