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A Thief in the Night: Death of Pope John Paul I

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This book was written at the wishes of the Vatican in order to clear up the rumours that John Paul I was murdered. The results were hardly pleasing to them. John Cornwell alleges that Pope John Paul I was killed, not by poision, but by the crushing weight of the job, combined with depression and seriously ill health which the Vatican did not take into proper account. One would have to look carefully at every public utterance and action committed by this Pope during his thirty-three day reign in order to find out what he was feeling. What is undisputed is that he was a humble and gentle man who probably suffered in his job, and that his death was a shock to many. Perhaps all the controversy about his death, is partly because people have projected their own unfulfilled papal agenda on John Paul I, and that there is still a shock and horror that a twentieth century Pope, a World leader, dies suddenly during the night on his own. Perhaps we all feel that something should have been averted and that we all still wonder, why was this man called to be Pope and yet reign for just over a month?

"A Thief in the Night" is the report by John Cornwell on his investigation of the sudden and unexpected death of Pope John Paul I, the "smiling Pope", in September 1978, only thirty-three days after his election, which shocked the world. In 1987, the author was invited by the Vatican to investigate and refute the allegations that the Pope had been assassinated by the Vatican establishment, which was said to be envious of his charisma and popularity. Embarking on his journey through the Vatican City to uncover the truth, the author encounters a highly secretive, closed society of men caracterized by greed, fear and negligence of the Pope's needs. As he digs deaper and deaper into this antique world of intrigue, misinformation and struggle for power, the author does not find proof for an assassination complott, but unearthes the tragedy of a sick and lonely man, who, left alone by the Vatican bureaucracy and with the unbearable burden of the leadership of an ancient institution with hundreds of millions of followers, dies a death caused by negligence and the lack of proper medical care. This masterpiece of investigative journalism reads like a criminal thriller and at the same time conveys deep insights into the inner workings of the secretive world of the Vatican. It is a book I would recommend warmly to all enthusiasts of great non-fiction.

A good piece of investigative journalism. Put together very professionally.
But is it the last word about the death of Papa Luciani? Although Cornwell seems to tie a lot of loose ends some lingering doubts are still there.

Though I was only a kid at the time, I still remember John Paul I and what a shock his death after so short a reign caused. How could that smile be allowed to disappear so soon? John Cornwell's book was written largely in response to David Yallop's speculative, but well put together thesis "In God's Name" which argued that John Paul I was murdered.

John Cornwell's verdict is equally damning. He gives us some fresh insights into the medical evidence and talks to some interesting people. In the end, though, I wasn't convinced. There is still far too much room for doubt.

This, Cornwell's first book on the Vatican, has been given a comparative amount of praise compared to his other misinformed screeds, including the atrocious "Hitler's Pope." But in fact "A Thief in the Night" is just as bad as the others. Even many Catholic reviewers took it at face value, especially since the subject (what happened in the Vatican the night John Paul I died) had never been covered by someone relying on tape-recorded interviews with eyewitnesses. David Yallop's previous sensational best-seller on the subject "In God's Name,' had been almost completely undocumented. But does reliance on eyewitnesses testimony mean what Cornwell reports is genuine?

In short, no. In fact, Cornwell's record is no better in this book than it would be in "Hitler's Pope." Cornwell's lies begin with the way his book was researched and written. He says that he just happened to be visiting the Vatican researching another subject in October 1987 when Archbishop Foley practically begged him to drop what he was doing and write about the death of Pope John Paul I. Not only is this entirely contrary to the Vatican's usual methods, Archbishop Foley and the Vatican have repeatedly denied that they commissioned the book. And though he does do something to counteract the absurd conspiracy theory about John Paul I's death put forward by David Yallop, Cornwell did the Vatican and the Church no favors with his work.

Many of those interviewed for the book, including Marjorie Weeke, Sister Irma Dametto, and the Pope's niece, Lina Petri, as well as Cornwell's two main witnesses, Don Diego Lorenzi and Bishop John Magee, John Paul I's secretaries in the Vatican, have denounced Cornwell for his MANY errors and misinterpretations of fact.

To begin with, Cornwell did poor research: he tells us that Albino Luciani was a good and holy but intellectually incompetent bishop, ill-equipped to deal with the problems of the modern world and completely unsuited to be Pope. He managed to do this in a simple 3-5 pages of summary scattered throughout his book. He has one or two quotes, which he completely twists around, but he could have completed the "research" he did in about 5 minutes flat and still had time left for a cup of coffee. He evidently never read any of Luciani's abundant writings as a bishop and cardinal, never read any of the around two dozen biographies of him published in Italian and almost completely ignored the public record of his deeds as Pope, not to mention his speeches and audience talks, all of which had already been translated into English at the time he was writing. All of these would have given him a very different picture of Luciani's qualifications to be Pope. The many different subjects he addressed from Marxism and liberation theology to birth control, test-tube babies, the problems of moral theologians, the relationship between faith and culture and the responsibilities of artists and the way he addressed them are abundant proof of how qualified he was to address the problems of the modern world.

As for the one in-depth interview Cornwell did with someone who knew Luciani her whole life, his niece Lina Petri, he ignores her portrait of her uncle as a man of great moral strength and integrity when he himself comes to judge his character. His only other source is a bunch of gossipy Vatican monsignori who made fun of John Paul I, but who clearly never met him in their lives, while those who did work closely with him in the Vatican, Cardinals Casaroli and Caprio were not interviewed, though they told an entirely different story.

I myself have documented Cornwell's distortion of his written sources by mistranslation, very similar to his technique in "Hitler's Pope." And there is very good evidence that he distorted and altered his interviews as well.

Two very important items: In his attempt to show that John Paul I was almost suicidal, Cornwell records Don Diego as saying that the Pope had said "thousands of times" during his papacy, "Sometimes I ask the Good Lord to come along and take me away." I myself have met and interviewed Don Diego, and have exchanged a number of letters with him. In 1990, after Cornwell's book came out, he wrote in answer to my question as to whether this statement was true: "Only on one occasion (it was at the end of the evening meal) I heard the Patriarch saying: "Every now and then I ask the Lord to take me with him." In other words, he never heard him say this as Pope. And something he said before becoming Pope should certainly not be quoted as evidence of his state of mind while Pope.

As further proof of John Paul I's desire to die, Cornwell cites a published statement by Sister Vincenza describing a conversation with the Pope. The original text is an article in the periodical Humilitas, the original Italian text of which I have. Cornwell completely mistranslated it to make it say things that aren't in the original. He has the Pope telling the nun: "Look, Sister, I should not be sitting here in this seat. The Foreign Pope is coming to take my place. I have begged Our Lord." The original reads in a correct translation: "You see, it isn't I who should be sitting in this chair, but a foreign Pope! I had asked (avevo pregato) the Lord for it." That is, he had asked this of God before and during the conclave, at which he had actually voted for a "foreign" cardinal, Aloisio Lorscheider of Brazil. The emphasis on "begged" is also added to the original. It was not a request to die.

Cornwell speculates feverishly about the torn sleeves on the cassock the secretaries dressed the Pope's body in; he thinks it must mean that his body was moved after death. But all this speculation was also based on a mistranslation - his niece Lina had only said his sleeves were wrinkled!

Put this all together and you have here one very unreliable investigative report. I attribute the intrusion of so much fantasy into this so-called nonfiction book to the fact that the author is also a novelist. At any rate, it is a complete injustice to Pope John Paul I and to those inside and outside of the Vatican who got suckered into being interviewed for it.

The best book on John Paul I so far in English is The Smiling Pope: The Life And Teaching Of John Paul I

this book is based on true history. john cornwell, david yallop, morgan witt-gordon went to the vatican to investigate the MURDER of John Paul I and the vatican mafia. Read history of the wordl PLease and do not be blind about the blood history of the catholic church. The blood can not be erased from the aplology of the church. What about the victims. Say sorry is not enough.

Eight out of ten for suspense and plot. But this book should be under "Fiction". Very sad to see that Cornwell lets his private journalistic ambition sully his integrity as a writer of supposed "history". This man has a clear agenda: vilify the Vatican in every possible way, cast aspersions on those who cannot defend themselves, and where possible make the Catholic Church generally and the Vatican "establishment" in particular look like a bunch of power-hungry egomaniacs and a den of thieves. Sadly, many ignorant Catholics and non-Catholics won't know enough to refute his slander, and this book is wonderful fodder to anti-Catholics. Avoid this trashy "journalism".