Vatican conspiracy theories Vatican conspiracy theories Vatican conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that concern the Pope and/or the Roman Catholic Church. A majority of the theories allege that the Church and its representatives are secretly controlling secular society with a Satanic agenda for global domination. Pope John Paul I died in September 1978, only a month after his election to the papacy. The timing of his death and the Vatican's alleged difficulties with ceremonial and legal death procedures have fostered several conspiracy theories. British author David Yallop wrote extensively about unsolved crimes and conspiracy theories, and in his 1984 book "In God's Name"
Byzantine Papacy was "not only rare but a 'complete anachronism'". Pope Vitalian (657–672) established a "schola cantorum" to train ceremonial chanters, which was almost entirely "in imitation of its Byzantine model". Vatalian also introduced the celebration of the Easter vespers and baptism at Epiphany, both traditions originating in Constantinople. The "liturgical byzantinization" furthered by Vitalian would be continued by his successors. However, the Latin language made a liturgical resurgence—officially replacing Greek—between 660 and 682; Greek again re-emerged during the papacy of Pope Agatho and his successors. By the beginning of the eighth century, bilingual liturgies were common place, with Greek taking precedence.