Three Popes and the Jews Three Popes and the Jews Three Popes and the Jews is a 1967 book by Pinchas Lapide, a former Israeli Consul to Milan, who at the time of publication was a deputy editor in the Israeli Prime Ministers press office. The "three popes" are Pope Pius XII (1939-1958), Pope John XXIII (1958-1963), and Pope Paul VI (1963-1978). "The Catholic Herald" in its review of the book observed, ""The intentions of Mr. Lapide, deputy editor of the Prime Minister's press office in Israel and a pioneer of inter-faith relations, are so excellent that the reviewer finds it embarrassing to point out
Popes (gang) named the Popes: this stood for "Protecting Our People Eliminating Spics" (eventually the racial slur would be replaced by "scum" when the Popes ceased to be a racist gang and began inviting Latinos and African Americans to join). By the mid 1970s the Popes' main membership consisted of many Poles from the Albany Park/Lincoln Square neighborhood, and German, Irish, and Scandinavians in the Portage Park, Jefferson Park, and Mayfair neighborhoods. At their peak in the mid-1960s to early 1970s, they had 300-500 members. In the 1980s, news reports indicated that some members were the children of Chicago Fire Department firefighters