Is that the same "lay brother" who erected the egyptian obolisk You mean the one that used to decorate Nero's circus, around which the first Christian martyrs of Rome died, and which later had chiseled into it the defiant slogan "Christ lives, Christ conquers, Christ reigns"?
That obelisk?
Statues of gods from the Roman Pantheon? Pray tell, where are they? The statues around St. Peter's Piazza are of the Apostles.
I'm not sure where, here's an example from a quick google search:
http://www.mythweb.com/encyc/gallery/silenus_c.html
As per which obelisk, there are several in Rome... 13 I think... The one I was thinking of I believe is in front of where the Pope speaks to large crowds from a balcony. I am unaware of the slogan carved on it, only a bit of it's significance in sun worship from the Egyptian religion derived from Babylon. Carving "Christ Lives" on an obelisk does not change it from being an obelisk, anymore than obliterating the inscription on a pagan temple and replacing it with "This is the Temple of Jesus" makes the Idol in the temple no longer an Idol.
Now I have no way of knowing the former Pope's purpose in moving it there... Maybe he did it for historical reasons.
My point is, there are plenty of things to point to to suggest an acceptance of the occult by the Catholic Church that are beyond the influence of the "lay brother". And, therefore, that your fictitious hyberbole to defend the Catholic Church is not a really valid defense of the implication.