I have been wondering this since yesterday. Could it ever be possible for someone who was not a catholic to pretend to be, become a priest and con his way to the Papacy? And then once there, come clean? Or are there way too many checks? Also, I guess this person would also have to be a sociopath since such a con would take a lifetime. I likened it yesterday to an undercover cop becoming a mob boss but think this would take a hell of a lot more effort and be way less possible.
You ought to read this book:
Windswept House: A Vatican Novel by Malachi Martin.
Here's the Amazon book description:
"The Cold War has ended. With a scope and daring not possible until now, an unlikely international alliance of top-level political, financial, and religious interests sees the way clear at last to its ultimate goal: the establishment of a single global society. Utopia.
These are men with nothing in common but immense power and a towering ambition for still more. With world unity and prosperity as their slogan--and with betrayal, scandal, and murder as their ready weapons--they have the means and the will to capture as their own the perfect global machinery for their plans: the oldest, wiliest, and most stable political chancery in the world--the Vatican.
At the vortex of this lethal struggle stands the embattled Pope, a geopolitical genius whose elimination is the short-term solution to a long-term goal, and two American brothers, Paul and Christian Gladstone, one a lawyer and the other a priest, who appear to be the perfect pawns. One falls prey to the sharp teeth of greed for power. The other will become one of the Slavic Pontiff's closest allies...and will discover the darkest secrets at the very heart of papal Rome."Though I have had a copy for many years, I've yet to read it. Interesting but I also have an aversion to the Catholic Church, meaning the man-made orginization as opposed to the religion itself. Malachi Martin was a Catholic priest and well high up at the Vatican. If I remember correctly, he was the Vatican's Excorcist. The man is dead now but was very intriguing. Use to hear a lot of good and extensive interviews with him and there are those who believe that he was murdered for exposing dirt withinside. Have no idea if that's what happened or not. Supposedly, though his books were fiction, he was putting all sorts of truths inside but could not come out and tell as so.
There's also a lot of revelations (again, haven't a clue whether or not there's any truth to this) that there is a Satanic order within that has, or is about to, take control of the Vatican. Not sure if it's written about in this particular book or one of his others. Apparently, the Pope is chosen from the Knights of Malta which is some sort of branch of the Masons, even though the Catholic Church came out against the Masons. Wouldn't be the first I've seen hypocrisy from the Church which is, in part, why I left the official Church when I was 15. Not an atheist but I don't need a bunch of old men to be my go-between with God.
There's also some belief that the next Pope will be the very last one. I don't keep up with that stuff but have heard it for many years. Here's
some random info I just googled on the web for those so inclined to do any further research.
Heard last night that there are those who believe that this Pope may have left because of some major money laundering scandal about to come out regarding the Vatican Bank. Don't know but it wouldn't surprise me considering how corrupt most of these big banksters are and I
think that the Vatican Bank is the largest in the world. That alone turns me off as well as knowing they hoard tons of the best art and other treasures in the world. Kind of get a kick out of them having the best Observatory in the world except can't help but wonder why. Yet they wanted to condemn Galileo. Again, bunch of hypocrits! No wonder the Maifa loves them!
