There is nothing attractive in making a fortune of wealth out of trafficking in Masses – there is no powerful addiction attached to it – however realistic it may be.

If you look through the minutes and transcripts of the Ecclesiastical Trial of Abbé Saunière 1910-1911 (published in the book by Jacques Rivière in 1983), there is not the slightest mention of treasure – but only the apparent suspicion, also based upon people’s testimonies, that he was engaged in fraudulent activity involving a massive operation in trafficking in Masses.

Abbé Saunière was ordered to pay the money back or be defrocked as a priest – and this is precisely what happened, Abbé Saunière lost his official priesthood. There was no treasure discovery involved – only swindling money from people and the obvious inability to refund the required massive amounts of money taken from all those people that he swindled.

It immediately becomes apparent why the treasure discovery is far more romantic and why it attracts all the attention!

For example, El Dorado, The Ark of the Covenant, The Treasures of Lima and Yamashita’s Gold – these have all spurred centuries of treasure hunting without producing any results…