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The 1978 Investigation into Vatican Freemasonry, pt. IIAbove: Albino Luciani, John Paul I.Read part I here.Some light at the end of the tunnel shone with the more positive reception of Archbishop Gagnon’s evidence, with the next Pontiff, John Paul I. The new Holy Father did not waste time and did not put off Gagnon’s request to present his report. Unlike the previous Pontiff, the new Holy Father cut to the chase and said what needed to be said, after seeing Gagnon’s evidence:Freemason bishops? Any Catholic—lay or cleric—who enters Freemasonry, incurs automatic excommunication. Canon 2335.The following are more excerpts to illustrate...

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...

On this 30th anniversary of the death of the short-reigned "Smiling Pope," B16 recalled John Paul I at today's Angelus: Pope Luciani, said Benedict XVI, “chose Saint Carlo Borromeo’s Episcopal motto—Humilitas— as his own, a word that sums up that which is essential in Christian life and which indicates the virtue needed by those in the Church who are called to the service of authority.” “In one of the four general audiences held during his brief pontificate he said among other things and in that very informal way of his: ‘I will just recommend one virtue so dear to...

John Paul I with Nikodim and Cardinal Willebrands, 5 September 1978 On the morning of 5 September 28 years ago the Metropolitan of the Russian Orthodox Church, Nikodim of Petersburg, died suddenly in the arms of Pope Albino Luciani. He was only 49 years old. In him died one of the most brilliant personalities in Orthodoxy but above all one of the most significant figures in the history of ecumenism. His was an ecumenic sensibility that had led him to intensify contacts with the Catholic Church and to cross the threshold of the Vatican several times to meet the...