"The KGB archivist and defector Vasili Nikitivich Mitrokhin created voluminous transcriptions and summaries of KGB records that span almost 20 years. These transcriptions contain, among other details, a limited but interesting account of KGB activities directed against the Holy See from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, at a time when the Vatican was attempting to reach out to Communist governments in Eastern Europe. This book is a translation of those passages in the Mitrokhin Archive related to the Holy See. This original text is preceded by a three-part introduction covering: who was Vasili Mitrokhin and how were his files created and smuggled to the United Kingdom; the historical background of the relationship between the Soviet regime and the Vatican, leading up to and including the period discussed in Mitrokhin's record; and finally, a summary of the Mitrokhin Archive's revelations regarding the KGB's efforts against the Vatican, both independently and in coordination with political police forces in the satellite regimes in Eastern Europe"--
"The KGB archivist and defector Vasili Nikitivich Mitrokhin created voluminous transcriptions and summaries of KGB records that span almost 20 years. These transcriptions contain, among other details, a limited but interesting account of KGB activities directed against the Holy See from the early 1960s to the early 1980s, at a time when the Vatican was attempting to reach out to Communist governments in Eastern Europe. This book is a translation of those passages in the Mitrokhin Archive related to the Holy See. This original text is preceded by a three-part introduction covering: who was Vasili Mitrokhin and how were his files created and smuggled to the United Kingdom; the historical background of the relationship between the Soviet regime and the Vatican, leading up to and including the period discussed in Mitrokhin's record; and finally, a summary of the Mitrokhin Archive's revelations regarding the KGB's efforts against the Vatican, both independently and in coordination with political police forces in the satellite regimes in Eastern Europe"--
The story of Paul VI, John Paul I, and John Paul II—and an assassination plot—by the New York Times–bestselling coauthors of The Day the World Ended. The Vatican has remained one of the last unexamined mysteries of the modern world. For centuries, pomp and pageantry have hidden from view the dramatic, sometimes sinister, realities that haunt the office of Supreme Pontiff and the men who make up his papacy. Gordon Thomas and Max Morgan Witts now bring their tremendous investigative talent to this most secret of institutions, offering us an unrivaled portrait and day-to-day account of the lives, personalities, and relationships of the three most recent popes: an equally fine account of the hour-by-hour deliberations of the closely guarded conclaves at which two popes were elected in the fateful year of 1978; and a remarkable rendering of the concrete issues facing the institutional papacy—in foreign affairs, economic matters, and the human factor—the highly individual ambitions, loyalties, and hatreds that characterize the men and women who serve the Holy Father. The result is a book that is ahead of the world’s headlines, a book that makes headlines of its own. Not only have the authors brought the world of the Vatican into the open, their sleuthing has uncovered several major news stories. Pontiff includes a day-to-day account of the assassination attempt by Mehmet Ali Agca upon John Paul II: Agca’s history and family, his right-wing political connections, his activities and jailing in Turkey, his escape from jail aided by the KGB, his movements through terrorist training camps in Libya and Syria, and a complete investigation of the Bulgarian connection that led to the shooting in St. Peter’s Square. Here, also, is the story of John Paul II’s involvement with the creation of Solidarity in Poland, and his almost-daily secret contacts with Lech Walesa, as well as the unprecedented letter to Brezhev threatening his resignation from the papal throne. In addition, owing to the authors’ intricate web of connections at the Vatican (including many cardinals), the book contains previously unknown information about the man entrusted with the Church’s money, Paul Marcinkus, and his relationship with the shadowy Michele Sindona. Pontiff is a fascinating revelation of a world previously unknown to us, and an intimate view of a few men in Rome trying to lead an increasingly unwilling world to their own vision of salvation.
This text is the inside story of how the CIA combined with the Vatican under the Polish Pope John Paul II to launch a massive campaign to destabilise Warsaw - and how the KGB reacted by trying to kill the Pope in 1981. The rise of the Solidarity movement in Poland in the 1980s, which began the undermining of the Soviet Bloc and the defeat of international communism, was essentially funded by the CIA covertly, through the Vatican.
Evaluates the Soviet Union's espionage campaign against the Catholic Church, drawing on previously unseen documents to reveal an assassination order against Pope John Paul II and a Russian spy network intent on infiltrating church infrastructure.
Ranging across two centuries of world history, Alvarez's fascinating study throws open the Vatican's doors to reveal the startling but little-known world of espionage in one of the most sacred places on earth.
The Entity relates to the special Vatican Secret Service agency that was founded in 1566. For five centuries, the Vatican has used a secret spy service, called the Holy Alliance, or later, the Entity, to carry out its will. Forty Popes have relied on it to carry out their policies. In her book Vilasi delves deep into the history of this agency and takes an in-depth look at its historical background, structure, and its main leaders. It also highlights some of the events related to the same history of the Church.
