Yallop, David A. In God's Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I. New York: Bantam Books, 1985. 388 pages.

David Yallop, a British author with four previous crime investigations to his credit, came to the attention of "highly-placed, secret sources within the Vatican" who convinced him to look into the September 1978 death of John Paul I. During his 33 days as pope, Albino Luciani's leadership and incorruptibility threatened certain interests in the Vatican. These interests were connected with Licio Gelli's P2 network, Michele Sindona, Roberto Calvi and the emerging Banco Ambrosiano scandal, the Mafia, Italian intelligence, and Freemasonry. It was becoming clear to Luciani that a major housecleaning was in order.

Yallop believes there was a plot, but after three years of investigation his evidence is still circumstantial. Security was minimal, access to the pope or to his food or medicine would not have been difficult, and it was a good bet that there would be no autopsy. The cause of death was reported as acute myocardial infarction, but Luciani's medical history makes this difficult to accept. Death was so sudden that the pope didn't even have time to press the alarm button a few inches from his hand, which seems unlikely. When Karol Wojtyla was elected pope the Vatican returned to business as usual. With John Paul II in control, even the Italian government was unable to get the Vatican to come clean on its role in the Banco Ambrosiano scandal.
ISBN 0-553-24855-3

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