Pope could be the victim of assassination plot within a year, claims senior Vatican cardinal

Cardinal Paolo Romeo said to have revealed details on a visit to China
Another cardinal then submitted a top-secret report to the Vatican Secretary of State
Plot 'beyond realms of reality' says Vatican spokesman

Last updated at 2:10 PM on 10th February 2012

A senior Vatican cardinal has sensationally claimed Pope Benedict XVI could be ‘the victim of an assassination plot’ within the next 12 months, it emerged today.

Cardinal Paolo Romeo is said to have revealed the details while on a visit to China and that another cardinal who was told of the comments, then submitted a top secret report to the Vatican Secretary of State.

The plot, which could come straight out of a Dan Brown-style thriller, was revealed in Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano today.

revelations: Pope Benedict XVI, pictured yesterday at the Vatican, could be ¿the victim of an assassination plot¿ within the next 12 months a senior Vatican cardinal has sensationally claimed

Cardinal Romeo, who is Archbishop of Palermo, is said to have made the claims during his visit to China last November where he met with Italian businessmen and local Catholic Church officials.

The Catholic Church is not officially recognised in China and relations between the two are strained but in November, Pope Benedict did grant approval for the ordination of a new bishop which was accepted by the Bejing government.

Il Fatto claimed that Cardinal Romeo told the businessmen that there was a ‘death plot' against the Pope and that he would be 'dead within twelve months', the end of the year at the latest but it was not clear where he had obtained the information.

Startling news: The plot was revealed in Italian newspaper Il Fatto Quotidiano which published a 'very confidential' document dated 30 December 2011 said to had been given to retired Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon

His comments were then relayed back to another cardinal in Rome, Columbian born Dario Castrillon who wrote up the report and submitted to the Secretary of State, cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The newspaper claimed that the report was 'translated into German' so as to keep the sensationally revelations as quiet as possible within the Vatican but it was submitted to German born Pope Benedict XVI as well.

Cardinal Romeo, 73, has a long career as a Vatican diplomat and has worked in the Philippines, Belgium, Luxembourg, Venezuela and Rwanda and he was also the Vatican’s official ambassador to Italy between 2001 and 2006, when he was made a cardinal by Pope Benedict.

Il Fatto said that it had been leaked a copy of the report and that the German words for ‘death plot’ were in it and they added that they had verified it was original by the Vatican rubber stamps that were on the pages.

They also went on to detail how cardinal Romeo had even said that a successor for Pope Benedict was also being lined up and named him as cardinal Angelo Scola, the current archbishop of Milan.

Il Fatto added that cardinal Romeo had 'seriously predicted a criminal plot against the pope and that he would be dead within twelve months' and that the report had been written on New Year’s Eve and then passed to the Pope last month.

Il Fatto deputy editor Marco Travaglio said:' We are happy the report is a genuine Vatican document and that the details are accurate as we reported them.

'Obviously we hope that it is not true but the words death plot are clearly there in German and it was written in German so that only a handful of people within the Vatican knew the details.'

Today Vatican spokesman father Federico Lombardi tried to downplay the report saying that it seemed to him ,to be ‘’beyond the realms of reality and not even worth considering"'.

In 1978 Pope John Paul I died after just 33 days in office and there have long been suggestions that he was poisoned by the Mafia after they discovered he was about to name senior Catholic church officials who were involved in money laundering for the Mob.

In 1981 late Pope John Paul II, who died in 2005, was the victim of an assassination attempt when Turkish hit man Mehmet Ali Agca fired at him from close range, as he greeted crowds in St Peter’s Square.

The Pope was rushed to hospital where he underwent life saving surgery and he went on to make a full recovery, putting his survival down to the intervention of the Virgin Mary and later one of the bullets removed during the operation was placed at a shrine to her in Fatima, Portugal.

In 1991 comedian Robbie Coltrane starred in a film called The Pope Must Die, in which he played a lowly priest who is mistakenly elected Pope and then has to avoid being assassinated by the Mafia.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099276/The-Pope-victim-ass...

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on February 10, 2012 at 10:12am

3 Aves offered to Saint Agatha for the protection of His Holiness Pope Benedict the XVI

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on February 10, 2012 at 7:09pm

“Plot against Benedict XVI
He will die in 12 months”

A note delivered to the Pontiff by cardinal Castrillon a month ago, reports what archbishop of Palermo, cardinal Romeo, said in one of his conversations in China last November: “His interlocutor thought, with fear, that the Pope would be the victim of an attack”. Scola could be his successor. The spokesman of the Holy See, Lombardi: “So incredible we cannot comment on”.

Mordkomplott. “Plot of death”. It is somehow unbelievable to read on a strictly confidential document how an influential Cardinal, such as archbishop of Palermo Paolo Romeo, predicts Pope Benedict’s death no further than November 2012. Being so sure about the death period he made the interlocutors think of the existence of a plot to kill Benedict XVI. The exclusive content published by Il Fatto Quotidiano reveals a note written by anonymous dated Dec. 30^th 2011. In Early January, the note was delivered by Colombian Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos to the secretary of State and the secretary of the Pope. Castrillon also suggested making inquiries to understand whom exactly archbishop Romeo talked to while in China.

The Pontiff was told about the content of the note by cardinal Castrillon in person in mid January, during a private hearing. The document opens with a premise in upper case letters: “Stricly confidential”. Although many books have been written about Vatican conspiracies and the suspect death of John Paul I, these circumstances are surely uncommon. No one ever before putted on paper a plot to kill the Pope. A scheme that can have his final showdown in November, due to the deep divisions in the Holy corridors that picture the Pope opposed to secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone the day before an alleged succession.

THE PLOT AND ITS MAIN CHARACTERS.

Archbishop of Milan Angelo Scola will be Pope Ratzinger intended successor, the document says.

A document that is written completely in German, Pope Benedict’s mother language. The note has a long object line in bold: “Archbishop of Palermo, cardinal Paolo Romeo’s trip to Beijing on November 2011. During his hearings in China, cardinal Romeo foreshadows the death of Pope Benedict XVI within 12 months. Cardinal Romeo was told of a serious death plot by a well informed source. He was so sure and resolute, his interlocutors in China thought of the existence of an attack scheme against the Holy Father.”

Right after this astonishing preliminary remarks, the document has a three paragraph structure, each one with a bold title. The first one is “Trip to Beijing”; the second one is “Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone” and the third one is “Pope Benedict XVI succession.”

The first paragraph retraces the unusual trip to Beijing of archbishop of Palermo, Paolo Romeo, an influential character in the Catholic Church: 73 years old, nominated cardinal by the Pope during Nov. 20^th 2010 Consistory, he will participate by all meanings to the Papal conclave.

Born in Acireale (Sicily) from a prosperous family, Romeo loves new technology so much that on his archdiocese’s website you can click on “Follow us on Twitter” because “the Lord could use it to reveal all the ten commandments”.

After a long career in the Philippines, Venezuela, Rwanda, Colombia and Canada, Romeo was named papal nuncio in Italy. Pope Benedict disavowed his willing to promote a conference among all Italian bishops anyway, right before he was supposed to be elected as president of Conferenza episcopale italiana (Italian episcopal conference).

Pope Ratzinger disavowed cardinal Castrillon de Hoyos’ letter too, in which he was praising a convicted French bishop that didn’t press charges against one of his priests, guilty of sexual abuse of children.

Older than Romeo, Castrillon is a diehard traditionalist and, when in charged of the Lefebvrian movement as president of the ‘Ecclesia Dei’ commission, he didn’t report bishop Williamson’s anti-semitism to the Pope.

In his eighties in 2010, Castrillon retired and will not participate to the next conclave. He felt humiliated, although, when he discovered Romeo was in China.

“On November 2011, cardinal Romeo landed in Beijing with a tourist visa but he never met any representative of the Roman Catholic Church in China. He met, however, with Italian business men, living or working in Beijing, and some Chinese interlocutors. When in Beijing, cardinal Romeo reckoned he was a special envoy of the Pope to pursue his hearings started by cardinal Dario Castrillon in March 2010. He also stated he was nominated directly by the Pope to carry on the relationships between China and the Vatican”.

THE THREE PARAGRAPHS.

The anonymous writer describers Romeo as a braggart. The archbishop of Palermo bears out to be an old friend of cardinal Castrillon, expert of undergound churches in the Philippines and even as a member of a secret council that manages the Roman Catholic Church under the Ratzinger pontificate. “Cardinal Romeo surprised his interlocutors with the statement that he- Romeo- the Holy Father- Pope Benedict XVI- and cardinal Scola are a troika. On important matters, then, the Holy Father consults with him- Romeo- and with Scola.”

Then, in the second paragraph, Romeo seems to criticize the secretary of State, Tarcisio Bertone. “Cardinal Romeo harshly criticized Pope Benedict XVI because he would take care only of the liturgy, neglectting ‘daily affairs’ entrusted from Pope Benedict to cardinal Tarcisio Bertone”.

Bertone and Ratzinger are described having continuous quarrels. “The relationship between Pope Benedict XVI and his secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone seems conflictual. In confidentiality, cardinal Romeo reckoned that Pope Benedict XVI hates Tarcisio Bertone so much he would replace him right away with another cardinal. Romeo added, although, that there is no other cardinal available to fit this position and that is why cardinal Tarcisio Bertone is still in charged of the secretariat.”

At this point, given that “also the relationship between the Secretary of State and cardinal Scola is troubled as well”, here comes the paragraph that deals with the Pope’s succession. And cardinal Scola is way ahead in the nomination, due to his links to Comunione and Liberazione. “The Holy Father is managing the succession and he picked cardinal Scola as a suitable candidate, because he appears close to his personality. Slowly though relentlessly he is preparing and training him up to be the next Pope. On Holy Father’s initiative – says Romeo – cardinal Scola was transferred from Venice to Milan to get ready for his Papacy. Cardinal Romero kept astonishing his interlocutors in China – reckons the document delivered from the Colombian cardinal to the Pope – with his ever increasing indiscretions”.

After picturing conflictual relationships inside the Vatican, Romeo now tosses the bomb. “Cardinal Romeo announced the Holy Father had only 12 months ahead to live. And he was so sure about himself, as he knew it with precision, that he prophesied Pope Benedict’s death within the next 12 months. Cardinal Romeo’s allegations were told by a well informed source. His statement of a death plot against the Pope made his Chinese interlocutors thought the Holy Father was about to be the victim of an attack”. But the note goes on: “Cardinal Romeo didn’t imagine that his statements during private hearings in China could be sent from third parties to the Vatican”.

SUCCESSION, DENIAL AND THE MESS WITH THE VATICAN.

The last paragraph is all about the succession. “Pope Benedict’s successor would be Italian. As cardinal Romeo said in China, after Pope Benedict’s death, cardinal Scola would be elected Pontiff. But Scola has important enemies inside the Vatican as well”.

Il Fatto called the spokesman of the Holy See, father Federico Lombardi, to ask the Vatican official position on the document. His response, yesterday night, was: “You can print anything you want but you’ll take the responsibility for that. It is so out of reality that I won’t even take it in consideration. It is so incredible I won’t even answer your question”.

The denial is questionable because the document raises many questions about the health and the security of the Pope, giving the picture of a troubled Catholic Church.

Besides the truthfulness of the document, the note must be taken to the attention of the public opinion and cannot be kept as a secret. Then again, the document must be explained to Christians worldwide. On Feb. 4^th, Il Fatto published the letter in which papal nuncio in the U.S. Carlo Maria Viganò underlined corruption cases, theft and false billing inside the Vatican and pointed to the director of the Vatican museums, Paolo Nicolini, as responsible for those crimes.

Then again, Il Fatto published as exclusive document that shown how the Vatican never gave its bank information to the anti-recycling authorities before April 2011. And now this note that unequivocally talks about the plot of death against the Pope. That is why we have published the note: first of all because officials have to verify the truthfulness of the document and, second, because the Holy Roman Church has to explain the reason why hypothesis of murder circulate among cardinals and bishops.

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Permalink Reply by Renel B. Peña on February 14, 2012 at 5:09am

OREMUS PRO PONTIFICE NOSTRO BENEDICTO.

"Monsignors' mutiny" revealed by Vatican leaks

POPE "ISOLATED"

Leaked confidential cables sent to the State Department by the U.S. embassy to the Vatican depicted him as a "yes man" with no diplomatic experience or linguistic skills and the 2009 cable suggests that the pope is protected from bad news.

"There is also the question of who, if anyone, brings dissenting views to the pope's attention," read the cable, published by WikiLeaks.

The Vatican sources said some cardinals asked the pope to replace Bertone because of administrative lapses, including the failure to warn the pope that a renegade bishop re-admitted to the Church in 2009 was a well-known Holocaust denier.

But they said the pope, at 84 and increasingly showing the signs of his age, is not eager to break in a new right-hand man.

"It's so complicated and the pope is so helpless," said the monsignor.

The bishop said: "The pope is very isolated. He lives in his own world and some say the information he receives is filtered. He is interested in his books and his sermons but he is not very interested in government."

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on February 14, 2012 at 2:46pm

Bishop Luigi Bettazzi during an interview on RAI Radio2, on the subject of the plot to kill Pope BVI, said that he doesn't believe it exists. "No, I think the Pope would have been the first to know. The Pope is so soft, so religious, I don't find any reason to an attempt against him" However, bishop Bettazzi has another theory.
"I think it is a system to prepare the eventuality of resignation. To prepare for this shock, since the resignation of a Pope is indeed a shock, it is launched the matter of conspiracy". When he was asked if indeed the Pope intends to resign he said:"I think so". "In spite of the fact that they have denied it, an old cardinal always said to me that if the Vatican denies, then it's true". [...] One of the reasons for the Pope resignation would be fatigue. "I think that He is very tired. Just look at him, he is a man used to study. And when he faces up the problems that are there, even in front of the tensions within the curia, one might think that the new Pope will take care of these things".

Source: Secretum meum mihi.

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Permalink Reply by Dawn Marie on February 15, 2012 at 9:09am

ZE12021408 - 2012-02-14
Permalink: http://www.zenit.org/article-34301?l=english

Vatican Spokesman Calls for Calm, Clear Thinking

Responds to Series of Leaked Memos Causing Italian Media Uproar

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 14, 2012 (Zenit.org).- The director of the Vatican press office advises remaining calm, as a series of leaked Vatican documents has created something of a media storm in Italy.

In a statement released by Vatican Radio on Monday, Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi said: "Nowadays we must all have strong nerves, because no one can be surprised at anything. The American administration was affected by Wikileaks, now the Vatican too has its disclosures, its leaked documents, which tend to create confusion and bewilderment, and to throw a bad light on the Vatican, the governance of the Church and, more broadly, on the Church herself."

"We must, then, remain calm and keep our nerve, make use of reason, something which not all media outlets tend to do," he suggested.

Father Lombardi went on to clarify, "The documents in question are of different kinds and importance, drawn up at various times and for differing situations."

Distinguishing the issues

He then mentioned the issues the notes have regarded, including the economic management of the governing body of Vatican City State, current juridical and legislative questions, ("about which it is quite normal that there should be contrasting opinions,") and even "delirious and incomprehensible reports about plots against the Pope's life."

"Yet, putting them all together helps to create confusion," Father Lombardi lamented. "Serious reporting should be capable of distinguishing the issues and understanding their differing importance."

The Jesuit said that it is "very sad" that documents are leaked "in order to create confusion."

"Both sides bear responsibility: firstly the suppliers of documents of this kind, but also those who undertake to use them for purposes that certainly have nothing to do with pure love of truth," he stated. "We must, therefore, stand firm, not allowing ourselves to be swallowed up by the vortex of confusion, which is what ill-intentioned people want, and remaining capable of using our reason."

At stake

The spokesman reflected that "according to an ancient expression of human and spiritual wisdom -- the emergence of more powerful attacks is a sign that something important is at stake."

He then went on to note the Church's advances in the sexual abuse crisis and its commitment to ensure economic transparency in Vatican institutions.

"If many people insist on attacking us, the issue is obviously important," he observed. "Whoever thinks he is discouraging the Pope and his collaborators in their commitment is mistaken."

Father Lombardi concluded with this comment: "As for the issue of the supposed power struggles in view of the next conclave, I would invite everyone to note that all the Pontiffs elected during the last hundred years have been people of exalted and unquestioned spiritual merit. Cardinals have naturally sought, and still seek, to elect someone who deserves the respect of the people of God, someone who can serve humankind in our time with great moral and spiritual authority. Reading these events as an internal power struggle depends to a large extent on the moral coarseness of those who provoke them and those who see them as such, people often incapable of seeing anything else. Fortunately, those who believe in Jesus Christ know that -- whatever may be written in today's newspapers -- the true concerns of those with positions of responsibility in the Church are the serious problems facing the men and women of today and tomorrow. Not for nothing do we also believe in, and speak of, the assistance of the Holy Spirit."