The Epstein case: a lesson in the power of this world

As was widely expected, the release on 30 January of another 3 million pages of the so-called Epstein files, including 2,000 videos and 180,000 images, sparked a tidal wave of controversy and mutual attacks. Two million pages are still missing, and these are the ones that should give us the most pause for thought. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said that these documents and images were not published because they depict "sexual abuse, child pornography, death, injury and physical abuse".

Curiously, this statement is what is talked about the least, if at all: it is much more interesting to focus on the presence of former US President Bill Clinton or the alleged venereal diseases of Microsoft founder Bill Gates, or the perversions of British Prince Andrew. In other words, the media are interested in the political exploitation that can be gained from it, or in the prurient curiosity that certain personalities generate.

However, the Epstein case should primarily be seen as a lesson in power, or rather, the power that rules this world.

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Epstein himself began his career teaching mathematics in a secondary school before moving into finance and climbing to the top, thanks, it is said, to his extraordinary ability to forge social relationships. However, it remains a mystery how the son of a gardener and a housewife from Brooklyn could rise from humble beginnings to become a billionaire capable of manipulating politicians and businessmen around the world. It is also curious how he was able to get away with running a human trafficking ring when he had already been reported for his morbid attention to underage female students at the school where he taught in his early twenties. It is also curious how he was able to develop his vile trade after receiving a lenient sentence in a shameful plea bargain for prostitution exploitation in 2008: 18 months in prison, reduced to three and a half months, plus an additional ten months of daily release for work.

Until his second arrest in 2019, when complaints that could no longer be ignored were compounded by the seizure of incriminating documents, images and videos, Epstein had built an incredible network of influential international relationships involving prominent politicians, such as former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, as well as secret services from countries such as Russia and Israel and billionaire businessmen, all of whom could be blackmailed.

Visits to Epstein's residences, including his famous private Caribbean island, Little Saint James, and use of his private jet, transcend political colour and nationality. Although Epstein's American election donations clearly favoured the Democratic Party, his 'friendships' transcended party politics and national borders. So too did his ability to influence personal lives, business and political and economic decisions.

It is no coincidence that Lord Peter Mandelson was removed as British ambassador to the United States in September, after the publication of the first files. It has now emerged that he passed confidential information to Epstein while serving as Minister for Business, Innovation and Skills in the Brown government. In Slovakia, Prime Minister Fico's security adviser, Miroslav Lajčák, was forced to resign, and the upheaval caused in the British and Norwegian royal families is another matter entirely.

We must, of course, be careful not to tar everyone with the same brush: not everyone mentioned in the Epstein files is necessarily guilty of wrongdoing. Nevertheless, the way power works is clear:

There is a higher level, unknown to most, which influences governments, parliaments and economies in various ways by leveraging weaknesses and perversions and using blackmail as a weapon.

This goes far beyond the mere satisfaction of vices and perversions that the rich and powerful think they can afford. We are not talking about things similar to the 'elegant dinners' held by Berlusconi ex-President of Italy, in Arcore, but on a much larger scale. Here, we are on another level altogether: the level that decides who matters and who doesn't. Deputy Attorney General Blanche's reference to deaths, torture and child pornography suggests an elite involved in initiation rites and Satanism.

Blanche said that over 1,200 victims have been identified — an enormous number. These are 1,200 girls, many of whom are minors, who have been sacrificed on the altar of power. They have been used as objects of pleasure, reduced to sex slaves, tortured and then abandoned like useless rags. The best-known case is that of Virginia Giuffré, who accused Prince Andrew, Epstein and his accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell. Maxwell committed suicide in April 2025, after which her memoirs, Nobody's Girl, were published posthumously. But she is not alone. It is the same for the other girls.

This is the nature of world power: it does not recognise the dignity of people as beings made in the image and likeness of God; it uses them for its own ends; it sows suffering and death; it destroys everything that is human.

This is why indignation or simply pointing the finger is not enough, as if we were mere distant spectators or considered ourselves immune to the allure of power. We are not called to participate in the game of 'who is more corrupt' in order to make one political party prevail over another.

Instead, we must first and foremost recognise that belonging to Christ and the Church gives each one of us full human dignity, frees us from this power, and enables us to create places of humanity that generate hope and overcome this disgraceful situation that smacks of death.