Newly released documents from the United States Department of Justice have revealed that Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist for President Donald Trump, actively courted the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in a campaign to undermine Pope Francis. The messages, sent in 2019, show Bannon discussing opposition strategies with Epstein and explicitly stating his desire to “take down” the pontiff.
The files, part of a massive document dump last month, include direct messages between Bannon and Epstein. In one exchange from June 2019, Bannon wrote to Epstein: “Will take down (Pope) Francis.” He then listed other perceived opponents: “The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU – come on brother.” The messages highlight the depth of Bannon’s hostility toward the late pope, whom he saw as a key adversary to his “sovereigntist” vision—a brand of nationalist populism that swept across Europe in 2018 and 2019.
Bannon's campaign against Pope Francis
Bannon had long been a vocal critic of Pope Francis. In 2018, he told The Spectator that Francis was “beneath contempt,” accusing him of siding with “globalist elites” and undermining traditional Christian values. According to reporting by “SourceMaterial,” Bannon even urged Matteo Salvini, now Italy’s deputy prime minister, to “attack” the pontiff. Salvini, known for his anti-immigrant stance, has frequently used Christian iconography and language in his political campaigns.
The late pope, for his part, was a direct counterweight to the nationalist populism that Bannon championed. Francis strongly criticized nationalism, made advocacy for migrants a central theme of his papacy, and repeatedly called for a more inclusive and compassionate society. This placed him in direct opposition to the Trumpian worldview that Bannon helped shape.
Bannon’s interest in the Vatican was not new. He had set up a Rome bureau when he ran Breitbart News and was involved in efforts to establish a political training academy—dubbed a “gladiator school”—to defend Judeo-Christian values. The proposed school was to be located in the 800-year-old former monastery Certosa di Trisulti, about 47 miles south-east of Rome. Benjamin Harnwell, a British political adviser and close associate of Bannon, had been working on converting the monastery into a training center for nationalist-populist leaders. The Italian government revoked the lease in 2019, citing irregularities, but a Roman court later cleared Harnwell, and he is seeking to regain the lease.
The Epstein connection and the film project
The newly released files show that Bannon actively sought Epstein’s help and expertise in his campaign against Pope Francis. Central to this effort was the book “In the Closet of the Vatican,” a 2019 work by French journalist Frédéric Martel that exposed secrecy and hypocrisy at high levels of the Catholic Church. The book created a storm by claiming that 80% of clergy working in the Vatican are gay while exploring how they keep their sexuality hidden. The issue of homosexuality in the church has been a lightning rod for conservative critics, who see it as evidence of a deeper crisis. However, most experts and researchers caution against conflating sexual orientation with abuse, noting that such linkages are scientifically inaccurate.
Bannon met Martel in Paris at the five-star Hotel Le Bristol and expressed interest in turning the book into a film. In messages later exchanged with Epstein, Bannon suggested that the convicted sex offender could become the film’s executive producer. “You are now exec producer of ‘ITCOTV’ (In the closet of the Vatican),” Bannon wrote. Epstein did not directly respond to the offer in the messages, instead asking about Bannon filming Noam Chomsky, the noted philosopher and public intellectual. Martel later said he believed Bannon wanted to “instrumentalize” the book in his efforts against Francis. Martel noted that he could not agree to any film deal because his publishers controlled the film rights and had already signed an agreement with another corporation.
The exchange reveals the lengths to which Bannon was willing to go to damage Francis. Austen Ivereigh, a biographer of the late pope, said Bannon thought he could use Martel’s book to embarrass and hurt Francis while claiming to “purify” the church. “I think he badly misjudged the nature of the book – and Pope Francis,” Ivereigh told CNN. The messages show that Bannon and Epstein were in contact years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for child sex offenses and just before his 2019 arrest for sex trafficking of minors. That fact underscores the ethical blind spots in Bannon’s campaign.
Cardinal Burke distances himself
Bannon’s plan to turn the book into a film also cost him an ally in the Vatican. Cardinal Raymond Burke, a prominent conservative critic of Pope Francis, publicly stated: “I am not at all of the mind that the book should be made into a film.” Burke himself was portrayed unflatteringly in Martel’s book, which may have contributed to his concern. Burke later severed ties with Dignitatis Humanae, the conservative institute founded by Benjamin Harnwell and closely associated with Bannon. Harnwell’s institute had been the vehicle for the Trisulti monastery project. Harnwell told CNN that Epstein was “not involved in Trisulti,” pushing back against any suggestion that Epstein had a role in the training academy.
Bannon’s correspondence with Epstein also shows a steady stream of political articles and themes. In July 2018, Bannon forwarded an email to Epstein with an article from the Italian newspaper La Repubblica headlined “Bannon the European: He’s opening the populist fort in Brussels.” The article had originally been sent to Bannon by Harnwell, further indicating the close coordination between the two men. Bannon’s efforts to build a transnational populist movement included reaching out to figures like Epstein, who had a vast network of wealthy and influential contacts.
The Vatican’s reaction and broader implications
Father Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official who worked closely with Pope Francis, described Bannon’s actions as a desire to fuse “spiritual authority with political power for strategic ends.” He said the messages reveal “not merely hostility toward a pontiff, but a deeper attempt to instrumentalize faith as a weapon – precisely the temptation he sought to disarm.” The period from 2018 to 2019 saw intense opposition to Francis, culminating in an August 2018 dossier released by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the former papal ambassador to the United States. The document accused Francis of failing to deal with abuse committed by Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. A Vatican inquiry later cleared Francis of any wrongdoing.
Elsewhere in the Epstein files, there are indications that Epstein himself attempted to engage with the papacy. In a message to his brother Mark, Epstein joked about inviting Pope Francis to his residence for a “massage” during the U.S. papal visit in 2015. Two years later, he messaged Bannon saying he was trying to “organize a trip for the pope to the Middle East,” adding the expected headline would be “tolerance.” These comments show Epstein’s bizarre mixture of personal aggrandizement and political maneuvering.
When Bannon shared an article about the Vatican condemning “populist nationalism,” Epstein responded with a quote from John Milton’s epic poem “Paradise Lost,” spoken by Satan after being cast out of heaven: “Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.” This literary reference reflected Epstein’s own defiance and perhaps his sense of being an outcast. The documents paint a picture of two men, both operating on the fringes of political and religious power, collaborating in a campaign against a pope who stood as a moral obstacle to their ambitions.
The full extent of Bannon’s relationship with Epstein remains under scrutiny. Epstein’s death by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal charges cut short any deeper investigation into his network. Trump, who has been linked to Epstein through past social interactions, has consistently denied any wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or any allegations of sexual misconduct. Bannon’s representative has not responded to requests for comment on the newly released documents.
The revelations add a damaging chapter to Bannon’s legacy, showing that he was willing to collaborate with a convicted sex offender to achieve his political and ideological goals. The files also underline the deep-seated tensions within the Catholic Church, which continue to shape debates about faith, power, and morality. As analysts review the documents, the story of Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein may yet yield more insights into the dark underbelly of political influence campaigns.
Source: CNN News