Some hold the conspiracy theory which asserts that the conservative Cardinal Giuseppe Siri, then the Archbishop of Genoa, was elected pope in the 1958 papal conclave, taking the name Pope Gregory XVII, but that his election was suppressed. Siri did not associate himself with this idea.
Its exponents claim that a prolonged emission of white smoke on the first day of balloting at the conclave indicated the election of Siri but that threats applied from outside the conclave caused his election to be reversed, allowing Pope John XXIII to be elected two days later. The source of the threats has been identified as Jews and Freemasons, or as agents of the Soviet Union. Adherents of the Siri theory say that the election of John XXIII was invalid. They regard him and his successors as imposters and antipopes.
1958 conclave
On 25 October 1958, 51 cardinals entered the papal conclave, which was held to elect a successor to Pope Pius XII. Cardinal Siri, then 52 years old, was considered a strong candidate in the election. Siri was viewed then, and throughout his life, as staunchly conservative. At 11:53...