After the Warning

This is the story of a man who dedicated his life to the Party. Nothing but the Party mattered for him; his dedication was complete, absolute, uncompromising, unrelenting. But a human being is more than a cog in a machine; a mechanical part has no soul, but man has - even though he may regard himself as no more than a thinking animal. In fact, the higher animals respond to love. For man, love is essential. But love is not to be found in the Party Machine: "If you get caught, we will disavow you", his chief warned him.

Many men find love in marriage, or, if not in marriage, at least in their children. A few, however, are celibate all their life: scientists, composers, men of God. Even then, human warmth is not entirely lacking: Beethoven knew human admiration, and Fr. Damien was loved by his lepers. In the last resort, a man completely bereft of human love can still turn to God. But a man who has no human love at all and no belief in God, and who chooses celibacy to better serve a Party that manufactures hatred will either break down, become insane and perhaps commit suicide, or seek oblivion in drink and gradually destroy himself. Unless, of course, this man gives himself the illusion of a human dialogue by keeping a diary or writing his memoirs.

This is the story of a man who wrote his memoirs, about which he had had dreams for many nights until it had become an obsession. He yielded to the urge to write them though not understanding why. "Anyway, it does not matter", he ruminated, "for no one will ever read this; I shall destroy it in due course."

This man was a Communist agent who became a Catholic priest to better destroy the Church. He was ordained in the early forties, died in the late sixties, and his confessions survived him. He had overlooked one very important fact, however, that no man is master of his own life. He died in hospital as the result of a car accident. His papers were found in his briefcase, and read by the Catholic nurse who looked after him.

We are not relating the story out of sympathy for this Anti-Priest. His ruthlessness, his contempt of man, his demonic hatred of God and His Church, preclude such feelings of sympathy. We sincerely hope, however, that the grace of repentance was given to him before consciousness left him.

The reason we are relating this story is to reveal that, as early as 1938, there were over one thousand Communist agents ordained as Catholic priests or studying for the priesthood. They formed an efficient network of Anti-Priests whose main function was the infiltration, subversion and control of the Catholic press and Publishing Houses with the aid of Soviet money. New ideas were to be spread, a new religion was to be promoted. How well they have succeeded can be seen in a comparison of their avowed aims with the state of the Church since the Council. The reader will be able to judge for himself.

The state of the Catholic Church today bears witness to the success of the Communist subversion. Incredible as the current crises may have seemed some l8 years ago, it is here now for everyone to see. Surely; the Pontiffs who have followed Pius XII must assume some responsibility for this, for such is the meaning of leadership: to accept responsibility. Their greatest error, no matter what their motives may have been, has been to throw the doors of the Church wide open just when the enemy was trying to get in, and they should have been strengthening the locks.

This man has no name, but we shall call him Mikolaj because he came from Poland where he was born in 1917, perhaps from Russian parents fleeing the Revolution. He was found wandering along a road at the age of three, by a Polish Doctor and his wife, both devout Catholics. The year of his birth must have been determined by the Doctor because the child, who was crying, spoke only a little Polish and a little Russian and did not even know his own name. The Polish couple had no child of their own; they adopted him and loved him as their own son. In his confession, Mikolaj related that his foster parents were very good to him, very generous, full of affection, and that this recollection, even fifty years later, filled him with "seething Anger". For he had been trained, as an agent of the devil, to hate what normal people respect and love; memories of his childhood were like intruders trying to move his heart and bring about his conversion. He could not bear them, he had to hate them, and hate also those who were responsible for these sweet memories.

The child grew into a boy of quiet disposition and studious habits. His intelligence and capacity for learning appear to have been extraordinary, and so was his ambition. The latter seems to have played an important part in his downfall at the age of 14 or 15 when, one evening, shortly before a planned visit to Rome and Paris, he overheard his parents express their concern about his passport and his legal status as an adopted child. He was shattered! He had been brought up to believe that these two were really Mother and Father to him, and to discover this was not the truth was a great shock to him. He could not get over it; they died in his heart as effectively as if they had died physically; they ceased to be "Mum and Dad"; they became "Those People".

Distracted almost out of his mind, he fled from the house immediately. He decided to leave Poland, and made for the Russian border. A schoolmate of his had an uncle in Russia, in Leningrad to be precise, where he was as a high-ranking public servant. A few days later, with a letter of introduction in his hand, he called at the uncle's home in Russia. The uncle noticed his alertness, intelligence and ambition, and was favorably impressed. "If you wish to succeed, my lad", he told him, "first of all you must study some foreign languages and absorb the doctrine of the Party."

For the next six years, Mikolaj studied furiously and absorbed the Marxist doctrine in its entirety. The uncle, as he soon found out, was a high-ranking official in the Secret Police. There is little doubt that his interest for the young man had been aroused by considerations which had little to do with affection or sympathy. The boy was highly intelligent, had no parents or relative to divide his allegiance or interfere with his Marxist studies, and he was ambitious. In fact, the perfect raw material with which to form a good agent. Other factors, too, contributed to this: Mikolaj had an enormous capacity for work, a remarkable memory, and he despised all women and the "fools" who love them too much. This would exclude emotional involvements with the fair sex.

The six years of study completed, Mikolaj, now 20, was called to the office of the Uncle who told him point-blank: "I am going to send you abroad to become a militant atheist on the world scene. Your main duty will be to fight all religions, but the Catholic religion in particular because of its efficient structures. In order to achieve this you will enter a seminary and become a Catholic priest. But you must return to Poland and seek reconciliation with your foster parents who will be delighted to hear of your "vocation" and who will help you to become a priest.

Mikolaj had mixed feeling: the idea of being a secret agent filled him with elation, but the command to see his "parents" again and act the part of a loving son for the six long years which he would spend in the seminary, was abhorrent to him. Self-control is one of the qualities of a secret agent. In this case, however, Mikolaj could not quite conceal his feelings even after 6 years of training in Marxist' schools. The Uncle remarked on this, which had Mikolaj blush, and drew a further remark from the Uncle: "A secret agent does not blush, has no blood in his veins, has no heart, loves no one not even himself. He is the Thing of the Party, and the Party can devour him alive and without warning. Wherever you are, get it into your head that you will be watched. At the first sign of weakness we shall get rid of you (1). And, of course, if you are in danger, do not rely on us; you will be disavowed." Answered Mikolaj: "I know all this very well, but I beg to ask why I should show love and affection to my false parents when I feel nothing but hatred for them" - "Hatred has no room in our service, except the hatred of God following Lenin's example; we kill without hatred simply to serve the Party. You must see your parents again, but you will not enter a Polish seminary; you will be sent overseas, perhaps to Canada, where discipline is not as strict as in Europe, and there is less likelihood of discovery. Besides, with that madman now in Germany we have every reason to fear a war in Europe."

The Uncle gave him further instructions and reminders: "Persecution is useless; we don't want any martyrs as long as we are not in complete control of the West. Religion must be destroyed by dialectics. [Dialectic: The art or practice of examining statements logically as by question and answer.] You are to send me a report every week. After a while you will be put in touch with the rest of the network and you will be responsible for ten other agents; but you will not know who they are, and they will not know you. To reach them and to reach you everything will go through this office. We already have many priests in those countries which are afflicted with Catholicism, one is a bishop. We have observers everywhere. Some, especially trained for the purpose, scan the newspapers of the whole world every day and send us reports on the development of ideas in the West. Our foreign policy is based on these. Thus we will be able to see how effective your own work is. You will have to spread new ideas; ideas that may appeal to some stupid pen-pusher who will take them up and publicize them. No one is more vain than a writer; give him an idea, and he will say that it is his own, write about it, enlarge upon it, and thus further our aims. We rely a great deal on writers and journalists; there is no need for us to train them, they work for us without realizing it. You will receive letters from us. You will recognize every letter as genuine by the code numbers SS 1025, which is your own. SS means Seminary Student. Yes, there are 1024 others ...

This was an unforgettable evening for Mikolaj. This interview with the Uncle must have taken place circa 1937 when the power of Hitler was rising in Germany. Soviet Russia was then the only Communist nation in the world. Pius XI was our Pope. Teilhard de Chardin was still largely unknown but he was already writing furiously and "pushing" ideas favourable to Marxism. Since the Soviets did not control half of Europe as they do today [1972], their facilities must have been limited. Yet they had 1025 agents working in the Church. What is the extent of Communist penetration now, in 1972? It is not unreasonable to suppose that it is much deeper than in 1937, and it is almost certain that many of these agents are now bishops and cardinals. Moreover, to any impartial observer of Vatican affairs, since 1963, it is fairly certain that some are now occupying high positions in the Vatican itself. There have indeed been facts which simply cannot be accounted for except by ascribing them to Communist influence in the Vatican.

The next few days Mikolaj spent most of his time studying a few confidential files the Uncle had given him. Before he left Russia a number of further interviews with the Uncle took place. During one of these he told the Uncle of his own ideas on how best to combat religion in the West. An open and bitter opposition had already been ruled out; persuasion through dialectics, lectures, debates, dialogues and colloquies was the latest method favoured by Moscow, and it was to develop considerably after World War II. In almost all such talks the Communist speakers, who were highly-trained dialecticians, outsmarted their opponents and often silenced them completely, thus winning many "converts" in the audience. Press reports of such talks further helped to spread Marxist ideas and lent respectability to the Communists who, it was thought, had become "reasonable". The method has indeed proved extremely successful; the penetration of Marxist thinking in the West is now so thorough that echoes of it are quite a common occurrence even in the Catholic press. To complement this method, however, Mikolaj had devised a more sinister scheme primarily designed to change Catholic doctrine. Briefly, instead of combating the religious feeling of the people, it consisted in exalting it in a wrong direction and towards some unrealistic objective. The Uncle who, at first had seemed somewhat amused, now listened with great interest (decidedly, he thought, this young man is above average).

Mikolaj went on: "We must put it into their heads, and especially priests, that the time has come to seek and work for the merging of all religions. We must, in particular, promote among Catholics a feeling of guilt concerning the "ONE TRUTH" which they claim they alone possess. We must convince them that this attitude is a monstrous sin of pride, and that they must now seek reconciliation with other religions. This thought must be made to grow and be uppermost in their minds."

Answered the Uncle: "Very well! But don't you think that this scheme is somewhat unrealistic?" - "Not at all!", said "Mikolaj, "I myself was a Catholic up to the age of 15, and a very devout one at that; I think it should be comparatively easy to convince Catholics that there are holy persons among Protestants, Mussulmans [Muslims] and Jews. And since they are holy, they also are the members of the "Communion of Saints" in which Catholics believe. Starting from this, we will say that to keep these people out of the Church is an insult to God. Of course, we shall drop the term "Communion of Saints"; we shall substitute for it some other expression such as "Community of Believers" or "People of God". This will shift the accent from the supernatural to the natural, from the heavenly to the earthly, which is what we want. (1a) The whole Catholic terminology can and must be changed. To those who object we shall reply that the meaning has not changed and that we must adapt our expressions to the modern way of thinking, which is what progress is about. And since Catholic intellectuals, like most intellectuals, seek and value the praise of others, they will be mortally afraid of being "behind the times"; they will accept the new terms and promote them among the ignorant people. There is a whole area to be investigated here; I can do no more than outline the plan...

And how do you envision that Universal Church to which you would have everyone rushing?

That new Church must be simple. The concept of God must be vague, general and impersonal, not entailing any definite obligations, not demanding sacrifices, and, of course, not providing any inspiration to the people. The universal brotherhood of men must be emphasized above all things. It should not be difficult to persuade Catholics that the Commandment "Love they neighbour as thyself" requires no less than that. In order to make them forget God we must get them to worship the human race. This, however, is a long-term effort: it may take 20, 30 or even 50 years; we must be prepared to wait, but I am confident that we shall succeed...

Very well, we shall examine your idea. Come back next week and we shall give you our reply. Meanwhile, get ready for your departure for Poland".

The following week Mikolaj called at the Uncle's office as arranged. The Uncle told him that his Chief was here and wanted to meet him. Mikolaj was overjoyed, for it was obvious that such a powerful Official would not come merely to signify his refusal; he must have been favourably impressed. Completely self-possessed, Mikolaj met the great Chief. However, he instantly disliked his appearance which was one of gross brutality and vulgarity. He reflected that this must be the sort of man who enjoys watching the most cruel tortures in prisons; a true sadist. Mikolaj was above all an intellectual; he disliked the idea of torture which he saw as a mark of weakness and stupidity on the part of the torturer. The Chief looked at him in a manner that bore right through him. Mikolaj felt uneasy. Point-blank, the Chief asked: "What do you have most at heart?" - "The victory of the Party", said Mikolaj. "Good! From today onwards you will be on the roll of our active agents. You will have responsibilities, you will issue orders. But make no mistake about it: we expect to see the fruits of your work in newspapers, books and theological reviews. It is up to you. We have a specialist team of readers whose function it is to analyze the religious writings of the whole world. We will watch your progress. However, I am confident that you will be able to handle this..."

Mikolaj reflected that this brute, after all, was no fool; he had correctly assessed his exceptional ability and his outstanding intelligence of which he never doubted himself. He felt completely sure that he would succeed, for he knew well the weak spot of Catholics, which is Charity. With "Charity" it is always possible to instill remorse in the hearts of people, and a remorseful person is inevitably in a state of lesser resistance and, therefore, of higher receptivity to alien ideas and suggestions. This is psychologically certain, just as certain as pure mathematics. With "Charity" it will be possible to persuade Catholics it is a sin to criticize Protestants, Jews and Mussulmans [Muslims]; and that to criticize their beliefs is, in fact, the same as criticizing them. Thus, Catholics will gradually accept the beliefs of the other religions and their own faith will wane. The honesty and scruples of Catholics, Mikolaj thought, is the opening through which we shall enter their fortress; it is the fault in the rock that can be plugged with explosives, the weakness which makes a dialogue with them extremely rewarding.

A few days later, Mikolaj was back in Poland. He somewhat dreaded his first meeting with his foster father, so he arranged to come "home" when the Doctor was likely to be out. He rang the door-bell, and it was his foster mother who came and opened the door. Here is the account of his return:

"She had aged considerably, she did not have any make-up on. She looked ill. She began to shake with emotion, then she cried. Really, women are no good except locked up in harems for the convenience of men in their necessities. Naturally, I begged her to pardon me; that was part of the game. But I knew that this business would be promptly settled, so overcome with joy would she be. Thus, I would not have to abase myself before my foster father when he came home. To see me as a priest of God must have been her most cherished dream; so, without any more ado, I told her of my "irresistible" vocation. The old goose was so happy that she nearly fainted. From then on she would have believed anything I said. And when was I for the first time aware of the "call of God"? Well, I said, it all came suddenly through an apparition. (I had not intended to tell her anything like that, but the idea came to me there and then; I knew this sort of thing would appeal to her, and it amused me anyway). Of course, the Doctor was rather suspicious of the supernatural, but that did not matter, on the contrary: any disagreement between the two could only strengthen my own position, and while they were arguing how my vocation came about, it would not occur to them that I may not have had any vocation at all. So I told her in great detail my story of that wonderful heavenly visitation. I said St. Anthony of Padua had come to me, and, to make the picture even nicer, I added that he was carrying the Infant Jesus in his arms. The silly old cow was near to ecstasy. Just then, however, the Doctor arrived and I was relieved to be able to speak to a sensible person after all that nonsense, but I saw immediately that he would have nothing of my story. Never mind! That will make the game even more exciting ..."

"The next day we went to see the bishop. He was kind, but reserved. That was just what I had expected. I knew very well that he would not send me to the seminary the next day! My perseverance would prove that my vocation was genuine. Throughout the interview I assumed an air of perfect humility with my eyes cast down except when I was spoken to. He advised me to go and see a Religious Priest who was known for his ability to "discern the spirits". This jargon means that the fellow was supposed to read people's hearts! So I went to see him. Our interview was a protracted one, and I did not like the character. He spoke slowly, deliberately and his speech was punctuated with long, heavy pauses that were rather unpleasant. Of course, I said nothing of my "apparitions"; my mother would have most certainly told him already, and my reserve in this respect would look very edifying indeed. I played the part of a very humble young man, and I am sure that I played it most excellently. However, I took some pride in confessing to him that I had never known any girl or woman, and that I was not at all interested in the weaker sex which, in my opinion, has no other function than that of childbearing. I felt sure that he would condone such an outburst of juvenile pride, and it would show him how earnest I was. The "holy" man, however, set a few traps for me; he tried to pin me down on some contradictions. How childish! I was fully trained for that sort of thing. He also asked me why I left my foster parents six years earlier, and why I had never written to them. I thought it would be best not to attempt to justify my past behavior. On the contrary, an admission of human weakness was more likely to move his heart. So I told him in quavering tones that this folly of mine would be the remorse of my whole life. But, I added, the immense sorrow which I caused to my "dear" mother would be more than repaid by the lasting bliss of my priestly vocation, for nothing could make her more happy than that. He agreed, and I now felt certain that he would not have the heart to deprive my aging mother of such great happiness. Our conversation grew more and more friendly as the hours went by, and, when we parted, we were like two old friends..."

"Because of this I was thunderstruck when, a few days later, the bishop told me quietly that, in this priest's opinion, I did not have a vocation. It was as though the earth had split under my very feet..."

"I reported the setback to the Uncle through a priest-agent who had been appointed to that function. The reply came promptly and it was a terse one: "Destroy the obstacle". After pondering a few days on the best way to "destroy the obstacle", a task which I did not relish, I decided to put to good use the special training in bare-hand combat which I had received in Russia. But it would be better if this took place outside the priest's monastery. I arranged through my comrade the priest-agent that he should invite the Religious to his home..."

"And so it was done. I had felt humiliated and angry at having been rejected by the old coot, and when our second interview took place, I demanded to know his reasons. He calmly answered that he did not have any reason himself, but that the Lord had given him the "discerning of spirits" (1 Cor.12:10). I could see that the man was not pretending, he really believed what he said, but his wholly unscientific reason did not satisfy me. How can you argue with a man who believes in magic? Even his seraphic smile irritated me; that old man behaved like a child. I told him that I would not hesitate to kill him if this could help me to enter the seminary. He answered quietly that he knew this. I was flabbergasted! For a long moment we looked at each other without saying a word. Then he broke the heavy silence and said slowly: "You know not what you are doing." I must confess that I felt then extremely uncomfortable: this man could read my mind; he possessed powers which I did not understand. My comrade the priest, who was in the room, sensed that I was faltering. He signaled to me discreetly. In a flash I realized that I was finished unless I carried out the Uncle's orders there and then. I sprang to my feet and with two neat karate blows I killed the old man. In 1938, very few people in the West knew the possibilities afforded by this Japanese art, and I was grateful to my Russian masters for teaching me how to kill "cleanly". Those two blows had caused his heart to stop, and his death would be normally diagnosed as a heart failure. The next day, however, I had a rash all over my body, a symptom of emotional stress; how stupid of me! ..."

"I was fully confident now that I would eventually enter the seminary, and I was already making plans for the future especially as regard my work for the Party. I was to inject into Catholic thinking a whole set of new values and a new train of thought. I was to foster remorse in their hearts, a gnawing sense of guilt, quoting the Gospel: "Be ONE as the Father and I are ONE." That sense of guilt must grow into an obsession to the point of rehabilitating Martin Luther. They will be made to believe that schisms and heresies were caused by their own intransigence, that the time had come for them to atone and make reparation by throwing their arms open to their Protestant brethren and confessing their own sin of pride and stubbornness. Of course, we shall not tamper with the Creed except for the word "Catholic" which must be changed to "Universal" or "Christian" as the Protestants use. But we shall not use the name of God except when necessary. We shall speak of man, stress his dignity and nobility. We must transform the language and thinking pattern of every Catholic. We must foster the mystique of the human race. At first, we shall say that God exits, but we shall point out that God remains forever outside the field of human experience, and experience is what counts for sensate beings. We shall lay much stress on experience and sensory perceptions. The positive, the experimental and the sensorial must be the basis of the new thinking. We shall say that, since God is invisible, the best way to serve him is to set up a universal Church in which all men can meet as brothers in mutual good-will, love, and understanding. This new mystique must finally obfuscate the concept of God of whom we shall speak less and less, except for saying that we are God because God is in everyone of us. In this manner, we shall re-direct the religious yearnings and superstitions of the people. We shall deify Man..."

"Once Catholics have accepted this new mystique, we shall tell them to strip their churches bare of statues and ornaments because these things are unessential and abhorrent to their dear Protestant and Jewish brethern. Thus all symbols of Catholic worship and devotion will go by the boards, and when they are gone devotions will go too. Yes, we shall promote an iconoclastic zeal especially among the younger generation. They themselves will destroy that jumble of statues, pictures, vestments, reliquaries, organs, etc. It would be a good idea, too, to spread a "prophecy" that says: "You shall see married priests, and you shall hear the Mass in the language of the people." This should make our task easier. We shall incite women to assert their right to the priesthood, and we shall make the Mass more popular by allowing home Masses that can be said by the father or the mother of the family. Once this practice is established we shall campaign for the abolition of the parish system as antiquated and not in keeping with the needs of modern times. Churches can then be turned into museums, meeting halls, theaters, storerooms and other useful functions..."

"All sorts of exciting ideas came surging into my head, and I coded my whole program before sending it to Moscow. Looking back on these days, I now feel a legitimate pride at having been the first to suggest these ideas to the Party. It is now plain that these were the right ideas, far superior to a mere dialectical attempt at destroying religious belief. Some time later, an order came from Moscow: "New assignment: go to Rome." And so I left Poland for what was going to be my lifetime work."

"Once in Rome I met a priest-professor who was in our network. He was a scholar and a scriptural expert. He was then busy preparing a new English version of the Bible, but his work was still secret. In that new version the old cliches about the Virginity of Mary, the Real Presence and like fables were to be adroitly amended and re-interpreted. Instead of "Virgin" Mary will be called "maid". The "brethren" of Jesus will become His "brothers". The "Real Presence" will be explained as a feeling, or experience, when "Christians are gathered together in His name". The notion of "gathering" is an important one to promote the community spirit. Those who do not conform to the Group will be reproved as trouble-makers and bad Christians. We must absolutely stifle individual attitudes if we are to control the Group as we please, and the control of the Group is essential for the establishment of Communism. The professor also taught me a sensible way to say Mass since, within six years, I shall be obliged willy-nilly to say it also. He never actually pronounced the words of the Consecration; he simply muttered some words that sounded like it. This was possible since the Rubrics require that the words be said in a low voice. Later, of course, the Mass will be radically modified; we shall play down the sacrificial aspect, we shall exalt it as a meal taken by the Community. In case some reactionary priests refuse to conform, and insist on saying the old prayers, we shall direct that the Canon in its entirety be said aloud. This will also make it possible for the people to say the words with the priests, and once this is possible we shall rule that it is indispensable also. Thus the Mass will cease to be the privilege of the priest alone..."

"The professor was already working on a draft for a New Order of the Mass, and he urged me to do likewise because, he said, it was greatly desirable that we should give the people different kinds of Masses; this will help destroy unity, the mainstay of Catholic power. All this would be a great deal easier if we succeeded in having one of our agents elected as pope. Failing this, however, we would probably be able to sway the Cardinals sufficiently to obtain the election of a progressive pope who will ratify whatever our agents put on his desk in the name of progress."

"I was fascinated by the things the professor told me, and I tried to elicit from him the names of some of the other priests and seminarists who were members of our network, but he said he knew little about it. He did say, however, that we had a few professors teaching in the Roman seminaries, and he gave me the name of another professor, a Frenchman, who was giving singing lessons in Rome. He was a member of the Communist Party, and I was told that I could trust him completely. I later met him and befriended him. One day, as we were strolling through the streets of Rome, he said: "Imagine this city without a cassock in sight; how wonderful it would be!" "Yes", I nodded, "the cassock must go. After all, they could say Mass in a jacket or jumper!" From my Catholic upbringing I understood how vocations often assert themselves in young children: in his cassock, the priest stands out as a man different from the rest. The child likes him and wants to emulate him. But destroy the cassock, and you will destroy the priest. In this way many vocations will die in the bud..."

Mikolaj's confessions are far from being complete. There are numerous gaps in his narrative, and when he relates some incidents and circumstances of his seminary days and priesthood it is not always clear whether he is in Rome or in some other city. Obviously, it was not his intention to write an autobiography; rather, he yielded to the inner urge of unburdening his conscience even though he would have denied this himself. I think there exist a few indications in his narrative that he had not completely lost the Faith, but he was furiously attempting to fight it off. (The sin against the Holy Ghost). After all, the devil himself believes in God but he hates God nevertheless. True, Mikolaj's avowed aim was to eradicate religious sentiment among Catholics through the subversion of the press, newspapers and publishing houses, but if he had had no other motivation why should he have been careful not to say the true form of the Consecration when celebrating Mass? Was he afraid that the Consecration might effect something real! Again, he was obviously impressed by the extraordinary powers of the religious priest whom he killed in Poland. Then, there was his morbid hatred of the miraculous medal that a young lady of his acquaintance in Rome used to wear round her neck. This has little to do with the religious feeling of the Catholic people at large. As the head of a Communist network he must have been far too busy studying reports, issuing orders and, generally, supervising the infiltration of the Catholic press to bother about the "superstition" of a lone young lady who insisted on wearing the miraculous medal. Every informed Catholic knows that this medal, which was given to Catherine Laboure in 1830, has indeed worked many miracles. Mikolaj was a well-informed anti-Catholic; he knew what the medal was about. Hence his hatred of it. He would not admit, of course, that miracles do exist, but he had no scientific explanation for "those things" in spite of the very high degree of intelligence which he prided himself on possessing, and "those things" kept cropping up throughout the history of the Church with disturbing insistence.

Between 1940 and 1960 he pursued his program with unrelenting zeal. That he was successful is evidenced by the fact that Moscow put at his disposal practically unlimited funds. As early as 1940, he campaigned for the suppression of altars, Latin, statues, kneelers, crucifixes, etc. (2) A bare table was to replace the altar; this was more "communal" and more in keeping with the "emerging consciousness of modern man as a social person". Concelebrated Masses must be encouraged; all men are ONE, you see (that's in the Gospel), and priests in particular must be as ONE. This was the avowed reason on which he fed to theological reviews. The real reason is that concelebrated Masses would contribute to the destruction of the Mass itself as the Act of Christ; the Mass would become a human affair, a communal memorial, and no one would know exactly at what precise moment the Consecration would take place, nor by whom exactly it was effected. Then, again, the Mass must be "desacralized"; its farrago of "absurd" symbols and genuflections must go. This wasthe requisite for the merging of all religions. (3)

"The merging of all religions", continues Mikolaj in his confessions, "and the brotherhood of man, must always be re-asserted as the basic motivation for all the changes. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" will be our scriptural justification. The greatest change, and the most desirable one, is the suppression of the papacy; but this appeared very difficult to me in view of Christ's promise: "Thou art the Rock, and upon this Rock I shall build my Church". We shall therefore endeavour to undermine the authority of the pope in every possible way, and we shall try to enlist his cooperation to introduce the changes that will make this possible. We shall promote the concept of Episcopal Equality and the priesthood of the laity. When the bishops are elected by the people, and the pope is no more than the president of the bishops, our victory will be near at hand (4). When, moreover, the parish system has been destroyed through the proliferation of home Masses celebrated by layfolk in their capacity as "priests", the Mass itself will cease to be. When, finally, the bishops elected by the people are admitted to vote in a conclave, then the papacy will be in our hands..."

"All must be done in the name of love. Also in the name of love, we shall promote the idea that God is far too loving to want His only Son to die a cruel death for us and to want to create an everlasting hell. Christ will be described as a good man and great revolutionary, and hell as a superstition of the Dark Ages. We shall no longer mention sin, and Angels will be relegated to the realm of mythology and fairy tales. Once the people cease to fear God, they will soon forget Him. Our task is to promote these ideas among the Catholic elite via the theological journals which we control, and they in turn will promote them in the Church as their own ideas. We shall also encourage many new translations of the Bible; the greater the number of translations, the better; it will help to create confusion. The number of Catholic scholars who are itching to produce their own versions - undoubtedly the best ever produced in their own eyes - is not lacking; all they need is a little prodding from us. We are faced with a huge task; many problems remain to be solved: the Rosary, Lourdes, and the twenty odd feasts of Mary are annoying things, but we shall be patient. In any case, we will have to draw up a new calendar and dispose of many Marian feasts as well as many other Saints. The new calendar must look as bare as the table on which they will say the new Mass..."

"Such is the substance of the orders which I issued to the network. The following year I began to work on the draft of a new catechism which would be acceptable to all believers. It must be practical, human, non-committal, and ambiguous. It must stress the humanity of Christ who, in fact, was a brother of ours. But the word "charity" is to be banished absolutely; we shall say "love" instead. Love can be many things, but charity has an intolerable religious connotation. We shall say, of course, that it means the same and the change is more conformable to modern usage. Concerning the precepts of the Church, we shall say that Christians are now fully mature and adult, that the precepts were necessary when the people were ignorant and uneducated, but that it is more fitting to adult Christians to let their own consciences decide. God, in any case, is far too great and remote to worry about our eating meat on Fridays!"

"Private confession is a waste of time; we shall promote a communal penitential rite with emphasis on sins committed against our brothers. The precept of Sunday attendance will be modified too. We shall say that, because of the working conditions in this modern age, people need their Sunday to relax in the countryside away from the city's fumes. They should be allowed to attend Mass on Saturday, even on Friday. God did not say what day was to be reserved. In all cases we shall stress the primacy of the individual conscience over set rules and petty precepts which are unworthy of an adult man and an insult to his dignity (5). We shall retain the "Our Father" for the time being, but we shall replace "Thee" by "You" and we shall find suitable substitutes for such words as "forgive, temptations, trespasses" and other similar nonsense. The seven sacraments will receive our special attention. The first I would like to abolish is baptism, (6) but it will have to stay for a while; we shall say that Original Sin is not the sin of Adam and Eve who, in any case, never existed; we shall re-interpret it (7). Baptism, then, will merely be a ceremony marking the coming of a new member into the human brotherhood.

We shall do likewise with every sacrament. Concerning marriage, it shall not be refused to those priests who wish to receive it..."

'In the Mass, the words ''Real Presence'' and "Transubstantiation" must be deleted. We shall speak of "Meal" and "Eucharist" instead. We shall destroy the Offertory and play down the Consecration and, at the same time, we shall stress the part played by the people. (8). In the Mass, as it is today, the priest turns his back to the people and fills a sacrificial function which is intolerable. He appears to offer his Mass to the great Crucifix hanging over the ornate altar. We shall pull down the Crucifix, substitute a table for the altar, and turn it around so that the priest may assume a presidential function. The priest will speak to the people much more than before: to achieve this, we shall shorten what is now called the Mass proper, and we shall add many readings to what is called the Foremass (9). In this manner the Mass will gradually cease to be regarded as an act of adoration to God, and will become a gathering and an act of human brotherhood. All these points will have to be elaborated in great detail and they may take anything up to 30 years before they are implemented, but I think that all my objectives will be fulfilled by 1974 (10)..."

"Thus I laboured for twenty long years. Pius XII died in 1958. When John XXIII announced a new council, my interest was greatly stimulated. I reported to my chiefs that this was perhaps the last battle: no effort should be spared. They were obviously of the same opinion because they immediately appointed me to the highest position in the West European network, and they gave me unlimited financial backing through our Bank in Switzerland. Hearing that Pope John had appointed a commission to draw the schemas of the forthcoming Council, I immediately started to work on counter-schemas with the help of avant-garde theologians who had been won over to our way of thinking. Thanks to my contacts I managed to obtain copies of the projected papal schemas; they were terrible! I was in a cold sweat! If these schemas are carried, my work of 20 years will have been in vain (11). I hastily put the finishing touch to my counter-schemas, and I circulated them. Eventually, they were tabled in the Council (12). Thanks to the cooperation of some bishops whose thinking had been conditioned previously, the majority of bishops, reactionary but ill-prepared, were completely disconcerted by the highly efficient and coherent interventions of our friends; most of my counter-schemas were carried..."

"But I am not satisfied: many of my schemas, although they were accepted, have been watered down by Pope Paul himself in contempt of the majority vote at the Council. Fortunately, the revised versions contain many ambiguities; in this manner, it will be possible to initiate further changes, alleging that they are in the spirit of the Council. At any rate, Pope Paul is a progressive and a humanist; it should not be difficult to manipulate him and obtain sweeping changes in the near future. However, we must begin to work for Vatican III even now. Vatican III, as I see it, will mean the destruction of the Church and the death of God... Then, I shall come forward, not to nail Christ upon His Cross, but God Himself into His coffin."

Mikolaj, the Anti-Priest, is dead. His immense pride, his presumption, his blasphemies, have ended on a hospital bed. He has now been judged by God Almighty whom, in his delirious hatred, he wanted to 'nail into His coffin'. Who was Mikolaj? No one knows. He carried no identification papers. But we are not so much concerned with individual agents as with their work and their aims. There are thousands of Mikolajs in the Church today, and they are at the controls. Who was the priest-professor who, as early as 1938, was working on the draft of a New Mass? Again, we do not know. We only know that he had a high teaching post in Rome and that he was a Communist agent. No matter how secret their work may have been, there have been a few instances of leakage, especially on the part of those who had less to fear from their own indiscretions. Thus, to a French diplomat who said that "he could not visualize how a Communist regime could succeed in France", Mr. M. Mikoyan, the then Vice-President of the Supreme Soviet, answered: "You are underrating the influence of Communism and the support which it receives in your Catholic milieux, including the high spheres of the Hierarchy and the most influential of Catholic publications. It is through these that Communism will be established in France." (13)

This was no idle boast on the part of Mr. Mikoyan. The Communists have concentrated on France because French thought, for better or for worse, has always had a great influence on the rest of the world. It is no exaggeration to say that the French Catholic press is sold out to Marxism, and this was so long before Vatican II. The French Hierarchy has had modernistic tendencies, if not outright Modernist ideas, for many decades past. For instance, First Holy Communion was never given to little children as St. Pius X instructed, and, in many cases, not until children had reached the age of puberty. Just after World War II, the very name of Holy Communion was replaced by such terms as "Profession of Faith", with the implication that the child became the doer (professing his faith), and Christ ceased to be the doer (giving Himself to the child). This was thought to be fitting because the child, being nearly grown up, could decide for himself whether or not to "profess his faith" whilst the notion, of "graces" given to little children through the Sacrament was distasteful to those who did not believe in the Real Presence. Such subtle heresies were quite common in France. As early as 1946, statues were taken out of some churches, altars pulled down, and tables set up. The rest of the world knew nothing about it. Pius XII condemned the practice, but he was ignored. The French hierarchy, therefore, was a fruitful terrain for the Communists to work on, and so were the French Catholic Publishing Houses whose newspapers, books, reviews, journals, were read by the leading intellectuals of European Catholicism. Vatican II, therefore, was undoubtedly the victory of that brand of French Catholic theology which Pius XII had condemned, and the victory also of the Communist agents who controlled the press. Many of these had teaching posts in Rome, and many today are at work in the Roman Congregations. Some of the decrees issuing from the Congregations are worded in such a way that they cannot possibly have been prepared by genuine Catholics. At any rate, this opinion of mine is shared by some Traditionalist bishops who know more than I do. Let us now wait until 1974 to see if Mikolaj's prophecy will be fulfilled. The "death" of the Church, however, will not last more than 3 days (or 3 years in biblical language), and she will rise again over the corpses of her enemies. We need not fear for the Church, but we must feel great concern for the innumerable priests and bishops who have accepted the changes and are promoting them in the name of obedience. Let us pray for them and for the Pope that they may be enlightened.

T H E E N D

FOOTNOTES

1) Not an empty threat; the week before his scheduled ordination, an agent who had been studying in a French seminary went to see his Superior and said: "You have all been so nice to me that I feel compelled to tell you the truth: I cannot take the Holy Orders; I was sent here by the Communist Party." Eight days later he was murdered.

la) In this regard, it is interesting to read what Paul VI had to say during his audience of October 29th, 1969: "Communion...means more than Community (which is merely an exterior social fact...it means more than Assembly...it means the Church animated by an interior principle which is not only sentimental, cultural or ideal, but mystical and real..." The following week, referring again to the term "community", the Pope said: "The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ...the Church is a Communion...A superficial and considerably impudent phraseology has penetrated into the common language of the Church..." This superficial and imprudent phraseology, however, was deliberately introduced by the Communists to achieve a specific objective. In all modern catechetical textbooks, notwithstanding the Pope's warning, the "community" is emphasized 'usque ad nauseam!', and the term "Mystical Body of Christ" has been dropped.

2) We have here the photograph of a new-style Mass which was taken in France circa 1945; the priest was facing the people, he was using a table, the table was placed right in the middle of the congregation, and it was bare. The caption presented the Mass as a "meal". Most Catholics, specially in Australia, were then blissfully unaware of these new trends. When these new trends became discernible during the first session of the Council, "World Trends" was founded. It was probably the first English-language bulletin to oppose the new ideas. This is no idle boast, it is a fact: as early as 1962 we knew what was taking place. Many readers who thought we were exaggerating have since written to us saying that our early warnings were, in fact, very mild in consideration of what has happened since.

3) Twenty-five signs of the Cross, twelve genuflections and many lesser acts of reverence have been eliminated in the New Mass. The New Mass was rejected in 1967 by the Synod of Bishops (it is now the 'thing' to put all the blame on the bishops). Undeterred by this opposition, Bugnini, the Lateran University Professor who was dismissed by John XXIII, and who put the final touches to the New Mass with the help of non-Catholic ministers, obtained its ratification by Paul VI; the bishops, then, felt they had to accept it. (Bugnini has since been made an archbishop by Pope Paul).

4) Pius XII may not have been aware of the Communist subversion, but he was very much aware that new ideas were being put forward in theological reviews, and he condemned them in two Encyclicals, "Humani Generis" on modern errors in general, and "Mediator Dei" on the liturgy in particular. Reading these Encyclicals now would in all probability shake many Catholics out of the complacency which they have shown towards the recent changes.

5) "Christian morality . . . is based on love, not on the observation of certain laws and rules. . . Too much emphasis has been placed on keeping the Commandments of God and the Church as the guide for Christian living." (Word and Worship Series, 8th Gr. Teacher's Manual, p. 224, now in use in US Catholic schools with the approval of the bishops.) Again: "We consider man as a breakthrough of mind into the world. In man the process of evolution has become conscious of itself." (p. 18, "The Mystery of Christ", 10th Grade). Farther in the same book: "Man is evolution become conscious of itself." (p. 52) (Nothing about our first parents). Again: "'God's Laws' (their quotations marks) are reasonable living arrangements that human beings, helped by God . . have been able to legislate for themselves. . . The ancient description of God as laying down laws from the outside should not be taken literally. It is more true that God inspires laws from within." (p. 50, 51) - (In your own conscience; and the consensus of all consciences form "the reasonable living arrangements". Morality is a question of majority; But we, Traditionalist Catholics, believe that God gave His law to Moses, and that He worked an awe-inspiring public miracle on this occasion; just as He did in 1917 at Fatima through Our Lady, which, again, was witnessed by many people; was recorded by the press, and photographs of it preserved.) The power of God is greater than the imagination of the heretics who are now in charge of our children in Catholic schools, here in Australia as well as elsewhere, with at least the tacit consent of bishops and archbishops.

6) To the best of my knowledge, the sacrament of baptism was the first to have been tampered with by the Conciliarist Church.

7 ) How well the subverters have succeeded can be gauged from the following: "We are all born with inbuilt obstacles, such as ignorance, laziness, selfishness. This state of being born with in-built obstacles to our development is what we Catholics call "Original Sin". (Page 26, "An Overview", a book of the "To Live is Christ" series, used in US Catholic schools with the blessing of the bishops.

8) Many of the prayers in English say "we" instead of "I"; they thus give to the layman a priestly function which he does not possess.

9) In the New Mass, the Offertory and Canon have been fused to form the "Eucharistic Prayers" of which there are four (the 2nd is quite short), and the Foremass is now called "Liturgy of the Word" with many readings added. The physical presence of Our Lord in the Host is nowhere affirmed clearly, and the word "Consecration" has been replaced by "Narrative"; no longer a RE-ENACTMENT, but only a STORY. 35 prayers have been eliminated, that is, 70% of the Old Mass. We would do well to remember that Paul VI has not given absolute force of law to the New Mass despite the forged paragraph that has been included in every altar Missal.

10) Concerning this paragraph generally, consider the following excerpts from a modern catechetical book: "The Mass is our Christian-friendship meal. The food we eat at Mass represents our sharing of ourselves with one another. But because we believe that Christ is really alive in us (my emphasis), this sharing of ourselves is also a sharing of Christ with one another." (This is the new definition of the Real Presence.) This passage is in "The Mystery of Christ", page 215. Again: "When we Christians gather to celebrate the Lord's Supper (a Lutheran term, - my remark), we are celebrating our belief that we are history-makers. The Mass is a dinner at which Revolutionaries gather in the presence of their Leader to celebrate what has been accomplished and to commit themselves to the completion of what has been begun." ("The Developing Human Community", page 75. This very title underlines three common modern errors: 1st - that the purpose of this life is to "develop" along secular lines; 2nd - that "human" pursuits are more important than spiritual efforts; 3rd - that the "Community" is more important than the person. These are all Marxist tenets, and they are now found in virtually every modern catechetical textbook.)

11) Pope John was aware of the penetration of the Church by Communists. The members of his commission were obviously hand-picked. His commission was as traditional as his Encyclical "Veterum Sapientia". Pope John, however, had an easy-going disposition and, in many instances, he was prevailed upon to make questionable decisions.

12) IDO-C played an important part in this. Whether IDO-C had been infiltrated by Communists, I will not say; but IDO-C had made its own the very ideas promoted by Communist agents in priestly garb.

13) Cf. "La Pensée Catholique", May-June 1972, page 97. (By courtesy of Marie Carré)

ADDENDA

Pope John knew of the existence of the Communist network within the Church. The late René Malliavin, French writer, who had befriended Cardinal Roncalli during the latter's sojourn in Paris, went to Rome in 1959 to visit Roncalli who had since become John XXIII. He brought with him a dossier on the penetration of the Church by Communists. Pope John immediately granted him an unscheduled private audience, to the dismay of the Monsignori who were responsible for the Pope's strict time-table. The date was April 28th. René Malliavin gave Pope John evidence of the Communist infiltration, and the Holy Father asked him to continue his investigations on his return to Paris, and to keep him informed. (Cf. René Malliavin, in "Ecrits de Paris", May 1969, cited in "Pensée Catholique", May-June 1972.)

In 1950, NATO's Intelligence Service had discovered the "Anti-Church" network and, very probably, conveyed the information to the Vatican. Agents were trained in special Communist schools before being sent to Catholic seminaries and universities. Naturally, NATO 's findings were hardly mentioned, if at all, in the world press. (Cf. "DU FOND de l'Abime", by Paul Scortesco, p. 21)

Pierre de Villemarest, in his book "Espionnage Soviétique en France", gives further precisions: these special Communist schools exist in Crimea for the training of Latin American seminarists; and in Latvia for the training of Scandinavian, North European, and English speaking seminarists.

On the same subject, Frank A. Capell has written several interesting articles, e. g. Vol. XII, No. 2, of Nov. 26th, 1971. (Herald of Freedom, Box 3, Zarephath, N. J. 08890, USA. 25¢ each copy.)

Readers will now understand why I recently wrote that 'many of the decisions issuing from the Vatican are made by the Enemy'! And these are the decisions which we are expected to accept in the name of OBEDIENCE: They are the decisions by which the majority of our priests have been led to conform to the new trends, assuring us, however, that "nothing fundamental has been changed": The decisions by which, almost overnight, papers such as the CATHOLIC WEEKLY and THE ADVOCATE, once staunchly orthodox, have been led to "sell" the very ideas planted by Communist agents. Indeed, when I first arrived in this country 23 years ago I was very favourably impressed by the excellence of the Catholic press here; less intellectual than the French press, yes; but much more spiritual and authentically Catholic. Times have changed; no one dares dissent. (Editor's notes)

(This report was prepared thanks to the information contained in a little book which was published in France in the 2nd quarter of 1972, namely, "ES 1025", by Marie Carré; Editions Segieb, B.P. 6, 78 - Fréneuse, France. (Approximately $1.50) This report, however, is not a verbatim translation of the book, and many details gathered from other sources concerning Communist agents in general, have been added to it. But Mikolaj is not a fictitious character although his name is.)

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