“What are you reading?” Mario asked. The priest had woken late in the morning following his amateur surgery to find Roberto intensely focused on the computer screen. He’d let him be, at least until his curiosity couldn’t take it anymore.
“Check this out,” Roberto replied, his eyes still glued to the screen. He’d been poring over Pope Pius XII’s journal notes all night and had just unearthed secrets about Leiber and his infamous ratlines.
From 1924 to 1929, Robert Leiber served as a key advisor to Eugenio Pacelli during his tenure as Nuncio in Munich and Berlin. Leiber’s advisory role extended through Pacelli’s time as Cardinal Secretary of State. Following Pacelli’s election as Pope Pius XII in 1939, Leiber continued to provide counsel and support until the pope’s death.
Never a Vatican official, Leiber was respected and feared as the “unofficial official.” Hushed whispers within the halls of the Vatican revealed, “I do not fear the pope, but I do fear his secretary.”
“This Leiber character had a deep-rooted connection with the pope. Look at this.” Roberto pointed at the screen.
Mario rubbed his eyes, still groggy from his hangover, slowly rose from the office couch, and walked over to the computer. “Slow down. Who’s Leiber?”
“Robert Leiber, the mastermind behind the Nazi exodus from Germany via the ratlines.”
Leiber breathed new life into Bishop Hudal’s plan, setting up a “ratline”—a secret escape route for Nazis fleeing Europe. Around the time of Operation Barbarossa, Leiber had written to the Austrian bishop, urging him to view the ratline mission as a crusade. As one of Pius XII’s closest confidants, Leiber had the authority to act as the pope’s intermediary and messenger.
Despite his historical training, Leiber destroyed all personal papers before his death, leaving no trace of his actions for future generations to study. Before he died he confessed that he did so out of fear the papers would cast his pope in an unfavorable light.
“Seems like Leiber followed the same playbook as the Nazis, eradicating all traces of his paper trail,” Roberto mused, noticing the parallels between this man’s actions and the orders Pacelli gave Hitler to incinerate all correspondence.
“What exactly is a ratline?” Mario asked, his curiosity piqued.
With a swift click, Roberto opened a new tab and searched for information on the term.
Ratlines were clandestine escape networks for Nazis seeking refuge from the ruins of post-World War II Europe. These covert routes primarily led to safe havens in Latin America, with Argentina, Brazil, and Peru acting as primary destinations. One route snaked its way from Germany to Rome to Genoa before reaching South America. The ratlines were backed by the clergy of the Catholic Church.
“This is incriminating evidence,” Roberto said, leaning back to better absorb the information.
Spain, rather than Rome, acted as the initial hub for the covert ratline operation that aided the Nazi/Fascists’ escape, though the master plan was hatched within the Vatican’s walls. A key orchestrator included Charles Lescat, a Frenchman from the Action Française—a group once suppressed by Pope Pius XI but later reinstated by Pope Pius XII.
By 1946, Spain itself was a safe haven for hundreds of war criminals and thousands of ex-Nazis and Fascists. The Vatican’s cooperation in handing over these fugitives was deemed “negligible” by the United States Secretary of State; Pope Pius XII, however, went on record imploring for Christ’s mercy, stating he would rather see these Fascist war criminals exiled to the New World than languishing in POW camps in Germany.
“Backed by the Vatican, eh? So, these ratlines were essentially endorsed by Pope Pius XII himself. That’s a damning revelation, isn’t it?”
“Unreal,” Mario muttered, limping back to the couch and flipping open his laptop, eager to join his friend in delving deeper into the mystery.
“You know that saying, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words’? In this case, it’s reversed, and it seems those thousand words paints a picture sinister beyond belief. Your ‘Christian’ pope was no saint,” Roberto said, his hands flashing air quotes.
“We need to dig deeper. There’s more to this than meets the eye.”
“I’m all in, brother. This conspiracy stuff is my jam.”
Roberto’s fingers danced over the keyboard, clicking on the next entry in his search. As he sifted through it, his mind indeed began weaving a conspiracy theory.
Mario, laptop balanced on his knees, was unearthing more about the Nazi war criminals’ escape. He hoped ignoring Roberto would deter him from launching into another one of his monologues. Mario was just as keen to uncover the Vatican’s hidden secrets but didn’t want Roberto’s crazy theories sidetracking him. Alas, he knew Roberto was bound to share any theory that popped into his head regardless. His friend’s mind was a breeding ground for suspicion, especially towards those in power. The only difference now was that there was solid evidence backing up those paranoid thoughts.
“Here’s a wild thought.” Roberto reclined, hands clasped behind his head, his gaze distant as he pondered the Vatican’s future. “Given Pope John Paul II’s advancing age, I wouldn’t be surprised if the next pope came from Argentina.”
“Ha!” Mario scoffed at his best friend’s outrageous prediction. “Now you’ve lost it. You clearly don’t know your papal history. No pope has ever been elected from the Americas.”
“Look at all this evidence. Those connections. Don’t you think it’s plausible?”
“There’s no clear lineage from the Americas to Saint Peter. It’s never going to happen.”
“But consider all this evidence,” Roberto said, waving his hands towards his computer monitor. “After digesting all this, don’t you think a pope would eventually have to come from Argentina? An Argentinian cardinal would have insider knowledge about the war criminals the Vatican sent to his country post-World War II. This future pope, being from Argentina, would be perfectly suited to deflect any suspicion that might lead to an investigation.”
“Your intelligence sometimes borders on arrogance. There has never been a pope from the Americas, got it?”
“Alright, alright.” Roberto paused, recalibrating his theory. “Then how about this: if not from Argentina, then the next pope will have to be from Germany to make sure this mess stays hidden. If this information leaks, someone will have lots of splainin to do, Lucy,” Roberto said, mimicking Ricky Ricardo from the American TV show I Love Lucy.
“I see your point,” Mario conceded, though he still kept shaking his head in disagreement. “But the Vatican has its protocols for when the College of Cardinals convenes to vote for the next pope.”
“Do you really believe the Vatican isn’t aware of this ticking time bomb within its walls? Consider the scandals they’re already grappling with—the child-abuse allegations that are shaking the Church to its core. And yet, this . . . this is a whole new level of cover-up.” Roberto was grappling with the mountain of undeniable evidence of the Vatican’s decades-long deception. Who could say if this holy autocracy was still pulling the world’s strings?
“But . . . this information stays buried. You gave your word.”
“Unbelievable.” Roberto was astounded at his best friend’s unwavering loyalty to the Vatican.
“I can’t be the one to shatter the faith of millions worldwide with this revelation, do you understand?”
Mario could see the frustration etched on his best friend’s face. He had to carefully plan his next move with the journal. How was he going to justify removing it from the Vatican Secret Archives?
“You know what?” Roberto rose abruptly, his patience with his friend wearing thin, “I need a break. I’m going to take a shower and clear my head.” He’d decided to hit his favorite bar since it was Friday night. He needed a distraction after all this intense research involving the pope and the Nazis. His irritation was further fueled by his best friend’s insistence on keeping the conspiracy a secret.
“Okay, I guess I’m going to head home and change,” Mario said as he watched Roberto stride towards the office door. “Can I come back tomorrow and stay for the weekend?”
“Whatever,” Roberto replied curtly, exiting the room. “Just don’t show up too early. I might have company over.”
“Got it. No need to explain.” Mario heard Roberto’s bedroom door slam shut down the hall, signaling the end of their discussion.