The following is a transcript of an article published in the SUN Newspaper July 31, 2001 on page 18 and 19. The author of this article was not named in the body of the article. We have repeatedly sought confirmation of this article, but have not been able to locate the SUN Newspaper. Nevertheless, we feel the content is worthy of publication on this page. The title for the article is:

Julius II - the Pope who predicted the terrible events reported on these pages - was the son of a noble-but-poor family who followed his uncle, Sixtus IV into the Priesthood. He was crowned Pope in 1503 at the age of 60. His fierce, fearless leadership in Catholic wars against the Turks earned him the Latin nickname "Pontifice Terrible." Julius II also established the first Christian Churches in America, built massive palaces, and sponsored painters and sculptors throughout the world.

But he is best remembered for the founding of the Vatican Museums. The first item displayed in the courtyard of his Belvedere Palace was a statue of Apollo. Other artefacts followed. Such immortal artists as Raphael, Michalangelo and the architect Bramante flourished, thanks to his sponsorship.

Without Julius II, there would be no timeless, awe-inspiring frescoes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. And on April 18, 1506, it was Julius II who laid the cornerstone of the monumental Basilica of St. Peter.

Thousands of blood-stained statues in the Vatican's vast art collection have ignited mortal fear that a dire 488-year old Papal Prophecy is about to become reality.

The drama came to light at 4:17 am on the morning of June 28th, when police in Rome received an emergency call from the night Duty Officer at the Vatican City's Security Department. A translation of the transcript of the ensuing conversation reads:

DISPATCHER: "Emergency Services. Your name and address."

VATICAN SECURITY: "This is the Vatican City Security." (The Duty Officer then repeated a confidential code to verify the source of the call.) "We have an emergency. The art galleries have been invaded. The statues have been defaced."

DISPATCHER: "Defaced? In what way?"

VATICAN SECURITY: "Thousands of statues. The substance is red and is sticky to the touch. It definitely appears to be blood."

DISPATCHER: "What steps have you taken?"

VATICAN SECURITY: "We have sealed off the galleries."

DISPATCHER: "Stand by. Officers are en route."

According to Police records, the first squad car arrived at 4:28am, carrying Inspector Gianfranco Guadino and Sergeant Frederico Pozzi. They were admitted and began to interrogate the Night Duty Officer and several Security Guards.

However, when two additional squad cars arrived at 4:34am, they were halted at the Vatican City gates and denied access by members of the Swiss Guard - the Pope's private Security Force.

Inspector Guadino's report adds that at approximately the same time, two Swiss Guard Officers interrupted his interrogation, assured him and Pozzi that the situation was under control and escorted them off Vatican property. However, before the Swiss Guards intervened, Guadino was able to ascertain the following facts, which he included in his report:

That between 4:02am and 4:14am, Security Guards patrolling the Vatican's twenty-two Museums and Art Galleries reported that the priceless statues, more than two-thousand in number, appeared to weep blood for exactly thirty seconds.

The first call came from the Galleria Lapidaria, the next was from Palaz-zetto de Belevdere and the third from the Gregorian Museum of Etruscan Art. The statues affected included some by recognised Masters like Michelangelo, Raffini and Rodin; many depicted the Saints, the Virgin Mary and even Jesus Christ Himself, while others were representations of Greek, Roman and Egyptian gods from the Vatican's world-class collection of antiquities.

The guards were in a state of great agitation, and they all reported that each of the statues had streaks of blood running from its eyes and down its cheeks. Initially vandals, possibly even terrorists, were suspected.

Before the Swiss Guards arrived on the scene to take over the investigation, the Night Duty Officer had given Guadino a swab containing blood removed from a statue of St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and a Polaroid photograph of the stains on the face of another statue. The swab was analysed at the Police Forensics Laboratory and was found to contain fresh human blood with DNA markers identifying it as "typical and in no way contaminated, adulterated or modified."

The Polaroid photo was analysed using techniques employed to decipher blood spatters at crime scenes, and it was determined that the stains were not applied by external means, such as a brush, but flowed naturally from "a wound of an unspecified nature in or around the eyes."

Guadino's report concludes by expressing puzzlement at why the Swiss Guards, apparently acting on order from Pope John Paul II, were so hasty to exclude outside authorities from the investigation of such an unusual occurrence. However, one of Sun's most reliable confidential Vatican sources has provided an alarming theory for the extraordinary secrecy that has come to enshroud this event. "Ever since the year 1513, the Vatican has had knowledge of an ominous prophecy concerning the statues in its art collection." the source says. "The information of such a volatile nature that it has been closely guarded, passed down from one generation of the curia - the Vatican Ruling body - to the next, and known only to them, the reigning Pope and a few of the most senior Cardinals."

The source is alluding to a deathbed prophecy made by Pope Julius II, who died in the year 1513. During his ten-year reign as Pontiff, Julius began the Vatican's collection of paintings and sculptures, which is now held to be the most magnificent in the world. "Julius breathed his last breath in the early hours of February 21, 1513," the source says. "Just before the end, he is said to have raised his head from his pillow and commanded those surrounding his bed to pay close attention to what he had to say." According to the source, the frail Pope, his voice trembling and terrified, issued a chilling prophecy:

"When the statues of the Vatican weep tears of blood, this is the end of the world!" The weeping statues are held to be a sign that Julius' prophecy is coming to pass, the source says.

"The Vatican regards this event as a miracle," he explains. "All the normal criteria have been satisfied and there is no possibility that the tears of blood were in any way the result of wilful human activity. All the normal course of events, a manifestation of the Divine Presence of this magnitude would be hailed and publicised. However, this case is ominously different."

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Last modified: September 26, 2001