Bertolli Genavesse

Bertolli Genavesse was a Jesuit archivist and a reporter for the Jesuit Historical Institute covering Pope Benedict XVI's visit to New York City in the spring of 2010. He was drawn into a scheme to discredit the pope masterminded by members of Opus Dei.

Overview

Though he worked for the Jesuits, Genavesse was not ordained. He prided himself on his journalistic integrity, even when it meant printing work that was critical of the Catholic Church or showed it in a negative light. This caused some trouble for him under Pope John Paul II, but Benedict was more lenient with him.^[1]

An anonymous called contacted Genavesse shortly before his trip to New York City, claiming to have information about money being laundered through a Vatican charitable fund. The caller promised to put Genavesse in touch with an American priest who was in on this operation and willing to speak on-record about it.^[2]

Genavesse arrived in New York on May 9 and checked into a hotel. On May 11, he was contacted by Fr. Henry Stanislav, the alleged informant, who arranged to meet Genavesse at an abandoned church on West Sycamore Street. When Genavesse went to the rendezvous, he was murdered by Apocrypha, a nova hired by Fr. Angelo Chalepeno for that purpose. Chalepeno then requested help from a team of novas unconnected to the Church, saying only that Genavesse had gone missing.^[3] The novas found Genavesse's body, including a recording of his encounter with Apocrypha, at the West Sycamore Street location.^[4]

References