Report: NSA spied on pope

Report: NSA spied on pope

Francis, Benedict allegedly targets of intercepts

Jerome R. Corsi

http://www.wnd.com/2013/10/report-nsa-spied-on-pope

“Data-gate” is the name the Vatican has unofficially given to allegations breaking in Rome that the NSA intercepted telephone conversations of Pope Benedict XVI and of Pope Francis when he was still Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the archbishop of Buenos Aires.

The weekly news Italian news magazine Panorama disclosed the allegations are scheduled to be published as a lead article Thursday.

The magazine reports suspicions that among the Vatican telephone calls intercepted by the NSA were conversations March 12 involving bishops and cardinals participating in the papal conclave. The Catholic leaders were staying at the Domus Internationalis Paulus VI, the hotel residence established by the Vatican for visiting clergy, where Bergoglio resided prior to being selected as pope.

The NSA issued a statement insisting it “does not target the Vatican.”

“Assertions that NSA has targeted the Vatican, published in Italy’s Panorama magazine, are not true,” the agency said.

Is a 900-year-old prophecy being fulfilled before our eyes? See the astounding movie “The Last Pope?”

The Panorama article reported suspicion the NSA monitoring of Bergoglio may date back to 2005. The article noted that U.S. State Department cables leaked by Wikileaks indicated Bergoglio was first placed under U.S. intelligence in 2005 when the U.S. Vatican Embassy reported to Washington that he was considered one of 16 candidates to succeed Pope John Paul II.

The Panorama article alleges that among the NSA intercepts were telephone conversations of Pope Benedict XVI in the last few weeks of his papacy.

Panorama charged the NSA intercepted the incoming and outgoing telephone calls of Pope Benedict XVI and other Vatican officials concerning one of Benedict’s last official acts, the selection of Ernst von Freyberg, a German aristocrat and industrialist, to head the Vatican Bank, which was announced Feb. 15.

Support a legal challenge to Barack Obama’s NSA spying programs.

Panorama reported the information obtained by the NSA intercepts were divided into four categories: “information intentions,” “threats to the financial system,” “foreign policy objectives” and “human rights.”

The magazine also suggested the NSA intercepted communications regarding the 2012 “Vatileaks” scandal involving Paolo Gabriel, Pope Benedict’s butler, who was caught stealing related to corruption within the Catholic Church.

Panorama charges the NSA spying was conducted from the annex of the U.S. Embassy in Rome, in via Sallustiana 49, a facility that supposedly houses a highly classified information collection service staffed by a nucleus of technical experts from the NSA and the CIA.

Pope Benedict XVI

Benedict XVI is the pope emeritus for the Roman Catholic Church.

Note: Francis E. George is a cardinal for the Roman Catholic Church, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Commercial Club of Chicago, Members Directory

http://commercialclubchicago.org/members/e.html

Please note: This link for the members of the Commercial Club of Chicago can no longer be found.

Robert S. Osborne is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton.

Joan A. Dempsey is the SVP for Booz Allen Hamilton, and was the deputy director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Steve Isakowitz was a senior consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, and a senior intelligence officer for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).

Edward Snowden was an employee at Booz Allen Hamilton, and leaked information about the National Security Agency (NSA).

Philip A. Odeen is a director at Booz Allen Hamilton, and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Charles O. Rossotti is a director at Booz Allen Hamilton, and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

R. James Woolsey was a VP for Booz Allen Hamilton, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

Dov S. Zakheim was a VP for Booz Allen Hamilton, and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

John A. Gordon is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and was the deputy director for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

James R. Schlesinger is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and was a director at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

George J. Tenet was a director at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

William H. Webster was a director at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank).

John J. Studzinski is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a papal knighthood knight, and a director at the Human Rights Watch.

papal knighthood knight is an honor conferred by pope from the Roman Catholic Church.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Human Rights Watch.

George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and was a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, and Brookings Institution (think tank).

Cyrus F. Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and was a managing director at Booz Allen Hamilton.

Booz Allen Hamilton is a contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA).

Robert S. Osborne is the EVP & general counsel for Booz Allen Hamilton, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

R. Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.

Michelle Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin LLP.

Barack Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin LLP.

Newton N. Minow is senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.

Francis E. George is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and a cardinal for the Roman Catholic Church.

Benedict XVI is the pope emeritus for the Roman Catholic Church.