Chapter 21
THE GRAND CENTRAL EUROPEAN PLOT-THE POPE, THE CARDINAL AND THE CIA
If
a Third World War did not break out in 1952, as predicted by Colliers
and expected by certain personages at the Vatican and elsewhere, the
subterranean exertions to provide it continued unabated.
The curious
amalgamation of sundry national, dynastic, religious and ideological elements increased,
until at last, only three or four years later, its visible effects came to the
fore with an insurrectional tornado in Central Europe.
The
Hungarian Revolution of 1956 had been planned well in advance. Not so much by
the regional and local forces which were eventually to take active part in it,
but by its two grand inspirers, Pope Pius XII and the CIA.
The latter,
while the organizer of its physical aspects, needed the active participation of
the Vatican, since Catholic Intelligence inside Hungary was far more effective
than any foreign agency, no matter how well equipped.
Without
Rome's blessing, the whole of Catholic Intelligence and hence of the Catholic
Hierarchy and of the Church would have remained inactive, thus paralyzing all
the exertions of the CIA.
Pius XII at
this period was at his most critical political and religious phase. He was
suffering from recurrent and dangerous fits of depression. He considered
himself a failure. All his original pre-war and post-war anti-Red policies had
been reduced to naught. The promises of Fatima had remained unfulfilled.
He thought of resigning from the Papacy. An unprecedented step. Rumours to that effect began to circulate in Rome. His nervous ailments increased. He fell ill, until finally the Lord Jesus Christ Himself came down to console him in person, as we have seen.
It may have been a coincidence. But the fact is that such alleged divine visitation occurred during the most critical period of the Hungarian Revolution, 1955-56. Pius XII's latest move to self-sanctification (i.e. Christ's visit), which he promptly disclosed to the world, going so far as to use the official organ of the Vatican for the purpose, had not been the naive fumbling of a neurotic patient. But the well calculated move of a mastermind aware that the plotting forces in Hungary and elsewhere would draw renewed vigour from the disclosure of his divine visitor, Central European Catholicism being more susceptible than any other to the religious and political influence of the Papacy.
Pius XII's serious illness occurred in the late autumn of 1955, the year the Hungarian insurrection had been carefully planned to "happen. " The CIA's and local plans misfired, and the date had to be postponed to the following year, 1956. The tension and anxiety which this produced were among the principal causes of Pius XII's nervous illness. One of the main figures in this new drama was, once more, Cardinal Mindszenty. The Cardinal had been designated a key part in a "successful insurrection." That is, he had been appointed jointly by Pius XII, the Hungarian insurrectionists and the CIA as "Premier" of Liberated Hungary. Once Catholic Hungary had a Cardinal as its Prime Minister or as Regent, the remaining unfoldment of Pius' grandiose schemes would be greatly facilitated.
Sundry paramount national and international interests played no mean role. Whether "spontaneous" popular forces joined them of their own volition it is for history to judge. What, however, was indisputable from the very beginning was that Pius XII, prior to and during the Hungarian tragedy, had a leading hand in the whole affair.
Cardinal Mindszenty, as one of his most devoted "creatures," played his part as zealously but as awkwardly as he had done almost a decade before. We have already seen how the Cardinal, soon after the Second World War, had hatched a plot meant to overthrow the Hungarian Government in order to install one headed by himself, followed by the restoration of the super-Catholic monarchy of Hapsburg.
The plot, blessed and encouraged by Pius XII, had miscarried,
|
Joseph, Cardinal Mindszenty, Archbishop of Budapest and Primate of Hungary, with his liberators outside his residence in Budapest, October 31, 1956, after his release. Mindszenty was a fanatical "creature" of Pope Pius XII, who used him to further his religious and political schemes in Central Europe. With the connivance of Pius and of nationalistic Catholic elements, Mindszenty, immediately after World War II, became the centre of a plot to overthrow the Government and to restore a Catholic Monarchy in Hungary, with himself as Regent. The plot failed. Mindszenty was jailed (1946). Ten years later Mindszenty became once more the focus of the Revolution. He returned to Budapest...the Capital, escorted by three Hungarian tanks...(October 1956) to head a new Hungarian Government, as the only public figure to command wide popular support. The uprising, however, proved another failure. It was crushed by a ruthless Russian military intervention. Mindszenty took refuge in the USA Legation of Budapest, where he was a "guest" for more than twelve long years (1956-1968), notwithstanding USA and Vatican pressure to dislodge him. |
due
chiefly to the undiplomatic political obtuseness of Cardinal Mindszenty
himself. The Catholics and other personalities in the USA who had helped with
political protection and money, although aghast, bade their time. The CIA, however,
now took over, lock, stock and barrel. The Catholic Pretender, Otto, and others
were relegated to the background. Even Catholic Intelligence became subject to
the supreme direction of the CIA. The insurrection, this time, could not be
permitted to fail. Too much was at stake. The ClA-Vatican novel efforts were
crowned with a spectacular success.
The
Hungarian Government, taken by surprise, was duly overthrown. Cardinal
Mindszenty, the innocent "martyr" who had been whiling away his time
inside a monastery, became once more the focus of the revolution.
When, in
October 1956, the insurrectionists took over the Hungarian Capital, what was
one of their first, most ominous moves? This is how an authoritative organ
described the event:
The Prince Primate Cardinal Mindszenty returned to Budapest today for the first time since 1948. The Cardinal, who was freed last night from the monastery in which he was confined... drove into the Capital escorted by three Hungarian tanks...Thousands of the faithful crowded round his house when the news spread that he was back, and knelt in the dust as the Cardinal gave them his blessing. (Manchester Guardian, Nov. 1956)[1]
After
the Cardinal's return "in triumph," the revolutionary forces, now in
command, "fully pardoned him." Then—note the timing—within the next
twenty-four hours speculations arose to the effect that "Cardinal
Mindszenty might head a new Hungarian Government, as the only public figure to
command wide popular support."
The
significance of the forthcoming appointment of the Cardinal being, of course,
but the first phase in the unfolding of the Papal-CIA grand design. Since
Hungary in reality was nothing but a stepping stone to its fulfillment. Once
Mindszenty had become Head of the new Hungary, Pius XII and the CIA would have
had a free hand to promote the second phase of their grand policy: namely, the
invasion, occupation and conversion of Russia.
The plan
misfired. A few days later, the counter-revolution was suppressed by the
ruthless intervention of Russian tanks and troops.
For a while
there loomed the peril of a USA-Russian armed confrontation. That is, the
spectre of World War III rose, immediate and real, on the horizon.
At the
Vatican, all the forces charged with manning the grand apparatus concerned with
the invasion—or, rather, the "occupation" and
"conversion"—of Russia were alerted. Religious fervour was mobilized.
Special novenas, prayers and vigils were organized in the churches and convents
of many countries, including Hungary. Our Lady of Fatima was invoked, that her
prophecy might at long last be fulfilled.
The expected
war did not take place, although the world went once more to "the
brink." Fear gripped the nations of Europe. At the Vatican, however, the
Pope, instead of appealing for peace and working for the prevention of
hostilities, initiated a mass hate campaign, unparalleled by any modern
Pontiff. He went so far, in his daily incitement of the Catholic millions
against the Reds, as to stir up such belligerency that even London's sober The
Times described "what almost amounts to a crusade of
Christendom."[2]
The
counter-revolution came to naught. The CIA gnashed their teeth, overruled, for
once, by the common sense of President Eisenhower. Even so, they could not
abandon their Catholic Agents in Russian occupied Hungary. Plane loads of
Catholic "refugees" were flown overnight to the USA. Among them, of
course, were those who had been most compromised in the venture as the direct
Agents of the CIA and of the Vatican.
Their
principal "creature," the Premier designate of Hungary, Cardinal
Mindszenty, however, was not so lucky. Or, rather, his task was not yet wholly
accomplished. When the insurrection finally collapsed, thanks to the Russian
mailed fist, the Cardinal disappeared. Then, after rumours had it that he might
have fallen into the hands of the Communists, lo and behold! the Cardinal
appeared, safe and sound, and wholly out of any danger of arrest or of hanging.
Where? Inside the very building of the American Legation in the Hungarian
Capital.[3]
There, protected by diplomatic immunity, he celebrated Mass at an altar
bedecked with American flags. The American Legation was forbidden, by very
specific USA regulations, to give asylum to any political refugees. The CIA,
however, waved this aside. They could not abandon a man who had served them so
well, even though he was such a spectacular failure. Besides, the future might
yet be kind. Three times lucky, as the popular saying goes. The Russian-backed
Hungarian Government perhaps thought the same. After a decent period had
elapsed, they began discreet negotiations with the Vatican and indeed, with the
American Government itself. Did they wish to have Cardinal Mindszenty, either
in Rome or in Washington? They were ready to let the "prisoner" go
free, anywhere outside Hungary.
Some naive
Catholics replied, "Let the "martyr" Cardinal join the Roman
Curia, or go to the USA." Cardinal Mindszenty, however, refused to budge.
The reason? His two mighty sponsors, Pope Pius XII and the CIA had other plans.
They had decided to continue to make political capital out of the Cardinal's
forced "asylum" in the U.S. Legation in Budapest. Since, as long as
Mindszenty remained in Catholic Hungary, he would be the symbol of a
potentially explosive political issue and hence the potential source of a
military dynamism capable of furthering Pius XII's grand schemes.
Cardinal
Mindszenty remained an American "guest" for over twelve consecutive
years, the exertions of two Popes failing to "dislodge" him. Indeed,
when in 1967 the USA and Hungary restored normal relations and the U.S.
Ambassador, Mr. Hillebrand, asked Mindszenty to go, the latter stubbornly
refused to leave the Legation.
How close to
war the world had come at this juncture was eventually disclosed by the highest
American authority who knew more than anybody else what had been going on
behind the scenes: namely, John Foster Dulles, the U.S. Secretary of State. He
knew simply because he was one of the main organizers of the grand Vatican-CIA
"Fatima" scheme.[4]
John Foster
Dulles at this time was the veritable foreign policy maker of the USA. General
Eisenhower, the President, knew more about war than about the intricacies of
foreign policies. As a result he left practically the entire field in the hands
of Dulles, whose paramount obsession was Communism. Such obsession matched that
of Pius XII. Dulles mobilized all the immense resources of the USA to deal with
it the world over. He turned into the staunchest associate of Pius XII.
The
partnership became one of the most formidable working partnerships of the
period. Dulles conducted his policies very often without the approval or even
knowledge of the American President. He was helped in this by the fact that, in
addition to the regular USA diplomatic machinery, he used more than anything
else the secretive and omnipotent apparatus of the CIA. Indeed, it can be said
that he conducted American foreign policy via the CIA. Something that was facilitated
by the ominous fact that the inspirer, director and master controller of the
whole CIA was none other than his own brother, Alan Dulles.
The two
brothers worked so closely together that President Eisenhower more than once
had his official policy "nullified" by the CIA. The most spectacular
example being the collapse of the American Russian Summit Meeting of 1960, when
the CIA sent a spy plane over Russia so as to prevent the American President
and the Russian Premier from terminating the "cold war." The meeting,
thanks to the CIA's plane, was canceled.
It was one
of the ClA's most sensational triumphs John Foster Dulles (whose son,
incidentally, became a Jesuit) and Alan Dulles, in total accord with the
Vatican Intelligence, conducted a foreign policy based on threats of
"Massive retaliation"—that is, of atomic warfare.
At the
height of the Hungarian insurrection—that is, in 1955 John Foster Dulles openly
acknowledged to the horrified world that the USA had stood on the brink three
times:
Mr. Dulles admitted that the USA had on three occasions in the past eighteen months come closer to atomic war...than was imagined
as
the London and New York Times somberly reported.[5]
The Third World
War had been avoided," they further commented, "only because Mr.
Dulles...had seen to it that Moscow and Peking were informed of the USA's
intention to use atomic weapons."
What did
Pope Pius XII do during these terrible crises? Particularly since he, more than
anyone else in the highest positions, knew what was going on behind the scenes
between the USA and Russia?
He
intensified the Cult of Fatima. The Cult was given added luster and impetus.
Catholic churches prayed for the "liberation"—that is, for a speedy
fulfillment of the "prophecy" of Our Lady. This also in view of the
fact that the third "secret" of Our Lady of Fatima had to be revealed
within a few years—that is, in 1960.
|
Hitler welcomes Mgr. Tiso, a Catholic priest, whom he made Chief of State of Nazi sponsored Slovakia—January 20th, 1941. Mgr. Tiso, leader of the Catholics of Slovakia, cooperated with Hitler in the final disintegration of the Republic of Czechoslovakia. Before the Second World War he led Nazified Catholics against the Central Government of Prague. He was in continuous contact respectively with Pope Pius XII, from whom he took political directives, and Adolf Hitler, with whom he plotted for the ultimate military occupation of the Republic of Czechoslovakia. Like Ante Pavelich, who helped to bring about the disintegration of Yugoslavia to set up his Independent Catholic State of Croatia under Nazi protection, so Mgr. Tiso worked incessantly for the final ruin of Czechoslovakia to create the Independent Catholic State of Slovakia, which he ruled as a Nazi Quisling State. Although he never matched the terrorization of Croatia, nevertheless Mgr. Tiso set up a Catholic Dictatorship in which the Church was declared supreme and where Catholic-Nazi doctrines were ruthlessly enforced upon all and sundry. After the fall of Hitler, Mgr. Tiso was liquidated by the Allies. Pope Pius XII protested, saying that Mgr. Tiso had been a martyr for "religious freedom." |
Although
no one knew what the Fatima "secret" was, it was whispered that it
was the imminent liberation and conversion of Russia. Pope Pius XII, of course,
could not let Our Lady's third and last "secret" remain a secret from
him too. He had the sealed letter, containing the secret according to one of
the children who had spoken to Our Lady at Fatima, opened. He then related
that, upon reading it, he had almost fainted with horrified astonishment. It
was as good a method as any to incite the Fatima frenzy to even higher
expectations.
Not content
with this, Pius XII came to the fore personally to condition the Catholic World
to the oncoming war. This so much so that during the winter of 1956-57 (note:
immediately following the failure of the Hungarian counterrevolution) he
brazenly called upon all Catholics to join in a veritable Fatima Crusade by
urging them to take part "in a war of effective self-defense," asking
that the United Nations be given "the right and the power of forestalling
all military intervention of one State into another."
Indeed, at
this very terrible period when the USA and Russia were truly on the brink of an
atomic war, he went so far, as we have already quoted, as to reiterate
"the morality of a defensive war," thus echoing the very words of his
secret Chamberlain, the Secretary of the U.S. Navy, Mr. Matthews, in his famous
Boston speech.
In fact,
Pope Pius XII on this occasion called for what even the London Times
described as "what almost amounts to a crusade of Christendom," and
the Manchester Guardian bluntly called "the Pope's blessing for a
preventive war" (with atom and hydrogen bombs, it should be remembered).[6]
While Pius
XII was waiting for the outbreak of World War III, the leader of the Catholic
Ustashi, Ante Pavelic, and his followers were making ready. They increased
their efforts to resuscitate the Ustashi at home and abroad. Encouraged by the
direct and indirect help of Pius XII, of the CIA, and of sundry Catholic
Hierarchs and lay Catholics inside and outside the USA and other countries.
In the
Argentine, for instance, where his "Croat Government in Exile" was
functioning, he was openly subventioned and protected by the Argentine
Hierarchy. Not to mention certain military groups, who refused his extradition
from the country. Notwithstanding this, in 1957 Pavelic was attacked and almost
killed, two bullets having hit him.
The
following year (October 1958), Pius XII, assailed by ever more frequent attacks
of nerves, asthma and a general neurosis and a victim of the immense amount of
drugs that had sustained him for years, possibly the real cause of many
hallucinations, promptly accounted as "miracles" by his admirers,
died.
The World
Press promptly acclaimed him as the Prince of Peace. Representatives from
fifty-four countries attended the final requiem. Most prominent and most
ominous was a USA delegation, headed by none other than Pius XII's secret
partner, Mr. John Foster Dulles, U.S. Secretary of State and, no less
significant, Mr. John McCone, Chairman of the USA Atomic Energy Commission
(19th October, 1958).
Shortly
afterwards, Pius XII's special protégé, Ante Pavelic, also passed away. A year
later (1960) Cardinal Stepinac, too, went. Thus, within a brief span of two
years the three main protagonists of the Catholic Croatian nightmare vanished
from the stage.
Whatever the
merits or demerits of the mutual American-Russian antagonism, the fact remains
that Pius XII, far from labouring to diminish the peril, did his utmost to
aggrandise it, in order to overthrow an ideological enemy, the better to
overcome a religious foe—namely, the Russian Orthodox Church—whom the Vatican
had been fighting vainly for the preceding one thousand years.
The
occupation of Russia by the West would have spelled the potential control of
the Orthodox Church by the Papacy. Catholic control would have meant but one
thing: Orthodox absorption into the Catholic fold via persuasion or force,
throughout the Russian occupied territories.
In short, a
repetition of the Croatian experiment on a scale involving no longer one, but
hundreds of millions of Orthodox believers.
In Pope Pius
XII's daring calculations, therefore, the outbreak of World War III would have
done for the Orthodox Church of Russia what World War II had done for the
Orthodox Church of Croatia.
1.
The Manchester Guardian, November 1, 1956.[Back]
2. The
Times, December 24, 1956.[Back]
3. November
4, 1956.
[Back]
4. By
"Fatima" scheme we mean the occupation of Russia.[Back]
5. January
12, 1956, et seq. See also World Press.[Back]
6. See The
Times, London, December 24, 1956.Also the New York Times. Also The
Manchester Guardian, December 27, 1956. Also Time Magazine, January
7, 1957.[Back]
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