Response Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Response Paper - Essay Example According to Yallop, although the official cause of sudden death was disclosed by the Vatican as heart attack, he allegedly uncovered information that revealed otherwise. Apparently, it was theorized that the pope was allegedly poisoned for reasons that range from uncovering anomalies in running and operating the Vatican Bank; as well as in his bold planned to end strict prohibition in the use of artificial birth control, one of the firm Catholic dogmas conservatively retained through the years. The book comprised of seven chapters where the first six were presented to provide an effective overview of Albino Luciani’s background, the kind of man he truly is, and the alleged facts surrounding operating the Vatican Bank (Yallop, 2007). Chapter 5 was devoted to the pope’s 33 days as Pontiff and leading to the fateful night when he was allegedly poisoned. Yallop specifically inferred that six men (Marcincus, Villot, Calvi, Sindona, and Gelli) connived to orchestrate the pop e’s death, to wit: â€Å"I am equally convinced that one of these six men had, by the early evening of September 28th, 1978, already initiated a course of action to resolve the problems that Albino Luciani’s Papacy was posing. One of these men was at the very heart of a conspiracy that applied a uniquely Italian solution† (Yallop, 2007, p. xxiv). ... The contents were highly sensitive leaning towards suggesting the possibility of murder, connivance, and cover-ups within the strict confines of the Pope’s chamber – surely one of the most guarded global institutions given the authority and power relegated to the position occupying it. Likewise, the risks included tarnishing the writer’s reputation in case that his allegations were effectively proven wrong; as well as the reputation of the Vatican, the Catholic organization which Yallop alleged was filled with anomalous transactions and shielded from public scrutiny. Apparently, the effect of the risk taking endeavor by Yallop yielded beneficial and rewarding results for him in terms of generating as much as 6,000,000 copies sold of the book (Yallop, 2007). Despite the optimistic side of his risk-taking pursuit, he was criticized for the veracity, credibility and reliability in the contents of his writing. According to an article published in The Telegraph, Damia n Thomson’s review of Yallop’s writing indicated that â€Å"Rome dismissed his book as trash†¦ Then along came John Cornwell, an 'independent' author unsympathetic to the Vatican, who checked out Yallop's case. It crumbled into dust like an ancient parchment exposed to sunlight. The 'murder' of John Paul turned out to be just another conspiracy theory, glued together with innuendo and non sequiturs. Cornwell's book A Thief in the Night, which demonstrated that John Paul I had died of natural causes, left Yallop's theory looking jolly silly† (Thompson, 2007, pars. 1 & 2). In the most current article referring to the official statement on the cause of Pope