The declassification of U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) documents on February 15, 2026, has unearthed the putrid remains of an unholy alliance between Steve Bannon, the chief architect of global right-wing populism, and Jeffrey Epstein, the disgraced pedophile financier. These records expose a calculated, sinister coordination to “take down” Pope Francis. This was never a mere theological dispute; it was a high-stakes geopolitical coup attempt aimed at neutralizing the most influential moral voice standing against the tide of ethno-nationalist authoritarianism.
In 2019 e-mails, Bannon utilized Cold War-era rhetoric, placing the Pope on a “hit list” alongside the Clintons, the European Union, and the Chinese leadership. Bannon’s obsession with Rome—where he attempted to establish a “gladiator school” for far-right militants in a medieval monastery—proves that capturing the Vatican was the central pillar of his reactionary revolution. Epstein, acting as a shadowy facilitator, discussed financing a propaganda film based on Frédéric Martel’s book “In the Closet of the Vatican”, intending to instrumentalize clerical sex scandals not for justice, but to blackmail the Jesuit Pontiff into submission or resignation.
Weaponizing Faith for Fascist Gain
Bannon’s interest in Martel’s work unmasks the absolute cynicism of the “Judeo-Christian” values he claims to defend. He wasn’t seeking to protect victims or reform the Church; he sought to convert confessional secrets into political ammunition. Suggesting that Epstein—a man then notorious for sex crimes against minors—serve as an executive producer for a film on Catholic morality is the ultimate indictment of Bannon’s nihilism. It reveals a fascist elite that views religious institutions as mere chess pieces to be cleared for the arrival of a pre-Enlightenment, white-nationalist state.
The response from Vatican insiders, such as Father Antonio Spadaro, strikes at the heart of the conspiracy: the attempt to turn faith into a weapon of mass destruction. By defending migrants and slamming unfettered capitalism, Pope Francis became Bannon’s “Public Enemy Number One.” The e-mails prove that for these conspirators, the Church had to be “purged” of its humanist leadership to make way for a theological bunker aligned with predatory capital and sovereignist isolationism.
Analysis & Context
The Bannon-Epstein-Salvini Axis
The documents also implicate figures like Italy’s Matteo Salvini, whom Bannon urged to “attack” the Pope on his home turf. This transnational coordination demonstrates that the assault on Francis was a dress rehearsal for the destabilization of Western democracies. While Epstein mockingly quoted John Milton’s Paradise Lost—remarking it is “better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven”—Bannon was busy trying to build that very hell on Earth. The failure of this plot, thwarted by institutional resilience and the refusal of intellectuals like Martel to be co-opted, provides a rare glimpse into how modern fascism seeks legitimacy through the hijacking of millennial institutions.
Takeaways:
- The Bannon-Epstein axis sought to turn the Vatican into an ideological satellite for the far-right.
- Clerical scandals were systematically weaponized as character assassination tools against Pope Francis.
- Steve Bannon actively recruited Jeffrey Epstein to fund anti-Vatican propaganda.
- Pope Francis is targeted specifically for his pro-migrant and anti-nationalist stances.
- The alliance exposes the far-right’s total disregard for religious ethics in favor of sovereign power.
Key Facts:
- Release Date: February 15, 2026.
- Source: U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) declassified files.
- Correspondence Period: June 2019.
- Primary Targets: Pope Francis, the EU, Xi Jinping.
- Central Literary Reference: “In the Closet of the Vatican” by Frédéric Martel.
- Key Collaborators: Matteo Salvini and Benjamin Harnwell.
