Newly released Department of Justice files reveal that Steve Bannon, former White House adviser to President Trump, collaborated with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein in 2019 to undermine Pope Francis, with Bannon explicitly stating his intention to “take down” the pontiff.

The Communications Revealed

Messages between Bannon and Epstein from June 2019 show Bannon writing “Will take down Francis” while grouping the Pope with other targets, including “The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU.” The communications emerged from a massive document release last month, exposing previously unknown coordination between the two controversial figures during Bannon’s post-White House period.

Bannon had publicly criticized Pope Francis as “beneath contempt” in 2018, viewing the pontiff as an obstacle to his nationalist populist movement that gained traction across Europe. The former Breitbart executive accused Francis of siding with “globalist elites” and urged Italian politicians to “attack” the Pope’s positions on immigration and globalism.

Vatican Film Project Proposal

The files reveal Bannon’s interest in weaponizing a controversial 2019 book titled “In the Closet of the Vatican” by French journalist Frederic Martel. The book claimed widespread homosexuality among Vatican clergy, creating significant controversy within Catholic circles. Bannon met with Martel in Paris and proposed making the book into a film, suggesting Epstein serve as executive producer.

Martel told reporters he rejected Bannon’s proposal, stating his publishers controlled film rights and had already made other arrangements. The author believed Bannon wanted to “instrumentalize” the book’s controversial claims to damage Pope Francis’s reputation and leadership within the Catholic Church.

Broader Political Context

The collaboration highlights the intersection of Bannon’s nationalist agenda with his opposition to Pope Francis’s progressive positions on immigration, climate change, and global cooperation. Francis served as a direct counterweight to the America First worldview, making migrant advocacy a cornerstone of his papal leadership. Bannon had established operations in Rome and attempted to create a political training facility near Vatican City to advance his vision of defending traditional Western values.