Newly released documents from the Justice Department have cast fresh light on disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's long-running fixation with the Catholic Church and his private exchanges with Steve Bannon, a former adviser to President Donald Trump, about efforts to "take down" Pope Francis.
The tranche of emails and text messages, dating primarily from 2014 to 2019, reveals a pattern of mockery, ideological hostility, and political strategizing centered on the Vatican.
Epstein was convicted in 2008 of child sex offenses and later died in federal custody in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.
The records showed that in the years between those events he remained engaged with powerful political and media figures — including Bannon — and expressed particular contempt for the Roman Catholic Church and its papacy.
The most politically charged revelations involve text messages exchanged in 2018 and 2019 between Epstein and Bannon, the former White House chief strategist who had become an adviser to Epstein in the years after he was found guilty of sex charges.
In a June 2019 message, Bannon wrote to Epstein: "Will take down [Pope] Francis. The Clintons, [Chinese President] Xi [Jinping], Francis, EU — come on brother."
The language suggests that Francis was viewed by Bannon as part of a broader set of geopolitical and ideological adversaries.
At the time, Francis was a vocal critic of nationalism, xenophobia, and anti-immigrant policies — positions that placed him at odds with segments of the populist right and traditional Catholics.
The exchanges occurred amid an intense period of conservative opposition to Francis, which included public criticism from Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano and disputes over the Pope's handling of clergy sexual abuse cases.
Bannon's messages also reference the 2019 book "In the Closet of the Vatican" by French journalist Frederic Martel, which alleged widespread secrecy about homosexuality within Vatican ranks.
In texts, Bannon appeared to propose turning the book into a documentary film and suggested that Epstein serve as executive producer.
"You are now exec producer of 'ITCOTV,'" Bannon wrote, using an abbreviation of the book's title.
Martel later stated publicly that he declined Bannon's overtures and that his publishers controlled the film rights.
He told reporters he believed Bannon sought to "instrumentalize" the book in a campaign against Francis.
In another exchange, Epstein forwarded Bannon an article titled "Pope Francis or Steve Bannon? Catholics must choose," to which Bannon replied: "easy choice."
Epstein's responses occasionally veered into literary provocation.
After Bannon shared an article about the Vatican condemning populist nationalism, Epstein quoted John Milton's "Paradise Lost": "Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven."
The Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a close collaborator of Pope Francis, told CNN that the messages reveal "a desire to fuse spiritual authority with political power for strategic ends," something Francis consistently resisted.
Among the most striking documents are emails sent by Epstein during Francis' September 2015 visit to the United States.
As Francis met with then-President Barack Obama, addressed Congress and the United Nations, and celebrated Mass at Madison Square Garden, Epstein exchanged messages with his brother, Mark Epstein, about the Pope's presence in New York.
In one email dated Sept. 23, 2015, Epstein suggested inviting Francis for a "massage," followed by a lewd and sacrilegious joke about the Pope sexually climaxing while invoking the name of Jesus.
The crude remarks, riddled with typos and symbols, were sent seven years after Epstein's Florida conviction.
Church observers cited in reaction to the documents say the tone of the emails reflects more than tasteless humor.
Christopher Hale, a former Obama staffer and Catholic commentator, wrote that Epstein's words expressed "contempt — for Francis, for the papacy, and for the moral authority the Pope represented."
The emails show that Epstein was aware the Pope was staying near his Upper East Side residence during the New York leg of the visit.
"You should invite him over for an egg cream and exchange stories," Mark Epstein wrote in one message.
Jeffrey Epstein's response escalated into the vulgar suggestion.
Beyond the 2015 emails, the DOJ documents reveal Jeffrey Epstein's deeper interest in Vatican politics and history.
Despite not being Catholic, he reportedly read papal biographies and Catholic texts, showed familiarity with books about Vatican finances — including investigations into the 1982 Banco Ambrosiano scandal — and maintained relationships with individuals critical of Francis.
On Aug. 6, 1982, the Italian Treasury minister announced the liquidation of the Banco Ambrosiano after the murder of Roberto Calvi, the former president of the bank.
The scandal gave rise to many conspiracy theories.
Jeffrey Epstein also posed in a photograph with Ghislaine Maxwell alongside Pope John Paul II years earlier, underscoring his access to elite circles that intersected with Church leadership.
In separate correspondence from 2014, an Italian cybersecurity researcher discussed blockchain and digital currency experimentation with Jeffrey Epstein, referencing small sovereign states such as Vatican City as potentially "viable" environments for financial innovation.
An FBI report included in the release references claims that an associate described as "Epstein's Hacker" may have possessed a Vatican passport, though those claims remain unverified.
Jeffrey Epstein's private commentary also touched on Catholic doctrine.
In a 2013 email criticizing the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's philanthropic philosophy that "every life has equal value," Jeffrey Epstein dismissed the sentiment as "Catholicism at its worst," signaling disdain for core teachings about the sanctity and equal dignity of human life.
Francis died in April 2025 at age 88.
His successor, Pope Leo XIV, has continued to emphasize the church's distance from nationalist politics.
Jeffrey Epstein died in a Manhattan jail in August 2019.
Maxwell is serving a 20-year sentence for her role in his trafficking operation.
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