''Gone with the Wind in the Vatican'' () is a book that was published in

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, about

nepotism Nepotism is the act of granting an In-group favoritism, advantage, privilege, or position to Kinship, relatives in an occupation or field. These fields can include business, politics, academia, entertainment, sports, religion or health care. In ...

, homosexual scandals, corruption, " clientism" and even

Satanism Satanism refers to a group of religious, ideological, or philosophical beliefs based on Satan—particularly his worship or veneration. Because of the ties to the historical Abrahamic religious figure, Satanism—as well as other religious ...

within

Vatican City Vatican City, officially the Vatican City State (; ), is a Landlocked country, landlocked sovereign state and city-state; it is enclaved within Rome, the capital city of Italy and Bishop of Rome, seat of the Catholic Church. It became inde ...

, written under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

''I Millenari'' ("The Millenarians"), a possible anagram of "Marinelli". The book, published by Kaos Edizione of

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, sold 100,000 copies in its first three weeks alone and went out of print within the year, before foreign-language editions became available.

Authors

Monsignor Monsignor (; ) is a form of address or title for certain members of the clergy in the Catholic Church. Monsignor is the apocopic form of the Italian ''monsignore'', meaning "my lord". "Monsignor" can be abbreviated as Mons.... or Msgr. In some ...

Luigi Marinelli, a 72-year-old retired priest and former member of the Vatican's Congregation for Eastern Churches, admitted to his involvement in the 288-page book in 1999, and other curial priests are suspected to be his co-authors.Guerin, Orla. 1999, July 31.
Steamy Vatican book creates stir
" ''BBC News''. Marinelli says that he had "nine or ten co-authors". According to Marinelli, "The book does not question the sanctity of Jesus Christ, the Eucharist or the Catholic Church. It just points out that the Vatican is made up of men, who, like me, are flawed."

The main characters in the book are given pseudonyms from

Margaret Mitchell Margaret Munnerlyn Mitchell (November 8, 1900 – August 16, 1949) was an American novelist and journalist. Mitchell wrote only one novel that was published during her lifetime, the American Civil War-era novel ''Gone With the Wind (novel), Gone ...

's ''

Gone with the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * Gone with the Wind (novel), ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * Gone with the Wind (film), ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind ...

'' (1936). However, some of them have been identified, among them Cardinal

Achille Silvestrini Achille Silvestrini (25 October 1923 – 29 August 2019) was an Italian cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served in the Vatican diplomatic corps, either in Rome or abroad, from 1953 to 1990, and later as Prefect of the Congregation for the O ...

, Martinelli's former supervisor.''American Atheists''. 1999, August 18.
Gone with the Wind blowing lid off Vatican corruption
. One anecdote in the book details a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

being blackmailed by an illegitimate daughter. The book also raises questions about the death of

Pope John Paul I Pope John Paul I (born Albino Luciani; 17 October 1912 – 28 September 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal h ...

. According to the book, Satanic masses have been celebrated inside the Vatican, with hooded participants naked from the waist down. Another anecdote details an affair between a young priest at the

nunciature An apostolic nunciature is a top-level diplomatic mission of the Holy See that is equivalent to an embassy. However, it neither issues visas nor has consulates. The head of the apostolic nunciature is called a ''nuncio'', an ecclesiastical dip ...

Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

and a nun, who are both reassigned – the nun significantly less gainfully – with the help of the priest's influential Vatican patron.

Reception

Some critics regard the work as little more than "another recent catalogue of papal sin" and consider the majority of its details dubious. Others have a more favorable view of the work, considering it a "kiss-and-tell classic".Allen, John L. 2004. ''All the Pope's Men: The Inside Story of How the Vatican Really Thinks''. Doubleday. . p. 85.

Notes

{{Authority control 1999 non-fiction books Italian books Culture of Vatican City Works published under a pseudonym

Authors

Contents

Reception

See also

Notes