Vincenza Taffarel [1] [2] (died 1984) was the Catholic nun who found the body of Pope John Paul I. [3] [4] She was brought in as his housekeeper in one of his very first papal acts, [5] and was the first to find him dead. [6] [7] [8] Taffarel was portrayed by Maroussia Frank in The Last Confession , a play by Roger Crane. [9]
There have been several differing reports on details surrounding the discovery of the pope's death. [10] These views have resulted in several conspiracy theories in which Taffarel plays a role. When the report of death was first made, the Vatican excluded her from the official reports to avoid possible perceptions of unseemliness [6] resulting from a woman's being in the papal apartments early in the morning. [4] [11]
There has also been confusion over alleged changes in her story. Taffarel told French reporters the morning after the death that she had discovered the Pope's body in the bathroom at 4:45 am.[ citation needed ] She had entered the room after he had not retrieved his morning coffee that she had left outside his door. Later, it was claimed, she was sworn to secrecy about the event by Cardinal Jean-Marie Villot, before being sent to a nunnery. [10]
Pope John Paul II was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his death in 2005.
Pope John Paul I was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City from 26 August 1978 until his death 33 days later. His reign is among the shortest in papal history, resulting in the most recent year of three popes and the first to occur since 1605. John Paul I remains the most recent Italian-born pope, the last in a succession of such popes that started with Clement VII in 1523.
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Pope John Paul I died suddenly in September 1978, 33 days after his election. Following his death, several conspiracy theories have sprung up.
Vatican conspiracy theories are conspiracy theories that concern the Pope 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.
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