“Se o Papa ordena liquidar alguém na defesa da fé, faz-se isso sem fazer perguntas. Ele é a voz de Deus e nós [a Santa Aliança] somos a mão executor”.
Cardeal Paluzzo Paluzzi, chefe da Santa Aliança, século XVII
Desde 1566, ano da fundação do serviço de espionagem papal, até aos nossos dias, a Santa Aliança e a sua contra-espionagem, o Sodalitium Pianum, assassinaram reis, políticos e financeiros, como Henrique IV de França ou Roberto Calvi; viram-se envolvidos em revoltas e revoluções; financiaram ditadores e apoiaram golpes de Estado; criaram sociedades para cometer assassínios selectivos; traficaram armas; apoiaram grupos em conflito; ajudaram na fuga de criminosos de guerra nazis e provocaram falências bancárias e financeiras, tudo isso em nome de Deus e da fé católica por ordem do Sumo Pontífice.
Desde Pio V até João Paulo II, este livro relata cinco séculos de operações encobertas do serviço de espionagem pontifício. Trata-se de um documentado e surpreendente ensaio que dá a conhecer informação inédita que, sem dúvida, despertará o interesse dos leitores. ( )

The first 175 pages or so of this book were a little dull. Just a repetition of facts, historical facts, which as we know can be a bit ambiguous. After that things became a bit more interesting as we moved closer to the popes who served in more recent years.

When Giacomo della Chiesa was elected to the papacy on September 3, 1914 and became Pope Benedict XV things became quite interesting.

This is a story of the spy network of the Vatican. It tells who was involved and what they were involved in. Intrigue, murder, financial shenanigans, and providing weapons to countries involved in conflicts just begin to cover it.

We have all heard about the involvement of the Vatican with Hitler, and how the Popes coffers grew during this time. Pope John Paul the I and his untimely death after investing the Vatican Bank, we have all heard. I have heard much less about John Paul the II and suppression of information as well as his use of the vatican spy network now called the Entity. It brings us right up to the election and first days of the current pope, and what he gets involved in remains to be seen.

The Entity is a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in learning what has been going on in that little country, The Vatican. ( )

PRIMERA GAVETA ( IZQ. )PARTE SUPERIOR