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The Assassini
''The Assassini'' is a 1990 thriller novel by American author Thomas Gifford, published by Bantam Books. Plot summary Set in 1982, while the Roman Catholic Church is preparing to elect a successor to the dying pope, Callistus IV, the book describes the attempts of lawyer Ben Driskill to solve the murder of his sibling, Sister Valentine, a nun who was an outspoken activist and a thorn in the Church's side. Driskill's world-spanning investigation leads him to the discovery of a document from a forgotten monastery in Ireland, which proves the existence of the ''Assassini'', an age-old brotherhood of killers, once hired by princes of the Church to protect it in dangerous times; and the person who now controls them in his Machiavellian bid for power. Inspiration and influences The novel was inspired by, and wove together in its dramatic structure, numerous historical controversies about the Roman Catholic Church: * Constantine I and Christianity; * Constantine I and the bishop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Gifford
Thomas Eugene Gifford (May 16, 1937 – October 31, 2000) was a best-selling American author of thriller novels. He was a graduate of Harvard University. He gained international fame with the crime novel '' The Glendower Legacy'' and later with the Vatican thriller ''The Assassini''. The books posited George Washington as a British spy and the Roman Catholic Church as a criminal organization. ''The Glendower Legacy'' was made into a movie in 1981 under the name '' Dirty Tricks''. Gifford also published under the names Dana Clarins, Lisa Drake and Thomas Maxwell. He died of cholangiocarcinoma in his home in Dubuque, Iowa, on Halloween 2000. Bibliography Won awards at Harvard for creative writing; worked at ''The Sun'' newspaper and ''The Guthrie''; won Putnam's prize for best first novel (''The Wind Chill Factor''). From Dubuque, Iowa, after graduating from college he moved to the Twin Cities, Minnesota, where he and his wife, Kari Sandven, had two children (Thomas Eaton, R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papacy
The pope is the bishop of Rome and the Head of the Church#Catholic Church, visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of state of the Papal States, and since 1929 of the much smaller Vatican City state. From a Catholic viewpoint, the primacy of the bishop of Rome is largely derived from his role as the apostolic successor to Saint Peter, to whom Petrine primacy, primacy was conferred by Jesus, who gave Peter the Keys of Heaven and the powers of "binding and loosing", naming him as the "rock" upon which the Church would be built. The current pope is Leo XIV, who was elected on 8 May 2025 on the second day of the 2025 papal conclave. Although his office is called the papacy, the ecclesiastical jurisdiction, jurisdiction of the episcopal see is called the Holy See. The word "see" comes from the Latin for 'seat' or 'chair' (, refe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Art Theft
Art theft, sometimes called art napping, is the stealing of paintings, sculptures, or other forms of visual art from galleries, museums or other public and private locations. Stolen art is often resold or used by criminals as collateral to secure loans. Only a small percentage of stolen art is recovered—an estimated 10%. Many nations operate police squads to investigate art theft and illegal trade in stolen art and antiquities. Some famous art theft cases include the robbery of the ''Mona Lisa'' from the Louvre in 1911 by employee Vincenzo Peruggia. Another was theft of ''The Scream'', stolen from the Munch Museum in 2004, but recovered in 2006. The largest-value art theft occurred at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, when 13 works, worth a combined $500 million were stolen in 1990. The case remains unsolved. Large-scale art thefts include the Nazi looting of Europe during World War II and the Russian looting of Ukraine during the 2022 Russian invasion of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalitarianism, totalitarian dictatorship. The Third Reich, meaning "Third Realm" or "Third Empire", referred to the Nazi claim that Nazi Germany was the successor to the earlier Holy Roman Empire (800–1806) and German Empire (1871–1918). The Third Reich, which the Nazis referred to as the Thousand-Year Reich, ended in May 1945, after 12 years, when the Allies of World War II, Allies defeated Germany and entered the capital, Berlin, End of World War II in Europe, ending World War II in Europe. After Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany in 1933, the Nazi Party began to eliminate political opposition and consolidate power. A 1934 German referendum confirmed Hitler as sole ''Führer'' (leader). Power was centralised in Hitler's person, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reichskonkordat
The ''Reichskonkordat'' ("Concordat between the ... between the Holy See"> ... between the Holy See and the German Reich") is a treaty negotiated between the Vatican and the emergent Nazi Germany">Holy See and the German Reich">Holy See"> ... between the Holy See and the German Reich") is a treaty negotiated between the Vatican and the emergent Nazi Germany. It was signed on 20 July 1933 by Cardinal Secretary of State Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII, on behalf of Pope Pius XI and Vice Chancellor Franz von Papen on behalf of President Paul von Hindenburg and the German government. It was ratified 10 September 1933 and it remains in force to this day. The treaty guarantees the rights of the Catholic Church in Germany. When bishops take office, Article 16 states they are required to take an oath of loyalty to the Governor or President of the German Reich established according to the constitution. The treaty also requires all clergy to abstain from working in and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Italy (1861–1946)
The Kingdom of Italy (, ) was a unitary state that existed from 17 March 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 10 June 1946, when the monarchy was abolished, following civil discontent that led to an 1946 Italian institutional referendum, institutional referendum on 2 June 1946. This resulted in a modern Italian Republic. The kingdom was established through the unification of several states over a decades-long process, called the . That process was influenced by the House of Savoy, Savoy-led Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia, which was one of Italy's legal Succession of states, predecessor states. In 1866, Italy Third Italian War of Independence, declared war on Austrian Empire, Austria in Italo-Prussian Alliance, alliance with Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia and, upon its victory, received the region of Veneto. Italian troops Capture of Rome, entered Rome in 1870, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lateran Treaty
The Lateran Treaty (; ) was one component of the Lateran Pacts of 1929, agreements between Italy under Victor Emmanuel III and Benito Mussolini and the Holy See under Pope Pius XI to settle the long-standing Roman question. The treaty and associated pacts were named after the Lateran Palace where they were signed on 11 February 1929, and the Italian Parliament ratified them on 7 June 1929. The treaty recognised Vatican City as an independent state under the sovereignty of the Holy See. Italy also agreed to give the Catholic Church financial compensation for the loss of the Papal States. In 1948, the Lateran Treaty was recognized in the Constitution of Italy as regulating the relations between the Italian Republic and the Catholic Church. Constitution of Italy, Article 7. While the treaty was significantly revised in 1984, ending the status of Catholicism as the sole state religion of Italy, the Vatican remains a distinct sovereign entity to the present day. Content The Late ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pope Pius XI
Pope Pius XI (; born Ambrogio Damiano Achille Ratti, ; 31 May 1857 – 10 February 1939) was head of the Catholic Church from 6 February 1922 until his death in February 1939. He was also the first sovereign of the Vatican City State upon its creation on 11 February 1929. Pius XI issued numerous encyclicals, including ''Quadragesimo anno'' on the 40th anniversary of Pope Leo XIII's groundbreaking social encyclical ''Rerum novarum'', highlighting the capitalistic greed of international finance, the dangers of Atheism, atheistic socialism/communism, and social justice issues, and ''Quas primas'', establishing the feast of Christ the King in response to anti-clericalism. The encyclical ''Studiorum ducem'', promulgated 29 June 1923, was written on the occasion of the 6th centenary of the canonization of Thomas Aquinas, whose thought is acclaimed as central to Catholic philosophy and theology. The encyclical also singles out the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquina ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clerical Fascism
Clerical fascism (also clero-fascism or clerico-fascism) is an ideology that combines the political and economic doctrines of fascism with clericalism. The term has been used to describe organizations and movements that combine religious elements with fascism, receive support from religious organizations which espouse sympathy for fascism, or fascist regimes in which clergy play a leading role. When coined in 1920s Italy, the term referred to the political ideology of the Roman Catholic Italian People's Party which supported Benito Mussolini and his fascist regime. The term was also used for Catholics in Northern Italy who advocated a synthesis of Roman Catholicism and fascism. History The term ''clerical fascism'' (clero-fascism or clerico-fascism) emerged in the early 1920s in the Kingdom of Italy, referring to the faction of the Roman Catholic Partito Popolare Italiano (PPI) which supported Benito Mussolini and his regime. It was supposedly coined by Don Luigi Sturzo, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sodalitium Pianum
''Sodalitium Pianum'' is Latin for "the fellowship of Pius", i.e. Society of St. Pius V, which in France was known as ''La Sapinière''. Its purpose was to enforce the prohibition on the Modernist heresy declared by Pope Pius X in 1907. Monsignor Umberto Benigni organized, through his personal contacts with theologians, this unofficial group of censors who would report to him those thought to be teaching condemned doctrine. It never had more than fifty members, who sometimes employed overzealous espionage methods such as opening and photographing private letters, and examining the records of bookshops to see who was buying what. Among those it investigated was the teacher of church history, Angelo Roncalli (later Pope John XXIII). Historians are divided in their opinions about the extent to which Pius X was aware of or approved Benigni's initiatives. Cardinal Secretary of State Rafael Merry del Val prevented the association from gaining canonical recognition, and the competent de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Temporal Power (papal)
The Holy See exercised temporal power, as distinguished from its spiritual and pastoral activity, while the pope ruled the Papal States in central Italy. The Papal States ceased to exist following the capture of Rome in 1870 by the Royal Italian Army, after which its remaining territories were annexed to the Kingdom of Italy. The Lateran Treaty of 1929 later established the Vatican City, a small city-state where the Holy See currently exercises temporal powers. Origins Patrimony of Saint Peter The Lateran Palace was the first significant acquisition of the Holy See, most probably a gift from Constantine the Great. The example of Constantine was followed by wealthy families of the Roman nobility, and the residences and estates that were acquired in turn were designated the '' Patrimonium Sancti Petri.'' After the deposition of the last Roman emperor in the West in 476, the popes were subjects, first of Odoacer, then Arian Ostrogothic kings, then of the Byzantine em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Papal Infallibility
Papal infallibility is a Dogma in the Catholic Church, dogma of the Catholic Church which states that, in virtue of the promise of Jesus to Saint Peter, Peter, the Pope when he speaks is preserved from the possibility of error on doctrine "initially given to the Apostolic Age, apostolic Church and handed down in Catholic Bible, Scripture and Sacred Tradition, tradition". It does not mean that the pope cannot Christian views on sin, sin or otherwise err in some capacity, though he is prevented by the assistance of the Holy Spirit from issuing heretical teaching even in his non-infallible Magisterium, as a corollary of indefectibility. This doctrine, defined dogmatically at the First Vatican Council of 1869–1870 in the document , is claimed to have existed in medieval theology and to have been the majority opinion at the time of the Counter-Reformation. The doctrine of infallibility relies on one of the cornerstones of Catholic dogma, that of papal supremacy, whereby the autho ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
