Scientists Decode 17th-Century Letter Written by 'Devil-Possessed' Nun (5 photos)
For centuries, scholars struggled to decipher the cryptic letter left behind by Sister Maria Crocifissa della Concezione. Then, in 2018—340 years after it was written—a team of Sicilian researchers finally broke the code. What they read shocked everyone. 
On August 11, 1676, the mysterious letter was penned by a young woman born Isabella Tommasi. She was only 15 years old when she entered the convent in Palma di Montechiaro. Upon taking her vows, she took the religious name Maria Crocifissa della Concezione—literally "Crucified Mary." 
The convent of Palma di Montechiaro
One morning, she woke up to find her hands stained with ink and a sheet of paper covered in obscure symbols sitting in front of her. She claimed to have no idea what it said. The code combined elements of the Greek, Latin, and Cyrillic alphabets, along with runic symbols. 
The 14 cryptic lines were preserved at the Palma di Montechiaro convent, while a copy was sent to the archives of Agrigento Cathedral.
Sister Maria told her fellow nuns that she had been possessed by the Devil himself—the "enemy of mankind"—who had forced her hand to write the message. Believing her story, the nuns kept the letter at the convent, hoping that someone might one day decode it. 
Fast-forward 340 years: a team of Italian computer scientists from a research center in Catania successfully cracked the code using decryption software discovered on the dark web. They managed to translate a portion of the demonic text.
"We had heard about software that we believe is used by intelligence agencies," said Daniele Abate, director of the center. "We loaded Ancient Greek, Arabic, runic alphabets, and Latin into the program. And what came out was truly chilling."
Sister Maria spoke several languages, and researchers believe she invented a custom cipher by blending elements from each of them. 
The deciphered portion of the text asserts that God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are "dead weight," adding that "God thinks he can free mortals." The letter also claims that God was merely invented by humans. Researchers note that the text is rambling, erratic, and not entirely coherent. Rather than demonic possession, they suspect Sister Maria suffered from schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
