mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Mistress of the Vatican
In 1642 work on the towers ceased. Pope Urban needed all available
funds for the Castro war. Before his death in 1644, no decision was made
as to how to proceed with the bell towers—whether to shore them up or
tear them down. But the new pope was faced with the urgent decision
his predecessor had put off. One of Innocent’s first decrees after his election
was to form a committee of architects, engineers, and the eight cardinals
of the Congregation of the Fabric to look into the problem. A
shaft was dug to examine the foundations of the south tower, into which
members of the committee descended on rope swings.
The first meeting was held on March 27, 1645. The most outspoken
critic of the bell towers was none other than Francesco Borromini, who
claimed the heavy towers would pull the façade with them as they settled,
and the entire front of the church would collapse. Borromini presented
mathematical calculations to show that the tower was three times
higher and six times heavier than it should have been. “The prudent
architect does not first erect a building and then make a sounding to see
if he finds cracks in the foundation,” he declared, making it clear to all
that Bernini was a most imprudent architect. 16
Innocent attended the next meeting, on June 8, as did both Borromini
and Bernini. Borromini presented new drawings to show that the
whole thing was poised to topple with a thunderous crash. “He declared
publicly against Bernini in the pope’s presence with all his heart and all
his strength,” Domenico Bernini wrote in his biography of his father. 17
Borromini and other jealous architects, wounded by years of papal
neglect, beat their breasts. “These were the ruinous results visited on
Rome,” they cried, “by those popes who were pleased to give all the
work to one man alone, although there was an abundance of meritorious
men in the city.” 18
In the face of such vehement opposition to his bell towers, Bernini
offered to work with other architects to study the foundations and perform
tests over a period of time. Everyone on the commission except
Borromini agreed that there was no imminent danger of collapse. The
cautious pope found Bernini’s suggestion a wise one, and so the matter
was left.
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