Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories John Paul I, he mysteriously dies. In "The Company: A Novel of the CIA" by Robert Littell, Pope John Paul I is murdered by a KGB hired killer. Pope John Paul I conspiracy theories Pope John Paul I died suddenly in September 1978, 33 days after his election. Following contradictory reports about the circumstances of his death and apparent anomalies about the issuing of the death certificate and other procedures, several conspiracy theories have gained currency. Many of these concern the serious corruption in the Vatican Bank (Istituto per le Opere Religiose), possibly linked to Freemasonry, which is forbidden by
Social teachings of the papacy Social teachings of the papacy Social teachings of the papacy gives a succinct review of salient features in the papal social encyclicals beginning with "Rerum novarum", the groundbreaking encyclical of Pope Leo XIII in 1891, and going to the present time. Pope Leo XIII, amidst the Industrial Revolution and concerns about the deteriorating working and living conditions of urban workers wrote the first social encyclical of modern times, "Rerum novarum" ("Of new things"), in 1891, under the influence of the German Bishop Wilhelm Emmanuel Freiherr von Ketteler. This 1891 encyclical set the tone for the Catholic Church's social teaching to