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mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

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Mistress <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vatican<br />

on himself, said, If <strong>the</strong> Catholic princes such as those <strong>of</strong> Austria and<br />

Germany make me such reproaches, what will those do who do not<br />

have <strong>the</strong> same veneration for <strong>the</strong> Holy See?” The pope was “noticeably<br />

touched by <strong>the</strong>se discourses, to <strong>the</strong> depths <strong>of</strong> his soul.” 20<br />

Gregorio Leti summed up <strong>the</strong> situation. “In fact, no pope had ever<br />

been so little esteemed as Innocent was. The Catholic princes could not<br />

help but laugh sometimes to see this form <strong>of</strong> female government because<br />

<strong>the</strong>y saw <strong>the</strong> Protestant princes laughing about it agreeably. And,<br />

at <strong>the</strong> same time, <strong>the</strong>y deplored <strong>the</strong> miserable condition <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Roman<br />

church because <strong>the</strong>y saw it exposed to <strong>the</strong> jokes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> heretics. And<br />

who would not have shed tears to see that one didn’t speak anymore <strong>of</strong><br />

sending ambassadors to <strong>the</strong> pope but to Donna Olimpia, not to <strong>the</strong> court<br />

<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> head <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> church, but to <strong>the</strong> palace <strong>of</strong> a woman.” 21<br />

But for all <strong>the</strong> scandal Olimpia brought to <strong>the</strong> church and to <strong>the</strong><br />

pope personally, Innocent knew that he owed her everything. It was she<br />

who had jump-started his career back in 1612, helping him adjudicate<br />

his cases in <strong>the</strong> Rota. It was she who had thrown <strong>the</strong> right parties and<br />

given <strong>the</strong> right gifts to encourage Pope Gregory XV to make him papal<br />

nuncio to Naples. It was Olimpia who had arranged for him to become<br />

<strong>the</strong> number one Vatican ambassador, <strong>the</strong> nuncio to Madrid. And it was<br />

Olimpia who, in his absence, had connived at getting him made cardinal.<br />

And <strong>the</strong>n, in <strong>the</strong> conclave <strong>of</strong> 1644, it was her smuggled letter that<br />

had convinced <strong>the</strong> Barberinis to swing <strong>the</strong>ir votes to his side and elect<br />

him pope.<br />

For nearly forty years Olimpia had unflaggingly supported Gianbattista<br />

Pamphili, devoting her extensive fortune and her incisive intelligence<br />

to his worldly success. She had single-handedly raised <strong>the</strong> Pamphili<br />

family from living in a narrow tumbledown house to <strong>the</strong> pinnacle <strong>of</strong><br />

power, wealth, and fame. True, Gianbattista had always been hardworking,<br />

intelligent, and fair-minded. But so were thousands <strong>of</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />

Roman clerics who never became nuncio, let alone pope. With his strong<br />

sense <strong>of</strong> justice and gratitude, how could Innocent throw Olimpia to <strong>the</strong><br />

dogs? How could he?<br />

It was a crisis <strong>of</strong> conscience <strong>the</strong> likes <strong>of</strong> which he had never faced before.<br />

We can picture <strong>the</strong> blindfolded, Grecian-draped figure <strong>of</strong> Justice<br />

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