The Vatican at War

When Pope Benedict's butler began leaking secret Vatican documents to an Italian journalist, he was motivated by a desire to save the Catholic church from what he saw as a mounting tide of corruption. Among the issues he felt should be brought to the attention of the pope and the public were the roles of freemasonry and the secret services in Vatican affairs, and the mysterious disappearance of a Vatican schoolgirl, Emanuela Orlandi. The Orlandi affair ties the present travails of the papacy to the Banco Ambrosiano scandal and the death in London of its chairman, Roberto Calvi. The banker was found hanging under Blackfriars Bridge and was caught in a web of Cold War intrigue, from which the Vatican is still trying to extricate itself. Now updated and expanded, this book was first published as "The Last Supper: The Mafia, the Masons, and the Killing of Roberto Calvi."

Praise for The Last Supper:

"This powerfully written account will be required reading for students of recent Italian and Vatican history."

—The Tablet

"The meticulously researched book makes for a surprisingly smooth and fascinating read."

—Bloomberg

"Willan wrote the wonderful Puppetmasters about post-war Italian politics, and this is more of the same, a smaller patch examined in more detail."

—Lobster