Steve Bannon’s War on Pope Francis and the Jeffrey Epstein Messages That Just Blew It Wide Open
Newly released Justice Department files have detonated another political landmine in the Jeffrey Epstein saga this time tying Steve Bannon directly to conversations with Jeffrey Epstein about “taking down” Pope Francis. The messages, dated 2018 and 2019, show Bannon, fresh out of the Trump White House strategizing with Epstein about undermining the pontiff, whom Bannon viewed as a central ideological enemy to his nationalist-populist movement.
“Will take down (Pope) Francis… The Clintons, Xi, Francis, EU – come on brother.”
That message, sent by Bannon to Epstein in June 2019, is now part of the public record. And it changes the frame.
The Context: Nationalism vs. the Vatican
At the time of these messages, Pope Francis had emerged as one of the world’s most vocal critics of nationalist populism. He condemned anti-immigrant politics, warned against weaponized Christianity, and rejected the fusion of religion with authoritarian politics. Bannon, by contrast, was building what he called a “sovereigntist” movement across Europe. He set up operations in Rome, courted far-right leaders including Italy’s current prime minister Giorgia Meloni, and attempted to launch a political academy at the 800-year-old Certosa di Trisulti monastery. The Vatican was not a side issue. It was central terrain.
Enter Jeffrey Epstein
Here’s the part that rattles even seasoned observers:
These exchanges occurred years after Epstein’s 2008 conviction for sex crimes involving minors and just months before his 2019 arrest on federal sex trafficking charges.
Yet Bannon was communicating with him about:
- Turning the controversial 2019 book In the Closet of the Vatican into a film
- Using it as leverage against Pope Francis
- Broader anti-globalist strategy
In one message, Bannon appears to anoint Epstein as executive producer of the proposed film adaptation:
“You are now exec producer of ‘ITCOTV.’”
Epstein’s responses were less ideological and more transactional, but he remained engaged. In another exchange, Epstein quotes John Milton:
“Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.”
This was not casual small talk. This was strategic coordination.
The Film Plot That Never Happened
The book in question, written by French journalist Frédéric Martel, alleged widespread secrecy and hypocrisy within the Vatican hierarchy, including controversial claims about clergy sexuality. Bannon reportedly met Martel in Paris to explore adaptation rights. Martel later said Bannon appeared to want to weaponize the book politically against Francis. That attempt ultimately failed. Even conservative Vatican figures distanced themselves. Cardinal Raymond Burke rejected the idea of turning the book into a film. The project collapsed, but the paper trail didn’t.
The Monastery and the “Gladiator School”
Bannon’s broader European strategy included working with British political operative Benjamin Harnwell to convert Certosa di Trisulti into a nationalist training academy. The Italian government revoked the lease in 2019 over irregularities. Legal battles followed. The plan stalled. Now, with the DOJ document dump, Epstein’s name surfaces in the same network of correspondence, though associates insist he was not directly involved in the monastery project itself. The optics alone are extraordinary.
Why This Matters
This isn’t about theology. It’s about political power. Rev. Antonio Spadaro, a Vatican official close to Francis, characterized the messages as evidence of an attempt to fuse “spiritual authority with political power for strategic ends.” That’s a direct ideological confrontation. Francis resisted nationalism. Bannon sought to weaponize faith in service of it. And Epstein, a convicted sex offender with mysterious elite access, was part of the communication loop.
The Broader Pattern
The Epstein files continue to reveal a recurring theme: High-profile political figures maintained contact with him long after his criminal conviction. The question isn’t just “who knew what.”
It’s:
Why were powerful individuals still willing to collaborate with him?
Bannon has not publicly responded in detail to these newly highlighted messages. President Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing in relation to Epstein. But the political implications are widening. This wasn’t a social encounter. It was strategic.
Bottom Line
The newly released DOJ files don’t show criminal conspiracy between Bannon and Epstein regarding the Vatican.
But they do show something else:
A former White House strategist, working with a convicted sex offender, discussing plans to undermine the head of the Catholic Church. That’s not fringe internet speculation. That’s in the documents. And as more Epstein files surface, the pattern of post-conviction access to elite power continues to raise the same unavoidable question: How many doors remained open and why?
