I recently received a private message from a reader that probably reflects the views of many others.
Why do you bother working so hard to convince people that the “conciliar church” isn’t really the Catholic Church? This seems like a waste of time. Even if you’re correct, you have to admit that the deception is so clever that most good people are falling for it. Christ will sort this out at our particular judgment. People don’t go to Hell for being fooled. So again, why bother?
This seems like a fair question. So, with the assumption in mind that others might be wondering the same, I decided to attempt an answer. Perhaps readers will find this exercise useful.
In his Encyclical, Immortale Dei (On the Christian Constitution of States), Pope Leo XIII stated:
Now, it cannot be difficult to find out which is the true religion, if only it be sought with an earnest and unbiased mind; for proofs are abundant and striking. We have, for example, the fulfilment of prophecies, miracles in great numbers, the rapid spread of the faith in the midst of enemies and in face of overwhelming obstacles, the witness of the martyrs, and the like. From all these it is evident that the only true religion is the one established by Jesus Christ Himself, and which He committed to His Church to protect and to propagate.
These words were written in 1885, roughly a year after the Holy Father reportedly had a vision of demonic spirits posturing for a renewed offensive against Rome, an experience that moved him to compose the St. Michael prayer.
The following year, 1886, the Holy Father instituted the “Leonine Prayers” (which includes the St. Michael prayer), ordering that they be recited after every Low Mass.
Not much in the way of documentation exists regarding the particulars of the Holy Father’s mystical experience, but it is widely said that it involved a dialogue between Satan and Our Lord, with the Devil arrogantly boasting that, given ample time, he can destroy the Church.
Whether or not those details are entirely accurate, one thing is certain:
Even though Satan has not succeeded (and indeed cannot succeed) in destroying the Church, it’s evident that he’s been very busy trying, and what’s more, he has managed to create considerably more havoc than Pope Leo XIII and his contemporaries likely ever imagined possible.
Much has changed since the Holy Father promulgated Immortale Dei thanks to the Evil One’s efforts – not with respect to its timeless teaching on matters of Church and State, of course – but rather as it concerns the putrid condition of ecclesial affairs in general.
As Pope Leo XIII wrote in the year 1885, it most certainly was the case that the identity of the one true religion was not very difficult to discern, if only one sincerely set about trying to find it.
But then, a not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the 1960s. In brief:
Pope Pius XII died in 1958 and Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, who took the name John XXIII, swiftly set about calling the Second Vatican Council. Following his death in 1963, Giovanni Battista Montini, who took the name Paul VI, ordered the Council to continue, which it did, until December 8, 1965.
That revolutionary gathering of the world’s episcopate produced a series of error-laden documents that serve as the magna carta of the false religion that it birthed – let’s call it the “conciliar church” – a society that merely poses as the Holy Roman Catholic Church and which exists for the sole purpose of propagating the conciliar religion.
This counterfeit church holds as sacrosanct numerous doctrines that are utterly irreconcilable with the faith such as it was taught in the centuries leading up to the Council. This much is obvious, i.e., anyone who takes the time to compare the bi-millennial doctrine of the Catholic Church with the body of conciliar teaching will necessarily conclude that they are not one and the same, nor can it be said that the latter is a genuine development in continuity with the former.
Even so, there are many individuals – intelligent, apparently sincere persons – that seem to want nothing more than to be and to remain Catholic but who insist that this conciliar church is the real thing.
Sure, a good number of them recognize that many of the leaders of this “church,” up to and including the men-in-white at its helm, are often guilty of poisoning the hearts and minds of the naïve with corrupt doctrines on faith and morals. And yet, they insist on staying the course, behaving as if this counterfeit church is the Mystical Body of Christ and the solitary Ark of Salvation, albeit badly damaged, taking on water, and teetering on the verge of capsizing.
But do they really believe it? In other words, are they the unwitting victims of a diabolically brilliant religious deception, or are they on some level complicit in the ruse and thus culpable for their attachment to a religion that is so obviously false?
Our Lord will judge rightly, of course, but my sense is that while some probably are genuinely deceived, many others simply find it more comfortable, more popular, or more profitable to go with the majority flow, much like those who, despite the nagging conviction that the ruling class was carrying out a large scale operation of evil, cast all reason aside in order to follow the herd during the COVID scamdemic.
Whatever the case may be, it seems perfectly plain that what Pope Leo XIII stated in 1885 about the one true religion being easily found is not necessarily the case today, and this thanks in some large measure to Satan’s efforts to destroy the Church.
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that it is impossible for a sincere seeker to find the one true religion today. Surely, the good God often dispenses the graces we need to cut through the fog of diabolical deception in order to discern the truth. Of this I am living proof.
At the same time, however, it’s difficult to deny that the nature of the present ecclesial crisis – with the emergence of a highly visible counterfeit church that merely claims to be Catholic – is making the truth seeker’s journey more difficult to navigate than it was a mere 150 years ago.
How so?
Well, for one thing, the authoritative voice of Holy Mother Church in our day is overwhelmingly confined to the Vatican archives, the pre-conciliar magisterium, and the writings of the approved theologians of that age.
Sure, there are priests and bishops (in particular those pastors of souls that openly reject the conciliar church) who preach the true faith, applying its timeless principles to contemporary circumstances, but their voices are as one crying out in a distant desert compared to the cacophony of clerical charlatans that routinely dispense the poisonous food of error.
The single most critical element that is missing in our day is a true Vicar of Christ, a Sovereign Pontiff who speaks in the King’s name, acting as our sure rule of faith in all matters religious.
In the century prior to the Council, even a non-Christian seeker of religious truth could not but be impressed with the unshakable firmness and holiness of the popes. These men were widely viewed as the world’s moral authority, their stature far exceeding that of any other so-called “world leader,” the influence of their teachings on faith and morals was felt by Catholic and non-Catholic alike.
The Church, the unchanging bulwark of truth, shined under the headship of these popes as a beacon of hope even in the darkest of days. As Pope Leo XIII stated, proofs of her Divine origins were abundant and striking. Her destiny – to be spread among all men and all nations (cf Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas) – despite the efforts of her enemies, was such that she made the one true religion easy for all to find.
Following the Council, the church that stole her holy name, the conciliar church, set about negotiating with the enemies of the Catholic Church. It formed alliances with heathens, heretics, and Jews. It made pacts with Communists, tacitly encouraged all manner of depravity even within seminaries, turned a blind eye to the clerical sexual abuse of minors, stood with the leaders of godless political movements in exchange for money and influence, etc.
In short, the proofs that Pope Leo XIII rightly acknowledged for their abundance have since been overshadowed by what a sincere seeker of the one true religion cannot help but see as evidence that the church presently in occupation of the Vatican isn’t it.
As for a baptized individual in search of the one true religion of Christ, such a person prior to Vatican II could come to the unavoidable conclusion, based on an examination of the historical record alone, that Christ established just one Church, the Catholic Church, and it was with this Church, built upon the rock of St. Peter, that He promised to remain even to the close of the age. Having made this discovery, the choices for that seeker were limited to either hitching one’s cart to a heretical or schismatic sect or to enter into communion with the Holy Roman Catholic Church.
For some of these persons, many even, choosing to enter the “popish” Church that has always stood firm against divorce, abortion, homosexuality and the like would inevitably lead to the loss of friendships, it could effectively sever certain family ties, and might even limit one’s professional opportunities.
This being so, the temptation to settle for a “spiritual home” among the heretics, outside of the Catholic Church, was considerable.
Today, however, there’s an added temptation: The possibility of membership in a church that claims historical roots leading directly back to Jesus, one that calls itself “Catholic” and even has some of the external trappings of tradition (e.g., popes and vestments and priests and altars and confessionals, etc.), but with little or none of the things that our heathen, heretic, or Jewish friends might find offensive.
One can easily find a conciliar church parish that welcomes openly gay couples, hands out Communion to the divorced and remarried, encourages contraception, and even makes excuses for those who have had an abortion.
Most conciliar church parishes also boast multiple “ministry” opportunities for the budding feminist, e.g., they can hand out Communion, they can read the readings, and they might even get to chair any of a number of parish committees, from liturgy to finance and everything in between!
But do these persons really believe that they’ve found, or are persisting in, the one true Church of Christ in these places?
As I said, I suppose that some do.
Then again, I’m also fairly certain that many other self-identified Catholics know better. For them, the actual reason the identity of the true religion seems to escape their notice does not lie so much in the convincingness of the conciliar counterfeit (it’s actually not very convincing at all) as it does in the temptation that it represents, namely, the temptation to avoid sacrifice by choosing the easier path.
St. Paul, in his First Epistle to Timothy, writes:
Now the Spirit manifestly saith that in the last times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and doctrines of devils. (1 Timothy 4: 1)
The Haydock Biblical Commentary clarifies that “the last times,” does not necessarily refer exclusively to the consummation of the world, rather, it also pertains to “hereafter, or in days to come.”
The commentary continues, saying, “The sense must be, that men shall teach false doctrine by the suggestion of the devil.”
Is this not what took place at Vatican Council II, an operation that continues in our day at the hands of those who insist on teaching its errors?
Most importantly, notice that St. Paul does not suggest that souls are lost as if taken captive by the doctrines of devils, rather, he places the burden on those who give heed to the spirits of error. He very specifically says that these persons depart from the faith, i.e., the picture he paints is not one of victimhood, but rather of culpability.
That said, the deception and its impact are real, with actual victims left in its wake.
At this, I think of the real-world example of my neighbor, a devout Protestant man who was raised in a Novus Ordo household and who is as committed to what he genuinely believes to be Christianity as anyone I’ve ever met.
As an adult, having observed the antics of men like John Paul II and Benedict XVI (each of whom held abominable interreligious events at Assisi), to say nothing of the ramblings of the globalist Francis (a man who welcomed abortionists and homos with open arms), my neighbor concluded that their church simply cannot be the one true Church of Christ.
He is correct, of course, but the problem is that he (like so many self-identified Catholics) has fallen for the diabolical lie that the conciliar church is exactly what it claims to be, namely, the Catholic Church.
We’ve spoken about the Faith many times, but the challenge of opening his eyes to the dreadful reality of the matter is so daunting as to seem nearly impossible. How different our conversations would be if we lived a mere seventy-years ago!
This exact scenario likely plays out millions of times over. As a result, one shudders to imagine just how many decent, sincere persons who give every indication of loving the Lord are destined to live and to die without the sacraments.
So, are souls lost as a result of the present religious deception?
Whether directly or indirectly, the answer must be yes, and it includes both self-identified Catholics and others.
And this is why I bother.
