A group of American Catholics asked President Trump again, a few months ago, to investigate whether the US Government under Obama-Biden was involved in the sequence of events that led to the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI and the subsequent conclave that elected Pope Francis in 2013.
Pope Francis was elected on March 13, 2013. He was chosen by a papal conclave to succeed Pope Benedict XVI, who had resigned on February 28, 2013. Prior to that, no Pope had resigned from the Catholic Church in over 600 years.
Shortly after the first inauguration of President Trump in 2017 an open letter was published in The Remnant Newspaper requesting an investigation into potential involvement by the Obama-Biden Administration in the affairs of the Catholic Church.
Specifically, the authors questioned whether the US Government was involved in the sequence of events that resulted in the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on February 11, 2013 and the Conclave that elected Pope Francis I on March 13, 2013. This open letter was widely circulated throughout the world in 2017.
No investigation was conducted back then and the questions that were raised remain unanswered:
- To what end was the National Security Agency monitoring the conclave that elected Pope Francis?
- What other covert operations were carried out by US government operatives concerning the resignation of Pope Benedict or the conclave that elected Pope Francis?
- Did US government operatives have contact with the “Cardinal Danneels* Mafia”?
[*Cardinal Godefroy Danneels, along with others, was associated with the informal group known as the St. Gallen Group or the "St. Gallen Mafia." The group was allegedly a clandestine circle of high-ranking liberal/reformist churchmen who opposed Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (later Pope Benedict XVI) and plotted for reform. The group's alleged goals included influencing conclaves, potentially supporting Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio (later Pope Francis), and working towards a "new Francis," as stated in a book about the St. Gallen Mafia. Some speculate they may have influenced Benedict XVI's resignation in 2011, according to a book on Amazon.]
- International monetary transactions with the Vatican were suspended during the last few days prior to the resignation of Pope Benedict. Were any U.S. Government agencies involved in this?
- Why were international monetary transactions resumed on February 12, 2013, the day after Benedict XVI announced his resignation? Was this pure coincidence?
- What actions, if any, were actually taken by John Podesta, Hillary Clinton, and others tied to the Obama administration who were involved in the discussion proposing the fomenting of a “Catholic Spring**”?
[**The "Catholic Spring" referred to plans to sow revolution within the Catholic Church, similar to the Arab Spring protests. According to leaked emails from John Podesta, Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, Podesta and his allies had created organizations like Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholics United to organize for a moment like the "Catholic Spring" to promote dissent within Christianity on sexual morality, especially LGBT issues and contraception coverage.]
- What was the purpose and nature of the secret meeting between Vice President Joseph Biden and Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on or about June 3, 2011?
- What roles were played by George Soros and other international financiers who may be currently residing in United States territory?
They are not asking for an investigation of the Church, even though Pope Francis seemed to align the Vatican’s agenda with that of Klaus Schwab of the WEF, George Soros, and the liberal pro-abortion, pro-illegal immigration, pro-transgender US Democrat Party.
The letter continues…
“We are asking for an investigation into the affairs of our own US government. It is not unprecedented for a corrupt government to attempt to insert itself into the life of the Church. There are numerous cases of this throughout history.
It is certain that a government in which 51 intelligence officials would lie to the American people to steer an election is not above attempting to steer a conclave.
Several news outlets reported that various Vatican offices were electronically surveilled by the U.S. intelligence agencies, both before and during the 2013 conclave. If these allegations are true, the consequences of monitoring the conclave are significant.
We believe it to be the responsibility of loyal and informed United States Catholics to petition our government to authorize an investigation into these critical questions. Catholics throughout the world expect this of us.
It must be restated that we are not requesting an investigation into the Catholic Church; rather, we are simply asking for an investigation into activities of a previous Obama-Biden administration, one that fomented various coups and color revolutions to overthrow governments around the world. Did the same administration force the resignation of a pope so that a prelate favorable to their agenda could be installed as pontiff? Thank you again, and be assured of our most sincere prayers.”
Respectfully,
David L. Sonnier, LTC US ARMY (Retired)
Elizabeth Yore, Esq., Founder of YoreChildren
Michael J. Matt, Editor of The Remnant
John Henry Westen, Co-Founder, CEO, Editor of LifeSiteNews
To that end - after the death of Pope Francis and the pending conclave to elect his replacement - Steve Bannon interviewed Archbishop Vigano and asked him directly.
The conclave to elect the new pope will begin on May 7, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis on April 21, 2025. The conclave will be the largest in the history of the Catholic Church, with 133 cardinal electors expected to gather in the Sistine Chapel.
Steve Bannon: Recently, a group of American Catholics asked President Trump to investigate whether the US Government was involved in the sequence of events that resulted in the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI on February 11, 2013, and the subsequent conclave that elected Francis on March 13, 2013. You recently called for the Trump Administration to "investigate the Deep State Plan to eliminate Benedict XVI.” Do you believe that the Obama/Biden Administration meddled in the abdication of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of Jorge Bergoglio? If so, why?
Archbishop Viganò: If we were not talking about the Church – or, to be more precise, the Vatican – but rather about any sovereign nation, the evidence of a coup d’état would not be questioned by anyone. On the other hand, we know that the deep state has interfered several times in the government of many different nations, and that it continues to do so through its emissaries. Just in the past few days, Cardinal Burke has denounced the attempt of "President” Macron to put pressure on the college of cardinals to prevent the election of a conservative pope who would question the policies of the European Union.
From John Podesta’s emails released by Wikileaks we know that the scheme adopted in the civil sphere to foment "color revolutions” was slavishly replicated in the ecclesiastical sphere as well.
The modus operandi is the same: the deep state finances ideological movements and social pressure groups through USAID and other government agencies to simulate dissent against the Magisterium of the Catholic Church and thus be able to put pressure on the hierarchy to adopt reforms, always in a "progressive” sense. At the same time, the part of the hierarchy that is complicit in this subversive operation uses this "virtual” dissent to legitimize reforms that no one is asking for: female priesthood, legitimization of sodomy, apparent democratization of authority through the "synodalization” of the monarchical papacy, etc.
Everything is therefore based on the false premise that there is a problem (one that is artificially created and is absolutely not perceived by the Christian people), which can be remedied with the solution offered (which in ordinary conditions could not even be taken into consideration).
Such interference in the government of the Catholic Church reached the point of theorizing the need to replace the then-reigning Pontiff, Benedict XVI, with an emissary of the deep state who would carry out its subversive plan. And that is exactly what actually happened shortly thereafter: Benedict XVI was forced to resign; Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected at the 2013 "conclave”; and this Argentine Jesuit actually carried out the orders he had received. I also note, en passant, that in the background of this disturbing scenario, there is a consistent element: all of the protagonists of the coup belonged to the pedophile elite: from Obama to McCarrick, Hillary Clinton, John Podesta, and the Bidens…
It is therefore absolutely essential for the new US Administration – in which Vice President JD Vance is a practicing Catholic – to investigate these aspects and brings to light how the previous Administrations were involved. We know they were accomplices and promoters not only of the Vatican coup, but also of other similar foreign and internal operations – I am thinking first of all of the electoral fraud of 2020.
Once the evidence and the names of the guilty parties are available, the Catholic Hierarchy will not be able to ignore facts of political relevance by using the excuse that these are "merely canonical issues.”
Steve Bannon: Who do you think played a critical role in that coup? How would evidence of foreign interference in a papal election affect the Catholic Church practically and canonically?
Archbishop Viganò: This coup is part of a wider global coup organized by the subversive lobby of the woke left (on the ideological front) and the World Economic Forum (on the financial front). Its aim is the destruction of every form of resistance against the establishment of the New World Order, the establishment of governments totally controlled by an elite of technocrats, and the establishment of a new Religion of Humanity that gives doctrinal and moral foundations to the globalist dystopia.
In the minds of these criminals devoted to the Antichrist – because it is the kingdom of the Antichrist that we are talking about – Bergoglio was to be the first "pope” of the new ecumenical and synodal church prepared since Vatican II. And it is precisely because of this total heterogeneity even with respect to his immediate predecessors (and even with respect to the most progressive of these) that Bergoglio cannot be considered to have been pope of the Catholic Church.
It is clear that, if this interference in the 2013 conclave could be demonstrated, it would entail the nullity of the election and the illegitimacy of Bergoglio’s papacy. This would be in effect a great reset, because it would annul all of Bergoglio’s acts of magisterium and government, from his heretical "encyclicals” to his appointments of bishops and cardinals.
Before the upcoming conclave begins, it is essential to verify that the members of the College of Cardinals are actually legitimate, because anyone claiming to be elected pope by the conclave will otherwise see their legitimacy compromised.
Steve Bannon: On July 1, 2025, the Archdiocese of Detroit will close down 28 thriving Latin Mass parishes by order of the newly appointed Archbishop Edward Weisenburger. What advice do you have for Traditional Catholics who attend those masses? With the widespread suppression of thriving Latin Masses in the United States and around the world, how are Catholics to respond? Should they resist?
Archbishop Viganò: Hatred for the traditional Mass is one of the hallmarks of the enemies of Christ. This hatred is certainly motivated by the fact that the Latin Mass leaves no room for errors and heresies that oppose the truths of Catholic Dogma.
It is significant that it is precisely bishops and cardinals obsessively fixated on "synodality” who trample on the will of millions of Catholics who ask only to be able to have access to the Mass of all time. This exposes the deception of those who fill their mouths with high-sounding slogans about the active participation of the faithful ("actuosa participatio”) and about the role of the laity in the Church – so much proclaimed by the Council – with the sole purpose of taking away authority from the good Pastors and transferring it to new tyrants.
The Catholic faithful – and along with them priests, bishops, and religious – have the right not to be defrauded of the Apostolic Mass, which Our Lord entrusted to the Church to be safeguarded and transmitted without arbitrary changes. This right existed before the imposition of the Novus Ordo by Paul VI, and was reaffirmed by Benedict XVI’s Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, which not by chance Bergoglio practically suppressed with Traditionis Custodes.
I remind Catholics that one of the most effective tools to coerce their Pastors consists in allocating their financial offerings only to those Dioceses and communities in which they are truly given the possibility of remaining Catholic. When Their Excellencies find themselves without the money of the faithful on the one hand and without government funding from USAID on the other, they will be forced to choose to do anyway what should have been their duty right from the beginning.
Steve Bannon: In 2023, the Biden Administration, through the FBI, launched a campaign against traditional Catholics who attend the Latin Mass, labeling them "racially or ethnically motivated violent extremists (RMVEs) among radical-traditionalist Catholics (RTC), an ideology that almost certainly presents opportunities for threat mitigation through the exploration of new avenues for tripwire and source development,” In your opinion, why would federal law enforcement target peaceful traditional Catholics as violent extremists? What could possibly be the motivation of law enforcement motivation to systemically target Latin Mass attendees? Could this harassment stem from Bergoglio’s decree Traditionis Custodes and his suppression of the Latin Mass? Is there a connection?
Archbishop Viganò: Saint Pius X said that true Catholics are those faithful to Tradition, and he was absolutely right; so much so that they are also the only ones who are not liked by the enemies of the Church, while the self-styled "adult Catholics,” – so-called progressives, "liberal Catholics,” "woke Catholics” – are highly appreciated. If Bergoglio managed to obtain so much admiration from those who detest the Catholic Church and the papacy, it is because the elite considered him "one of their own,” equally revolutionary, equally imbued with Masonic philanthropism, equally ecumenical, syncretistic, inclusive, green, and woke.
We have reached the zenith of a paradox in which the civil power usurped by traitors of the deep state is allied with the religious power usurped by traitors of the deep church. It is therefore not surprising that the "secular arm” has come to the aid of the Bergoglian church, targeting Bergoglio’s enemies – that is, true Catholics – because it also considers them enemies of woke society and the globalist elite.
Now, however, with the election of Donald Trump in the United States of America, the infernal machine of the New World Order has somehow jammed, putting into crisis a system of corruption, conflicts of interest, and blackmail that seemed to work perfectly. At a time when the deep state is losing power in civil society, the deep church is also retreating within the Catholic Church, because they are two sides of the same coin. It is up to citizens and believers to support good rulers and good Pastors, so that they can finally bring justice to this global coup that threatens all of humanity.
Steve Bannon: What has been the impact on (formerly) Catholic nations like Ireland of mass invasion of Islamic immigrants? Is this influx of uncontrolled migration part of a strategic globalist plan to eradicate Christianity? Is this the result of a loss of faith? Has Vatican II had an impact on the de-Christianization of Europe? Why would Bergoglio support the destruction of the Christian culture in Europe and elsewhere with open borders?
Archbishop Viganò: There is an epochal struggle underway between Good and Evil, between God and Satan, between those who recognize Christ as King and those who instead work for the establishment of the kingdom of the Antichrist. This struggle is reaching its final stage, but it has been prepared for some time, especially since the enemies of Christ organized themselves into an anti-church, namely Freemasonry, which is intrinsically anti-Catholic, because it is anti-Christian and devoted to Satan. The purpose of Freemasonry – and therefore of the New World Order – is the cancellation of Christ through the cancellation of Christian society, Christian culture, Christian civilization and, obviously, the Catholic religion.
Satan does not accept the defeat inflicted on him by Our Lord on Golgotha and, unable to defeat the One who has already defeated him forever, he takes revenge on men, trying to drag as many as possible to Hell.
In order to erase the presence of Christ from the life of each of us, Satan must act on multiple fronts: the public and the private, that of the family and that of education, that of culture and entertainment, of science and finance. He therefore desires that all our actions – which in a Christian society are oriented towards the Good – must be corrupted to the point of making it almost impossible for anyone to do good deeds, to follow the Gospel, to obey the Commandments, and to transmit the principles of our Faith and our Morality. It is not just a matter of making us accept as "legitimate” the fact that others can "legitimately” do evil – for example with abortion – but of making each of us feel guilty because we persist in not wanting to do evil, in not wanting to consider it a "human right” to tear an innocent child to pieces in the mother’s womb or to mutilate an adolescent by means of gender transition. It is the mentality of "Who am I to judge?” that Bergoglio translated into a moral principle right from the beginning of his "pontificate.”
In order to achieve his goal of the destruction of every religious principle, however, Satan needed to have the leaders of the Catholic Hierarchy on his side, so that the Church of Rome – notoriously anti-revolutionary, anti-liberal and anti-Masonic – would become an ally and accomplice of those who until yesterday She considered Her most fearsome enemies. Without the condemnations formerly made by the popes of Freemasonry, liberalism, atheistic materialism, and modernism, the Church could and would become – in Freemasonry’s plan – no longer the guardian of the Truth against error, but the very propagator of error against the Truth, hijacking ecclesiastical spiritual authority to make it work for the loss of souls. The Second Vatican Council served exactly this purpose: undermining traditional principles and insinuating into the Catholic Church the revolutionary principles against which the Church had always strenuously fought. The ecumenism of Vatican II laid the doctrinal foundations for immigrationism, because this was the necessary premise to legitimize the uncontrolled invasion of Europe by hordes of Muslims without provoking any reaction from the invaded peoples.
Our leaders – both civil and religious – have betrayed us, ordering us to welcome those who will soon represent the majority of the population of military age and who, due to wretched laws, are even enlisting in our armed forces. We are faced with an ethnic substitution imposed by the subversive elite of the UN and the European Union: a forced Islamization in which some governments go so far as to imprison their own citizens because they complain about the degradation and criminality imported by the new barbarians, systematically absolving any immigrant, regardless of the gravity of his crimes. It is clear that in this plan of social destruction the complicity of the Bergoglian church has been decisive, and Bergoglio will have to answer for this before God and the tribunal of history.
But this is not all. Muslims who come to Europe believing they can subject it to Sharia law ignore that there is a third protagonist – whom we know well – who intentionally provokes an ethnic and religious clash between Christianity and Islam, because a civil and religious war in Western countries would legitimize further restrictions of fundamental freedoms and allow for the prohibition of any form of external worship, in the name of "mutual respect.”
Steven Bannon: In your long career as a Vatican diplomat, have you ever seen a pope publicly disparage a political leader the way Bergoglio did when he called Trump "unchristian” in the middle of a political campaign? Do you believe that statement was part of a globalist strategy to undermine Trump’s election or simply Bergoglio’s personal opinion?
Archbishop Viganò: Bergoglio demonstrated his total extraneity from the Roman papacy not only in doctrinal, moral, and liturgical aspects, but also in more banal ways, from the way he dressed to the language he used. In the Vatican he was known for his furious tantrums and the scurrilous expressions he resorted to. Every gesture of Bergoglio was designed to cause embarrassment and scandal, to break protocol, and to create a precedent for new and more serious violations of ceremonial norms. His seemingly spontaneous comments served to remove formality – and therefore authority – from "the pope’s” statements and attribute them to himself, so that it was not "the pope” who spoke, but he.
At the same time, the enormities and nonsense we heard him utter – not least the attacks on President Trump that he did not even bother to disguise – always had the "excuse” of not being an official part of the papal documents, so as to get the message across without having to assume full responsibility for it. Such double talk was repugnant to any true Catholic, demonstrating once again that Bergoglio considered his "papacy” as a piece of property that he believed himself authorized to use against the Catholic papacy.
Bergoglio was imposed on us as the pope of the elite, as the head of the globalist anti-church, and as such he has always demanded obedience and submission. He was the preacher of religious indifferentism, of moral relativism, of the pauperist claims of the "Amazonian church,” and of the LGBTQ lobby. When Bergoglio opened his mouth, he spoke like the ventriloquist of Davos. His condemnations were not Catholic condemnations, just as his endorsements of dictators, criminals, abortionists, and perverts of all kinds did not represent a Catholic approval. Being the target of Bergoglio’s invectives is therefore a source of pride, and American Catholics understood this very well, voting for Trump despite the propaganda of the Jesuits, the USCCB, and self-styled "Catholic” NGOs.
Steven Bannon: What is the best way to handle the current crisis in the Catholic Church created by the tumultuous twelve-year regime of Jorge Bergoglio? Given the upcoming papal conclave, what actions should the cardinal-electors take to avoid repeating the Bergoglio regime? Do you have any concern that the Saint Gallen Mafia 2.0 will manipulate the conclave in order to elect a candidate who will continue the radical synodal destruction of the Catholic Church?
Archbishop Viganò: What Bergoglio and his accomplices have managed to do in the last twelve years constitutes a disaster of immense proportions, even if the destruction of the Catholic edifice began well before. Bergoglio has taken the principles of Vatican II to their extreme consequences: his "synodality” is the updated version of the subversive principle of "episcopal collegiality” of Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium. For this reason, Bergoglio has always proudly considered himself a faithful executor of the Council, since it too – like Bergoglio – managed to impose itself "through pastoral means,” that is, precisely at the moment in which it declared itself not dogmatically binding for the Catholic faithful.
The greatest damage Bergoglio did was through the appointments he made: the entire Roman Curia and the Episcopal Conferences are now infested with his courtiers, protected by the McCarrick clique and the Jesuits. This subversive lobby has thrown off its mask, and this has opened the eyes of many people who are no longer willing to ratify the decisions of an authority that answers neither to God nor to the ecclesial body.
To resolve the current crisis, it is first necessary to investigate the interference that occurred in the 2013 Conclave, to ascertain whether Bergoglio’s election was manipulated by the American deep state and the Saint Gallen Mafia. If this in fact happened, then Bergoglio was never validly elected as pope, and therefore the current number of 136 cardinal-electors (a number which is higher than the rules governing the conclave allow) would drop to 28, that is, only those cardinals created by John Paul II and Benedict XVI. If the conclave could rediscover its canonical legitimacy in this way, it would give greater authority to the man it elects as pope, who would no longer be burdened by doubts about his nomination. Until the shadows cast over Bergoglio’s legitimacy are dispelled, the conclave will see its authority compromised.
Steve Bannon: In your opinion, what is the greatest threat that the United States is facing today?
Archbishop Viganò: The most serious threat that looms over the United States of America is the danger of not learning from what has happened thus far: that citizens do not realize the danger they have escaped by electing Donald Trump instead of Kamala Harris, and that the government is allowing itself to be intimidated by international lobbies and softening the reforms that are essential, starting with reining in the excessive power of multinational corporations, especially with respect to citizens.
It is not enough to fight the most extreme manifestations of woke ideology. We need to rebuild, starting from the foundation of family, from the bedrock of morality, Religion, and culture. We need to restart a social model on a human scale, in accordance with God’s plan and the Law of the Gospel. And we need to teach our children to fight and die for the rights of God rather than the alleged "rights of man.” We must learn that it is crazy for man to try and make himself into god, when God has already become man and offered himself for us. Only a nation that recognizes itself under God can hope to prosper, because everything it needs comes from God, and the Lord always blesses those who fear Him and serve Him.
+ Carlo Maria Viganò, Archbishop
Former Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America
April 30, 2025
S. Catharinæ Senensis Virginis
Shortly after the death of Pope Francis, President Trump was asked who should be the next Pope and he jokingly said: "I’d like to be pope. That would be my number one choice."
Then, he added that he did not really have a preference for who should be the new pope and mentioned that there was a cardinal from New York who was "very good," likely referring to Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Timothy Michael Dolan has served as Archbishop of New York since 2009 and as a cardinal since 2012.
Yesterday - President Trump posted this AI-created photo of himself on Truth Social with a warning finger. The finger wag is primarily used to express disapproval or warning. It's a non-verbal way of saying, "Be careful," "Stop that," or "Don't do that.”
What does this tell me? IMHO, this means that, YES, the US Government under Obama-Biden DID interfere at the Vatican and influenced the resignation of Pope Benedict and his replacement, Pope Francis. This is Trump’s way of telling us that. He’s saying it was a rigged election and it’s time to remedy that.
After President Trump posted that photo - which caused a huge uproar all over the world - Devin Nunes followed it up with this one. Further proof that Team Trump believes the conclaves are rigged just like the 2020 election.
Remember when the left mocked the Last Supper with a drag queen performance at the Olympics?
The same Democrats are now saying they are offended by an AI image of Trump as Pope.
All it took was one photo of Trump as Pope to turn millions of Democrats into devout Catholics. God works in mysterious ways!
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