All language subtitles for Forbidden History S06E08 Vatican Book of Secrets 1080p DSCP WEB-DL AAC2 0 H 264-BTN_track3_[eng]

Narrator:
The vatican in rome

Is the world's smallest
Sovereign state.

But with over a billion
Catholic followers worldwide,

From here, the pope presides
Over a powerful,

Lucrative, and secretive
Religious empire.

Felix: the whole of the vatican
And the catholic church

Is full of secrets

Because of what it's done
Over the last 2,000 years.

Narrator:
Many of the greatest secrets

The vatican has tried to hide
Over the years

Aren't ancient history,
However,

But modern.

There are persistent rumors
About close links

Between the vatican bank
And the mafia.

Narrator: there are
Very serious allegations

That during world war ii,

The vatican collaborated
With the nazis.

You can find actual documents
That show

That members of the vatican
Helped nazis escape.

Narrator:
And surprisingly, it's claimed
The vatican operates a telescope

To secretly search for aliens.

Peck: if they believe
That jesus christ

Is gonna return as an alien,

Wouldn't they want to use
This telescope

To try to make contact
With him first?

Gough: I would like to see
A whistleblower come forward

And tell the secrets
They've been withholding.

Then we could properly
Rewrite history.

-- captions by vitac --
Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by
Discovery communications

*

Narrator: securely housed
Deep inside the vatican

Are the vatican
Apostolic archive,

Known until recently
As the vatican secret archive,

Containing the catholic church's
Most important

And potentially
Controversial documents,

Including the private papers
Of every pope

Stretching back 1,000 years.

The vatican secret archives,
Or "Archivum secretum,"

Actually, genuinely only means
"Private archives" in latin.

The word "Secret"
Doesn't really come into it,

But there's no doubt
That an awful lot of

What's in those vaults
Is most definitely secrets.

There's 50 miles of shelving,

And you're only allowed
To see certain parts

'cause there's an awful lot
In there, in that 50 miles

That I believe
The catholic church

Doesn't want anyone
To find out about.

Narrator:
Scholars are allowed limited
Access to the secret archive.

But significantly,
All vatican documents

And private papers of the pope
Can only be accessed

At least 70 years after the end
Of a pope's reign.

As a result, it's usually
Necessary to wait

For three-quarters of a century

Before there's any hope
Of finding out the secret truth

About the vatican's
Controversial scandals.

The vatican has to be one of
The most secret organizations

In the history of the world.

It guards
Its nasty little secrets,

Of which there are a great many,
Jealously.

Narrator: it has been alleged,
For example,

That the vatican
Collaborated with the nazis.

The vatican and some historians
Strongly dispute this.

But until now,
The truth has been hidden

Because the vatican's documents

Written during
The second world war

Have remained inaccessible
In the secret archive.

Bellinger: pope pius xii
Was pontiff during world war ii,

And as such,
Had a great deal of contact

With the nazi leadership,

As well as
The allied leadership.

He officially maintained
A position of neutrality,

Being in the vatican, in the
Absolute heart of fascist italy.

But there's been
Great speculation

Over how much he did and did not
Appease the nazis.

Narrator:
Some people say that, in fact,
Behind the scenes, pope pius xii

And the vatican secretly
Undermined the nazi regime.

Felix: in my opinion, I believe
That the pope and his cardinals

Were actually helping to save
The lives of thousands of jews

By harboring them,
Hiding them in their churches,

Getting them out of the country
-- either out of italy,

Out of other countries --
And saving their lives.

Narrator: critics, however, have
Claimed the complete opposite,

Calling pope pius xii
"Hitler's pope."

In particular, the very
Serious allegation has been made

That the pope was antisemitic

And ignored evidence
Of the holocaust.

The fierce controversy
About the vatican's role

During world war ii
Continues to rage.

So in hope of showing
That pope pius xii

Really was
An anti-nazi humanitarian,

Not a pro-nazi collaborator,

The current pontiff,
The reforming pope francis,

Made the unusual decision
To allow early access

To the vatican's wartime
Secret archive.

Scholars were able to view
These materials

Beginning in early 2020.

Bellinger:
Pope francis has just made

A really exciting announcement

That he is going to release,
Nine years early,

The archives of pope pius xii,

Whose records may or may not
Contain evidence

Damning the church and how
It reacted to the nazi threat.

Narrator: did pope pius xii turn
A blind eye to the holocaust

And the nazi's policy
Of genocide?

Or did he help save
Thousands of jews?

Did the vatican help
Leading nazis escape justice

After the end of world war ii,
As has been alleged?

With access to
The vatican's wartime archive,

Historians should have
Clearer answers,

Although it could take
Scholars years to review

And make conclusions from all
The newly released materials.

Walters: there's this
Long-standing story

That says the vatican helped
Nazis escape after the war.

Why? Because a lot
Of catholic priests

Were historically
Quite sympathetic to nazism

Because they saw nazism as being
The only force in the world

That could stand up
To communism,

Which they thought represented
An existential threat

To the catholic church.
So it was kind of like,

You know,
My enemy's enemy is my friend.

Narrator:
Because over the years,

In small catholic archives
Scattered across europe,

Historians have discovered
Startling evidence

About what the church did
In 1945

After the nazis lost the war.

I went to the archives
Of the santa maria dell'anima,

Which is the austrian church
Associated with the vatican.

And there, you see
The records of a man

Called bishop alois hudal,
Luigi hudal.

He was an austrian nationalist,
Loved the nazis.

And you have got there
Letters written to him

By the likes of franz stangl.

Now, you may not know
Franz stangl,

But he's one of the biggest
Mass murderers

Of the 20th century

Because he was the commandant
Of treblinka extermination camp,

And under his time, murdered
An estimated 850,000 people.

And he is writing to a bishop
Associated with the vatican

Saying, "Please, can you
Help me get out?"

If you're being vouched for
By a bishop today,

That still carries
A lot of weight, doesn't it?

And so a lot of these nazis,
They would make their way

Through
What was the third reich,

Down over the alps into italy,
And they would go to rome.

They would knock on the door
Of bishop hudal,

And he would give them
A red cross passport.

Then they would take a boat
To that most favored

Nazi retirement destination,
Argentina.

Narrator: given these
Shocking revelations

That have already been
Discovered

In small catholic archives
Across europe,

Historians anxiously await
What will be revealed

In the newest documents
Released by the vatican.

But this isn't the only mystery
Surrounding pope pius xii.

It's also been alleged
That the vatican bank,

Which he founded
During world war ii,

Profited financially
From collaboration

With the nazi regime.

Perhaps the opening
Of the secret archive

Will reveal the truth
About this, too.

*

Narrator: over the years,
It has been alleged

That the vatican collaborated
With the nazis

During world war ii.

This very controversial claim
Is strongly disputed

By the vatican
And some historians.

But in addition to evidence
Of key nazi officials

Being helped to escape justice
After the war,

It's also claimed
That the vatican

Profited financially
From the nazi regime.

The vatican are
The most powerful

And secretive country
On the planet.

Not only have they
Dished out the dogma

For thousands of years
To the faithful,

Just feeding them fairy tale
Under the guise of truth,

But they are concealing
Documents and relics

That would rewrite history.

Narrator: historian and author
John dickie is an expert

On the secretive world
Of the vatican --

And in particular,
The numerous financial scandals

That have been linked
To the organization.

Dickie:
So, here we are.

This is the vatican city,
The vatican state.

I think the frontier
Is right here.

It's the smallest
Sovereign state in the world.

But despite being so tiny
In global scale,

It wields huge influence --

Obviously, culturally
And spiritually,

But also financially.

Narrator:
At the center of the vatican's
Vast financial interests

Is the vatican bank,

Which in its current form
Was founded

During world war ii
By pope pius xii.

What's termed the vatican bank
Is actually properly called

The institute
For the works of religion.

And it's a private bank.

It's situated
Within the vatican,

And it's directly accountable
To the pope.

Now, it's not
The most transparent institution

On the planet,
It has to be said.

So what its wealth is,
We're not entirely sure.

But given that
The catholic church

Has been around for 2,000 years,
I think it's fair to say

That its assets
Are going to be considerable.

Narrator: in fact, the current
Assets of the vatican bank

Have recently been estimated

At significantly more
Than $5 billion.

Selwood:
The vatican bank is not a bank
Like you and I would know,

Where they lend money
And you can get a mortgage.

It houses and distributes money

For religious and charitable
Works around the world.

That's its publicly
Stated mission.

Narrator: today,
Much of the vatican's funds

Derive from charitable donations
By loyal catholics worldwide.

But during world war ii,

As a result of a controversial
Pact signed with the nazis,

The vatican bank received
Huge amounts of money

From hitler's regime
Via a church tax

On citizens of the third reich.

There have also been allegations

That much of the money
And gold looted

By the nazis from the jews
And others in occupied europe

May have ended up in the vaults
Of the vatican bank.

Perhaps the opening
Of pope pius' archive

Will reveal the truth
About this, too.

The vatican bank's history
Since world war ii

Has been equally murky.

There have been many
Major scandals,

With allegations of massive
Corruption and money laundering.

Walters: the interesting thing
About the whole story

Of the vatican bank
Corruption --

It's all mixed up with
The byzantine world of the mafia

And italian politics.

You can't imagine a more
Conspiratorial society

In the world than italy.

The italians are absolutely
Obsessed with conspiracy theory,

And they always assume,

You know,
The worst behind any story.

And they always assume
That everybody is corrupt.

You know,
They're probably right.

Narrator:
In 1978, the 65-year-old
Pope john paul I mysteriously

And suddenly died, just 33 days
After he'd been elected.

It was reported that he died
Naturally of a cardiac arrest,

But ever since, conspiracy
Theorists have speculated

That, in fact, he was murdered.

Felix: pope john paul I
Allegedly died

Of a heart attack,
But the problem is

That he was big-time trying
To reform the vatican.

Narrator: the alleged murder
Of pope john paul I in 1978

Subsequently inspired
The plot line of the famous,

Apparently fictional, movie
"Godfather iii,"

A film which some claim
Is actually based on fact.

Mcmahon:
At the center of the movie

Is this idea of the mafia
And the vatican bank

In league with each other

And a new pope coming in who
Wants to expose this corruption,

And then dies.

Narrator:
One remarkable theory claims

That pope john paul I
Was murdered

Because he was planning
To expose

The criminal business practices

Between the vatican bank,
Banco ambrosiano, and the mafia.

Other, even more sensational
Allegations

Have been made against
The archbishop marcinkus,

The american head
Of the vatican bank

At the time of the pope's death.

In the best-selling 1980s book
"In god's name" by david yallop,

Which covered
The conspiracy theories

Around the death of john paul I,
Marcinkus was heavily implicated

As being complicit
In that crime.

Narrator:
These remarkable allegations
Have recently been corroborated

By a cousin
Of archbishop marcinkus --

U.S. Mobster anthony raimondi,

The nephew of infamous mafia
Gangster lucky luciano.

In 2019, raimondi confessed
That in 1978, he traveled

To the vatican to help
His cousin the archbishop

Poison john paul I with cyanide
In order to prevent the pope

From exposing the vatican bank's
Billion-dollar financial scam.

Unsurprisingly, the vatican
Vehemently denies

That pope john paul I
Was murdered.

What is the truth?

Perhaps john paul I's
Private papers

Will contain
Decisive new evidence.

But as the vatican waits
70 years after a pope's reign

Before opening up
Their secret archive,

The definitive truth,
If it finally comes,

Won't be revealed until 2048.

Walters: I'm sure that there's
Some really exciting stuff

In the secret archive,

And which historian wouldn't
Want to have the key to it?

You know, god, I would.
I would bet my --

You know, sell my house
And my entire family twice

If I could get the key to the
Secret archive of the vatican,

But I'm never gonna get it.

Narrator: but the conspiracies
Don't end there.

Four years later,
Some of the very same players

Accused of being involved
In the pope's murder

Would allegedly go on
To perpetrate

The very public death
Of a financier

So closely linked
To the vatican,

He was known as "God's banker."

*

Narrator: over the years,
The vatican has been embroiled

In massive financial scandals.

During the 1970s and '80s
In particular,

Corruption at the vatican bank

Is said to have occurred
On a vast scale.

It's even been alleged that

In an attempt to hide
The corruption,

Collusion between the vatican
And the mafia led to murder.

Historian john dickie is in rome

To investigate the enduring
Mystery of the bizarre death

Of a financier
So closely linked to the vatican

That he was nicknamed
"God's banker."

Roberto calvi
Was an italian banker,

Head of his bank,
The banco ambrosiano.

And in june 1982, he was found
Hanging by his neck

Under blackfriars bridge
In london.

And we still don't know
Whether he was murdered

Or whether he committed suicide.

Everybody has their theories.

But his story is
A conspiracy theorist's dream.

It's got all the ingredients.

You've got political corruption,

High finance, mafia money,
And then, of course,

Last but not least,
The catholic church.

Narrator: initially,
Roberto calvi's death

Was accepted
By the british police

As suicide.

But when other investigators
And journalists

Started looking into the case,
Suspicions began to emerge.

Bellinger:
Calvi's body was discovered

Hanging from a rope
From blackfriars bridge

With bricks stuffed
In his pocket.

But what doesn't add up here

Is that there were no
Scuff marks on his body

That, you know, you would've
Seen him clambering up,

Absolutely no brick dust
On his hands.

And most damning, it is possible

To reconstruct the tide
Of the time he was discovered

And realize that a boat
Could have pulled up

Right at the foot of blackfriars

And hung him up
In a seeming suicide scene.

One theory about
Why robert calvi died

Is that he was really
In the pocket of both

The vatican bank on the one hand
And the mob on the other,

And that perhaps he got squeezed
Between them in a deal gone bad.

Narrator: if roberto calvi's
Death was murder

Rather than suicide,
Then who killed him?

The mafia has always been
The prime suspect,

But over the years,
Conspiracy theories have raged

That the vatican
Was also involved.

Selwood:
Banco ambrosiano not only
Had contacts with the mafia,

But also, the vatican bank owned
A stake in banco ambrosiano.

So in no time at all,

All the headlines
Around the world

Were saying god's banker
Had been murdered

In some dirty
Vatican financing story.

No one's ever been
Convicted for the murder,

Although five mafia men were
Tried in rome and acquitted.

But suspicion
Has always remained

That the vatican
Was somehow involved.

Narrator:
Roberto calvi's death officially
Remains a mystery to this day.

If he didn't commit suicide,
Then was he killed to stop him

From exposing
Sensational secrets?

And if so, who killed him?

To find out
Some possible answers,

Historian john dickie is meeting

Investigative journalist
Philip willan,

Who has spent years
Trying to uncover the truth

About the calvi scandal.

Hello, philip.
Very nice to meet you.

Pleasure.

So, philip, you've looked
At the evidence in detail.

Was calvi "Suicided,"
As they say in italian?

Or did he commit suicide?

I think the first option
Is most likely.

The murder trial in rome,
Which I followed,

Didn't manage to convict people
For his murder.

But at all levels
Of the process,

They did conclude that
He was murdered --

Or suicided, as you say --

Rather than
Committing suicide himself.

One of the few things
That the court,

At the various levels
Of judgment --

The assize court, appeal,

And then
The court of cassation --

All the courts agreed

Was that the claims
That he laundered mafia money

Were believable
And that was a fact.

During the official
Investigation

Into the death
Of god's banker,

The accounts of banco ambrosiano
Were examined.

It was discovered
That a huge amount of money --

Around a billion u.S. Dollars
Or more --

Had gone missing
Before calvi died.

If mafia bosses
Or local crime bosses in rome

Had entrusted
Their money to calvi

And it's missing
From the accounts,

Sooner or later, they would've
Been wanting to get it back.

The death of roberto calvi
From banco ambrosiano

Was a scandal for the vatican.

But the evidence
That would come out

During the investigation

As to where the money
Allegedly went

Would be even more shocking than
The mysterious murder itself.

*

Narrator: allegedly,
Over the years,

The vatican has been involved
In numerous financial scandals,

And none more sensational
Than the so-called calvi affair.

When the body of roberto calvi,

Head of the italian
Banco ambrosiano,

Was found hanging beneath
Blackfriars bridge in london

In june 1982,

Initially, it was thought
To be suicide.

But evidence gradually emerged
Suggesting that calvi,

Nicknamed god's banker

Due to his very close links
To the vatican,

May well have been murdered.

As it's a fact that the vatican
And the banco ambrosiano

Were connected with some very
Dirty financial transactions

And the chairman of
The banco ambrosiano

Was found murdered
In very strange circumstances,

One wonders
Exactly who had him killed.

Narrator:
Exactly why roberto calvi
Was killed is not known,

But many people speculate
He was involved in the plot

To assassinate
Pope john paul I.

Perhaps this same group
Then turned on calvi.

During the investigation
Into the death of god's banker,

It was also discovered
That just before he died,

He tried to blackmail
High-powered people

Who might fear being connected

To his bank's
Illegal activities.

Should it collapse
As a result of its debts,

Calvi wanted them to provide him
With the missing money.

To find out more,
Historian john dickie is meeting

Investigative journalist
Philip willan,

Who has spent years uncovering
The truth about the scandal.

I do personally think
That he was murdered.

And I do think that
It probably was related

To his blackmail attempts.

He's desperately trying
To save his financial empire,

And he's threatening anybody
Who he thinks he has dirt on.

And that includes the vatican
And archbishop paul marcinkus,

The american head
Of the vatican bank.

He writes letters,
Rather threatening letters,

To the pope himself.

The reason for the attempted
Blackmail was because,

As the italian courts
Discovered,

A significant amount
Of mafia money

Was laundered
Through the vatican bank --

Banco ambrosiano's
Main shareholder.

The key question
For investigators

Was whether
The vatican bank knew this.

Although wrongdoing
Was never admitted,

The vatican bank later paid
Over $200 million

To banco ambrosiano's creditors,

Said to be in recognition

Of the vatican bank's moral
Involvement in the scandal.

Another key question was
Where the missing money went.

Conspiracy theorists
Point to the fact

That archbishop paul marcinkus,
An american,

Was head of the vatican bank
Throughout the 1970s and '80s.

At this time, during the
Cold war with the soviet union,

The church was being suppressed
Behind the iron curtain.

So the interests of the cia
And the vatican

In fighting communism

Allegedly coincided.

The links aren't there to be
Seen completely in public.

It's just that
There are connections

Which are very damning.

It's believed that the vatican
Was channeling funds

To, for example,
The contras in nicaragua

And solidarity in poland

Through the banco ambrosiano.

Narrator: in return
For political protection,

It's claimed
That the mafia agreed

To provide much of the money.

At that time, the mafia was
A potential ally

In the war
Against communism.

It was a conservative
Organization.

It was, in many cases,
Linked to the catholic church,

As a lot of mafia bosses
Were devout in their own way.

The struggle
Against communism

Trumped any other
Consideration.

And I think there was
An extraordinary amount

Of flexibility

In dealing with people
That you disapproved of.

You took their money and
You used it for a good cause.

Narrator: in the letters
Of blackmail roberto calvi wrote

Just before his death,

They are said to have
Threatened to reveal

Banco ambrosiano's many
Dirty secrets.

The vatican, the cia,
And the mafia

Might all have feared
The consequences.

So, if we assume
That calvi was murdered,

There was a queue of people,
Effectively,

Who had an interest
In wanting him silenced.

We have the mafia,
We have the church hierarchy,

We have politics.

This whole system --

The overlapping systems,
We can say --

Are suddenly
All pointed at calvi.

It does seem
That in the cover-up

And the failure
To investigate,

Or the inefficiency
Of the investigation

Over the years,

It does look very much
As though powerful forces

Didn't want anyone to get
To the bottom of this mystery,

Probably because
They were implicated

In whatever --
What happened.

Still, to this day,
The calvi case remains unsolved.

Perhaps, hidden inside
The vatican archive,

There will be vital evidence
That reveals the truth

About this and many other
Vatican scandals.

The secret archive also contains
Fascinating details

On the vatican's
More far-out practices.

One such curiosity
Is why the vatican operates

A state-of-the-art astronomical
Observatory in arizona.

Could it be they are searching
The heavens for aliens?

*

*

Narrator: curiously,
The vatican has, for centuries,

Operated
An astronomical observatory

Studying the heavens.

Detailed observation
Of the movement

Of the planets and stars
Began back in the 16th century,

When pope gregory xiii had the
So-called gregorian tower built

At the vatican in order
To more accurately calculate

The annual church calendar,
Such as the date of easter.

People question why
The vatican has a telescope

And a big observatory, and
Has done for hundreds of years.

The answer is actually
Very simple.

For centuries, the church was
Based on a liturgical calendar

That the vatican
Had to calculate,

And that calendar
Is based on the movement

Of the heavenly bodies,
And astronomy.

Narrator:
Since the 1990s, however,
The main vatican observatory

Has been located not in italy,

But, surprisingly,
In the united states.

Bellinger: the vatican
Long maintained an observatory

And telescope in rome.

Now, as rome grew
And light pollution increased,

This was no longer
A viable place

To do the best observations
Of the night sky.

And so the vatican acquired
A location in arizona

And has established
An absolutely state-of-the-art

Observatory out there.

Narrator: today,
Some people question

Why the vatican built
Such a highly advanced,

Ultra-modern telescope
On arizona's mount graham.

The religious calendar

Was accurately calculated
Centuries ago.

Could it be that the vatican
Observatory has a secret agenda?

It's absolutely incredible
That the vatican has got

Its own telescope,
huge telescope, in arizona.

Are they looking
For extraterrestrials?

Do they believe
There are extraterrestrials?

The catholic church can't
Believe that there are aliens,

Because they've told us
For 2,000 years

That we are the only planet
In the universe

That has life on it.

But there are legends
That they do believe it.

Narrator: according to
Conspiracy theorists,

The vatican observatory
On mount graham

Isn't really interested
In using the telescope

For astronomical reasons.

They're actually looking
For incoming ufos.

Josh peck is an author who makes
This highly controversial claim.

You know, I believe
That mount graham is

One of the biggest secrets
Of the vatican today.

And the reason
That I think that is,

I don't think it's all about
Just the science.

I believe that
The vatican believes

That when jesus returns,

He will return
As an alien being.

And I believe that's really part
Of what's going on

With the telescope
On mount graham is all about.

If they believe
That jesus christ

Is gonna return as an alien,

Wouldn't they want to use
This telescope

To try to make contact
With him first?

Narrator:
It's an astonishing claim

That the vatican believes
An alien in a ufo

Might herald
The second coming of christ.

The jesuit priests who operate
The vatican observatory,

However, say that although
They are intellectually curious

About the nature
Of god's universe,

The telescope is, in reality,

Used for more mainstream
Astronomical research.

Staff astronomer
Father jean-baptiste kikwaya

Explains.

Kikwaya:
This is our telescope.

Many people, you know, think
That religion and science,

They don't go together,
But that is totally wrong.

They go together
From the beginning.

The church
Is not against science.

Myself, I work on meteors --

You know, shooting stars --

And asteroid and comet.

Narrator: intriguingly, one of
Father kikwaya's main interests

Is trying to spot
Potentially dangerous asteroids

On a collision course
With earth.

If he happens to see one,
Its predicted trajectory

Can be analyzed in
The telescope control room.

It's very important.
I don't know, I mean,

If you heard about an asteroid
Destroying, you know, dinosaurs.

So it's good to know
When actually --

You know, when asteroid will hit
The earth and where,

And what kind of damage,
Actually, is it going to create.

Narrator:
Although it may seem surprising

That vatican astronomers

Are carrying out
This kind of research,

The vatican observatory
Is well-regarded

In a wide range
Of fields of study,

As longtime
University of arizona astronomer

Chris impey explains.

Impey:
The vatican observatory,

It's made significant
Contributions

To the study
Of the center of galaxies.

Some galaxies are active and
Have something bizarre going on

Because of a black hole.
Some are not so active.

And yet ostensibly, the galaxies
Are built the same way.

So what's special about that?

So they've done some surveys
That relate to that.

So they've contributed to,
You know, a range of subjects.

Nothing at the, you know,
Foundational level

That might merit nobel prize

Or that kind of level
Of discovery,

But a major contribution
To astronomy knowledge

Over the years.

Narrator: despite
The vatican observatory's

Scientific achievements,
However,

Some people believe that
Their official research projects

Are just a cover story.

Officially, the telescope
Is there to monitor

Near-earth objects

And monitor the development
Of galaxies,

The movement of stars,
And so on -- in fact,

All the things observatories
Usually are there for.

But conspiracy theorists believe
That the catholic church

Is really using it
To look out for e.T.'s,

Look out for aliens.

It's natural to wonder
If vatican astronomers

Are particularly interested
In the idea of life out there

Because it would reflect somehow
Onto their religious tradition

Or their belief system.

And indeed,
They're as interested in it

As any other astronomers
That I meet.

But as far as I know,

They're not doing any particular
Projects in that regard.

Also, their telescope

Isn't really well-suited
As a telescope

To doing the kind of exoplanet
Hunting or life detection

That astronomers
Are doing elsewhere.

Narrator: nonetheless,
Some people claim

That the vatican observatory's
Research in detecting asteroids

That might be on a collision
Course with earth

Has actually been designed

To hide very different,
Secret investigations.

Now, let's be honest.
It's absolutely bizarre

That the vatican has
A telescope at all,

Let alone one that's pointed
In deep space

For purposes of identifying

Incoming life-threatening
Objects.

Why is that their job?

Narrator: so,
Is the vatican observatory

Really studying
What they say they are?

Or could they secretly
Be investigating life

Beyond our planet?

*

Narrator: according to
Conspiracy theorists,

The vatican believes
That christ's second coming

Might be as an alien
In a spaceship.

Allegedly,
The official research

Of the vatican's observatory
In arizona is a cover story.

Instead of detecting faraway
Galaxies and asteroids

On a collision course
With earth,

It's claimed that, in fact,

The vatican observatory
Is searching for incoming ufos.

Others strongly deny this.

The fact there's a telescope
Doesn't mean

That they're searching
For aliens

Or they're trying to convert
Little green people.

It just means
That they're furthering

Their scientific work.

Narrator: astronomer
Father kikwaya,

Who leads the vatican's
Official research project

Detecting incoming asteroids,
Dismisses the idea

That he's secretly looking
For alien spaceships,

And says there's no photographic
Or other evidence

That they exist.

[ laughs ] You know,
If someone say, "I saw one,"

And I say, "Okay, so did you not
Take a picture of it?

And then if you show me
The picture

And I'm convinced
That, I mean, that is one,

And then I will believe."

So until now, I mean,
People just talk about it,

But nobody has taken
A real picture of an ufo.

Yeah, yeah.

Narrator: nevertheless,
Father kikwaya does accept

That there is a good chance
Of life existing

On other planets
In the universe.

There is truly a possibility

Of life beyond, you know,
What we know.

We don't have
Any scientific proof yet.

But I mean, with what we know,

With, you know,
The size of the universe,

With the number of planets
We have now in the universe,

We say, "Okay,
There is a possibility

Of life, you know,
Beyond the earth."

That is the position
Of the church, as well.

There is a possibility
Of life beyond.

Longtime university of arizona
Astronomer chris impey agrees.

I've heard what a series
Of three or four directors

Of the vatican observatory have
Said and thought about that.

And, you know, they're probably
In the same camp and situation

As the average astronomer
Who's aware of the subject.

They think
It's entirely plausible

That there's life
In the universe.

They think it's even plausible
That some of it could be

Intelligent, rival us
Or exceed us in intelligence.

Bellinger: in fact,
The vatican recently hosted

A global conference
That brought together scholars

From all different
Scientific disciplines

To examine the question
Of whether there might be life

Beyond our solar system.

And I think it's tempting
To imagine

That as being anathema
To a religious philosophy,

But in fact, it's not.

You know, it's all about
How humanity fits

Into the global plan
Of the world and the universe.

And that is all part
Of god's plan,

As far as the church
Is concerned.

Kikwaya: if, you know, tomorrow,
We come really to realize

That there is life elsewhere,

That is not gonna be,
For us, a surprise,

But maybe a confirmation

That god truly is more than
What we think of him.

Impey: we can project
That there are 10 or 15 billion

Habitable worlds,
Roughly earthlike,

In the milky way galaxy.

So that's that many places
Where there could be life.

And also, there's been time
Before the earth formed,

Billions of years
Before the earth formed,

For those planets
To have gotten started with life

And the life to have evolved.

So it's not ridiculous
To hold a view

That there's intelligent
Technological life out there.

It's just that astronomers think
We haven't encountered it yet,

And it hasn't encountered us.

Narrator: interestingly,

If mainstream astronomers
Do happen to encounter aliens,

There is a plan about
What action they should take.

Astronomers actually have
A protocol of what you do

If intelligent life is found --
Who should be told first,

Do you try and communicate back
If you've received a message?

If you find an artifact that you
Believe to be of alien artifact,

What do you do with it?

So astronomers have actually
Had to think about these things.

So, as for how
The vatican observatory

Or the official
Vatican church infrastructure

Would react to the
Discovery of life elsewhere,

Intelligent life, I don't know
If they have a protocol.

This came up at a conference.
The director of the observatory

Was asked pretty much
These questions.

And he said, "No, we don't have
A particular protocol for that."

Narrator: hidden deep inside
The vatican secret archives,

Could there in fact
Be a secret protocol

Describing how
The catholic church will react

If intelligent aliens
Are discovered?

And incredibly, perhaps,
Also describing what actions

The pope will take
If one of the aliens

Is thought to be
The second coming of jesus?

Gough: I do believe the world's
A far stranger place

Than we give it credit for.

And the catholic church --

Where there's smoke,
There's fire.

The vatican secret archives
Contain documents

That they don't want
The world to know,

Documents that
Have been suppressed

Because they would change
The way we think about theology.

That's why they call it
The secret archives.

Narrator: apart from documents
That might reveal

The vatican's alleged
Interest in aliens,

The secret archive may well
Contain sensational answers

To many of the most enduring
Vatican controversies

And scandals.

Gough: I would like to see
A whistleblower come forward

And tell the truth
About the vatican

And the secrets
They've been withholding.

Then we could properly
Rewrite history.

Narrator:
Will claims that the vatican
Collaborated with the nazis

During world war ii
Be proven or disproven

As a result of the early opening

Of the vatican's
Wartime archive?

Historians now have
Their work cut out for them.

And what secrets about vatican
Corruption and mafia murders

Lie waiting to be discovered

When pope john paul I's
Secret archive

Is finally opened in 2048?

Researchers can only hope that
His archive is released early

And the truth can be told.