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Dark Mysteries of the Vatican

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In God's Name: An Investigation Into the Murder of Pope John Paul I


The subject of this book deserves more attention. The author goes down a road few others have explored and this is the worth of this book. Overall, an interesting read, yet, its historical inconsistencies unfortunately will bring the nitpickers out in droves. I believe if the author makes improvements in a revised edition I think this book will take off.


Murder in the Vatican: The CIA and the Bolshevik Pontiff

Although readable, this book is superficial, more like a Reader's Digest version than a National Enquirer expose. Much of its contents are already well known, and the rest don't shake you up much, aside from the surprising number of Popes who have been murdered. There is more hankypanky going on there than this book admits. There is a chapter on Vatican art treaasures but no word of its vast holdings in Wall Street, its chapter on Naughty Priests is not extensive enough, and there is no mention of Satanic rituals in St. Peter's as described by the ex-Jesuit Malachy Martin in his later books. An hour spent with Eric Jon Phelps' postings on Google on the subject of Vatican conspiracies will take you far deeper into the darkest of mysteries this book hardly hints at.

_Dark Mysteries of the Vatican_ (2010) by H. Paul Jeffers is an interesting compilation of some of the inner secrets of the Vatican. While the book does take a distinct approach to the Vatican, I do not feel that the book is necessarily anti-Catholic, but rather examines some of the inner secrets of the Vatican. The book considers many important issues concerning the Vatican including the history of early Christianity, Vatican book bannings, the role of organizations such as Opus Dei, the Vatican banking scandals, the Swiss Guards, the Vatican's stance on extra-terrestrial life, the archaeological finds concerning the Vatican, and the role of prophecy for the Catholic church and the Vatican.

The book includes the following chapters -

Introduction: Keys to the Kingdom - explains the role of Saint Peter as being given the keys to the Kingdom by Christ himself. Explains the role of the papacy as the continuation following Saint Peter. Notes the importance of such figures as Galileo and his problems encountered with church officials.

Thou Shalt Not Read - explains the importance of the Index of Prohibited Books for the Vatican, notes the selection of the Gospels and the early Christian texts including the Gnostic Gospels, explains the problems encountered by the church with Galileo, notes the importance of _The Da Vinci Code_ which has been prohibited by the church.

The Truth About the Templars - explains the importance of the Knights Templar and their relationship to the church. Explains the role of the Office of the Inquisition and further developments from the Templars such as the freemasons and the Rosicrucians of the European Enlightenment.

Vatican Treasures - notes the importance of the Vatican's treasures and monetary holdings. Explains the value of the Vatican museum and tries to consider the net worth of the Vatican and its treasures.

Naughty Priests - explains the problems of the paedophilia scandal for the church. Notes the problem of sexual activity among some priests for the Vatican.

Murder in Holy Orders - explains the fact that some of the early popes were actually murdered. Notes the problem of political intrigue for the papacy.

The Mystery of the Pope's Banker - explains the role of Roberto Calvi, noting the importance of the P2 masonic lodge, and the mysterious death of Calvi in accordance with ritual masonic murder.

From Russia With Malice- notes the relationship of the church with Russia, explains the importance of Pope John Paul II in helping to bring an end to Soviet communism, explains the role of the KGB and the infiltration of KGB subversives into the Catholic church.

Opus Dei: The Pope's Cult - explains the role of Opus Dei as the pope's cult, notes the claims made about this organization and some of the untruths concerning this organization.

The Papacy and the Nazis - notes the problematic relationship of the papacy to the Nazis and certain members of the Catholic church with the Nazis.

Spooks and Rats - explains the role of the pope's spies as well as the relationship of the papacy to former Nazis.

A Fit of Madness - explains the role of the pope's Swiss Guards as well as the mysterious murder of a member of the Swiss Guards.

Vatican Espionage - explains some of the role of the Vatican in espionage as well as the relationship between the Vatican the Mafia.

The Devil You Say - explains the role of exorcism particularly as it concerns the role of Vatican exorcist Father Amorth.

Myths, Rumors, and Presidents - explains the relationship of the papacy to certain American presidents including JFK (a Catholic), Carter, and Bush.

And God Created Aliens - explains the Vatican's belief in the possible existence of extra-terrestrial life as well as beliefs about the Vatican and UFOs, notes the role of the archaeological finds under the Vatican.

The Vatican and the End of the World - notes the theories concerning the end of the world and the Vatican as they relate to the Third Secret of Fatima and the prophecies of Saint Malachy.

This book provides much interesting and secret material concerning the Vatican and its role in world politics. I found it very interesting in its unearthing of many of the mysteries concerning the Vatican and did not really find it to be anti-Catholic in intent.

Galileo went to university at 7 years old, obviously a typo, a pope that was around 300 years, Fatima was not three girls but a boy and two girls, and the list could go on and on I was waiting for real info not incorrect and better yet poorly written info to fall asleep by. What a waste of money and time and frustration

Although he told me a few things I did not already know, this book is very superficial. The author is very chatty and gets off topic too easily. I was very disappointed in the chapter about the devil. This is a good book for someone who has no knowledge of church scandels.

This is one of these over-sensationalised hype-books full of platitudes and clichés which makes one wonder where the 'facts' are coming from. Apart from some basic information which you could find also via the internet for free the rest of the book seems to spring from the eternal source that feeds conspiracy theorists.

This lot of balderdash doesn't make it a work of truth or offer you balanced view to offer you an informed decision. It's one-dimensional approach and lack of background and context proves it to be the banal collection of headlines it actually is. The work is superficial in its outlook and analysis. Quite honestly it is rubbish and on par with a TV guide trying to write up a particular programme which really shouldn't deserve attention.

There are better and more earnest works out there and this one is a waste of money.

If you love a conspiracy (and who doesn't) you will find this book worthy of reading. It presents lots of facts, and some speculation from the long and not always noble history of the church of Rome. The conclusions are left to the reader.

It is nicely written and compiled into chapters that generally flow together quite well. There is probably no new information provided in this work, but it is collected and presented well.

One can see that actual facts about the Vatican are more interesting and exciting than the fiction and untruths presented by Dan Brown in his poorly constructed and hateful books.

H. P. Jeffers does not attack Christianity or even Catholics. He just presents well know historical facts and odd coincidences surrounding the center of the Church of Rome.

One error in the introduction of the book does stand out. Mr. Jeffers suggests that the Church has been plagued with problems and wrong doings since the first Pope Peter. Actually there is no biblical evidence that St. Peter ever was the leader of the Church. The head of the Church has always been Christ.

The earlist human leader in the Church appears to have been James the brother of Jesus. It was he that Peter, Paul and the other Apostles sought council of disagrements that developed. For the first 200 plus years of the early Christian church the leaders were Jewish. Just as Jesus was Jewish -- so were the Apostles.
They considered themselves part of the new Jewish religion. Later, in the third century the church of Rome thought itself to be totally seperate from Judiasm and became very antisemetic. This is when the Roman Catholics an organization that gorged itself on power, politics and money that led to corruption. This corruption was not (and is not now) a part of all those who practice this religion. This corruption is found in any organized church or religion that puts their own goals and aspirations above those who seek only to worship, praise and honor God.