A Thief in the Night: Life and Death in the Vatican
by John Cornwell
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Book Summary Information
Author: John CornwellEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2001-05-01
ISBN: 0141001836
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics)
Book Reviews of A Thief in the Night: Life and Death in the Vatican
Book Review: An Investigatve Report
Summary: 4 Stars
An investigation by John Cornwell, an editor of the 'London Observer', into the mysterious circumstance surrounding the death of Pope John Paul I just thirty-three days after he assumed the papacy. The author answers ten specific questions about which there was disagreement with the Vatican, such as exactly when and where the pope died, and whether a secret autopsy was performed. It is written in step-by-step narrative format on the writers' investigation and his interviews appear to be the transcripts themselves. His investigation tends to lead to the conclusion that the Vatican Hierarchy was responsible for the popes' death through neglect of his medical well being. This book was written at the request of the Vatican and is a recommended read.
Summary of A Thief in the Night: Life and Death in the Vatican
On the eve of September 28, 1978, Pope John Paul I died unexpectedly-apparently of a heart attack-after a reign of only thirty-three days. Within the Vatican there were serious disagreements about the time of death, who found the body, and the true state of the Pope's health prior to his death. These arguments led to rumors of foul play and conspiracy-variously involving the KGB, the freemasons, crooked financiers, and Vatican officials. In 1987 the Vatican invited John Cornwell to conduct a new, independent investigation into the true circumstances of the Pope's death. In A Thief in the Night Cornwell tells the story of his search, including a startling theory about John Paul I's untimely demise-and a chilling and unsurpassed look inside one of the world's oldest, most secretive institutions.Just 33 days into the reign of Pope John Paul I in 1978, it was reported that he had died of a heart attack. But within the Vatican, there were conflicting answers to the most basic questions: Who found the body? What was the time of death? What was the actual state of the pope's health prior to death? A Thief in the Night is John Cornwell's investigation of the mysterious circumstances surrounding John Paul's death. It is also a profound exploration of the nature of sin and the definition of crime. Inconsistencies in the story spawned rumors of conspiracy to murder the so-called "smiling pope," whose ideological stances were sufficiently complex as to threaten both conservative and liberal interests in the Church and abroad. Fingers pointed towards the KGB, the Freemasons, and the pope's own top advisors. Then, in 1987, the Vatican invited Cornwell (whose other books include the bestselling Hitler's Pope) to conduct an independent investigation of the pope's death. His investigation reads like a detective novel: 44 short chapters record Cornwell's encounters with most of the major characters of this mystery, including the Pope's personal secretaries and the Vatican doctor who signed his death certificate. Ultimately, A Thief in the Night argues that John Paul showed clear symptoms of fatal illness in the days leading up to his death, and that these symptoms were willfully ignored by everyone around him. Thus, Cornwell argues, the sins that killed John Paul were sins of omission. The fantastic conspiracy theories, he argues, serve one purpose: "they deflect attention from the most obvious and shameful fact of all: that John Paul I died scorned and neglected by the institution that existed to sustain him." --Michael Joseph Gross
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