A Conspiracy against the Catholic Church? The True Popes Speak

A papal reality check…

A Conspiracy against the Catholic Church?

The True Popes Speak

When discussing the issue of Sedevacantism with Novus Ordos, it is not uncommon that someone will dismiss it on the grounds that it involves a “conspiracy”; and of course nothing is more absurd to contemporary man than giving credence to a position that differs from what most others hold to be the obvious truth.

Two thousand years ago, our Blessed Lord taught: “…the truth shall make you free” (Jn 8:32). People who love and seek the truth ought to be concerned about, not whether something involves a conspiracy, but whether it is true. Whether a matter involves a conspiracy or not is completely irrelevant to its truth or falsity. Unfortunately, we live in times where such an observation, entirely reasonable, will simply not be considered by many because they have been conditioned to associate the terms “conspiracy” and especially “conspiracy theory” with foolishness and absurdity.

Yet, when we turn to a standard dictionary for the meaning of the term “conspiracy”, what we discover is fairly harmless:

conspiracy
[kuh n-spir–uh-see]
noun, plural con·spir·a·cies.

1. the act of conspiring.
2. an evil, unlawful, treacherous, or surreptitious plan formulated in secret by two or more persons; plot.
3. a combination of persons for a secret, unlawful, or evil purpose:
He joined the conspiracy to overthrow the government.
4. Law. an agreement by two or more persons to commit a crime, fraud, or other wrongful act.
5. any concurrence in action; combination in bringing about a given result.

(Source: Dictionary.com; formatting given.)

So much for the noun. The corresponding verb is “to conspire”, which has the following definition:

conspire
[kuh n-spahyuh r]
verb (used without object), con·spired, con·spir·ing.

1. to agree together, especially secretly, to do something wrong, evil, or illegal:
They conspired to kill the king.
2. to act or work together toward the same result or goal.

(Source: Dictionary.com; formatting given.)

The origin of the word “conspire” is quite simple. It comes from the Latin words for “together” (con or cum) and “breathe” (spirare), as the above-linked source confirms.

People who conspire, then, etymologically speaking, are “breathing together” — that is, they are planning something, they are working in unison to make something happen. Is that such an absurd, inconceivable, and idiotic thing? Rather, doesn’t this happen in all sorts of ways on a daily basis?

Once you understand what the word “conspiracy” really means, all its rhetorical force vanishes. People work together to achieve some intended goal all the time, mostly for good but sometimes for evil. Sacred Scripture itself is filled with examples of this, such as the following:

• Jacob conspired with his mother to receive his father’s blessing through deceit (Genesis 27)
• Some of the Israelites conspired to make and worship a calf made of gold (Exodus 32)
• The Israelites conspired to send spies into the Promised Land before entering it (Josue 2)
• Judas conspired with members of the Sanhedrin to deliver Jesus Christ into their hands (Matthew 26)
• In the last days, there will be a conspiracy of antichrist forces against the Body of Christ to deceive even the elect (Matthew 24; 2 Thessalonians 2)

And so forth. Both secular and Church history, too, are filled with conspiracies, i.e. with individuals collaborating for a common purpose, whether for good or for bad: the Barbarians conspired to overthrow the Romans, Mohammed conspired with his followers to conquer Mecca, some treacherous clergy conspired against St. Joan of Arc, Napoleon’s men conspired to take Pope Pius VII prisoner, Hitler conspired to attack Poland, Colonel von Stauffenberg conspired with other German soldiers to assassinate Hitler, at every conclave the cardinals “conspire” to elect a Pope, and on and on it goes. Even the official narrative of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, is a conspiracy: 20 Muslims conspiring to hijack planes and fly them into buildings. That’s a conspiracy (whether it’s true or not is another matter, but it has nothing to do with whether or not it’s a conspiracy).

So, believing that the enemies of the Catholic Church have conspired against her is, in and of itself, neither silly, nor crazy, nor unreasonable, nor worthy of being dismissed for any other reason. In fact, if there not be found wanting in human history people conspiring for all sorts of worldly interests, it stands to reason that if “our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places” (Eph 6:12), then certainly there will be a conspiracy also against the Body of Christ — in fact more so than against anything else.

Satan himself, after all, does not merely seek people’s temporal destruction but, even more so, their eternal demise; and just as he has been warring against the Lord Jesus Christ from the beginning, so he wars daily against His Mystical Body, the Church. For the more the devil succeeds in harming the Church, which is the Ark of Salvation, the more souls will certainly perish. Therefore our Blessed Lord warned us: “And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him that can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt 10:28).

For Catholics, the best confirmation of the truth of the foregoing reflections comes from the Church’s own Magisterium. Not only did the Popes of recent centuries warn repeatedly of “conspiracies” against the Church, they specifically referred to “secret societies” plotting to harm the Mystical Body of Christ.

The following list will restrict itself to some applicable quotes from the 19th and 20th centuries, when the threat of persecution against the Church was at its most imminent.

Pope Pius VII

• “Therefore, omit no watchfulness, diligence, care, and effort, in order to ‘guard the deposit’ of Christ’s teaching whose destruction has been planned, as you know, by a great conspiracy.” (Encyclical Diu Satis, n. 11, 1800)

Pope Leo XII

• “The princes know what conspiracies have everywhere arisen to weaken both the sacred and civil law in this holy matter.” (Encyclical Quod Hoc Ineunte, n. 12, 1824)
• “…We forbid forever under the same penalties which are contained in the Letters of Our Predecessors already reported in this Our Constitution, … all secret societies, those which now are and those which perhaps will afterwards sprout out, and which propose to themselves against the Church and against the highest civil powers those things which We have mentioned above, by whatever name they may finally be called.” (Encyclical Quo Graviora, n. 7, 1826)

Pope Pius VIII

• “When this corruption has been abolished, then eradicate those secret societies of factious men who, completely opposed to God and to princes, are wholly dedicated to bringing about the fall of the Church, the destruction of kingdoms, and disorder in the whole world. Having cast off the restraints of true religion, they prepare the way for shameful crimes.” (Encyclical Traditi Humilitati, n. 6, 1829)

Pope Gregory XVI

• “If the right hand of God had not given Us strength, We would have drowned as the result of the terrible conspiracy of impious men.” (Encyclical Mirari Vos, n. 1, 1832)
• “In this you must labor and diligently take care that the faith may be preserved amidst this great conspiracy of impious men who attempt to tear it down and destroy it.” (Encyclical Mirari Vos, n. 8, 1832)
• “Now, however, We want you to rally to combat the abominable conspiracy against clerical celibacy. This conspiracy spreads daily and is promoted by profligate philosophers, some even from the clerical order.” (Encyclical Mirari Vos, n. 11, 1832)
• “In the individual rural chapters, they spread the same ideas and aroused a wicked conspiracy. Moreover, now and again, they produced a pamphlet with many additions and dared to print it under the bold title: ‘Are reforms necessary in the Catholic Church?'” (Encyclical Quo Graviora, n. 3, 1833)
• “Finally, it [our encyclical letter Mirari Vos] concerned that freedom of conscience which should be thoroughly condemned and the repulsive conspiracy of societies enkindling destruction of sacred and state affairs, even from the followers of false religions, as We have made clear by the authority handed down to Us.” (Encyclical Singulari Nos, n. 3, 1834)

Pope Pius IX

• “The sacred celibacy of clerics has also been the victim of conspiracy.” (Encyclical Qui Pluribus, n. 16, 1846)
• “But if the faithful scorn both the fatherly warnings of their pastors and the commandments of the Christian Law recalled here, and if they let themselves be deceived by the present-day promoters of plots, deciding to work with them in their perverted theories of Socialism and Communism, let them know and earnestly consider what they are laying up for themselves. The Divine Judge will seek vengeance on the day of wrath. Until then no temporal benefit for the people will result from their conspiracy, but rather new increases of misery and disaster. For man is not empowered to establish new societies and unions which are opposed to the nature of mankind. If these conspiracies spread throughout Italy there can only be one result: if the present political arrangement is shaken violently and totally ruined by reciprocal attacks of citizens against citizens by their wrongful appropriations and slaughter, in the end some few, enriched by the plunder of many, will seize supreme control to the ruin of all.” (Encyclical Nostis Et Nobiscum, n. 25, 1849)
• “Therefore we must deplore all the following: the blindness covering the minds of many; the fierce war against everything Catholic and this Apostolic See; the hideous hatred of virtue and rectitude; the profligate vice dignified with the deceitful label of virtue; the unbridled liberty of thinking, living, and daring everything at will; the unrestrained intolerance of all rule, power, and authority; the mockery and contempt for sacred things, for holy laws, for even the finest institutions; the lamentable corruption of improvident youth; the annoying aggregate of bad books, pamphlets, and posters flying about everywhere and teaching sin; the deadly virus of Indifferentism and incredulity; the tendency to impious conspiracies, and the fact that both human and divine rights are despised and ridiculed.” (Encyclical Exultavit Cor Nostrum, n. 2, 1851)
• “But if always, venerable brethren, now most of all amidst such great calamities both of the Church and of civil society, amidst so great a conspiracy against Catholic interests and this Apostolic See, and so great a mass of errors, it is altogether necessary to approach with confidence the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace in timely aid.” (Encyclical Quanta Cura, n. 9, 1864)
• “Some of you may perchance wonder that the war against the Catholic Church extends so widely. Indeed each of you knows well the nature, zeal, and intention of sects, whether called Masonic or some other name. When he compares them with the nature, purpose, and amplitude of the conflict waged nearly everywhere against the Church, he cannot doubt but that the present calamity must be attributed to their deceits and machinations for the most part. For from these the synagogue of Satan is formed which draws up its forces, advances its standards, and joins battle against the Church of Christ.” (Encyclical Etsi Multa, n. 28, 1873)
• “They [these laws] would also introduce the perversion of Catholic discipline, encourage defection from the Church, and strengthen the coalition and conspiracy of the sects against the true faith of Christ.” (Encyclical Vix Dum A Nobis, n. 11, 1874)
• “We are very confident in the Lord, beloved sons, pastors, and clerics, that you, who have been ordained not only for your own sanctification and salvation but also for that of others, in face of this huge conspiracy of the unholy and of so many dangerous allurements will prove yourselves a strong comfort and help to your bishops because of your demonstrated piety and zeal.” (Encyclical Graves Ac Diuturnae, n. 6, 1875)

Pope Leo XIII

• “But the supreme pastors of the Church, on whom the duty falls of guarding the Lord’s flock from the snares of the enemy, have striven in time to ward off the danger and provide for the safety of the faithful. For, as soon as the secret societies began to be formed, in whose bosom the seeds of the errors which we have already mentioned were even then being nourished, the Roman Pontiffs Clement XII and Benedict XIV did not fail to unmask the evil counsels of the sects, and to warn the faithful of the whole globe against the ruin which would be wrought.” (Encyclical Quod Apostolici Muneris, n. 3, 1878)
• “Let the people be frequently urged by your authority and teaching to fly from the forbidden sects, to abhor all conspiracy  to have nothing to do with sedition, and let them understand that they who for God’s sake obey their rulers render a reasonable service and a generous obedience.” (Encyclical Diuturnum, n. 27, 1881)
• “The Roman Pontiffs Our predecessors, in their incessant watchfulness over the safety of the Christian people, were prompt in detecting the presence and the purpose of this capital enemy immediately it sprang into the light instead of hiding as a dark conspiracy; and, moreover, they took occasion with true foresight to give, as it were on their guard, and not allow themselves to be caught by the devices and snares laid out to deceive them.” (Encyclical Humanum Genus, n. 4, 1884)
• “But against the apostolic see and the Roman Pontiff the contention of these enemies has been for a long time directed. The Pontiff was first, for specious reasons, thrust out from the bulwark of his liberty and of his right, the civil princedom; soon, he was unjustly driven into a condition which was unbearable because of the difficulties raised on all sides; and now the time has come when the partisans of the sects openly declare, what in secret among themselves they have for a long time plotted, that the sacred power of the Pontiffs must be abolished, and that the papacy itself, founded by divine right, must be utterly destroyed. If other proofs were wanting, this fact would be sufficiently disclosed by the testimony of men well informed, of whom some at other times, and others again recently, have declared it to be true of the Freemasons that they especially desire to assail the Church with irreconcilable hostility, and that they will never rest until they have destroyed whatever the supreme Pontiffs have established for the sake of religion.” (Encyclical Humanum Genus, n. 15, 1884)
• “…We wish it to be your rule first of all to tear away the mask from Freemasonry, and to let it be seen as it really is; and by sermons and pastoral letters to instruct the people as to the artifices used by societies of this kind in seducing men and enticing them into their ranks, and as to the depravity of their opinions and the wickedness of their acts.” (Encyclical Humanum Genus, n. 31, 1884)
• “It is enough to recall rationalism and naturalism, those deadly sources of evil whose teachings are everywhere freely distributed. We must then add the many allurements to corruption: the opposition to or open defection from the Church by public officials, the bold obstinacy of secret societies, here and there a curriculum for the education of youth without regard for God.” (Encyclical Quod Multum, n. 3, 1886)
• “Again, at present, when contemplating the depths of the vast conspiracy that certain men have formed for the annihilation of Christianity in France and the animosity with which they pursue the realization of their design, trampling under foot the most elementary notions of liberty and justice for the sentiment of the greater part of the nation, and of respect for the inalienable rights of the Catholic Church, how can We but be stricken with deepest grief?” (Encyclical Au Milieu Des Sollicitudes, n. 2, 1892)
• “Indeed, fearing nothing and yielding to no one, the Masonic sect proceeds with greater boldness day by day: with its poisonous infection it pervades entire communities and strives to entangle itself in all the institutions of our country in its conspiracy to forcefully deprive the Italian people of their Catholic faith, the origin and source of their greatest blessings.” (Encyclical Inimica Vis, n. 3, 1892)
• “For a long time now it has bored its way under the deceitful guise of a philanthropic society and redeemer of the Italian people. By way of conspiracies, corruptions, and violences, it has finally come to dominate Italy and even Rome. To what troubles, to what calamities has it opened the way in a little more than thirty years?” (Encyclical Custodi Di Quella Fede, n. 3, 1892)

Pope Pius XI

• “It is the respect which has had its expression in vastly extended and hateful police-measures, prepared in the deep silence of a conspiracy, and executed with lightning-like suddenness, on the very vigil of Our birthday, which was the occasion of many acts of kindness and of courtesy towards Us on the part of the Catholic world, and of the non-Catholic world also.” (Encyclical Non Abbiamo Bisogno, n. 66, 1931)
• “Moreover, the Secret Societies, which by their nature are ever ready to help the enemies of God and of the Church — be these who they may — are seeking to add fresh fires to this poisonous hatred, from which there comes no peace or happiness of the civil order, but the certain ruin of states.” (Encyclical Caritate Christi Compulsi, n. 7, 1932)
• “A third powerful factor in the diffusion of Communism is the conspiracy of silence on the part of a large section of the non-Catholic press of the world. We say conspiracy, because it is impossible otherwise to explain how a press usually so eager to exploit even the little daily incidents of life has been able to remain silent for so long about the horrors perpetrated in Russia, in Mexico and even in a great part of Spain; and that it should have relatively so little to say concerning a world organization as vast as Russian Communism.” (Encyclical Divini Redemptoris, n. 18, 1937)

Aside from these juicy quotes, we also recall that the Council of Chalcedon in the fifth century decreed that “if any clerics or monks are found to be either forming a conspiracy or a secret society or hatching plots against bishops or fellow clergy, [they are to] lose their personal rank completely” (Canon 18, 451).

Moreover, Bl. Anna Maria Taigi, in her miraculous visions, saw the conspiratorial undertakings of the Masonic sects to make war against the Church, and she warned the Pope about the matter, assisted in this by St. Vincent Strambi as the mediator (it is for this reason that Novus Ordo Watch is dedicated to St. Vincent and Bl. Anna Maria).

So, what is going on here? Were all these Popes and saints looney “conspiracy theorists”? Or could it be that perhaps those who today scoff at all these admonitions are themselves the looney ones, having nothing but contemptuous disregard for the papal and saintly warnings against conspiratorial efforts to subvert our holy Catholic religion?

Can anyone really read Matthew 24 and 2 Thessalonians 2 without concluding that there must be, at some point and in some way, a conspiracy that seeks to bring about the eternal ruin of our souls? In fact, has Satan not conspired with his demons to bring souls to eternal damnation, ever since he first tempted Eve (Gen 3:1-5)?

The persecution of the Mystical Body of Christ, which is the Catholic Church, is also well attested to by the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel which Pope Leo XIII promulgated on May 18, 1890, as part of a larger “Exorcism against Satan and the Apostate Angels” (note in particular the parts highlighted in bold red):

The original Latin text with the decree of promulgation can be found in the Acta Sanctae Sedis XXIII (1890-91), pp. 743-747. The English translation has been taken from this source. A shortened version of this St. Michael prayer can be found in the Church’s official collection of indulgenced prayers, the Raccolta, n. 446 (approved for an indulgence of 500 days by the Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, May 4, 1934).

What is especially noteworthy in this prayer is that Pope Leo, who composed it, makes explicit reference to “the Holy Place … where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of Truth for the light of the world.” There, he says, the diabolical enemies of the Church “have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered,” which is an allusion to Zach 13:7 and Mt 26:31.

Is this not exactly what we have seen happen since the death of Pope Pius XII? From the conclave that was supposed to elect his successor, there emerged an antipope (John XXIII) instead, who set into motion a new religion with a false hierarchy, thus “striking the shepherd” (the Pope) and eclipsing the True Church, as prophesied in Apoc 12 according to Fr. Sylvester Berry (see links below).

That a Great Apostasy — a falling away from the Faith due to a seduction caused by an “operation of error” (2 Thess 2:10) with “false Christs and false prophets” and lying “signs and wonders” (Mt 24:24) — and a Mystical Passion would afflict the Catholic Church before the Second Coming of Christ is part and parcel of the Deposit of Faith received from the Apostles, who in turn received it from our Blessed Lord Himself.

The following links elaborate on this and provide important explanations:

• Fr. Herman Kramer’s 1956 Prediction of a Hindered Papal Election in 1956
• Fr. Sylvester Berry on the Persecution of the Church in the Last Days (Part 1): Satan will Attack the Papacy
• Fr. Sylvester Berry on the Persecution of the Church in the Last Days (Part 2): A False Church to imitate the True Church
• Fr. Sylvester Berry on the Persecution of the Church in the Last Days (Part 3): A False Pope and a Vacant Holy See
• Mgr. Fulton Sheen 1948 Prediction that Satan would set up a Counter-Church to be the Ape of the Catholic Church
• Sermon Series: “Satan Will Try to Deceive Even the Elect” – Part 1
• Sermon Series: “Satan Will Try to Deceive Even the Elect” – Part 2
• Sermon Series: “Satan Will Try to Deceive Even the Elect” – Part 3
• Bp. Donald Sanborn on the Antichrist
• The Papacy & the Passion of the Church
• The Pope and the Antichrist: The Great Apostasy Foretold

The key takeaway here is that, informed by the Deposit of Faith through an orthodox interpretation of Sacred Scripture, Catholic theologians did not at all consider it crazy or absurd that there would be at some point a great falling away from the Faith through an enormous disaster befalling the Church, and this would happen as a prelude to the coming of the Antichrist.

On the other hand, it is the Vatican II Church which tries to make people believe this is a silly idea only held by whackos who are out of their minds. Indeed it was “Pope” John XXIII himself who had the audacity to mock the Popes’ and saints’ warnings in this regard, saying in the opening speech of his so-called Second Vatican Council: “We feel we must disagree with those prophets of gloom, who are always forecasting disaster, as though the end of the world was at hand” (Address Gaudet Mater Ecclesia, Oct. 11, 1962). After over 50 years of Vatican II, it is absolutely clear that the “prophets of doom” were right, and John XXIII was wrong.

But why would the Vatican II Church take such an arrogant position, and one that amounted to a complete turnabout compared to the traditional position? Simple! Because the Novus Ordo Sect is itself the Great Deception! It is no accident that just when the Masonic conspiracy against the Catholic Church succeeded in eclipsing the Papacy by putting the first of a line of usurpers in the Vatican, it would start to pretend that nothing but great times were ahead (recall the heart-warming “Lunar Discourse” of John XXIII the night of Oct. 11, 1962). The expectations were bright and cheerful, but the reality that followed was stark and somber. We are reminded here of the lamentation of Jeremias: “We looked for peace and no good came: for a time of healing, and behold fear” (Jer 8:15).

What had been marketed as a “New Springtime in the Faith” and hailed as a coming “New Pentecost” for the Church, turned out in reality to be nothing short of the Great Apostasy prophesied in Holy Scripture, the “operation of error” predicted by St. Paul, which would come upon us in punishment for our sins:

Unfortunately, to this very day, there is a great number of people who are still pretending that, more or less, all is well. Among them is none other than “Pope” Francis himself, who said in September of 2013: “The Church is not falling to pieces. It has never been better. This is a wonderful moment for the Church, you just need to look at its history” (source and commentary here).

“Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter,” says Isaias (5:20). You are looking at a spiritual, theological, doctrinal, and moral wasteland and are being asked to believe it’s the Spotless Bride of Christ. Think of how far the apostasy has advanced even just in the past five years under Francis!

In 1994, former member of the Vatican’s honor guard Franco Bellegrandi caused quite a stir when he published his book Nikita Roncalli: Counterlife of a Pope (free PDF here). Bellegrandi had worked in the Vatican from the late 1950s to the mid-1960s, that is, during the entire reign of “Pope” John XXIII. Later he became a correspondent for the Vatican’s own in-house newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano (more here). In his explosive book, Bellegrandi revealed, among other things, that the election of Angelo Roncalli (John XXIII) and later Giovanni Montini (Paul VI) had been pre-arranged by Marxist-Masonic forces behind the scenes:

In the Vatican’s high spheres it was indeed no secret that after Pius XII, the coming Conclave would elect Venice’s patriarch Roncalli, who, in turn, would “bring” on the See of Peter Giovanni Battista Montini. From Milan, the Brescian bishop with the owl-gaze, whom in Rome they nicknamed “Hamlet,” or the “Cat,” was pulling the strings of a colossal game, with the precious help of a group of powerful prelates among which distinguished themselves Belgian cardinal Leo Jozef Suenens, Dutch Bernard Jan Alfrinck, and German Agostino Bea, with the secretive support of international Marxism. That colossal game that would upturn the contents and the aspect of the Church, of Italy, of Europe, and of the whole world with all its established checks and balances, needed, to get in motion and develop, a formidable “battering ram.” This “battering ram” that hit with irresistible violence against the bi-millenarian walls of the Church, shattering their inviolate compactness, was Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli. Behind him the fury of the “New Course” would burst into the vanquished citadel. All had long been predisposed, with precision, so that the cardinal from Sotto il Monte would become a breaking Pope [sic]. The College of Cardinals was so well guided and oriented that today, years after that Conclave, it has even been given a more credible version of the little mystery of the three “fumate,” white, black and then again white, which came, in brief sequence, out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, causing confusion within the packed crowd with their nose in the air in St. Peter’s square. In spite of the plans, the Armenian cardinal Agagianian, was elected on the last ballot – Hence the first “fumata bianca.” Directly followed by the black smoke, as the elect, giving in to immediate pressures, would decline the appointment, clearing the way for Roncalli, announced by the ultimate white smoke.

I accompanied, in that Conclave, cardinal Federico Tedeschini, Datano di Sua Santità and Arciprete della Patriarcale Basilica Vaticana, who much loved me, and to whom I was sincerely and affectionately bound. In the quiet of his study, loaded with brocades and crowded with portraits, in the old palace of Via della Dateria, by the Quirinale that handsome cardinal, tall and aristocratic in his venerable oldness, by the pale and delicate face on which his gray-blue eyes shone luminous, had told me, sadly, of those, unfortunately, authentic forecasts and had guided by hand my bewilderment in that intricate maze of political interests, personal ambitions, of rivalries, of conflicts between power groups, which intertwined, so thickly, in the ante-chamber of that Conclave and that would have borne, beneath the vaults of the Sistine packed with the crying throngs of Michelangelo, that result that had been established and that the unknowing Catholics would attribute to the Holy Spirit’s intervention. And I felt like laughing, as I watched the disheveled and sweating and frantic rushing of the journalists hunting for indiscretions and rash forecasts and the hermetic faces and indefinite grins with which the most eminent princes of the Church resisted, or eluded, their assaults.

(Franco Bellegrandi, NichitaRoncalli, English transl., pp. 31-33.)

(The smoke signals Bellegrandi is making reference to are discussed in more detail in our post Smoke Signals: The White Smoke of Oct. 16, 1958.)

It is no accident that John XXIII’s Second Vatican Council took up the three Freemasonic ideals of liberty, equality, and fraternity, and foisted them on the unsuspecting faithful as religious freedom, collegiality, and ecumenism. By now, the Novus Ordo Church is essentially a mouthpiece of Freemasonry, teaching its basic tenets in place of sound Catholic doctrine, with some minor modifications, of course, for plausible deniability. Hence the constant emphasis on Masonic ideas such as the rights of man (ever hear of the rights of God from the Vatican?), an exaggerated notion of human dignity, freedom of religion, ecumenical practices, interreligious dialogue, peace through natural fraternity among all men, and so forth. These errors were all condemned by the true Catholic Popes before the ecclesial eclipse, in such important documents as the following:

• Pope Gregory XVI, Encyclical Mirari Vos (1832)
• Pope Pius IX, Encyclical Quanta Cura (1864)
• Pope Pius IX, Syllabus of Errors (1864)
• Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Humanum Genus (1884)
• Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Satis Cognitum (1896)
• Pope St. Pius X, Apostolic Letter Our Apostolic Mandate (1910)
• Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Ubi Arcano (1922)
• Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Quas Primas (1925)
• Pope Pius XI, Encyclical Mortalium Animos (1928)

But there we go again with our nutty conspiracies — any and all evidence proving it apparently notwithstanding.

In fact, the most undeniable evidence of all comes from the Masons themselves, evidence that was publicly unveiled by order of two Popes. We are speaking of a document called the “Permanent Instruction” of the Italian Alta Vendita lodge. This paper outlined a 19th-century battle plan for the (attempted) destruction of the Roman Catholic Church. By the wonderful workings of Divine Providence, it fell into the hands of Popes Pius IX and Leo XIII, both of whom ordered it to be published. Check out the following three links:

• Full Masonic Text Online: Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita
• Essay by John K. Weiskittel: Freemasons and the Conciliar Church (PDF)

The evidence that testifies to the existence of an impious conspiracy devised by the Masonic sects against the Catholic Church, the Mystical Body of Christ, is overwhelming and undeniable. Only a fool would close his eyes in the face of it and pretend the threat does not exist.

Pope Leo XIII, in his 1884 encyclical against Freemasonry, did not mince words:

We wish it to be your rule first of all to tear away the mask from Freemasonry, and to let it be seen as it really is; and by sermons and pastoral letters to instruct the people as to the artifices used by societies of this kind in seducing men and enticing them into their ranks, and as to the depravity of their opinions and the wickedness of their acts. As Our predecessors have many times repeated, let no man think that he may for any reason whatsoever join the masonic sect, if he values his Catholic name and his eternal salvation as he ought to value them. Let no one be deceived by a pretense of honesty. It may seem to some that Freemasons demand nothing that is openly contrary to religion and morality; but, as the whole principle and object of the sect lies in what is vicious and criminal, to join with these men or in any way to help them cannot be lawful

(Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Humanum Genus, n. 31)

Sedevacantism holds that the Masonic conspiracy against the Church scored a decisive breakthrough at the conclave of 1958, when, at least to all appearances, the true Pope was overthrown and an impostor installed (John XXIII). This is the watershed event from where the new Modernist church formally takes its beginning, that false religion which still today masquerades as the Catholic Church in the Vatican.

But the ultimate proof of this is had, not so much in direct evidence regarding the conclave or the Masonic plans, but rather in the effects produced by the conclave and the subsequent new religion that emerged, one which cannot, absolutely cannot, be the Catholic religion because it teaches doctrine at grave odds with the Catholic Faith, so that he who embraces the teachings of the Vatican II Church necessarily abandons the doctrines of the Catholic Church of Pope Pius XII and his predecessors.

Still don’t believe it? Fine. But whatever you believe about this, make sure you make it dependent on evidence, not on whether it presupposes a conspiracy, or whether you like the conclusions that follow from it. Seek the truth at all times, not merely the vindication of a dearly-held pre-conceived position you may find comfortable or convenient.

The great Fr. Frederick Faber of immortal memory once said the following in a sermon he preached:

We must remember that if all the manifestly good men were on one side and all the manifestly bad men on the other, there would be no danger of anyone, least of all the elect, being deceived by lying wonders. It is the good men, good once, we must hope good still, who are to do the work of Anti-Christ and so sadly to crucify the Lord afresh…. Bear in mind this feature of the last days, that this deceitfulness arises from good men being on the wrong side.

(Rev. Frederick Faber, Sermon for Pentecost Sunday, 1861; qtd. in Rev. Denis Fahey, The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World)

Ask yourself on whose side you’d rather be on Judgment Day: that of countless Catholic Popes, saints, and martyrs, who in their writings and teachings warned us against the nefarious plots devised by the Church’s enemies for her undoing — or on the side of the “hear no evil, see no evil” Novus Ordo apologists whose very livelihoods often depend upon their defense of Francis and his henchmen?

Once we look at everything in a calm and objective manner, informing ourselves of traditional Catholic teaching and soberly accepting the facts right in front of us, we realize that a diabolical conspiracy has indeed been carried out against the Catholic Church, and that affirming this does not make us looney or stupid but puts us in pretty darn good company.

On all levels — doctrinally, morally, liturgically, architecturally — the Vatican II Church has left behind a devastated vineyard. Only one conclusion is reasonable: “An enemy hath done this” (Mt 13:28).

Image source: shutterstock.com
License: Paid