mistress of the vatican.pdf - End Time Deception

Mistress of the Vatican
even claimed that she had used butter knives to pry gems out of altarpieces
in Saint Peter’s and other churches, and that she had stuffed the
Holy Communion chalices into her pockets.
“The pope did not have a very good opinion of this woman,” Gregorio
Leti observed. “Yet he did not yet wish her to feel his violent anger,
nor to suspect any resentment. The pope wanted to do everything with
great prudence and good conduct.” 1
As former secretary of state, Alexander was well versed in diplomacy
and international law, but he had had very little to do with the datary.
In his first weeks in office, he threw himself into learning how the datary
was run and looking over financial reports. With each audit brought
to him from Innocent’s reign, Alexander became more and more disturbed
at how much money had gone missing and how much of it
seemed to have landed in Olimpia’s lap.
Leti affirmed, “The pope found every day, whether in church affairs
or political affairs, so many crimes and embezzlements that he had not
only reason to mistreat her, but to put her in prison for life. He found
only deceipt and corruption in the datary. He discovered only simony
practiced by this woman, all the posts having been sold, the finances
exhausted, and a thousand other things. . . . The pope had too much
zeal for the good of the state to see so many crimes without at the same
time building up resentment.” 2
It is likely that Alexander would have preferred to let the matter
drop. Innocent had made him cardinal and secretary of state, putting
him on the road to the papacy. He did not want to terrorize Innocent’s
family or bring scandal to the church. Yet the scope of the embezzlement
was such that Alexander, a stickler for justice, felt he could not
turn a blind eye. If Olimpia was indeed guilty, she must be forced to
disgorge her ill-gotten gains and return them to the Vatican treasury,
where they could be used for the poor.
The pope called all his cardinals to consistory, where he announced
that he would launch an investigation into Olimpia’s financial transactions
under Innocent. He said the proceedings should be undertaken
with prudence and caution, as he did not want to provoke new scandals
but to clean up old ones. He appointed Cardinal Gualterio, a friend and
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