Cardinal Sodano’s predecessor as Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Casaroli, negotiated the 1984 Concordat by which Italy ceased to be a Catholic state. In a 1998 obituary, The New York Times praised Casaroli for his role in the new concordat. The concordat was vigorously opposed by a number of Italian cardinals, including Cardinal Luciani, who became Pope John Paul I, only to die under mysterious circumstances after only 33 days in office.

       The concordat ending Italy’s status as a Catholic state was defended by Msgr. Silvestrini, who has since become Cardinal Silvestrini. It was Cardinal Silvestrini, and the new Secretary of State, Cardinal Sodano, who sat to the left and to the right of their guest of honor, Mikhail Gorbachev, at a Vatican press conference on June 27, 2000 to celebrate the great achievements of the late Cardinal Casaroli - including Ostpolitik ("dialogue" with instead of opposition to communism). This was only one day after the infamous June 26, 2000 press conference at which Cardinal Ratzinger dared to say that the triumph of the Immaculate Heart predicted by Our Lady of Fatima was merely a reference to Her fiat in agreeing to be the Mother of God 2,000 years ago.

       Such are the men who control the Vatican apparatus today. It is this same apparatus which supports the United Nations and the new International Criminal Court - in short, which supports the basic structure of the entire New World Order. And now that New World Order is beginning to focus its attack on the Catholic Church in an unprecedented public manner. As reported by Zenit.org on March 12, 2002 "The European Parliament on Tuesday is poised to debate a report that condemns the Catholic Church for its moral principles and its position on women priests. The document, written by Spanish Socialist María Izquierdo Rojo, was approved last October by the Women´s Rights Commission and analyzed subsequently by the Citizens´ Liberties and Rights Commission", which are both organs of the European Parliament.

       Zenit notes that among other things, "the document condemns ‘the administrations of religious organizations and the leaders of extremist political movements who promote racial discrimination, xenophobia, fanaticism and the exclusion of women from leading positions in the political and religious hierarchy.’" The report "also deplores ‘the interference of the churches and religious communities in the public and political life of the state, in particular when such interference is designed to restrict human rights and fundamental freedoms, for instance, in the sexual or reproductive sphere.’"

       Zenit observes with alarm that "The European chamber´s principle would thus deny the Catholic Church the right to proclaim the moral doctrine it has always preached." Yet Cardinal Sodano supports the creation of an International Criminal Court that will enshrine the very same mentality in the administration of "justice" by a tribunal from which there would be no appeal.

       This is what comes from the illicit mixing of religion with worldly diplomacy: the Church is turned into an agent for the powers of the world, which then tries to devour the Church. Cardinal Sodano, like his predecessor Cardinal Casaroli, is a diplomat and a politician who has been allowed to acquire control over the day-to-day governance of the Church established by Christ for the conversion of the whole world to Catholicism. And this is why both the Church and the world are in crisis.