Original subtitles

Narrator: The vatican in rome

Is the world's smallest Sovereign state.

But with over a billion Catholic followers worldwide,

From here, the pope presides Over a powerful,

Lucrative, and secretive Religious empire.

Felix: the whole of the vatican And the catholic church

Is full of secrets

Because of what it's done Over the last 2,000 years.

Narrator: Many of the greatest secrets

The vatican has tried to hide Over the years

Aren't ancient history, However,

But modern.

There are persistent rumors About close links

Between the vatican bank And the mafia.

Narrator: there are Very serious allegations

That during world war ii,

The vatican collaborated With the nazis.

You can find actual documents That show

That members of the vatican Helped nazis escape.

Narrator: And surprisingly, it's claimed The vatican operates a telescope

To secretly search for aliens.

Peck: if they believe That jesus christ

Is gonna return as an alien,

Wouldn't they want to use This telescope

To try to make contact With him first?

Gough: I would like to see A whistleblower come forward

And tell the secrets They've been withholding.

Then we could properly Rewrite history.

-- captions by vitac -- Www.Vitac.Com

Captions paid for by Discovery communications

*

Narrator: securely housed Deep inside the vatican

Are the vatican Apostolic archive,

Known until recently As the vatican secret archive,

Containing the catholic church's Most important

And potentially Controversial documents,

Including the private papers Of every pope

Stretching back 1,000 years.

The vatican secret archives, Or "Archivum secretum,"

Actually, genuinely only means "Private archives" in latin.

The word "Secret" Doesn't really come into it,

But there's no doubt That an awful lot of

What's in those vaults Is most definitely secrets.

There's 50 miles of shelving,

And you're only allowed To see certain parts

'cause there's an awful lot In there, in that 50 miles

That I believe The catholic church

Doesn't want anyone To find out about.

Narrator: Scholars are allowed limited Access to the secret archive.

But significantly, All vatican documents

And private papers of the pope Can only be accessed

At least 70 years after the end Of a pope's reign.

As a result, it's usually Necessary to wait

For three-quarters of a century

Before there's any hope Of finding out the secret truth

About the vatican's Controversial scandals.

The vatican has to be one of The most secret organizations

In the history of the world.

It guards Its nasty little secrets,

Of which there are a great many, Jealously.

Narrator: it has been alleged, For example,

That the vatican Collaborated with the nazis.

The vatican and some historians Strongly dispute this.

But until now, The truth has been hidden

Because the vatican's documents

Written during The second world war

Have remained inaccessible In the secret archive.

Bellinger: pope pius xii Was pontiff during world war ii,

And as such, Had a great deal of contact

With the nazi leadership,

As well as The allied leadership.

He officially maintained A position of neutrality,

Being in the vatican, in the Absolute heart of fascist italy.

But there's been Great speculation

Over how much he did and did not Appease the nazis.

Narrator: Some people say that, in fact, Behind the scenes, pope pius xii

And the vatican secretly Undermined the nazi regime.

Felix: in my opinion, I believe That the pope and his cardinals

Were actually helping to save The lives of thousands of jews

By harboring them, Hiding them in their churches,

Getting them out of the country -- either out of italy,

Out of other countries -- And saving their lives.

Narrator: critics, however, have Claimed the complete opposite,

Calling pope pius xii "Hitler's pope."

In particular, the very Serious allegation has been made

That the pope was antisemitic

And ignored evidence Of the holocaust.

The fierce controversy About the vatican's role

During world war ii Continues to rage.

So in hope of showing That pope pius xii

Really was An anti-nazi humanitarian,

Not a pro-nazi collaborator,

The current pontiff, The reforming pope francis,

Made the unusual decision To allow early access

To the vatican's wartime Secret archive.

Scholars were able to view These materials

Beginning in early 2020.

Bellinger: Pope francis has just made

A really exciting announcement

That he is going to release, Nine years early,

The archives of pope pius xii,

Whose records may or may not Contain evidence

Damning the church and how It reacted to the nazi threat.

Narrator: did pope pius xii turn A blind eye to the holocaust

And the nazi's policy Of genocide?

Or did he help save Thousands of jews?

Did the vatican help Leading nazis escape justice

After the end of world war ii, As has been alleged?

With access to The vatican's wartime archive,

Historians should have Clearer answers,

Although it could take Scholars years to review

And make conclusions from all The newly released materials.

Walters: there's this Long-standing story

That says the vatican helped Nazis escape after the war.

Why? Because a lot Of catholic priests

Were historically Quite sympathetic to nazism

Because they saw nazism as being The only force in the world

That could stand up To communism,

Which they thought represented An existential threat

To the catholic church. So it was kind of like,

You know, My enemy's enemy is my friend.

Narrator: Because over the years,

In small catholic archives Scattered across europe,

Historians have discovered Startling evidence

About what the church did In 1945

After the nazis lost the war.

I went to the archives Of the santa maria dell'anima,

Which is the austrian church Associated with the vatican.

And there, you see The records of a man

Called bishop alois hudal, Luigi hudal.

He was an austrian nationalist, Loved the nazis.

And you have got there Letters written to him

By the likes of franz stangl.

Now, you may not know Franz stangl,

But he's one of the biggest Mass murderers

Of the 20th century

Because he was the commandant Of treblinka extermination camp,

And under his time, murdered An estimated 850,000 people.

And he is writing to a bishop Associated with the vatican

Saying, "Please, can you Help me get out?"

If you're being vouched for By a bishop today,

That still carries A lot of weight, doesn't it?

And so a lot of these nazis, They would make their way

Through What was the third reich,

Down over the alps into italy, And they would go to rome.

They would knock on the door Of bishop hudal,

And he would give them A red cross passport.

Then they would take a boat To that most favored

Nazi retirement destination, Argentina.

Narrator: given these Shocking revelations

That have already been Discovered

In small catholic archives Across europe,

Historians anxiously await What will be revealed

In the newest documents Released by the vatican.

But this isn't the only mystery Surrounding pope pius xii.

It's also been alleged That the vatican bank,

Which he founded During world war ii,

Profited financially From collaboration

With the nazi regime.

Perhaps the opening Of the secret archive

Will reveal the truth About this, too.

*

Narrator: over the years, It has been alleged

That the vatican collaborated With the nazis

During world war ii.

This very controversial claim Is strongly disputed

By the vatican And some historians.

But in addition to evidence Of key nazi officials

Being helped to escape justice After the war,

It's also claimed That the vatican

Profited financially From the nazi regime.

The vatican are The most powerful

And secretive country On the planet.

Not only have they Dished out the dogma

For thousands of years To the faithful,

Just feeding them fairy tale Under the guise of truth,

But they are concealing Documents and relics

That would rewrite history.

Narrator: historian and author John dickie is an expert

On the secretive world Of the vatican --

And in particular, The numerous financial scandals

That have been linked To the organization.

Dickie: So, here we are.

This is the vatican city, The vatican state.

I think the frontier Is right here.

It's the smallest Sovereign state in the world.

But despite being so tiny In global scale,

It wields huge influence --

Obviously, culturally And spiritually,

But also financially.

Narrator: At the center of the vatican's Vast financial interests

Is the vatican bank,

Which in its current form Was founded

During world war ii By pope pius xii.

What's termed the vatican bank Is actually properly called

The institute For the works of religion.

And it's a private bank.

It's situated Within the vatican,

And it's directly accountable To the pope.

Now, it's not The most transparent institution

On the planet, It has to be said.

So what its wealth is, We're not entirely sure.

But given that The catholic church

Has been around for 2,000 years, I think it's fair to say

That its assets Are going to be considerable.

Narrator: in fact, the current Assets of the vatican bank

Have recently been estimated

At significantly more Than $5 billion.

Selwood: The vatican bank is not a bank Like you and I would know,

Where they lend money And you can get a mortgage.

It houses and distributes money

For religious and charitable Works around the world.

That's its publicly Stated mission.

Narrator: today, Much of the vatican's funds

Derive from charitable donations By loyal catholics worldwide.

But during world war ii,

As a result of a controversial Pact signed with the nazis,

The vatican bank received Huge amounts of money

From hitler's regime Via a church tax

On citizens of the third reich.

There have also been allegations

That much of the money And gold looted

By the nazis from the jews And others in occupied europe

May have ended up in the vaults Of the vatican bank.

Perhaps the opening Of pope pius' archive

Will reveal the truth About this, too.

The vatican bank's history Since world war ii

Has been equally murky.

There have been many Major scandals,

With allegations of massive Corruption and money laundering.

Walters: the interesting thing About the whole story

Of the vatican bank Corruption --

It's all mixed up with The byzantine world of the mafia

And italian politics.

You can't imagine a more Conspiratorial society

In the world than italy.

The italians are absolutely Obsessed with conspiracy theory,

And they always assume,

You know, The worst behind any story.

And they always assume That everybody is corrupt.

You know, They're probably right.

Narrator: In 1978, the 65-year-old Pope john paul I mysteriously

And suddenly died, just 33 days After he'd been elected.

It was reported that he died Naturally of a cardiac arrest,

But ever since, conspiracy Theorists have speculated

That, in fact, he was murdered.

Felix: pope john paul I Allegedly died

Of a heart attack, But the problem is

That he was big-time trying To reform the vatican.

Narrator: the alleged murder Of pope john paul I in 1978

Subsequently inspired The plot line of the famous,

Apparently fictional, movie "Godfather iii,"

A film which some claim Is actually based on fact.

Mcmahon: At the center of the movie

Is this idea of the mafia And the vatican bank

In league with each other

And a new pope coming in who Wants to expose this corruption,

And then dies.

Narrator: One remarkable theory claims

That pope john paul I Was murdered

Because he was planning To expose

The criminal business practices

Between the vatican bank, Banco ambrosiano, and the mafia.

Other, even more sensational Allegations

Have been made against The archbishop marcinkus,

The american head Of the vatican bank

At the time of the pope's death.

In the best-selling 1980s book "In god's name" by david yallop,

Which covered The conspiracy theories

Around the death of john paul I, Marcinkus was heavily implicated

As being complicit In that crime.

Narrator: These remarkable allegations Have recently been corroborated

By a cousin Of archbishop marcinkus --

U.S. Mobster anthony raimondi,

The nephew of infamous mafia Gangster lucky luciano.

In 2019, raimondi confessed That in 1978, he traveled

To the vatican to help His cousin the archbishop

Poison john paul I with cyanide In order to prevent the pope

From exposing the vatican bank's Billion-dollar financial scam.

Unsurprisingly, the vatican Vehemently denies

That pope john paul I Was murdered.

What is the truth?

Perhaps john paul I's Private papers

Will contain Decisive new evidence.

But as the vatican waits 70 years after a pope's reign

Before opening up Their secret archive,

The definitive truth, If it finally comes,

Won't be revealed until 2048.

Walters: I'm sure that there's Some really exciting stuff

In the secret archive,

And which historian wouldn't Want to have the key to it?

You know, god, I would. I would bet my --

You know, sell my house And my entire family twice

If I could get the key to the Secret archive of the vatican,

But I'm never gonna get it.

Narrator: but the conspiracies Don't end there.

Four years later, Some of the very same players

Accused of being involved In the pope's murder

Would allegedly go on To perpetrate

The very public death Of a financier

So closely linked To the vatican,

He was known as "God's banker."

*

Narrator: over the years, The vatican has been embroiled

In massive financial scandals.

During the 1970s and '80s In particular,

Corruption at the vatican bank

Is said to have occurred On a vast scale.

It's even been alleged that

In an attempt to hide The corruption,

Collusion between the vatican And the mafia led to murder.

Historian john dickie is in rome

To investigate the enduring Mystery of the bizarre death

Of a financier So closely linked to the vatican

That he was nicknamed "God's banker."

Roberto calvi Was an italian banker,

Head of his bank, The banco ambrosiano.

And in june 1982, he was found Hanging by his neck

Under blackfriars bridge In london.

And we still don't know Whether he was murdered

Or whether he committed suicide.

Everybody has their theories.

But his story is A conspiracy theorist's dream.

It's got all the ingredients.

You've got political corruption,

High finance, mafia money, And then, of course,

Last but not least, The catholic church.

Narrator: initially, Roberto calvi's death

Was accepted By the british police

As suicide.

But when other investigators And journalists

Started looking into the case, Suspicions began to emerge.

Bellinger: Calvi's body was discovered

Hanging from a rope From blackfriars bridge

With bricks stuffed In his pocket.

But what doesn't add up here

Is that there were no Scuff marks on his body

That, you know, you would've Seen him clambering up,

Absolutely no brick dust On his hands.

And most damning, it is possible

To reconstruct the tide Of the time he was discovered

And realize that a boat Could have pulled up

Right at the foot of blackfriars

And hung him up In a seeming suicide scene.

One theory about Why robert calvi died

Is that he was really In the pocket of both

The vatican bank on the one hand And the mob on the other,

And that perhaps he got squeezed Between them in a deal gone bad.

Narrator: if roberto calvi's Death was murder

Rather than suicide, Then who killed him?

The mafia has always been The prime suspect,

But over the years, Conspiracy theories have raged

That the vatican Was also involved.

Selwood: Banco ambrosiano not only Had contacts with the mafia,

But also, the vatican bank owned A stake in banco ambrosiano.

So in no time at all,

All the headlines Around the world

Were saying god's banker Had been murdered

In some dirty Vatican financing story.

No one's ever been Convicted for the murder,

Although five mafia men were Tried in rome and acquitted.

But suspicion Has always remained

That the vatican Was somehow involved.

Narrator: Roberto calvi's death officially Remains a mystery to this day.

If he didn't commit suicide, Then was he killed to stop him

From exposing Sensational secrets?

And if so, who killed him?

To find out Some possible answers,

Historian john dickie is meeting

Investigative journalist Philip willan,

Who has spent years Trying to uncover the truth

About the calvi scandal.

Hello, philip. Very nice to meet you.

Pleasure.

So, philip, you've looked At the evidence in detail.

Was calvi "Suicided," As they say in italian?

Or did he commit suicide?

I think the first option Is most likely.

The murder trial in rome, Which I followed,

Didn't manage to convict people For his murder.

But at all levels Of the process,

They did conclude that He was murdered --

Or suicided, as you say --

Rather than Committing suicide himself.

One of the few things That the court,

At the various levels Of judgment --

The assize court, appeal,

And then The court of cassation --

All the courts agreed

Was that the claims That he laundered mafia money

Were believable And that was a fact.

During the official Investigation

Into the death Of god's banker,

The accounts of banco ambrosiano Were examined.

It was discovered That a huge amount of money --

Around a billion u.S. Dollars Or more --

Had gone missing Before calvi died.

If mafia bosses Or local crime bosses in rome

Had entrusted Their money to calvi

And it's missing From the accounts,

Sooner or later, they would've Been wanting to get it back.

The death of roberto calvi From banco ambrosiano

Was a scandal for the vatican.

But the evidence That would come out

During the investigation

As to where the money Allegedly went

Would be even more shocking than The mysterious murder itself.

*

Narrator: allegedly, Over the years,

The vatican has been involved In numerous financial scandals,

And none more sensational Than the so-called calvi affair.

When the body of roberto calvi,

Head of the italian Banco ambrosiano,

Was found hanging beneath Blackfriars bridge in london

In june 1982,

Initially, it was thought To be suicide.

But evidence gradually emerged Suggesting that calvi,

Nicknamed god's banker

Due to his very close links To the vatican,

May well have been murdered.

As it's a fact that the vatican And the banco ambrosiano

Were connected with some very Dirty financial transactions

And the chairman of The banco ambrosiano

Was found murdered In very strange circumstances,

One wonders Exactly who had him killed.

Narrator: Exactly why roberto calvi Was killed is not known,

But many people speculate He was involved in the plot

To assassinate Pope john paul I.

Perhaps this same group Then turned on calvi.

During the investigation Into the death of god's banker,

It was also discovered That just before he died,

He tried to blackmail High-powered people

Who might fear being connected

To his bank's Illegal activities.

Should it collapse As a result of its debts,

Calvi wanted them to provide him With the missing money.

To find out more, Historian john dickie is meeting

Investigative journalist Philip willan,

Who has spent years uncovering The truth about the scandal.

I do personally think That he was murdered.

And I do think that It probably was related

To his blackmail attempts.

He's desperately trying To save his financial empire,

And he's threatening anybody Who he thinks he has dirt on.

And that includes the vatican And archbishop paul marcinkus,

The american head Of the vatican bank.

He writes letters, Rather threatening letters,

To the pope himself.

The reason for the attempted Blackmail was because,

As the italian courts Discovered,

A significant amount Of mafia money

Was laundered Through the vatican bank --

Banco ambrosiano's Main shareholder.

The key question For investigators

Was whether The vatican bank knew this.

Although wrongdoing Was never admitted,

The vatican bank later paid Over $200 million

To banco ambrosiano's creditors,

Said to be in recognition

Of the vatican bank's moral Involvement in the scandal.

Another key question was Where the missing money went.

Conspiracy theorists Point to the fact

That archbishop paul marcinkus, An american,

Was head of the vatican bank Throughout the 1970s and '80s.

At this time, during the Cold war with the soviet union,

The church was being suppressed Behind the iron curtain.

So the interests of the cia And the vatican

In fighting communism

Allegedly coincided.

The links aren't there to be Seen completely in public.

It's just that There are connections

Which are very damning.

It's believed that the vatican Was channeling funds

To, for example, The contras in nicaragua

And solidarity in poland

Through the banco ambrosiano.

Narrator: in return For political protection,

It's claimed That the mafia agreed

To provide much of the money.

At that time, the mafia was A potential ally

In the war Against communism.

It was a conservative Organization.

It was, in many cases, Linked to the catholic church,

As a lot of mafia bosses Were devout in their own way.

The struggle Against communism

Trumped any other Consideration.

And I think there was An extraordinary amount

Of flexibility

In dealing with people That you disapproved of.

You took their money and You used it for a good cause.

Narrator: in the letters Of blackmail roberto calvi wrote

Just before his death,

They are said to have Threatened to reveal

Banco ambrosiano's many Dirty secrets.

The vatican, the cia, And the mafia

Might all have feared The consequences.

So, if we assume That calvi was murdered,

There was a queue of people, Effectively,

Who had an interest In wanting him silenced.

We have the mafia, We have the church hierarchy,

We have politics.

This whole system --

The overlapping systems, We can say --

Are suddenly All pointed at calvi.

It does seem That in the cover-up

And the failure To investigate,

Or the inefficiency Of the investigation

Over the years,

It does look very much As though powerful forces

Didn't want anyone to get To the bottom of this mystery,

Probably because They were implicated

In whatever -- What happened.

Still, to this day, The calvi case remains unsolved.

Perhaps, hidden inside The vatican archive,

There will be vital evidence That reveals the truth

About this and many other Vatican scandals.

The secret archive also contains Fascinating details

On the vatican's More far-out practices.

One such curiosity Is why the vatican operates

A state-of-the-art astronomical Observatory in arizona.

Could it be they are searching The heavens for aliens?

*

*

Narrator: curiously, The vatican has, for centuries,

Operated An astronomical observatory

Studying the heavens.

Detailed observation Of the movement

Of the planets and stars Began back in the 16th century,

When pope gregory xiii had the So-called gregorian tower built

At the vatican in order To more accurately calculate

The annual church calendar, Such as the date of easter.

People question why The vatican has a telescope

And a big observatory, and Has done for hundreds of years.

The answer is actually Very simple.

For centuries, the church was Based on a liturgical calendar

That the vatican Had to calculate,

And that calendar Is based on the movement

Of the heavenly bodies, And astronomy.

Narrator: Since the 1990s, however, The main vatican observatory

Has been located not in italy,

But, surprisingly, In the united states.

Bellinger: the vatican Long maintained an observatory

And telescope in rome.

Now, as rome grew And light pollution increased,

This was no longer A viable place

To do the best observations Of the night sky.

And so the vatican acquired A location in arizona

And has established An absolutely state-of-the-art

Observatory out there.

Narrator: today, Some people question

Why the vatican built Such a highly advanced,

Ultra-modern telescope On arizona's mount graham.

The religious calendar

Was accurately calculated Centuries ago.

Could it be that the vatican Observatory has a secret agenda?

It's absolutely incredible That the vatican has got

Its own telescope, huge telescope, in arizona.

Are they looking For extraterrestrials?

Do they believe There are extraterrestrials?

The catholic church can't Believe that there are aliens,

Because they've told us For 2,000 years

That we are the only planet In the universe

That has life on it.

But there are legends That they do believe it.

Narrator: according to Conspiracy theorists,

The vatican observatory On mount graham

Isn't really interested In using the telescope

For astronomical reasons.

They're actually looking For incoming ufos.

Josh peck is an author who makes This highly controversial claim.

You know, I believe That mount graham is

One of the biggest secrets Of the vatican today.

And the reason That I think that is,

I don't think it's all about Just the science.

I believe that The vatican believes

That when jesus returns,

He will return As an alien being.

And I believe that's really part Of what's going on

With the telescope On mount graham is all about.

If they believe That jesus christ

Is gonna return as an alien,

Wouldn't they want to use This telescope

To try to make contact With him first?

Narrator: It's an astonishing claim

That the vatican believes An alien in a ufo

Might herald The second coming of christ.

The jesuit priests who operate The vatican observatory,

However, say that although They are intellectually curious

About the nature Of god's universe,

The telescope is, in reality,

Used for more mainstream Astronomical research.

Staff astronomer Father jean-baptiste kikwaya

Explains.

Kikwaya: This is our telescope.

Many people, you know, think That religion and science,

They don't go together, But that is totally wrong.

They go together From the beginning.

The church Is not against science.

Myself, I work on meteors --

You know, shooting stars --

And asteroid and comet.

Narrator: intriguingly, one of Father kikwaya's main interests

Is trying to spot Potentially dangerous asteroids

On a collision course With earth.

If he happens to see one, Its predicted trajectory

Can be analyzed in The telescope control room.

It's very important. I don't know, I mean,

If you heard about an asteroid Destroying, you know, dinosaurs.

So it's good to know When actually --

You know, when asteroid will hit The earth and where,

And what kind of damage, Actually, is it going to create.

Narrator: Although it may seem surprising

That vatican astronomers

Are carrying out This kind of research,

The vatican observatory Is well-regarded

In a wide range Of fields of study,

As longtime University of arizona astronomer

Chris impey explains.

Impey: The vatican observatory,

It's made significant Contributions

To the study Of the center of galaxies.

Some galaxies are active and Have something bizarre going on

Because of a black hole. Some are not so active.

And yet ostensibly, the galaxies Are built the same way.

So what's special about that?

So they've done some surveys That relate to that.

So they've contributed to, You know, a range of subjects.

Nothing at the, you know, Foundational level

That might merit nobel prize

Or that kind of level Of discovery,

But a major contribution To astronomy knowledge

Over the years.

Narrator: despite The vatican observatory's

Scientific achievements, However,

Some people believe that Their official research projects

Are just a cover story.

Officially, the telescope Is there to monitor

Near-earth objects

And monitor the development Of galaxies,

The movement of stars, And so on -- in fact,

All the things observatories Usually are there for.

But conspiracy theorists believe That the catholic church

Is really using it To look out for e.T.'s,

Look out for aliens.

It's natural to wonder If vatican astronomers

Are particularly interested In the idea of life out there

Because it would reflect somehow Onto their religious tradition

Or their belief system.

And indeed, They're as interested in it

As any other astronomers That I meet.

But as far as I know,

They're not doing any particular Projects in that regard.

Also, their telescope

Isn't really well-suited As a telescope

To doing the kind of exoplanet Hunting or life detection

That astronomers Are doing elsewhere.

Narrator: nonetheless, Some people claim

That the vatican observatory's Research in detecting asteroids

That might be on a collision Course with earth

Has actually been designed

To hide very different, Secret investigations.

Now, let's be honest. It's absolutely bizarre

That the vatican has A telescope at all,

Let alone one that's pointed In deep space

For purposes of identifying

Incoming life-threatening Objects.

Why is that their job?

Narrator: so, Is the vatican observatory

Really studying What they say they are?

Or could they secretly Be investigating life

Beyond our planet?

*

Narrator: according to Conspiracy theorists,

The vatican believes That christ's second coming

Might be as an alien In a spaceship.

Allegedly, The official research

Of the vatican's observatory In arizona is a cover story.

Instead of detecting faraway Galaxies and asteroids

On a collision course With earth,

It's claimed that, in fact,

The vatican observatory Is searching for incoming ufos.

Others strongly deny this.

The fact there's a telescope Doesn't mean

That they're searching For aliens

Or they're trying to convert Little green people.

It just means That they're furthering

Their scientific work.

Narrator: astronomer Father kikwaya,

Who leads the vatican's Official research project

Detecting incoming asteroids, Dismisses the idea

That he's secretly looking For alien spaceships,

And says there's no photographic Or other evidence

That they exist.

[ laughs ] You know, If someone say, "I saw one,"

And I say, "Okay, so did you not Take a picture of it?

And then if you show me The picture

And I'm convinced That, I mean, that is one,

And then I will believe."

So until now, I mean, People just talk about it,

But nobody has taken A real picture of an ufo.

Yeah, yeah.

Narrator: nevertheless, Father kikwaya does accept

That there is a good chance Of life existing

On other planets In the universe.

There is truly a possibility

Of life beyond, you know, What we know.

We don't have Any scientific proof yet.

But I mean, with what we know,

With, you know, The size of the universe,

With the number of planets We have now in the universe,

We say, "Okay, There is a possibility

Of life, you know, Beyond the earth."

That is the position Of the church, as well.

There is a possibility Of life beyond.

Longtime university of arizona Astronomer chris impey agrees.

I've heard what a series Of three or four directors

Of the vatican observatory have Said and thought about that.

And, you know, they're probably In the same camp and situation

As the average astronomer Who's aware of the subject.

They think It's entirely plausible

That there's life In the universe.

They think it's even plausible That some of it could be

Intelligent, rival us Or exceed us in intelligence.

Bellinger: in fact, The vatican recently hosted

A global conference That brought together scholars

From all different Scientific disciplines

To examine the question Of whether there might be life

Beyond our solar system.

And I think it's tempting To imagine

That as being anathema To a religious philosophy,

But in fact, it's not.

You know, it's all about How humanity fits

Into the global plan Of the world and the universe.

And that is all part Of god's plan,

As far as the church Is concerned.

Kikwaya: if, you know, tomorrow, We come really to realize

That there is life elsewhere,

That is not gonna be, For us, a surprise,

But maybe a confirmation

That god truly is more than What we think of him.

Impey: we can project That there are 10 or 15 billion

Habitable worlds, Roughly earthlike,

In the milky way galaxy.

So that's that many places Where there could be life.

And also, there's been time Before the earth formed,

Billions of years Before the earth formed,

For those planets To have gotten started with life

And the life to have evolved.

So it's not ridiculous To hold a view

That there's intelligent Technological life out there.

It's just that astronomers think We haven't encountered it yet,

And it hasn't encountered us.

Narrator: interestingly,

If mainstream astronomers Do happen to encounter aliens,

There is a plan about What action they should take.

Astronomers actually have A protocol of what you do

If intelligent life is found -- Who should be told first,

Do you try and communicate back If you've received a message?

If you find an artifact that you Believe to be of alien artifact,

What do you do with it?

So astronomers have actually Had to think about these things.

So, as for how The vatican observatory

Or the official Vatican church infrastructure

Would react to the Discovery of life elsewhere,

Intelligent life, I don't know If they have a protocol.

This came up at a conference. The director of the observatory

Was asked pretty much These questions.

And he said, "No, we don't have A particular protocol for that."

Narrator: hidden deep inside The vatican secret archives,

Could there in fact Be a secret protocol

Describing how The catholic church will react

If intelligent aliens Are discovered?

And incredibly, perhaps, Also describing what actions

The pope will take If one of the aliens

Is thought to be The second coming of jesus?

Gough: I do believe the world's A far stranger place

Than we give it credit for.

And the catholic church --

Where there's smoke, There's fire.

The vatican secret archives Contain documents

That they don't want The world to know,

Documents that Have been suppressed

Because they would change The way we think about theology.

That's why they call it The secret archives.

Narrator: apart from documents That might reveal

The vatican's alleged Interest in aliens,

The secret archive may well Contain sensational answers

To many of the most enduring Vatican controversies

And scandals.

Gough: I would like to see A whistleblower come forward

And tell the truth About the vatican

And the secrets They've been withholding.

Then we could properly Rewrite history.

Narrator: Will claims that the vatican Collaborated with the nazis

During world war ii Be proven or disproven

As a result of the early opening

Of the vatican's Wartime archive?

Historians now have Their work cut out for them.

And what secrets about vatican Corruption and mafia murders

Lie waiting to be discovered

When pope john paul I's Secret archive

Is finally opened in 2048?

Researchers can only hope that His archive is released early

And the truth can be told.