 Emblem of the Holy See | |
| Service overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1566 |
| Jurisdiction | Holy See |
| Headquarters | Vatican City |
| Motto | With the Cross and the Sword[1] |
| Employees | Pontifical secret |
| Annual budget | Pontifical secret |
The Entity, previously known as the Holy Alliance, is the principal intelligence service of the Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church and the Vatican City State.
Founded by Pope Pius V in 1566, The Entity acts in concert with its counterintelligence counterpart, the Sodalitium Pianum (SP) to confront threats to the physical and ideological security of the Church. Its efforts are concerned as much with global conflict and threats against Church leaders, as with schisms, heresy, and mitigating the influences of Communism and Americanism. Across its more than 450-year history, the service is alleged to have carried out assassinations, financed terrorism and dictatorship, armed combatants in- and profiteered from- global conflicts, laundered money for the Mafia, and manipulated markets.[1] Although the Catholic Church has never acknowledged the service, its existence is regarded as an open secret among Vatican insiders.[1][2][3]
Mission
editAccording to Eric Frattini, "Papal policies have always set the objectives; the Holy Alliance has been a powerful instrument for carrying them out."[1]
Early history (1566-1900)
editThe Entity was founded as the Holy Alliance in 1566 by Pope Pius V, with the goal of displacing Elizabeth I, deemed to be a heretic, in favor of Mary, Queen of Scots, a practicing Catholic.[1]
Contemporary history (1900-present)
editDuring and after World War II, the Vatican lacked the resources and desire to compete globally for intelligence. The Papacy's access to information during World War II has been compared to that of Mexico or Portugal.[2]
Cardinal Luigi Poggi, spymaster under Pope John Paul II, saw the need to modernize the intelligence service for the 20th century. He fostered relationships with the Mossad, helping Israel's spy agency to disrupt a planned attack against Prime Minister Golda Meir during her visit to Italy. He also forged relationships with the CIA, then-led by Catholic Director of Central Intelligence William Casey, taking part in a joint operation which used the Vatican's bank, the Institute for Religious Works, to finance Polish dissident (later post-Soviet president) Lech Wałęsa's reformist Solidarity trade union.[1]
The Entity pursued Carlos the Jackal (ultimately caught by Billy Waugh of the CIA).[1]
The service's capacity and secrecy led Simon Wiesenthal, the famed Nazi hunter, to describe it as "the best and most effective espionage service I know in the world."[1]
Despite the Vatican being an exclave microstate situated entirely within the Italian capital of Rome, the service is reported to have only occasional exchanges with the Italian intelligence services.[1]
1972: Black September assassination attempt
editIn 1972, the Black September Organization attempted an attack on the Prime Minister of Israel during a visit to Italy. The plot involved operatives of the Soviet-backed Black September group, led by Ali Hassan Salameh, shipping Russian-built Strela-2 MANPADS by fishing boat down the Adriatic from Dubrovnik to the Italian city of Bari. From there, they would be trucked to Fiumicino Airport in Rome, mounted in a station wagon, and used to assassinate prime minister Golda Meir before her meeting with Pope Paul VI. Through cooperation between The Entity and the Mossad, in particular Mossad director Zvi Zamir and CIA-trained papal intelligence officer Father Carlo Jacobini, the plot was disrupted when the pair rammed the station wagon fitted with the missiles. The terrorists in the vehicle were detained, and turned over to the Divisione Investigazioni Generali e Operazioni Speciali (DIGOS), the Italian counterterrorism police.[1]
1981: Extraction of NATO spy Ryszard Kuklinski
editIn November 1981, Colonel Ryszard Kuklinski, a NATO spy in the Polish People's Army, warned of plans by Polish leader General Wojciech Jaruzelski to impose martial law. When revelations about the planned repression emerged prior to its imposition on December 12, Kuklinski, code name "Gull", fell under suspicion and had to be extracted. Father Kazimierz Przydatek, an Entity agent, in concert with the Canadian Catholic curia and the CIA, secreted Kuklinski and his family into the Canadian Embassy in Warsaw, before ultimately resettling in the West.[1]
List of directors of The Entity
edit |
| Image | Name | Birth date | Death date |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ludovico Ludovisi | 22 or 27 October 1595 | 18 November 1632 |
|
Lorenzo Magalotti | 1 January 1584 | 19 September 1637 |
|
Olimpia Maidalchini | 26 May 1591 | 27 September 1657 |
|
Sforza Pallavicino | 28 November 1607 | 4 June 1667 |
|
Paluzzo Paluzzi | 8 June 1623 | 29 June 1698 |
|
Bartolomeo Pacca | 27 December 1756 | 19 April 1844 |
|
Giovanni Battista Caprara | 29 May 1733 | 21 June 1810 |
|
Annibale Albani | 15 August 1682 | 21 September 1751 |
|
Pietro Fumasoni Biondi | 4 September 1872 | 12 July 1960 |
|
Luigi Poggi | 25 November 1917 | 4 May 2010 |
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Frattini, Eric (2008). The Entity: Five Centuries of Secret Vatican Espionage. Translated by Cluster, Dick. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-37594-2.
- ^ a b Alvarez, David (2002). Spies in the Vatican: Espionage and Intrigue from Napoleon to the Holocaust. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 9780700622894.
- ^ Colonna Vilasi, Antonella (2016). The Entity: The Vatican Intelligence Service. ISBN 9781524661694.