Files Allege Jeffrey Epstein Spent Time Living with Pope John Paul II in Vatican

2003: Jeffrey Epstein & Ghislaine Maxwell with Pope John Paul II at the Vatican

It’s not surprising that the Vatican shows up in the Epstein files since Epstein kept tabs on every powerful entity on the planet. But one email claims Epstein actually lived in the Vatican with Pope John Paul II at some point.

An email from Brandon Thompson, who appeared to be a contractor working on refinishing and lime-washing columns in one of Epstein’s homes, outlined the intricacies of the project to Richard Kahn at HBRK Associates, Epstein’s accountant.

“He wants me to finish each column different, as when he was living with Pope John Paul the Second in Vatican, he looked at variety of different columns captured in wars,” wrote Thompson. “He told me that every Pope demanded to have a column from every concurred [SIC] country, so there is a collection of different columns in Vatican.”

Of course there is no proof that Epstein lived with the Pope, although he and Ghislaine Maxwell visited with him in 2003 during a public audience. Just how intimate Epstein was with the Vatican is unknown, but in 2011 he claimed to have nearly possessed the Codex Vaticanus, one of the oldest and most important Church relics containing a majority of the Greek Old Testament and the majority of the New Testament. The Codex was famously seized by Napoleon in 1799 as a war trophy but was returned to the Vatican Library in 1815.

In an email to Boris Nikolic, who was a science advisor to the Bill Gates Foundation at the time and a close Epstein confidante, Epstein wrote, “I forgot to mention to Bill, that one of the first almost interactions with him was when I was the underbidder for the codex…The auctioneers told me that i shold drop out because if i owned them, no one would ever see them and they really should be in semi public hands.. I later had to settle for a present from the vatican of a special edition.”

One of the most revealing emails about Epstein’s alleged ties to the Vatican is a 2013 correspondence with Larry Summers, former U.S. Treasury Secretary under President Bill Clinton, former Harvard President and former chief economist at the World Bank. Epstein writes, “The most important change in the Vatican may not be Pope Benedict XVI sudden retirement but the change in leadership at ‘the Institute for Works of Religion,’ the Vatican’s bank. Because of the Vatican’s status as a sovereign country, it is exempt from transparency rules of not only Italy— but of the European Union. This status allows its elite clients to evade any scrutiny in their money transfers.” 

“Last May,” continued Epstein. “Vatican Bank President Ettore Gotti Tedeschi was fired after Italian authorities opened an investigation into a far flung bribery scheme in which he was allegedly involved. Then 47 dossiers, including compromising about “internal enemies” of his in the Vatican were found in a search of his home. They had instructions how they were used in case something happened to him. Tcdeschi’s intercepted calls futhcr revealed that his concern was that he would be assassinated because he knoew the Vatican’s secrets. By late 2012, he was cooperating with the ongoing Italian investigation, It was at this point that the all-powerful College of Cardinals, in one of the last acts in the Benedict papacy, appointed German lawyer Ernst von Freyberg as President of the bank. The came the extraordinary resignation of Pope Benedict.”

Freyberg had a short tenure as Vatican Bank president. He was named in June 2012 as an interim leader, then appointed president in February of 2013. Von Freyberg quickly began to open up the bank and adopted a zero-tolerance approach to suspicious activities, advocating transparency. He was dismissed in July along with the Vatican Bank’s entire senior management team as part of extensive reforms to the Catholic Church’s central government.

Jean-Baptiste Douville de Franssu has been chairman of Vatican Bank’s advisory board since July of 2014.

7,746 Comments

  1. Came away with a slightly better mental model of the topic than I started with, and a stop at blossombaycollective sharpened that further, content that improves the reader thinking apparatus rather than just dumping facts into it is the rare kind I genuinely value and seek out when I have time to read carefully.

  2. Now adjusting my expectations upward for the topic based on this post, and a stop at leadarrow continued that bar raising effect, content that resets what I think is possible on a subject is doing real work in shaping my standards and this site is providing those bar raising experiences at a notable rate during sessions.

  3. Good quality through and through, no rough edges and no signs of being rushed, and a quick look at echocode kept the same polish going, the kind of site that respects its own brand by maintaining consistency across pages which is something I always appreciate as a reader looking for trustworthy information online today.

  4. Refreshing to find writing that does not try to manipulate the reader into clicking onto the next page through cliffhangers and forced engagement, and a stop at primechip continued in the same respectful way, this is what reader first design actually looks like in practice rather than just in marketing copy that sounds nice.

  5. Honestly enjoyed not being sold anything for the entire duration of the post, and a look at arcscout kept that pleasant absence going across more pages, content that exists for its own sake rather than as a funnel to a paid product is increasingly rare and worth supporting where I can find it.

  6. Refreshing change from the usual sites covering this topic, no clickbait and no padding, and a stop at freshcartstation confirmed the difference, this place clearly has its own voice rather than copying the formulas everyone else uses to chase clicks online which is becoming increasingly rare these days across nearly every popular subject.

  7. Looking at the surface design and the substance together this site has both right, and a look at echoferncollective reinforced that integrated quality, sites where presentation and content reinforce each other rather than fighting are sites with full editorial coherence and this one has clearly invested in both layers in a balanced way.

  8. Worth recognising that this site does not chase the daily news cycle, and a stop at glademeadowoutlet confirmed the longer publication arc, sites that resist the pressure to comment on every passing event are sites with genuine editorial discipline and this one has clearly chosen depth over volume which I respect deeply.

  9. Reading this in the morning set a good tone for the day, and a quick visit to nodedrive kept that good tone going, content can do that sometimes when it hits the right notes and finding sites that consistently strike that tone is something I have learned to recognise and reward with regular visits.

  10. Worth a slow read rather than the fast scan I usually default to, and a look at hashtools earned the same slower pace from me, content that resets my reading speed downward is content with substance worth absorbing and this site has produced that effect on me multiple times now over the last week here.

  11. Reading this brought back the satisfaction I used to get from blogs ten years ago, and a stop at freshtrendarena kept that nostalgic quality alive, sites that capture what was good about an earlier era of internet writing are increasingly precious and this one is doing that without feeling like a deliberate throwback at all.

  12. A piece that reads as if the writer trusted readers to fill in obvious gaps, and a look at ohmcore continued that respectful approach, content that does not over explain what the reader can infer is content that respects intelligence and this site has clearly chosen to write to capable readers rather than to the lowest common denominator.

  13. Recommended without reservation for anyone interested in the topic at any level of expertise, and a look at protoflux only strengthens that recommendation, this site clearly knows how to serve readers across a range of backgrounds without watering down the content or talking past anyone in the audience which is genuinely impressive to see.

  14. Most of the time I feel the open web is in decline and then I find a site like this, and a stop at epicplus reinforced that mood lift, the cumulative effect of finding occasional excellent independent content versus the cumulative effect of finding mostly mediocre content is real for the long term reader maintaining web habits today.

  15. Speaking as someone who reads a lot on this topic this site has earned a high position in my source rankings, and a stop at bundlebungalow reinforced that ranking, the informal ranking of sources for a topic is something I maintain mentally and this site has moved into the upper portion of those rankings clearly.

  16. Now appreciating that the post left me with enough to say in a follow up conversation, and a look at crystalbloommarket added more material for those follow ups, content that prepares me for related conversations rather than just informing me alone is content with social utility and this site provides that social armament reliably for me.

  17. Reading this slowly and letting each paragraph land before moving on, and a stop at vexring earned the same patient approach, content that rewards slow reading rather than speed is content with real density and the writers here are clearly producing work that benefits from the careful eye rather than the rushed scan.

  18. Came away with a small but real shift in perspective on the topic, and a stop at jetmesh pushed that shift a bit further, the kind of subtle reframing that good writing does to a reader without making a big deal of it is something I always appreciate when it happens which is sadly not that often.

  19. Generally I find the content on similar topics frustrating in specific ways and this post avoided all of them, and a look at axisdepot continued that frustration free experience, content that sidesteps the standard failure modes of its genre is content with editorial awareness and this site has clearly studied what fails elsewhere consistently.

  20. Worth marking the moment when reading this clicked into something useful for my own work, and a look at zesttrack extended that practical click, content that connects to my actual life rather than just being interesting is content with the highest kind of value and this site is generating that connection at a high rate.

  21. Recommended without hesitation if you care about careful coverage of this topic, and a stop at protonkit reinforced the recommendation, the bar I set for unhesitating recommendations is fairly high and this site has cleared it through the cumulative weight of multiple consistently good pieces rather than through any single standout post which is meaningful.

  22. Now adjusting my mental list of reliable sites for this topic, and a stop at flaircase reinforced the adjustment, the small ongoing curation work of maintaining trusted sources is one of the actual practical activities of careful reading and this site has earned a permanent place on my list for this particular subject.

  23. Thank you for keeping the writing honest and the points easy to verify against your own experience, and a stop at ohmframe reflected the same approach, no exaggeration just steady useful content that I can take with me into my own work without second guessing every sentence I happen to read here.

  24. My usual response to new bookmarks is to forget them but this one I have already returned to twice, and a look at freshtrendstation pulled me back a third time, the actual return rate to bookmarked sites is the real measure of value and this one is clearing that measure at a notable rate already.

  25. Really appreciate the lack of pop ups, modals, cookie banners stacking on top of each other, and a quick visit to pearlpocket confirmed the same clean approach across the rest of the site, technical decisions about user experience are part of what makes content actually pleasant to engage with for sure.

  26. Felt no urge to argue with the conclusions even though I started the post slightly skeptical, and a look at sunmeadowstore maintained that pattern, writing that earns agreement through clarity of argument rather than rhetorical pressure is the kind I find most persuasive and the kind I want to read more of these days.

  27. Worth flagging this post as worth a careful read rather than a casual skim, and a stop at perfectbuycorner earned the same careful approach, the few sites that warrant slower reading are sites I now treat differently from the daily content stream and this one has clearly moved into that elevated treatment category.

  28. Learned something from this without having to dig through layers of fluff, and a stop at crystalfernstore added a bit more context that helped tie things together for me, definitely a useful corner of the internet for anyone who wants real information without the usual marketing nonsense around it that often ruins similar pages.

  29. Closed my email tab so I could read this without interruption, and a stop at growthcart earned the same protected attention, when content is good enough to defend against the usual digital distractions you know it deserves better than the half attention most online reading gets in a typical busy day.

  30. A small editorial detail caught my attention, the way headings related to body text, and a look at ironpetalworks maintained that careful relationship, structural details like that show up to readers who notice them and the writers here have clearly thought about every level of the piece rather than just the words.

  31. Now feeling the small relief of finding writing that does not condescend, and a stop at vexsync extended that respect for readers, content that treats its audience as capable adults rather than as people to be managed produces a different reading experience and this site has clearly chosen the respectful approach across all pieces.

  32. Probably worth setting aside a longer block to read more carefully than I can right now, and a stop at futuregoodszone confirmed the longer block plan, the impulse to schedule dedicated time for a sites archive is itself a measure of trust and this site has earned that scheduling impulse from me clearly today actually.

  33. Reading this confirmed that the topic deserves more careful attention than it usually gets, and a stop at kilobase extended that elevated framing, content that raises the appropriate weight of a subject without being preachy about it is serving a quiet but important editorial function for the broader cultural conversation about it.

  34. Closed and reopened the tab three times before finally finishing, and a stop at amberflux held my attention straight through, sometimes content fights for time against my own distraction and the times it wins say something positive about its quality and this post clearly won that fight today afternoon for me.

  35. Felt mildly happier after reading, which sounds silly but is true, and a look at decdart extended that small mood lift, content that improves rather than degrades my mental state is content I want more of and the cumulative effect of reading sites that lift versus sites that drag is real over time.

  36. Thanks for the breakdown, it gave me a clearer picture of something I had been confused about for a while now, and a stop at purepost closed the remaining gaps in my understanding nicely, no need to hunt around twenty other articles to put the pieces together which is a real time saver.

  37. Bookmark earned and shared the link with one specific person who would care, and a look at flairpack got the same targeted share, sharing carefully rather than broadcasting is a discipline I try to maintain and this site is generating shares from me at a sustainable rate rather than the spam rate of viral content.

  38. Decided to read more before commenting and the more I read the more I wanted to say something, and a stop at macromountain pushed that impulse further, when content provokes the urge to participate rather than just consume it is doing something quite specific and worth recognising clearly when it happens during reading.

  39. Liked the way the post got out of its own way, and a stop at ohmgrid extended that invisible craft, the best writing you barely notice while reading because it is doing its work without drawing attention to itself and this site has clearly mastered that disappearing act across the pieces I have read.

  40. Reading this prompted a brief but useful conversation with a colleague who happened to walk by, and a stop at sunpetalmarket extended that conversational seed, content that becomes a starting point for in person discussion rather than ending in solitary reading is content with social generative energy and this site has plenty of it apparently.

  41. Now feeling the rare pleasure of trusting a source completely on first encounter, and a look at magicshelf extended that initial trust into something more durable, the calibration of trust to evidence is something I do informally and this site has earned high trust through the cumulative weight of multiple consistently good posts already.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *