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 Niehans of Switzerland, whose experimental cell therapy at Clinique La Prairie — promising eternal youth, embraced by celebrities yet shadowed by suspicions of quackery — threatens Riccardo’s influence over a Pope fascinated by alternative medicine. Then comes murder. The body of Wilma Montesi is found on a beach near Rome. The case ensnares Riccardo and threatens to drag him — and perhaps even the Vatican itself — into the abyss, before erupting into a political scandal of sex, power, and intrigue that shocks Italy and remains to this day one of the country’s most famous cold cases.
Discover more at RiccardoPodcast.com — where, starting September 17, 2025, you’ll find documents, research, and exclusive insights expanding on the story.
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