Szekely claimed to have found an Aramaic translation of "The Essene Gospel of Peace" and "The Essene Book of Revelation" at the Vatican library. In the scriptorium of the Benedictine monastery of Monte Cassino he claimed to have found the original Hebrew text of "The Essene Gospel of Peace". His findings, as did the writings of Romain Rolland, often challenged the assumptions of conventional religious adherents and politicized, established religious institutions about the life and teachings of Jesus, and he was therefore often criticized by them.