Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene continued to make headlines for her racist, demeaning, anti-Semitic, conspiratorial and other despicable and bizarre comments and social media posts. It was revealed that in 2018 she had posted on Facebook that the “Vice Chairman of Rothschild Inc, international investment banking firm” may have used “space solar generators” to cause a huge wildfire across California. The invoking of the Rothschild family in conspiracy theories is a classic anti-Semitic trope, generally referencing the great wealth and international scope of the Rothschild banking family and the supposed use of their money and power for world domination. The Rothschild family banking history began with Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812) who established his banking business in the 1760s in Frankfort. Through his five sons the business spread across Europe and eventually around the world with many separate branches active in banking and finance, philanthropy, the arts, Zionism, winemaking, and more. When Carl von Rothschild, founder of the Naples branch of the family, met with Pope Gregory XVI in 1832 to lend £400,000 (approximately $48 million in today’s currency) to the Holy See, what happened that shocked observers?

Mayer_Amschel_Rothschild_-_The_Jewish_Encyclopedia_1907.png  by Unknown author via Wikimedia Commons is in the public domain.

A. The meeting took place on a Sunday morning, when the Pope would normally be holding mass and greeting people in St. Peter’s Square. But the Pope delayed these events because of the importance of finalizing the loan.

B. When Carl von Rothschild met Pope Gregory XVI, he was not required to kiss the Pope’s feet, as was the rule for all others meeting the pontiff.

C. Pope Gregory XVI arranged for kosher food to be served, prepared by members of the local Roman Jewish community.

D. Carl von Rothschild was led on a tour of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel, by Pope Gregory XVI. This was a huge breach of protocol, wherein tours were always led by lower Vatican officials and never by the Pope himself.

E. When Rothschild and the Pope met in December 1832 to finalize the loan, the Pope showed Rothschild an oil lamp menorah that had been gifted to Pope Clement VII by the Jewish community of Rome in 1531. Rothschild, noting that their meeting was taking place on the last day of Chanukkah, immediately proceeded to light the menorah via a laser blast from outer space.

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