The Church Under Attack

By Paolo Reyes

On October 13, 1884, after celebrating Mass in the Vatican Chapel together with a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, Pope Leo XIII suddenly stood still at the foot of the altar. For about 10 minutes, the Pope, as if in a trance, stood motionless, his face ashen white. Immediately after, he went to his office and composed the prayer to St. Michael with instructions that it be said after all Low Masses everywhere.

When asked what happened, Pope Leo XIII explained that when he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he heard two voices talking - one kind and gentle, the other harsh and arrogant.  He heard the following conversation:

The arrogant voice of Satan boasting to Our Lord: "I can destroy your Church."  The gentle voice of Our Lord: "You can? Then go ahead and do so."  Satan: "To do so, I need more time and more power." 

Our Lord: "How much time? How much power?”  Satan: "75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service."  Our Lord: "You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will."

The 20th century has witnessed the fulfillment of this prophecy - world wars, the spread of atheism, the general decline of faith and morals. More significantly, the Catholic Church, whom Satan has boasted he can destroy, is battered and bruised - priestly scandals, declining vocations, deep divisions and discord within the hierarchy, declining mass attendance...the list of problems goes on and on.

The “Synagogue of Satan”

This ferocious attack on the Church is perpetrated by freemasonry - a worldwide secretive group that, for many innocent members, seems nothing but a noteworthy “fraternity” or “brotherhood”.  And yet, what many do not realize is that freemasonry is condemned by the Church.  In fact, membership in freemasonry means automatic ex-communication for Catholics, a fact that Cardinal Ratzinger (Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI), on November 26, 1983, emphasized:

The faithful who enroll in Masonic associations are in a state of grave sin and may not receive Holy Communion.... Consequently, neither the excommunication nor the other penalties envisaged have been abrogated.

     Numerous popes have condemned freemasonry throughout the ages. Pope Leo XIII called freemasonry the “synagogue of Satan”.  In his letter to the Italian people dated December 8, 1892, Leo XIII writes:

Let us remember that Christianity and Freemasonry are essentially incompatible, to such an extent, that to become united with one means being divorced from the other. Let us, therefore, expose Freemasonry as the enemy of God, of the Church and of our Motherland.

A Satanic Religion in Disguise

Freemasonry is nothing more than Satanic worship - beautifully packaged as a “humanitarian” movement to unsuspecting victims.

One of the prominent leaders of freemasonry was Albert Pike, grand commander of the Scottish Rite of freemasonry. In 1871, shortly before the pontificate of Pope Leo XIII, Pike wrote about the true nature of the “light” which masons seek in his book “Morals and Dogma”, traditionally handed out to high degree Freemasons only: “LUCIFER, the Light-bearer! Strange and mysterious name to give to the Spirit of Darkness! Lucifer, the Son of the Morning! Is it he who bears the Light ...? Doubt it not!"

The goal of freemasonry is to rule the world and destroy Christianity.  Pike said: “The World will soon come to us for its Sovereigns and Pontiffs. We shall constitute the equilibrium of the Universe, and be rulers over the Masters of the World..."

The Beast Like a Lamb

The messages of Our Lady to Fr. Stefano Gobbi, contained in the book “Our Lady Speaks to Her Beloved Priests” bear an imprimatur and nihil obstat from the Church, and has spawned a worldwide Marian Movement of Priests and Laity that counts hundreds of cardinals, bishops, and priests, as well as millions of laity, as members.

In a message dated June 13, 1989, Our Lady told Fr. Gobbi that “the beast like a lamb” prophesied in the Book of Revelation is none other than freemasonry that has infiltrated the Catholic Church:

...The black beast like a leopard indicates Freemasonry; the beast with the two horns like a lamb indicates Freemasonry infiltrated into the interior of the Church, that is to say, ecclesiastical Masonry, which has spread especially among the members of the hierarchy. This masonic infiltration, in the interior of the Church, was already foretold to you by me at Fatima, when I announced to you that Satan would enter in even to the summit of the Church...the task of ecclesiastical Masonry...is that of destroying Christ and His Church, building a new idol, namely a false christ and a false church…

The Ultimate Aim: “A Pope According to Our Needs”

The Popes knew the real nature of freemasonry.  Aside from the numerous testimonies from former masons, one of the more accurate sources was the seizure by Pope Gregory XVI of documents from the masonic lodge known as “Alta Vendita”. The documents were later on published in a book, and disseminated through various lectures. 

The “Alta Vendita” documents chillingly summarizes a plan to infiltrate and destroy the Catholic Church from within, a plan which may even require a century:

Our ultimate end is that of...the final destruction of Catholicism, and even of the Christian idea … The Pope, whoever he is, will never come to the secret societies; it is up to the secret societies to take the first step toward the Church, with the aim of conquering both of them. The task that we are going to undertake is not the work of a day, or of a month, or of a year; it may last several years, perhaps a century; but in our ranks the soldier dies and struggle goes on … What we must ask for, what we should look for and wait for, as the Jews wait for the Messiah, is a Pope according to our needs … You will contrive for yourselves, at little cost, a reputation as good Catholics and pure patriots. This reputation will put access to our doctrines into the midst of the young clergy, as well as deeply into the monasteries. In a few years, by the force of things, this young clergy will have overrun all the functions; they will form the sovereign’s council, they will be called to choose a Pontiff who should reign …

The Mason who Almost Became Pope

After Pope Leo XIII died on July 20, 1903, the Cardinals in conclave began the process of selecting the next pope.  After the initial votes were tallied, the initial frontrunner was Cardinal Rampolla, the former Secretary of State of Pope Leo XIII.

Suddenly, the conclave was interrupted by a shock announcement by the Bishop of Cracow (at the time within the Austrian Empire), Jan Cardinal Puzyna. In Latin he declared, “… officially and in the name and by the authority of Franz-Josef, Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, that His Majesty, in virtue of an ancient right and privilege, pronounces the veto of exclusion against my Most Eminent Lord, Cardinal Mariano Rampolla del Tindaro."

No reason was given during the conclave, but the “veto” action exercised by the Bishop of Cracow cost Cardinal Rampolla the papacy.  Several years after the incident, direct evidence was discovered that Cardinal Rampolla was not just a freemason, but a member of the diabolical Masonic Academy, the Order of Oriental Templars (OTO).  The name of Rampolla was listed in the OTO’s Manifesto, published in a Masonic journal.  Who were the other members of OTO?  Aleister Crowley, British spy and considered the “grandfather” of modern Satanism.  It seems that the alert bishop of Cracow discovered this evidence, and used an ancient “veto power” by the Austrian emperor, to block the candidacy of Cardinal Rampolla. 

The masons had almost succeeding in achieving their ultimate goal of controlling the papacy.  Would this setback discourage them from their goal - or in fact strengthen their resolve to push forward with their plan?

Prophecies Concerning Apostasy in the Church

After the Second Vatican Council, Pope Paul VI remarked that the smoke of Satan was seeping into the Church through cracks in the wall.  On October 13, 1977, he said:  "The darkness of Satan has entered and spread throughout the Catholic Church even to its summit. Apostasy, the loss of the faith, is spreading throughout the world and into the highest levels within the Church."

Numerous reputable prophecies and apparitions of both Our Lord and Our Lady throughout the years have precisely predicted this great Apostasy, or loss of the true faith, in the Church - brought about principally by the diabolical infiltration of freemasonry into Church ranks.  

In the Church-approved Marian apparition of Our Lady of Good Success at Quito, Ecuador in 1634, Our Lady warned Venerable Mother Mariana de Jesus Torres that in the late 19th Century and throughout most of the 20th Century, the Church would yield to a great heresy. The Sacrament of Matrimony“will be attacked and profaned,” and “Masonry, which will then be in power, will enact iniquitous laws with the objective of doing away with this Sacrament, making it easy for everyone to live in sin, encouraging the procreation of illegitimate children born without the blessing of the Church.”

Our Lady also warned that  “...the secular [diocesan] Clergy will leave much to be desired because priests will become careless in their sacred duties … Lacking a Prelate and Father to guide them with paternal love, gentleness, strength, wisdom and prudence, many priests will lose their spirit, placing their souls in great danger.”

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, the stigmatist and mystic who was given various visions of the life of the Blessed Virgin and the Lord Jesus, was another visionary who prophesied about a future time when a “secret sect” will relentlessly undermine the Church:

I saw the secret sect relentlessly undermining the great Church. Near them I saw a horrible beast coming up from the sea. All over the world, good and devout people, especially the clergy, were harassed, oppressed, and put into prison...I saw many churches closed down, great miseries everywhere, wars and bloodshed...But it did not last long...

In the Church-approved apparitions of Our Lady of Akita, Our Lady warns of this attack on the Church from within:

The work of the devil will infiltrate even into the Church in such a way that one will see cardinals opposing cardinals, and bishops against other bishops. The priests who venerate me will be scored and opposed by their Confreres. The Church and altars will be vandalized. The Church will be full of those who accept compromises and the demon will press many priests and consecrated souls to leave the service of the Lord. The demon will rage especially against souls consecrated to God.

The “Untold Portion” of the Third Secret of Fatima

Many analysts and commentators who have studied the third secret of Fatima have concluded that the full content of the third secret has still not yet been revealed.

In an interview published in the 11 November 1984 edition of Jesus Magazine, Cardinal Ratzinger was asked whether he had read the text of the Third Secret and why it had not been revealed.  The future pope acknowledged that he had read the Third Secret, and stated in part that the Third Secret involves the "dangers threatening the faith and the life of the Christian and therefore (the life) of the world."

Msgr. Eugene Pacelli, the future Pope Pius XII, who was familiar with the Third Secret, said:

 

I am worried by the Blessed Virgin’s messages to Lucy of Fatima. This persistence of Mary about the dangers which menace the Church is a divine warning against the suicide of altering the Faith, in Her liturgy, Her theology and Her soul...I hear all around me innovators who wish to dismantle the Sacred Chapel, destroy the universal flame of the Church, reject Her ornaments and make Her feel remorse for Her historical past.

A Future False Church

2 Thessalonians 2:3-10 describes the coming “Great Revolt” in the Church that will precede the Second Coming of Jesus: 

About the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ...Please do not be too easily thrown into confusion or alarmed by any manifestation of the Spirit or any statement or any letter claiming to come from us, suggesting that the Day of the Lord has already arrived...It cannot happen until the Great Revolt has taken place and there has appeared the wicked One, the lost One, the Enemy, who raises himself above every so-called God or object of worship to enthrone himself in God's sanctuary and flaunts the claim that he is God.

The various Marian prophecies point to a future time when freemasonry will achieve this “great revolt” - infiltrating the Church all the way to the very top, and establishing a false church.   In a message to Fr. Gobbi dated September 15, 1987, Our Lady prophesied on the coming great trial of the Church when “the man of iniquity” will establish himself within it:

I am weeping because the Church is continuing along the road of division, of loss of the true faith, of apostasy and of errors which are being spread more and more without anyone offering opposition to them...for the Church the moment of its great trial has come, because the man of iniquity will establish himself within it and the abomination of desolation will enter into the holy temple of God.

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich also had a similar vision - this time of a coming schism in the Church marked by “two popes” - one leading the true, underground Church, and another one leading a false church.  This false church will be an ecumenical church that will unite all religions under a “one world religion”, governed by the “False Prophet” prophesied in the Book of Revelation, together with the Antichrist.  Blessed Anne narrates as follows:

I saw also the relationship between two popes...I saw how baleful would be the consequences of this false church. I saw it increase in size; heretics of every kind came into the city of Rome. The local clergy grew lukewarm, and I saw a great darkness... I saw that many pastors allowed themselves to be taken up with ideas that were dangerous to the Church. They were building a great, strange, and extravagant Church. Everyone was to be admitted in it in order to be united and have equal rights: Evangelicals, Catholics, sects of every description... I saw again the new and odd-looking church which they were trying to build. There was nothing holy about it...People were kneading bread in the crypt below...but it would not rise, nor did they receive the body of our Lord, but only bread.

In a June 13, 1989 message, Our Lady warned us through Fr. Gobbi of the dangers of this “false ecumenism” which leads to the dilution of the Catholic Faith:

The Church is truth, because Jesus has entrusted to it alone the task of guarding, in its integrity, all the deposit of faith...Ecclesiastical Masonry seeks to destroy this reality through false ecumenism, which leads to the acceptance of all Christian churches, asserting that each one of them has some part of the truth. It develops the plan of founding a universal ecumenical Church, formed by the fusion of all the Christian confessions, among which, the Catholic Church.

Pope St. Pius X likewise predicted the emergence of this false church when he spoke of “the great movement of apostasy being organized in every country for the establishment of a One-World Church which shall have neither dogmas, nor hierarchy, neither discipline for the mind, nor curb for the passions...”

Finally, we have the modern-day messages of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the prophet “Maria Divine Mercy” contained in the website www.thewarningsecondcoming.com, which warn of a schism in the Church brought about by the False Prophet and the Antichrist.

“In the End My Immaculate Heart will Triumph”

Jesus Himself has promised that no power on earth will be able to destroy the Church, for He is the Church.  In the end, after a brief period of persecution by the False Prophet and the Antichrist, the Church will be re-built in all her splendor. Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich saw a vision of this rebuilding of the Church:

When the Church had been for the most part destroyed by the secret sect, and when only the sanctuary and altar were still standing, I saw the wreckers enter the Church with the beast. There, they met a Woman of noble carriage who seemed to be with child because she walked slowly. At this sight, the enemies were terrorized...I saw the beast taking to flight towards the sea again, and the enemies were fleeing in the greatest confusion...I saw the Church was being promptly rebuilt, and she was more magnificent than ever before.

What are we to do as ordinary Catholics in the most critical time in the history of our Church?  Prayer, especially the rosary, can mitigate the severity of the coming events and chastisements.  We entrust the future of our Church to Our Lady - she who promised that “in the end, My Immaculate Heart will triumph.” 

 

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