Illuminati Theories Emerge As Pope Resigns: Conspiracies, Rumors Fly As Benedict XVI ea!

es Vatican

Illuminati conspiracy theories about the pope and the Roman Catholic Church emerged Thursday as Benedict XVI formally resigned the papacy. Catholicism has long been the target of rumors that it is a key player in a wide-ranging conspiracy that alleges that there is a global organi ation of powerful elites called the Illuminati that controls world e!ents and is working to establish a "ew #orld $rder go!ernment to rule the world. Twitter % a reliable hotbed for the latest assertions by conspiracy-watchers around the world% was on fire with such rumors throughout the day on Thursday. $ne of the most popular tweets connecting the pope to the Illuminati came% unsurprisingly% from the popular &TheIlluminati account .

'The pope resigned because he(s )oining the illuminati%' the account wrote % garnering *+ retweets within two hours of the message being posted. Twitter user ,ean ,ulli!an took the rumors a step further% alleging that the pope was meeting at the Vatican -which he dubbed illuminati ./0 with late rapper Tupac% who many people belie!e ne!er actually died% as well as popular Illuminati rumor targets 1resident Barack $bama and Beyonc e . ',omeone photoshop a pic of the pope% beyonce% obama% and tupac partying. Cause thats wats happening at illuminati ./ right now2tupacli!es%' he tweeted . 3nd Twitter user Brefni $(Rourke connected the pope(s resignation -perhaps in )est0 to current e!ents% including% oddly% ,cott #eiland being fired #ednesday as front man of the ,tone Temple 1ilots. '3 meteor hits Russia% The 1ope 4uits and #eiland gets fired from ,T15 Chess mo!es in the Illuminati(s global endgame% people. I(m tellin ya%' he tweeted Thursday afternoon . But not e!eryone bought into the hype. Twitter user Billy 6alidas e7pressed his skepticism as the rumors built steam. '.old up% are people really saying the pope is stepping down because he(s )oining the illuminati 5 2wtf%' he tweeted . This is not the first time this month that rumored connections between the Catholic Church% 1ope Benedict and the Illuminati ha!e emerged. #hen the pope first announced on 6eb. 88 that he would be stepping down% a number of conspiracy theorists posited that the Illuminati was behind the resignation.

9!en an opinion writer for 1ra!da% a communist newspaper in Russia% discussed such beliefs two days after 1ope Benedict made the une7pected announcement: ';ast night% a lightning stroke <sic= a dome in the city of the Vatican%' he wrote% referencing a widely circulated image showing the freak natural occurrence. '#as it a plot of .aarp program or a sign of an angry sky5 $f course% it could be considered as a sign of the Illuminati% one day after the pope(s resignation% which has despaired many of the traditionalist Catholics who belie!ed in him as their last chance.' .aarp is the acronym for the .igh 6re4uency 3cti!e 3uroral 1rogram % an 3laska-based program funded by the >nited ,tates military% the >ni!ersity of 3laska andthe ?efense 3d!anced Research 1ro)ects 3gency . It has been in!oked in a number of wild conspiracy theories% and the 1ra!da writer% "icolas Bonnal% in!oked the program(s name in the same breath as his mention of the Illuminati% pointing to the wide range of rumors that ha!e plagued the Catholic Church since 1ope Benedict declared that he would be resigning from the papacy. 3 !ariety of conspiracy theories about the Catholic Church gained international attention when author ?an Brown(s popular no!els% including @++A best-seller 'The ?aVinci Code%' discussed a number of conspiracy theories about the founding of Christianity and the history of Catholicism% including the concept that there was a fight between the shadowy 1riory of ,ion and $pus ?ei groups o!er the possibility that Besus Christ married Cary Cagdalene. The popular books include repeated references to -- and symbols of -- leading conspiracies about the church% drawing from rumors about the Dnights of the Templar% pentacles% ,atanism% the legend of the .oly Erail and more. The rumors that emerged on Thursday connecting the pope(s resignation are the newest iterations of this established line of in4uiry.