The End of the Story
This chapter narrates the end of this story. First, it shows how the Papacy finally managed to declare once and for all that the story of Giovanni was entirely fake, thus banning any source or books defending or promoting it and punishing the main culprits. The chapter also shows that even though Carlo Calà was never officially condemned as the inspirator or executor of the forgery, nevertheless the pope’s final condemnation dealt a heavy blow to his political influence, which was already declining because of a change in leadership within the viceregal administration. Finally, this chapter provides information on the decisions taken by the Roman Curia on the unofficial cult to Joachim of Fiore, whose canonization trial is still open to this day.