10 Darkest Vatican Secrets and Conspiracy Theories
10 Dark Secrets & Conspiracy Theories About the Vatican Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at the most shocking, most unbelievable conspiracy theories that the Holy See has been accused of covering up.
The Catholic Church Created COVID-19
While the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic remains mysterious, it’s probably fair to say that it wasn’t as part of a sinister plot to infect the general populace’s blood with Satan’s DNA. That is, unless you believe the 2022 viral “documentary” “Watch the Water”, which mostly consists of an interview between conservative radio host Stew Peters, and chiropractor Bryan Ardis. In the video, Ardis says that, with regard to COVID-19 vaccines, “They’re using mRNA, which is mRNA extracted from […] the king cobra venom”. Said Dr. David Relman, professor of microbiology and immunology at Stanford University, Peters and Ardis’ theories are “miles from reality, and [indicate] a profound lack of understanding in science and medicine, and much twisted logic”.
19th Century Catholic Immigrants to the United States Were Pawns of the Pope
Have you ever heard the expression that “History never repeats itself, but it rhymes”? That rings true to the Know Nothing Party’s attempt to spread anti-Catholic hatred in the mid-1800s. Supporters of the party feared the increasing influx of Catholic immigration, particularly from countries like Germany and Ireland. Specifically, they feared that Catholic religious leaders would try to instill anti-American beliefs in their followers, and remake the country in its own image. In fact, they alleged that Catholic bishops were hand-picked by the Pope to sow chaos on American soil. The Know Nothings eventually folded in 1860 due to internal disagreements and infighting over the issue of slavery.
Pope Benedict XVI Resigned to Stomp Out an Illicit Secret Society
To put it lightly, the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI was kind of a big deal; reigning from 2005 to 2013, he became the first pope to do so since Gregory XII’s forced resignation in 1415. Aged 85 at the time of the announcement, Benedict attributed his decision to step down from the papacy to his failing health. However, that didn’t stop fringe conspiracy theorists — dubbed “Benevacantists” — from claiming that he had, like Gregory before him, been forced out by the damaging Vatican Leaks scandal. Not only that, but speculation persisted that he’d been ousted by a “gay mafia” operating within the Holy See that sought to corrupt the church. Benedict denied those allegations repeatedly until his December 2022 death, aged 95.
Jesuits Intentionally Sunk the Titanic
Yeah, this one might require a bit of context. For the uninitiated, a “Jesuit” is a member of the Society of Jesus, a religious order of clerics regular within the Catholic Church, engaged in evangelization efforts worldwide, among other responsibilities. However, the Jesuits have had a hard time playing nice with the rest of the church, and with secular governments and institutions around the world. That’s led to the dissemination of bizarre, unfounded conspiracy theories about them. One such theory posits that a 1910 meeting of Jesuit-controlled financiers intended to wipe out their competitors by getting J. P. Morgan to build the Titanic — and promptly sink it, with major opponents to their agenda on it. Pope John Paul I Was Murdered Following the 15-year reign of Pope Paul VI, Pope John Paul I was elected to fill his place on August 26, 1978. 33 days later, on September 28, the new pope died, likely having suffered a heart attack in the night. He was succeeded by John Paul II, who held the papacy until 2005. Of course, as with any sudden passing of a notable public figure, wild theories sprouted up almost instantly as to the “true” fate of the late pontiff. These primarily stemmed from disagreements about record-keeping in the immediate aftermath of the pope’s death. One major theory is that corruption in the Vatican Bank had led scheming archbishops to kill him for financial gain, with Archbishop Paul Marcinkus supposedly responsible for administering a fatal dose of poison.
The Priory of Sion Was Suppressed By the Catholic Church
Don’t be fooled by the name: the “Priory of Sion” was a real organization, not a lost “Star Wars” subtitle. However, that’s about where the “real” aspect ends. French technical artist Pierre Plantard established the priory as a way to create his own chivalric order, but things went terribly awry. Plantard claimed that the Priory of Sion intended to benevolently conquer Europe by placing a royal bloodline on thrones across the continent. The lie spun out of control, and the 1982 book “The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail” declared that the Priory of Sion was founded by the descendants of Jesus Christ himself. Eventually, Dan Brown’s smash hit “The Da Vinci Code” suggested that the Priory of Sion intended to restore the virtues of early Christianity, but had been pushed down by Vatican orthodoxies.
The Vatican is Hiding Fátima’s Third Secret
In 1917, Portuguese shepherds Lúcia Santos, along with her cousins Jacinta and Franca Marto, claimed to have been visited by an apparition of the Virgin Mary at least six times that year, a figure that has come to be known as Our Lady of Fátima; the figure supposedly revealed three secrets to the children. Although Pope John Paul II released the text of the secret in 2000, conspiracy theorists claim that there is still more that the Vatican hasn’t released for fear of stoking mass panic. Said Pope Benedict XVI, “The purpose of the vision is not to show a film of an irrevocably fixed future. Its meaning is exactly the opposite: it is meant to mobilize the forces of change in the right direction”.
The Vatican is in Possession of a Top-Secret Time Machine
Don’t you wish you could look back into the past? That’s exactly what Father Pellegrino Ernetti, a Benedictine monk, said he was able to do with his invention of the “Chronovisor”. According to French theologian Father François Brune, Ernetti claimed to have invented a sort of “time travel television”, alongside renowned scientists like Enrico Fermi and Wernher Von Braun. According to the Guardian, “the time team watched speeches by Mussolini and Napoleon and scenes from ancient Rome, including a performance of Thyestes, a lost play by Quintus Ennius, one of Rome’s most important authors”. Although Ernetti claimed to have watched the final days of Christ, and kept a photo as a souvenir… which was later revealed to have been drawn from a postcard.
The Vatican Bank is Compromised
Founded in 1942, the Institute for the Works of Religion, colloquially known as the Vatican Bank, is the official vessel for providing “specialized financial services to the Catholic Church worldwide”, according to its mission statement. The secretive nature of the bank’s day-to-day functions has enabled grave misdeeds to occur in the shadows, particularly regarding its actions as the main shareholder of the failed Banco Ambrosiano in Italy. Tensions reached their height upon the mysterious hanging of “God’s Banker” Roberto Calvi in 1982. The bank was accused of money laundering for the Sicilian Mob, which was the final straw that led Pope John Paul II to announce major reforms in the Institute. Calvi was deemed murdered, and theorists tend to link his death to corrupt individuals within the Vatican Bank.
What Secrets Lie Within the Vatican Apostolic Archive?
This quote-unquote “chamber of secrets” is the mother lode for Vatican conspiracy theorists; so much so that Pope Francis renamed it from the original “Vatican Secret Archive” in 2019. While the name made it a hotbed of speculation, it’s worth noting that this might result from a mistranslation from the original Latin, in which “secret” is more akin to “private”. However, there is a treasure trove of classified materials at the Archive, located in Vatican City. As such, speculation has persisted over the years that the Archive contains the actual Chronovisor, proof of Jesus’ enduring bloodline… and even the world’s largest collection of “adult” films and other materials. Which Vatican conspiracy theory shocked you the most? Be sure to let us know in the comments below!
