Riccardo: The Man Who Blew Up the Pope

Every papal death revives a haunting memory: the secret science of preserving the body, and the grotesque disaster of 1958, when Pope Pius XII’s corpse exploded. This first episode rewinds to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tracing the parallel rise of Eugenio Pacelli — the future Pope Pius XII, the most powerful pope of the modern era — and Dr. Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, the ambitious outsider who would become his unlikely co...

Rome, 1930: a city under fascist rule, where the Vatican seethes with spies, secret deals, and political violence. In this shadowed world, Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli — soon to become Pope Pius XII — rises to power, while at his side emerges the unlikely figure of Dr. Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi: gambler, racecar driver, and unorthodox physician. This episode explores their growing bond, tracing Pacelli’s ascent within the Church and Ricca...

As Nazi troops invade Poland, Pope Pius XII faces the most terrifying choice of his life: condemn Hitler and risk the Church’s destruction, or remain silent and watch the world burn. In the shadows of Saint Peter’s Basilica, secret excavations begin to unearth the Apostle’s bones — a mission that becomes a dangerous mix of faith, archaeology, and espionage. Beneath the Vatican, plots to assassinate Hitler unfold, while above ground...

The Vatican under siege. Nazi forces occupy Rome and tighten their grip around St. Peter’s Square, as Hitler plots to kidnap Pope Pius XII. At the Pope’s side stands Dr. Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi — an unorthodox physician, gambler, and keeper of secrets. Surviving the Nazi threat forges their friendship in fear and mystery, binding Pope and doctor closer than ever. After the war, a new rival appears at the court of Pius XII: Dr. Paul ...

1953. On the beach at Capocotta — before the hunting estate of Dr. Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi — the body of young Wilma Montesi is discovered. What should have been a routine investigation quickly turns into a true crime scandal. Police rush to close the case, dismissing her death as the result of a footbath gone wrong. The explanation is ridiculed across Italy, seen as a blatant cover-up.

The murder mystery engulfs Riccardo, putting bo...

As the Montesi scandal fades, it leaves deep scars on Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi and his bond with Pius XII. In the aftermath, Riccardo descends into a forbidden world: by 1954, he is promoting M.B.R. 36, a fraudulent cancer cure, while secretly dabbling in séances and the occult — practices condemned by the Church. Newly uncovered documents and unheard testimony reveal how this descent pushed one of the Pope’s closest insiders to the ...

In 1954, Pius XII’s health collapses — and with it, his trust in his lifelong doctor, Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi. Newly unearthed diaries from Cardinal Domenico Tardini expose a year of rivalries, deception, and failed cures: rectal feeding, false medical bulletins, and the clash between Riccardo and the charismatic Dr. Paul Niehans. As the Pope suffers visions and humiliation, medicine turns into politics, and the Vatican becomes a ba...

October 1958. Pope Pius XII is dying in Castel Gandolfo. Beside his bed: doctors, nuns… and Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, leaking secrets to the press.

A false death announcement shocks the world. A forbidden photograph captures the pontiff in his last moments. And Riccardo, the Pope’s own doctor, prepares the most disastrous embalming in history.

Discover more at RiccardoPodcast.com — where, starting September 17, 2025, you’ll find docume...

Pope Pius XII is dead. His longtime physician, Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, remains at his side, carrying out his final duty. But above all looms Cardinal Eugène Tisserant — the iron-fisted Dean of the College of Cardinals — determined to dismantle Pacelli’s inner circle.

Sister Pasqualina, the Pope’s housekeeper and right hand, is forced out. And Riccardo makes a desperate gamble: an experimental embalming with the mysterious Dr. Orest...

The embalming of Pope Pius XII ends in catastrophe: his body decomposes before horrified witnesses, exploding during the funeral procession. As the Vatican scrambles to contain the disaster, scandal erupts. "Paris Match" publishes a secret medical diary and a shocking deathbed photograph of the pontiff — the first time a Pope has ever been seen stripped of all dignity. At the center is Riccardo Galeazzi-Lisi, accused of betrayal, d...