Free Republic

He barely made it to the bathroom… it was hard to stand up. He clutched the sink and squinted painfully against the bright lights. Fumbling with his glasses didn't help. Why did everything look so yellow? He fought in vain to breathe, his heart quivering wildly in his chest. A lurch, a stumble, and Pope John Paul heaved out his life on the cold marble floor. Or did it happen this way… Just a note to capture the sudden inspiration, and then he could finish dressing for bed. Would the talk be good enough? Nothing was ever good enough...

Twenty-two years after the body of God's Banker, Roberto Calvi, was found hanged under London's Blackfriars Bridge, his death remains a compelling mystery. But with four people facing a murder trial in Italy, his son is hoping for an answer at last. The death of your father is always going to be traumatic. But for Carlo Calvi the tragedy has been made worse by political intrigue, shady business practices and tales of mafia connections. An original inquest into the death of Roberto Calvi, who was found on the morning of 18 June 1982, returned a verdict of suicide. But his...

New look at 'God's banker' case 02.10.2002 LONDON - Italian magistrates are to reopen a murder investigation into the death of Roberto Calvi, the banker at the heart of a scandal involving the Vatican, freemasonry and the Mafia, who was found hanging from Blackfriars Bridge in London in June 1982. The Calvi case was one of the great criminal mysteries of modern times. In the 20 years since his death, it has never been established whether he was murdered or committed suicide after his Banco Ambrosiano collapsed in a US$1.2 billion bankruptcy. The new investigation is the result of...

Italian investigators have discovered a safety deposit box belonging to Roberto Calvi some 20 years after "God's banker" was found hanging from scaffolding under Blackfriars Bridge in London. The safety deposit box, held at a Milan branch of the Banco Ambrosiano of which Calvi was chairman, reportedly contained a builder's brick, newspaper articles dating from the summer of 1981 and documents which police hope will help them to solve the puzzle of the banker's death. One mystery they will seek to clarify is how the bank safe remained unnoticed for all these years. It was registered in the names of...