This news article delves into the Vatican's extensive history of espionage, revealing its clandestine operations spanning centuries. From its early roots in combating anti-papal plots to its pivotal role in the Cold War, the article highlights the Vatican's network of spies, covert missions, and alliances with Western intelligence agencies.
With ruthless ambition, suspense, and even spies, the hit movie Conclave lays bare the fight to succeed as a new Pope . Cardinal Lawrence, portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, who is nominated for Best Actor, must oversee the conclave, where Catholic Church leaders are shut off from the outside world to elect a new Pontiff. The Catholic Church has not only its own secret service but also a roster of “James Bonds in cassocks” trained to parachute behind enemy lines.
A new book, Vatican Spies, by Yvonnick Denoel, reveals an extraordinary story of espionage that includes Queen Elizabeth I, the Cold War, the Mafia, the KGB, the CIA, and MI6, as well as incredible financial scandals and cold-blooded murder. The shadowy body first came to light in the wake of a double murder in the Vatican - when Yvon Bertorello, a young priest, claimed there was a “state within a state . . . to destabilise communist regimes”. This would become one of the Vatican’s most notorious scandals, but, like the Devil himself, its secret intelligence arm has had many names over the years.It comes under the umbrella of the Secretariat of State, which is based in the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. The governing body of the Catholic Church, it houses various branches - including the famous Swiss Guards known for their elaborate uniforms, and the Vatican’s Vigilanza. Within the Vigilanza, which is mostly staffed by former Italian cops and intelligence agents, are secret-service units that bug phone lines, monitor mail, and tail suspects. Their primary objective is to make sure the Pope remains safe, not least after assassination attempts in the past. Pope Pius IV appointed a spy master, Antonio Ghislieri, who would become known as the “shadow Pope”, to build up an intelligence network to combat the Church’s enemies, including Protestant reformers and anti-papal conspirators. Ghislieri would later become Pope Pius V and would set up a formal spy agency called the Holy Alliance.In the 19th Century, the Papacy realised it needed to once again fire up a formal intelligence agency to counter all the revolutions sweeping through Europe. But it was only when Pope Pius X set up a new network of political spying, called the Sapiniere, in 1903 that the Vatican would assume an increasingly central role in the world of international intelligence. Initially, it was designed to recruit agents and informers, intercept mail, follow suspects, and purge anyone viewed as a threat to the Catholic Church’s conservative ideology. In World War One, the Vatican had to cover up a major scandal when it emerged that Pope Benedict XV’s key aide was a German agent. The Pope’s policemen, mostly recruited from retired Italian officers, allowed fascist cops access to private quarters of foreign ambassadors to the Vatican, to steal their secrets. In 1929, the Vatican struck a deal with the Mussolini government, which involved setting up networks designed to infiltrate the USSR. The downfall of communism would become the Church’s primary aim up until the Nineties, and saw it build alliances with many Western intelligence services, including the CIA, MI6, and French secret services. This became increasingly important, as the Americans and British realised they were often “blind” in the Soviet Union, which ruthlessly flushed out spy networks and monitored Western diplomats. The Western powers realised that in the Church they had an informal network of information thanks to local priests. They would collate reports on the local social, economic, and political picture in their parishes, which would, eventually, be filtered back to the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. In 1930, ambitious Vatican official Eugenio Pacelli became the Secretary of State and set up what became known as Russicum, to resist communist oppression in the USSR. A French intelligence report described Russicum as a “true ‘action division’”, which helped the French infiltrate Eastern Bloc countries. The CIA helped forge the required ID for agent priests, who were also expected to develop their own false identities and backstories. Tomas Turowski, former spy turned Polish ambassador, said, “The Vatican was a great source of information for the West, especially during the Cold War.” But in 1954, the program ended when it emerged the Soviets were rounding up these agent priests at a prolific rate. Meanwhile, Pole Karol Wojtyla, who would eventually become Pope John Paul II, was trained and ordained in complete secrecy in Communist Poland. When he became the first non-Italian pope for 450 years in 1978, his target was communism. He immediately beefed up the Vigilanza and within this was a special secret unit that carried out black ops.
Religion Politics VATICAN ESPIONAGE SECRET SERVICE POPE COLD WAR CIA KGB MI6 RUSSICUM VIGILANZA HISTORY RELIGION POLITICS
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
A history of trauma, a history of failureAmid the ongoing row about grooming gangs, politics writer Joseph Timan looks at how the scandal was exposed
Read more »
Vatican Appoints First Woman to Lead Major OfficeSister Simona Brambilla becomes the first woman to head a major Vatican office, appointed as prefect of the Dicastery for the Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.
Read more »
Geordie Shore star Abbie Holborn confirms secret boyfriend after ‘nervous breakdown’ over love life...Geordie Shore star Abbie Holborn confirms secret boyfriend after ‘nervous breakdown’ over love life
Read more »
Love Island All Stars cast hit with huge first night twist just hours after they arrive in villa...Inside Love Island All Stars villa – with secret hideaway & mystery bedroom extras
Read more »
First look inside new Love Island villa with THROUPLE hideaway and ‘naughty secret garden’ in South Afr...Inside Love Island All Stars villa – with secret hideaway & mystery bedroom extras
Read more »
BBC The Traitors' star exposes big behind-the-scenes secretThe former player revealed a little-known secret about the hit BBC show
Read more »