An Objective Historical, Canonical, and Theological Presentation of the Arguments Concerning the Alleged Election of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri as Pope Gregory XVII in the Conclaves of 1958 and 1963
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 – Arguments in Favor of the Siri Thesis
- Chapter 2 – Arguments Against the Siri Thesis
- Bibliography
NB supplementary proofs
- Introduction
The Siri Thesis is a controversial hypothesis within certain traditionalist and sedevacantist circles. It claims that Cardinal Giuseppe Siri (1906-1989), Archbishop of Genoa, was elected Pope in the 1958 conclave (and according to some, also in 1963) under the name Gregory XVII, but that his election was undone or declared invalid under external pressure.
This document brings together fully and objectively all the arguments, proofs, quotations, and references presented by both sides.
- Chapter 1 – Arguments in Favor of the Siri Thesis
Prologue: The Facts of the Conclave of October 26, 1958
On October 26, 1958, white smoke appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on two occasions: around 11:53 a.m. (morning) and around 5:53–6:00 p.m. (afternoon). Vatican Radio announced: “The smoke is white… There is absolutely no doubt. A Pope has been elected.” The crowd shouted “Viva il Papa!” A few minutes later the smoke turned black and the announcement was retracted as a “mistake.” It was not until October 28, 1958, that Cardinal Angelo Roncalli was elected as John XXIII.
Source: The New York Times, October 27, 1958: “The smoke that appeared shortly before noon was at first pure white … Cries of ‘Viva il Papa!’ rose up … A priest acting as official announcer for Vatican Radio cried out excitedly: ‘It is white, it is white! We have a Pope!’ …”
Proof (1): The White Smoke and the Announcement
White smoke traditionally indicates a successful election. According to supporters, the explicit announcement by Vatican Radio points to the election of Cardinal Giuseppe Siri as Pope Gregory XVII on the third or fourth ballot. The subsequent black smoke would have been the result of external pressure.
Proof (2): FBI and Intelligence Documents via Paul L. Williams
Paul L. Williams, The Vatican Exposed: Money, Murder, and the Mafia (Prometheus Books, 2003, pp. 90-92): “On the third ballot, according to FBI sources, Siri obtained the necessary votes and was elected Pope Gregory XVII. […] But the French cardinals annulled the results with the argument that the election would cause widespread riots and the murder of several prominent bishops behind the Iron Curtain, because Siri was known as a declared and inflexible anticommunist.” He refers to declassified documents from the U.S. State Department (1958 and 1961).
Evidence of Pressure and Threats
According to Prince Paul Scortesco (nephew of Prince Sigismondo Borghese, president of the 1963 conclave), Cardinal Eugène Tisserant allegedly left the Sistine Chapel during the conclave to contact representatives of the B’nai B’rith. He reportedly informed them that the far-too-conservative Siri had been elected, to which they replied that he could use as an argument that this would immediately lead to new persecutions against the Church. Scortesco claims that Tisserant then returned and facilitated the election of Montini (Paul VI).
This claim rests exclusively on the writings of Prince Scortesco (Louis Hubert Remy, Sous la Bannière no. 6, July–August 1986).
Extended Context of the French Cardinals
According to Paul L. Williams and other supporters of the Siri Thesis, the French cardinals (including Cardinal Tisserant and more progressive groups) feared that a conservative Pope like Siri, known as a very rigid and fierce anticommunist, would provoke immediate and severe reprisals from communist regimes behind the Iron Curtain. There was fear of widespread riots, arrests, tortures, and murders of imprisoned or persecuted bishops and priests in countries such as Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Soviet Union. They therefore preferred a less confrontational and more “dialoguing” Pope, better suited to a policy of détente in the context of the Cold War.
What lay behind this maneuver by the French cardinals was even more sinister: the vm wanted to get rid of the Church through infiltration and by introducing a progressive Pope, thereby hollowing out the Church from within. We know this from the leaked documents of the “Alta Vendetta” published by Crétineau-Joly. We indeed see the results today of how the Church, after Vatican II, under the liberal (and vm-inclined) Popes John XXIII and Paul VI, finds itself in a state of massive apostasy and an unprecedented crisis. A conservative Siri would have thwarted these plans simply by being a good, non-liberal (and non-vm-inclined) Pope. That is why there was this intrigue by Cardinal Tisserant with the vm B’nai B’rith together with the other liberals to win over the rest of the conclave with that story about “the communist reaction,” which was thus a stratagem of war.
Dr. J.P.M. van der Ploeg OP is said to have stated that Tisserant threatened Siri in the sacristy: “If you do not step down, we will know how to find you and your large family in Genoa.”
In 1963, Malachi Martin (The Keys of This Blood, Simon & Schuster, 1990, pp. 607-609) describes a similar scenario: Siri obtained the votes but replied “Non accepto” (I do not accept), because he feared “serious damage.” Martin speaks of a “small brutality”: a conversation with an envoy from an international organization.
Later Confession by Siri Himself: Testimony of Father Peter Khoat Van Tran
Toward the end of his life, Cardinal Siri is said to have confessed to the Vietnamese priest Father Peter Khoat Van Tran that he was indeed Pope Gregory XVII. He reportedly admitted that he had renounced under duress and had created secret cardinals who underground elected a successor (the basis of the Siri movement).
Father Khoat Van Tran met Siri several times in 1988-1989 in Rome (at the Istituto Ravasco monastery where Siri celebrated Mass) and obtained these confessions after repeated questions. Siri reportedly said that he was a “prisoner” and feared for his life if he acted openly. Siri died on May 2, 1989.
References:
– Personal testimonies of Father Peter Khoat Van Tran (including a handwritten statement of May 20, 2006, published on thepopeinred.com and in Today’s Catholic World).
– Magnus Lundberg, “Modern Alternative Popes 15: The Cardinal Siri Thesis” (May 15, 2016).
Theological and Canonical Assessment
Canons 172 §1 and 185 of the Codex Iuris Canonici (1917) render an election or renunciation under grave fear or unjust coercion invalid. The Siri movement considers the underground succession legitimate.
Conclusion of Chapter 1
According to supporters, the white smoke, the FBI and intelligence documents, the evidence of threats and pressure (Tisserant and Malachi Martin), and Siri’s later confession to Father Khoat Van Tran together form a coherent whole. These elements prove, in their view, that Cardinal Siri was truly elected Pope Gregory XVII on October 26, 1958, but was forced under heavy external pressure to withdraw his acceptance. Consequently, his election would have remained valid, he would have been the legitimate Pope, and the subsequent elections of John XXIII and his successors would be invalid.
- Chapter 2 – Arguments Against the Siri Thesis
Prologue: The Facts of the Conclave of October 26, 1958
Refutation of the White Smoke and the Announcement
The appearance of white smoke and the announcement by Vatican Radio are explained technically by opponents. According to The New York Times of October 27, 1958, the smoke was in reality grayish. The morning smoke was probably the result of incomplete burning of the straw, causing the expected black smoke to appear lighter. For the afternoon smoke, which appeared after nightfall, black smoke was illuminated from below by spotlights, making it appear white. Vatican Radio quickly retracted the announcement when it realized that no definitive election had taken place. Such incidents with confusing smoke colors occurred frequently at conclaves due to the traditional burning of ballots with wet straw, which did not always produce a clear black or white color.
Refutation of the FBI and Intelligence Documents via Paul L. Williams
The claim that FBI sources would confirm that Siri was elected on the third ballot cannot be traced to any official declassified document. In later editions and interviews, Williams refers increasingly vaguely to “an FBI source” without providing a concrete reference or document number. Critics therefore consider this insufficient evidence.
Refutation of Pressure and Threats
These claims are based on hearsay. Siri himself said in 1985 to Louis Hubert Remy (Sous la Bannière, no. 6, July–August 1986): “No, no one left the conclave.” Malachi Martin emphasizes that Siri indicated his “Non accepto” was free.
Refutation of the Later Confession: Testimony of Father Peter Khoat Van Tran
The testimony of Khoat Van Tran is heavily contested. He met Siri in 1988-1989 but gave contradictory accounts: in 1988 Siri allegedly denied three times that he was Pope; only after Siri’s death (1989) did he claim that Siri had confirmed the election and created secret cardinals.
Khoat Van Tran, who claimed to have been ordained bishop by Cardinal Siri and raised to the cardinalate “in pectore” (in secret), later left the priesthood, married (“his wife” is named Nguyen Thi Giang Huong), and had at least two sons. He is described as an international businessman. His ordination (1967) was never officially confirmed; he does not appear in the Catholic directories of 1967 or 1968. Critics consider him unreliable.
References for this criticism:
– T. Stanfill Benns, “Gregory XVIII / ‘Fr.’ Tran Van Khoat fraud exposed!”, Betrayed Catholics, 2018.
– Magnus Lundberg (2016) notes that the claims rest solely on Khoat’s own testimonies.
Refutation by Siri’s Own Behavior
A weighty argument against the Siri Thesis is the public and consistent behavior of Cardinal Siri himself after 1958. He openly accepted John XXIII and Paul VI as legitimate Popes, held important offices under them until his death in 1989, and remained in full communion with the post-conciliar Popes, including John Paul I and John Paul II.
Siri even knelt before these Popes (there are photos showing him in an attitude of reverence and submission, kneeling before John Paul I and John Paul II). He actively participated in all four sessions of the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) as a Council Father. He intervened several times, was a member of important commissions, and even served as chairman of the Italian Bishops’ Conference (CEI) during part of the Council. He signed and approved all sixteen documents of Vatican II, including the controversial constitutions such as Lumen Gentium and Sacrosanctum Concilium.
After the Council, he concelebrated the Novus Ordo and swore fidelity to the successive Popes. He even tried to convince Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre to submit to the Pope and accept the conciliar norms in order to avoid a schism.
Additional and Decisive Argument: Loss ipso facto of All Ecclesiastical Offices by Acceptance of Vatican II
By his open and consistent acceptance of the Second Vatican Council and all its documents, Cardinal Siri associated himself with several public heresies contained in these conciliar texts (such as absolute civil freedom of religion, the recognition of non-Catholic sects as “means of salvation,” the equating of non-Christian religions with a “ray of truth,” the relativization of the primacy of the Pope and collegiality, the anthropocentric view of man as the center of creation, the neutrality of the state in religious matters, etc.).
According to the fifth and common opinion among theologians (Bellarmin, Ballerini, Wernz-Vidal, Billot, etc.) and according to the Codex Iuris Canonici of 1917 (canon 188 §4), a cleric who publicly falls into heresy loses ipso facto and without any formal declaration all ecclesiastical offices. This loss is immediate and radical, because public heresy excludes the person from the Church as a member and thus renders him unfit to hold any office or jurisdiction.
This rule applies without exception to the cardinalate and, hypothetically, to any possible pontificate. A Pope who falls into public heresy loses the pontificate ipso facto, because he is no longer a member of the Church and therefore cannot be its head (Bellarmin, De Romano Pontifice, lib. II, cap. 30; canon 188 §4).
Siri’s active participation in the Council, his signing of all the documents, and his later observance of the conciliar reforms (including the Novus Ordo) make him co-responsible for these public heresies. Consequently, according to the doctrine of the Church, he lost ipso facto all ecclesiastical offices, including the cardinalate and any possible pontificate he might have held according to the Siri Thesis. This behavior is incompatible with the claim that he would have been the true Pope Gregory XVII.
Theological and Canonical Refutation
Even in the hypothesis of coercion, the dogmatic fact of the universal and peaceful acceptance of a Pope by the entire Church prevails. Cardinal Louis Billot writes on this subject in Tractatus De Ecclesia Christi (5th edition, Romae: apud aedes Universitatis Gregorianae, 1927):
> «… whatever one may think about the hypothesis mentioned above, this one point must be held absolutely unshakable and placed beyond all doubt: acceptance by the universal Church will always be in itself an infallible sign of the legitimacy of the person of the Pope, and moreover of the existence of all the conditions required for such legitimacy.»
This teaching, based on the infallible promises of Christ, renders the Siri Thesis theologically untenable according to opponents.
Conclusion of Chapter 2
Historically, primary evidence is lacking; the testimony of Khoat Van Tran is contradictory and discredited; Siri’s consistent behavior — including his active participation in and signing of Vatican II and his kneeling attitude of reverence before the post-conciliar Popes — constitutes a weighty practical objection; and theologically the thesis clashes with the dogmatic fact of universal acceptance according to Billot. Moreover, by accepting the heresies of Vatican II, Siri lost ipso facto all ecclesiastical offices, including the cardinalate and any possible pontificate.
- Bibliography
– The New York Times, October 27, 1958.
– Williams, Paul L. The Vatican Exposed. Prometheus Books, 2003, pp. 90-92.
– Martin, Malachi. The Keys of This Blood. Simon & Schuster, 1990, pp. 607-609.
– Remy, Louis Hubert. “Le pape : serait-ce le Cardinal Siri?”, Sous la Bannière no. 6, July–August 1986.
– Lundberg, Magnus. “Modern Alternative Popes 15: The Cardinal Siri Thesis”, May 15, 2016.
– Benns, T. Stanfill. “Gregory XVIII / ‘Fr.’ Tran Van Khoat fraud exposed!”, Betrayed Catholics, 2018.
– Codex Iuris Canonici, 1917, cann. 172 §1 and 185.
– Billot, Cardinal Louis. Tractatus De Ecclesia Christi, Editio quinta, Romae: apud aedes Universitatis Gregorianae, 1927 (especially Thesis 29).
– The Pope in Red / Today’s Catholic World (pro-Siri publications with Khoat testimonies, 2006-2008).
Pax Christi.
NB
Additional proofs of the peaceful acceptance by Cardinal Siri of Pope John XXIII and Pope Paul VI, even after 1964, when Paul VI allegedly lost his papal office through public and indisputable heresies.
Cardinal Siri’s Speech in Praise of John XXIII
(1958)
Reference:
This speech was published on the Tradition in Action website:
https://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/A_148_Siri-J23.html
(The original Italian text and photocopy are also available there, from the Cardinal Siri website maintained by a group of Genoese scholars.)
In an attempt to help readers understand the flaws of some traditionalists who imagine that Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, was elected Pope instead of John XXIII, we publish here the text of the speech the Prelate delivered at a thanksgiving ceremony for the election of John XXIII. This ceremony took place in Genoa in 1958, ten days after the papal election. After reading this speech it seems impossible to pretend that Cardinal Siri, supposedly Gregory XVII, was unwillingly deprived of the papacy by an imaginary usurper, John XXIII.
Speech at the Thanksgiving Service for the Election of John XXIII (1958)
This speech was delivered by Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, Archbishop of Genoa, on November 1, 1958, at the end of the religious service celebrated in his Cathedral of St. Lawrence in recognition of the elevation of John XXIII to the Papacy.
On All Saints’ Day, a grand and serene spectacle enlightens the souls of all believers: it is the sight of those who throughout the ages have obtained the Redemption of Christ — whether the Christ who was to come or the Christ who has come — and who now live and reign with Him for all ages in eternal glory.
There [in Heaven] they re-establish the true and lasting human family, the family of God, without needs, quarrels, defeats or wars. They, the saints — both the canonized and the uncanonized — are at once intensely united with us and present to us. As we reflect on this, the dear and pleasant memories of those we have loved and known return to us. Those who preceded us in life and labor form part of the assembly of the saints. In them shines what on earth death seemed to have ended; they exult over what our human misery tries to vilify each day.
On this luminous and serene day, linked to our lives, our families and our hopes, I have called you together to thank God for the election of our Holy Father John XXIII. The great fatherhood of God has, since the eve of October 20, been represented by this Pope. In him we again find our Holy Father, whose visible image was extinguished after the holy death of Pius XII. In him, all men who have sovereigns, chiefs and leaders but do not have a Father … recognize — in different ways and degrees — the same general lines and reasons for trust.
Let us thank God because we once again have a Pope.
To have a Pope is not a miracle, since this is part of the ordained constitution of the Church as established by Jesus Christ. Nevertheless, there remains intense cause for gratitude. In every man raised to the Throne of Peter, we again see the providential hand of God over History. The Vicar of Christ is always a messenger of the grace and peace that come from God Himself.
I, who speak to you, participated in the election of the Pope, and as a participant I experienced how God — while leaving all men free — enters into events of this kind that truly and solemnly mark History. It is impossible for me to describe what I felt when, in the silence of the Sistine Chapel, I heard the voice of the cardinal charged with counting the ballots and learned that the election of the Pope had been accomplished. The Gospel and the order of Redemption move within human History and reveal its final goals through a concrete and visible, social and juridical fact [the election of the Pope], established by the Church. The destiny of secondary points of History is included in the general plan of eternal Providence, with a permanent reference to the Gospel and Redemption. These considerations are useful for evaluating what it means to have a Pope, the Head of the Church, and for understanding what a change the election of a Pope brings about in History.
We must thank God for the choice He has made. Anyone who knew the Patriarch of Venice and has followed the first, brief hours of this pontificate has already become aware of his great and lucid firmness without hesitation, brimming with a simple, cordial, expansive and appealing humanity. This leads one to believe that, in the aura of this temperament, peace, an invitation to understanding and cordiality in dealing with others acquire a providential function in the world — a world that lacks mutual esteem and an open, confident smile. Everything leads one to think that this type of man and government gives us, concretely and effectively, a direction and a social norm meant to offer a better life and encouragement to countless people, not only Europeans, but also and above all to non-Europeans, who have been left far behind at the table of earthly goods because of the greed of egoism. Everything leads one to expect that a new warmth will be spread to make relations between Catholics and our separated brethren smoother.
A new dawn has risen and it is singularly promising. Praised be God!
As we thank God, logic reminds us of the duty that binds us to the Vicar of Christ. It demands affection, reverence and obedience. These are the conditions for receiving divine favor, because no one can presume to receive divine favor if he does not welcome the one whom Jesus Christ has chosen, in the form and measure determined by Him. At this moment we must clearly understand that we can never separate Jesus Christ from His representative, the visible head of the Church in the world. The gesture of Christ choosing His Vicar always requires that fidelity, clarity, sincerity and reverence which is owed to him.
Among the various ephemeral standards that the world loves to create, let us know how to discern and evaluate lucidly what comes from the passions and baseness, egoism and ignorance, and distinguish it from what comes from the sacrifice of Calvary and the infinite amiability of God, from a guaranteed teaching and a revealed truth. Let us choose from History the best it has given and what failure has never destroyed. Let us treasure the sincere and manifest gesture of a father [the Pope], which calls for any contrary suggestions to be suspended.
May God protect our Holy Father and grant us the grace to be faithful to the integrity of our Faith and to His logic, being consistent to the end.
Second Part
Cardinal Siri: A Devoted Supporter of John Paul II
(1985)
Reference:
This pastoral letter was published on the Tradition in Action website:
https://www.traditioninaction.org/ProgressivistDoc/A_149_Siri-JPII.html
(The original Italian text and photocopy are also available there, from the Cardinal Siri website maintained by a group of Genoese scholars.)
Since many of our readers benefited from last Saturday’s posting showing Cardinal Giuseppe Siri’s clear approval of John XXIII as the valid Pope, today we publish another document by the late Archbishop of Genoa. It is a short pastoral letter Cardinal Siri issued to the parishes of his Archdiocese preparing them to welcome John Paul II for his visit to Genoa in September 1985.
As in the preceding document, the content of this letter makes it evident that Cardinal Siri considered John Paul II as the valid Pope. This evidence puts to rest the fabrication that some traditionalists are spreading — that Siri never acknowledged him since he himself had supposedly been elected Pope under the name of Gregory XVII and was forced to remain silent under strong pressure from the supposed usurper conciliar Popes.
Pastoral Letter for Lent 1985
The Pope Comes to Genoa!
Dear brethren, dear faithful,
On Christmas Day 1984 I announced that the Sovereign Pontiff would come to Genoa. Now I can add that he will not only dedicate Sunday, September 22, to us, but also that he will give us Saturday afternoon of the 21st, thus having more time to be with the people. This visit is a great event. To make this clear, I invite you to reflect with me on a few points.
First, let us recall some past history. To escape the disorder in Rome, Pope Gelasius II agreed to be taken to Genoa by ship and spent some time in our city. It was he who consecrated the Cathedral of St. Lawrence in our city in 1118. Pope Innocent IV, a Genoese of the Fieschi family, also lived here for some time after he left Rome when he was threatened by Frederick II. Pope Gregory XI stayed in Genoa on his return of the Holy See to Rome after the exile in Avignon. It was actually in our city that St. Catherine of Siena, after overcoming his many doubts, convinced him to continue the journey and restore the Apostolic See to the Eternal City.
In the 14th century, Urban IV had the longest stay in Genoa, residing in the building that is still today called the “Commenda.” The last Pope to come here — and he did so twice — was Pius VII: the first time he passed through the city as the prisoner of Napoleon in 1809. The second time, he returned after being freed to fulfill the promise he had made in prison to crown Our Lady of Mercy in Savoy. He remained here for fifteen days and stayed in an illustrious Genoese palace. On Ascension Day, accompanied by fifteen Cardinals, he celebrated a Cappella Papale Mass at the Church of the Annunciation. One hundred and seventy years have passed! Now History returns!
John Paul II is changing the history of the Popes. Taking advantage of the changes of our times, with the possibility of rapid travel, he brings the solicitude of a Pastor directly to the world. This is the point. He travels the roads of the world to raise the thoughts of men toward their Creator, thus offering crucial support to their moral conscience, for without God moral conscience either does not exist or does not resist any of the great temptations. We must appreciate the importance of this service he renders to mankind: without that conscience, treaties are useless and serve only to deceive men.
But the Pope does not fly across the continents for this reason alone. He comes as the Pastor of souls: he reminds men of the truths that save; he confirms them in Faith and Hope; he raises Charity; he defends the weak with the Truth; he calls for Justice. He does all this while making a visible and continuous sacrifice. His visits are pastoral. He will also have a pastoral visit with us.
I invited the Pope to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Guardia, and he, a great devotee of the Madonna, joyfully accepted, thereby confirming us in our confidence in the Blessed Virgin. The Sanctuary is the meeting point for all of us. The solutions to the concerns of our city — which we still have among us — always pass through that Hill of Guardia, giving us the most secure protection.
We expect much from this visit. It would be unfair to remain silent about it.
The Pope will be with us according to a schedule whose details will be made public in due time.
Now I invite you to reflect on who the Pope is. The value of the visit depends on this.
He is the Vicar of Christ. The words of the Gospel apply to John Paul II from the moment of his election, just as they did to Peter: “You are Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it. And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven; and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatsoever you shall loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven” (Mt 16:18). The dignity of the Pope reflects something of the Majesty of God, and when we see him, simple and amiable with everyone, we should never forget that he is the Vicar of Christ.
Because of his office, his blessing is worth more than all other blessings; for the same reason his prayers and all his actions are more important than the prayers and actions of all other men. To receive the Pope well, we should consider him not just as a sovereign whose influence has no equal in the world, but as we would receive Jesus Christ Himself.
Since on this happy occasion, the Faith is the light that illuminates everything and shows what the visit of a Pope is and how it can bring us closer to the Lord, we must make a spiritual preparation. Information on this will be forthcoming.
The visit of the Pope not only aligns us with him, but with God Himself!