[.ca] Murder in the Vatican: The Revolutionary Life of John ... (ISBN 1425953085)

The Truth about the 33 day Pope:
One would wonder why the Vatican goes out of its way to bury the liberal identity of the 33-day pope? Could it be it wants to bury its ecclesiastical motive for murder? For example, recently the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Bertone, criticized an Italian television movie that depicted John Paul as he truly was - a social revolutionary activist. There is far too much in his own writings and a mountain of newspaper reportings to support his true identity. John Paul, in his own books, many times, defends the oppressed. In a letter to Figaro in his best seller Illustrissimi, he encourages those outside the heterosexual mainstream to stand up and fight for their rights "Dear Figaro: Well then. Who and what are you dear Figaro? A variety of dress? A mixture of feminine and masculine? Of orient and occident? Poor Figaro, against all these nobles with their coats of arms, these bewigged bourgeois, who themselves do every trespass. They are no better, perhaps worse, than you. Barbers, marriage brokers, advisors, pseudo diplomats, ladies and gentlemen, whatever you like. They demand that you alone be honest in this world of cheats and rogues. Do not accept what they say, my dear Figaro, for you too are a citizen. Sadly, your only salvation is in revolution." John Paul was an ardent feminist activist as evidenced by his letters to Carlos Goldini in his book Humbly Yours. As a Pope, he declared publicly "God is more our Mother than She is our Father" the day before his sudden and unwitnessed death. His philosophical mentor was Serbati Rosmini, a known homosexual and a monumental progressive who had forty of his propositions for change in the Church condemned by the Vatican in 1887. It was his atheist socialist revolutionary father who placed John Paul in a minor seminary at the age of eleven with the commission to bring change to the Church and Christianity. Besides, there are too many of us left who knew him. I was only fifteen when my granduncle rose to the papacy. Sixty million Italians and I know my uncle was murdered by right wing fundamentalists in the Vatican. Those in the liberal north believe he was eliminated because he threatened to bring about the equality of all of God's children in the church. Those in the conservative south believe he was murdered because he threatened to demolish the monarchy of the papacy including the liquidation of the Vatican treasures to help the poor. Both these efforts were clearly underway when he met his sudden and unwitnessed death. BRAVO! Lucien Gregoire brings him back to life as he actually was and not as the Vatican would pretend him to be. As a bonus he solves the mystery of his - until now - unexplained death.

A Princely Dream?:
This book is the compilation of originally published actions of the 33-day pope and not as they have been republished by Rome. So outlandish and revolutionary - particularly for his time - are many of them, and so ingeniously and beautifully does the author weave them into the record, one could get the impression from time-to-time that one is immersed in a princely dream. That is, if one ignores the footnotes. Being a doubter, I researched a few dozen of these references both on the Internet and in library microfilm and was unable to poke a hole in them. Still, I find it hard to believe that a man's life, so well documented in the world press, could have been so effectively snuffed out by his enemies who survived him and - as the author contends - murdered him for his liberal ideology. Concerning Vatican intrigue and the political infighting that goes on when a pope is elected, this book is the best sourced and most informative book I have ever read. Yet, its more important part is its biographical message - the only existing record of where he stood on the issues of his day. Here is the record of a revolutionary-activist whose deeds and words were recorded in the press from the time he was twelve when he published an article in his school paper that reached all of Europe. Then, a non-conformist from the start, inspired by his atheist socialist father, he called upon the nations of the world to live up to their copyright laws and place a warning on the Old Testament, "This is a work of fiction. Keep away from children." Had he been successful - to the extent that Mein Kampf was inspired by the superiority of the Aryan race philosophy of the Old Testament - the world may have been spared WWII and the Holocaust. The press continued to follow him through his ministry. As a bishop, in defiance of a papal decree, he often ordered hospitals within his jurisdiction to allow long term loving partners of homosexuals into critical care units. The press followed him all the way down to that time, just a month before his election, when he cast his vote for genetic science - again in defiance of a papal decree. When all other cardinals condemned Louise Brown - the world's first artificially inseminated child as "a child of the devil," John Paul, then Archbishop of Venice, wrote her parents, "I congratulate you on the birth of your little girl. I (the Church) have no right to condemn you for what you asked the doctors to carry out. Be assured, there is reserved for both you and your child a high place in heaven." His public image continued to be pragmatic all the way down to his last proclamation the day before he died, "God is more our Mother than She is our Father," - a sitting pontiff who challenged the ancient assumption that God is a man. So, like the DaVinci Code, there are things here that will infuriate the devout; hence look for lo-scores from enraged nuns and pretending 'experts' who really don't want to dig him up. But, unlike the DaVinci Code, the critics of this book must contend with the proof of the pudding which is at the end of each chapter - footnotes - ironclad sources that define the integrity of this work. Pinch yourself - check them out - it's not a dream. I purchased a signed new white cover 2006 edition of this book for less than $15 USD directly from the author on his listing 'vaticandirect' under 'new & used' on the main amazon site. He ships all books 2nd day delivery and airmails offshore orders 4 to 6 day delivery at no extra charge. Keep this one in mind for Christmas as autographed books especially those that include a personal note by the author make great gifts. Avoid obsolete black cover edtions as they do not include chapters on his childhood, his teenage seminary days at Feltre, his seminary days at Belluno, his young priesthood and much more.