Popes have been assassinated on numerous occasions over the past 1990 years. The first to be poisoned was John VIII. He was also clubbed to death by members of his inner circle after they discovered the poison they had administered to the Pope wasn't working fast enough. Other Popes murdered include John X, Benedict VI, Boniface VII, Paul II, and Alexander VI. So it should come as no surprise, that in the land of "Foucault's Pendulum," conspiracy rumors surfaced immediately when Albino Luciani, Pope John Paul I, died suddenly at age 66, after only 33 days in office. At the time of his death he was supposedly reading. He had no history of heart trouble.Some conspiratorialists claimed John Paul was about to blow the whistle on the Vatican Bank, then tormented by a series of scandals; others declared he was murdered because he intended to reverse Humanae Vitae and to liberalize birth control; and the Lefebvreites were certain the Catholic hierarchy had been infiltrated by satanic emissaries determined on destroying traditional rituals and practices.
The Vatican made matters worse by issuing a series of contradictory statements about the circumstances of his death. Contradictory times of death were reported, different people were supposed to have found the body, there was dispute about whether there had been an autopsy, when the embalmers had been called, etc., etc., etc.
John Cornwell, a respected British journalist and former seminarian, was asked by the Vatican to investigate. He agreed reluctantly. The Vatican provided complete access and everyone was commanded, on highest authority (short of God, I suppose), that he was to have full cooperation. His probe was thorough. He interviewed everyone, cross-checked all the evidence, and slowly made his way through the maze of contradictions. A Thief In The Night: The Mysterious Death of John Paul I is the intriguing and fascinating result.
His conclusions are perhaps more damning than the Vatican might have wished. What he discovered was "...a court, a palace of gossipy eunuchs. The whole place floats on a sea of brilliant bitchery." (This is a quote from a Vatican priest interviewed by Cornwell.)
John Paul I had inherited enormous responsibility. The Pope oversees more than a billion faithful through out the world. He must deal with religious crises in many countries, personally visit with over 3,000 bishops at least once every 5 years, and battle the subversive influences of change and culture. He also must supervise a recalcitrant and enormous bureaucracy.
It was clear to Vatican professionals from the start that the new Pope was not up to the job, either mentally or physically. They ridiculed his pastoral ways and his desire to diminish the regal trappings of the papacy. Many felt threatened. The Pope himself complained almost daily to his intimate staff that he was the wrong man for the job, and he prayed God would relieve him of this burden. After his death one Vatican official told Cornwell, "...the Holy Spirit did a good job: relieving us of him before he did too much damage."
Despite obvious signs of physical difficulties, the Pope was assigned no physician during those thirty days, and although surrounded by attendants, he had no friends. He was cut off from his family by well-meaning guards and officials who thought he had more important things to do than spend time with his niece. They loaded him down with work. (In fact, Villot, Vatican Secretary of State, suffered great remorse, so sure was he that he had killed the Pope with overwork.)
I won't give away any secrets. If you want to know the solution you're going to have to read the book. Cornwell does say scorn and neglect were contributing factors. Better than any murder mystery.
