If his friend said he did, I believe he's lying.
If I was or if I wasn't, would the facts of the situation matter to you, or would they have to fit within your own self-formed worldview, which automatically discounts anything that does not fit into your psyche?
Also, would anything having to do with a one world government or new world order have any bearing on the orthodoxy of one's Catholicity?
For instance, there were a string of several encyclicals by Popes (just NOT Paul VI) which warned of the dangers or Freemasonry and Communism, showed the connections and dangers to the Faith, and called them (more than once) organized conspiracies. Would these Popes be on your "wacko" list too?
Too disconcerting for your psyche--I know--it's the baby boomer generation. Funny thing though. My generation and younger bears no resemblance to the BBs, Deo Gratias!