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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 />

Realizing <strong>the</strong>y were getting nowhere, <strong>the</strong> burial committee next called<br />

on Princes Ludovisi and Giustiniani, who had both pr<strong>of</strong>ited handsomely<br />

as papal nephews. These worthy gentlemen declared that if Olimpia and<br />

Camillo were too grasping to pay for <strong>the</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fins, <strong>the</strong>y didn’t see why <strong>the</strong>y,<br />

being more distant relatives, should have to bear <strong>the</strong> expense.<br />

The body was, by now, beginning to stink. It couldn’t be left to decompose<br />

in <strong>the</strong> middle <strong>of</strong> Saint Peter’s Basilica in full view <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> faithful.<br />

Something had to be done with it.<br />

It was suggested that <strong>the</strong> body could be stored in a room <strong>of</strong> Saint<br />

Peter’s sacristy, an area adjoining <strong>the</strong> church where <strong>the</strong> holy vestments,<br />

chalices, prayer books, and o<strong>the</strong>r sacred objects were kept. But <strong>the</strong> sacristans<br />

objected to having a dead body, even a papal one, in <strong>the</strong>ir place<br />

<strong>of</strong> work. The chief sacristan said <strong>the</strong> body should be taken to Donna<br />

Olimpia, who was, after all, responsible for it. Yet <strong>the</strong> burial committee<br />

was reluctant to cart <strong>the</strong> blackened corpse on a plank through <strong>the</strong><br />

streets <strong>of</strong> Rome and knock on Olimpia’s door. Surely her servants would<br />

not allow it to be brought inside, and <strong>the</strong>y couldn’t very well leave it at<br />

her doorstep, where people would steal <strong>the</strong> clo<strong>the</strong>s and leave <strong>the</strong> pope<br />

lying naked in <strong>the</strong> Piazza Navona.<br />

An anonymous contemporary manuscript reported <strong>the</strong> dilemma.<br />

“They did not give a sepulcher to <strong>the</strong> majestic cadaver because no one<br />

had prepared <strong>the</strong> c<strong>of</strong>fin to put him in, and finding that no one wanted to<br />

pay for it, Monsignor Sacristan, in <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> all those princes, attested<br />

to having many times insisted and warned Donna Olimpia. . . . So<br />

it is no marvel that <strong>the</strong> following day <strong>the</strong>re multiplied <strong>the</strong> imprecations<br />

<strong>of</strong> avarice against this family, which abhorred <strong>the</strong> cost <strong>of</strong> 100 scudi for<br />

custody <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bones <strong>of</strong> that pope who had eviscerated <strong>the</strong> treasury <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

church to enrich each one <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m, leaving it with a debt <strong>of</strong> 8 million.” 6<br />

The Basilica <strong>of</strong> Saint Peter’s required constant maintenance, and <strong>the</strong><br />

custodians had a workroom in <strong>the</strong> basement where carpenters kept<br />

<strong>the</strong>ir saws, hammers, and o<strong>the</strong>r tools. It was decided to carry <strong>the</strong> pope<br />

on a plank <strong>of</strong> wood into this janitor’s closet. There <strong>the</strong>y would leave<br />

him until someone in <strong>the</strong> family called for him.<br />

On January 13, <strong>the</strong> sixth day after <strong>the</strong> pope’s death, Marchese Riccardi,<br />

[ 369 ]

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