Former White House strategist Steve Bannon was in contact with Jeffrey Epstein about how to "take down" Pope Francis, CNN reported Saturday.
Bannon, who had previously served as an advisor to US President Donald Trump, reportedly petitioned Epstein to help him take down the pope in a series of private emails dated around June 2019.
"Will take down (Pope) Francis," he wrote. "The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU – come on, brother.”
Bannon also sent Epstein an article about the Vatican condemning "populist nationalism," to which Epstein responded by saying, "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven." Bannon has long been a vocal advocate of populist policies.
Epstein emailed Bannon in 2018 about organizing a trip for the pope to the Middle East, adding "headline - tolerance."
Bannon attempts to recruit Epstein for film on Vatican homosexuality
Bannon also allegedly attempted to enlist Epstein in a film adaptation of the book In the Closet of the Vatican, suggesting that he serve as executive producer. The book, written in 2019 by French journalist Frédéric Martel, was heavily critical of the hypocrisy and secrecy found in the church, describing 80% of the clergy in the Vatican as being gay.
CNN also reported that Epstein emailed himself In the closet of the Vatican in April 2019, and later sent Bannon an article titled "Pope Francis or Steve Bannon? Catholics must choose,” to which Bannon replies, “easy choice.”
Austen Ivereigh, a biographer of Pope Francis, told CNN that Bannon wanted to use In the Closet of the Vatican to discredit and damage the pope. “I think he badly misjudged the nature of the book – and Pope Francis,” he said.
Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official, told CNN that Bannon's messages reveal more than hostility towards Pope Francis, but "a deeper attempt to instrumentalize faith as a weapon – precisely the temptation he sought to disarm.”