What happened 58 years ago today?

Smoke Signals:
The White Conclave Smoke of Oct. 26, 1958

white-smoke-gleaner
We realize we’ve brought this up a few times before, and we don’t want to beat the topic to death, but there are probably a lot of new readers of our site out there now who may not be aware of what happened 58 years ago today at the conclave that was taking place in Rome to elect a successor to Pope Pius XII.

As happens after the death of every Pope, so too in 1958 the cardinals gathered in the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City to determine who would succeed the late Pius XII, who had died on Oct.… READ MORE

The event that started it all…

Former FBI Consultant Claims: U.S. Intel Docs show Cardinal Siri elected Pope Gregory XVII in 1958

Former FBI consultant Paul L. Williams cites declassified U.S. intelligence documents allegedly showing that Cardinal Giuseppe Siri was elected Pope Gregory XVII at the conclave that, two days later, produced John XXIII

In 2003, former FBI consultant Paul L. Williams published a book called The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia (Prometheus Books). Although the book deals with alleged Vatican corruption in terms of money and power and has a decidedly liberal flavor, Williams also — almost as a side note — includes some straightforward, objective information on the papal conclave of 1958.… READ MORE