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A publication of Traditional Catholics of America t Editor: Fr.
Volume V, No. 7 t October 15, 1984
hurch
Fr. Francis E. Fenton
G od appears to be staging a comeback lately on
the American scene. In this presidential elec-
tion year even the politicians seem to have discov-
Ruler governing human affairs. If He is not, then man
becomes the measure of things and the arbiter of right
and wrong-the result of which is all too evident in
ered that paying at least lip service to God and Chris- America today where the grossest immorality
tian values could be to their advantage in terms of abounds. "Reason and experience forbid us to expect
votes on election day. After all, from the standpoint of that national morality can prevail in exclusion of reli-
expediency, what's a candidate got to lose if, by effec- gious principles." (George Washington)
tively conveying the impression of being a religious
person (even a devout Catholic), he or she is able to And so, how refreshing and encouraging it is to hear
secure the votes of a significant number of the Ameri- so much of God and Christian values these days. Or is
can electorate? Never mind that the particular candi- it? Surely a wave of religious fervor appears to be
date is pro-choice (that is, pro-abortion) or pro-homo- taking root in this land of ours. But how authentic is it?
sexual or soft on Communism or whatever. Just as Frequent reference was made to God and religion at
long as he or she is able to project the image of being the national political conventions of the recent past.
sincere and genuine and truly concerned about the Perhaps some of this was genuine and heartfelt but,
"poor" and the "oppressed" and, of course, makes for the most part, it just did not seem to ring true. What
reference to God and morality at opportune times, kind of morality is it or what kind of moral principles
then the chances are that that candidate will, unfortu- does one have who favors the murder of the unborn
nately, get the votes of multitudes of good, but unin- or who attempts to justify homosexuality or who de-
formed and gullible, American citizens. Politicians, as fends Communism? And yet there are many politi-
distinct from statesmen (of whom there are precious cians on all levels of government who do. How often
few), are master hypocrites. Nor will they refrain from over the years I have heard one great American utter
using even God Himself, however insincerely, if they the words of wisdom: "Put not your trust in
feel that such will further their efforts to "con" the politicians" -words to which I thoroughly subscribe.
voter. However fluent and appealing and impressive thay
may be, the large majority of politicians are actors, de-
Since God should occupy the highest place and play ceivers, pretenders, wolves in sheep's clothing.
a vital role ln the conduct of affairs of state, it certainly (Speaking of actors, incidentally, it has been said that
ought to be no cause for wonder if this appears to be the two greatest actors on the worid stage today are
the case in the current political campaigns. As has John Paul II and Ronald Reagan-and I, for one, am
been stated from time to time in past issues of this inciined to agree.)
newsletter, the root cause of the present moral de–
pravity of the USA is that the true God has been aban- But, granting that, in this election year, the authenticity
doned by the generality of the American people. Sec- of the current interest in God and morality on the part
ular Humanism is the predominant "religion" of our of many politicians may well be suspect, what about
day. Nor will there be any significant change for the the rather widespread religious spirit generated by the
better unless and until God and His eternal truths and fundamentalist clergymen and their Bible Christianity? .
His moral law are acknowledged and given their right- While the USA continues along the path of its self-
ful place in the minds and souls of this nation's inhabi- destruction through moral decay, yet an increasing
tants in both their private and public lives. God must number of Americans seems to be more God-con-
be recognized by men and by nations as the Supreme scious and Christ-oriented today than, say, a few
years ago as a consequence of the influence of the those in all walks of life who have led lives of extraor-
"born again" type of Christianity upon the American dinary sanctity within its fold throughout the centuries,
scene. Must it not be admitted that this is good? Well, I many of them martyrs for the Faith and canonized
am not about to say that it's bad. It is certainly a hope- saints. And in that list of canonized saints, incidental-
ful sign that there are still multitudes of the American ly, are to be found the names of leaders of nations
people who retain a belief in God and some sense of such as Saint Edward (11th century King of England),
sin. But it lacks substance; it is an emotional thing; Saint Stephen (11th century King of Hungary), Saint
and, in the matter of the private interpretation of Holy Louis IX (13th century King of France). Imagine, with
Scripture and the Bible-only theory of salvation, it is such fidelity did kings and queens and those of royal
an irrational or illogical thing (the vast majority of the birth serve their God and their country in times past
world's population never even saw a Bible until the in- that they were officially declared by the Church to be
vention of printing in the i 5th century). Assuredly, saints! Is their like to be found anywhere among the
many, if not most, of these fundamentalists are sin- world leaders of our day?
cere-but they're wrong, dead wrong. In a word, fun-
damentalist Christianity is not the answer to the ills of The answer, the only adequate answer to the spiritual
our world or of our nation because it is a false religion. and moral plight of the USA in this our day is to be
found in the Roman Catholic Church-in its Mass and
God is an inescapable fact and neither individuals nor Sacraments and in its God-given doctrine and moral
nations can long ignore that supremely inescapable code. All other solutions are superficial and illusory.
fact without the direst consequences. America is to- Assuredly, Communism and Freemasonry must be
day a prime example of this. The moral rottenness known and exposed for what they are, the archene-
which presently contaminates this nation and is de- mies of Church and country-and they must be
stroying its very soul is the undeniable consequence fought in every morally lawful way possible. But, as
of the rejection of God and His truth and His law by the General Douglas MacArthur expressed it, "the prob-
generality of the American people. Nor can there be lem is basically theological." Hence, the solution must
any realistic hope for a reversal of this utterly tragic be, first and foremost, a theological one. And that
situation unless the inhabitants of this land humbly ac- solution is found in the Roman Catholic Church alone.
knowledge the supremacy of God and the kingship of It alone possesses, pure and undefiled, the revealed
Christ, unreservedly accepting His revealed teach- truth and moral law of God in their entirety. It alone is
ings and earnestly submitting to His holy will. And the voice of Christ in the world today. It alone is the
there is but one way in which this can be accom- voice of authentic Christianity. t
plished-and that is through the religion founded by
the Son of God, the Roman Catholic Church (by which Pray
I most certainly do not mean the Conciliar Church 'fh.e 'Jwsary
whose "better Red than dead" bishops are a disgrace Daily
to any religious body). Countless is the number of
THE ATHANASIAN
Published by Traditional Catholics of America
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THE ATHANASIAN 2 OCTOBER 15, 1984
John Kenneth Weiskittel
ever, since the institution of the Catholic this article depicts in graphic manner dreaded
Church over i ,900 years ago, has Satan goings on occultists (though even more
launched such a furious offensive in his war against aspects, too lewd or blasphemous, have
God as the one we are witnessing in modern times. omitted) in order better to impress readers
How else are we to explain the ascendency of Com- true nature of these groups.
munism, Modernism, Freemasonry and Atheistic
Humanism; the abortion holocaust; and the tragedy of the .._,,…,,u…, ……,,…..
the Church? "She will tell your past, present and future," reads an
advertisement for a woman Norah,
A century ago this year, Pope Leo XIII prescribed a claims she can do so by the reading of palms or
prayer to Saint Michael to be said at the end of each cards. The ad, which also goes on to state: "She can
Low Mass because, writes Monsignor Leon Cristiani, help … and gives never-failing advice in love,
he "believed in a demonic infestation peculiar to our ness, health and marriage," appeared in the
age." (Evidence of Satan in the Modern World, p. 1983 issue of the River Catholic, the monthly
158.) And in 1903, the Mariavites, a satanic "pseudo- newspaper of the Conciliar Diocese of City,
mystical sect, founded in Poland," were excommuni- South Dakota.
cated by Saint Pius X. (At the time they num-
bered 1,000,000, including a leadership of 300 In America Bewitched: Rise of Magic
priests and nuns.) (ibid., pp. 1 88) Spiritism, author Daniel Logan recalls speaking in
1971 on a college campus for a group known as
Despite such clear signs and those that would follow tual Frontiers. A local member of Spiritual is
in the next 60 years, the workings of the devil were all identified by Logan as "Jane, an attractive thirtyish
but a dead issue at the Second Vatican Council. (Of housewife … of the Roman Catholic She en-
the hundreds of pages of Council documents, only courages him to experiment with a Ouija board,
two made any reference at to them, and both of ing: "I have a feeling it will be a terrific experience.
those were made in passing.) This has helped to Logan, also a Conciliarist, in the
spawn a new breed of priests who scrupulously avoid which ends with a trance in which one of the
mentioning Satan in their sermons and who look, in- pants relives a "past life" as a witch. Later in the
stead, to secular thinkers like Darwin, Freud and Marx written in i Logan describes himself as a "recent-
for an explanation of evil. Sin, they tell us, is a result of ly lapsed Catholic" and speaks of British witch
evolutionary growing pains, mental aberrations and Leek as personal friend of mine."
economic injustice, not of something so "medieval-
sounding" as an infernal conspiracy predating the Robert T. Smith notes more Conciliar interest in the
creation of man. preternatural in and (1 Spiritualist
minister Marlys Benson is quoted as saying that his
Now I doubt if many readers are surprised at any of seances (communications with the dead) are at-
this; after 20 years of Conciliarism, most traditional tended by Catholic priests. Smith interviews one
Catholics regard themselves to be shockproof. I Robert Petsch!, "a chemistry teacher at a Roman
would have readily included myself in the "unshock- Catholic high school who is also a instructor."
able" category before I came across the information Here, "Silva" refers to Mind Control, a technique
that follows-information implicating much of the utilizing yoga, hypnosis and "spirit guides,"
Conciliar "Catholic" Church not only for willful neglect posedly to enable people to achieve "cosmic aware~
of Catholic teaching about Satan's activities in human ness, enlightenment, … Christ awareness."
affairs, but disregard for the occultism practiced by lated, these terms mean telepathy and other ESP
millions of its members. manifestations. Petsch! says that the ultimate origin
these powers is the Central Source but adds
Occultism-astrology, fortune-telling, seances, "whether you call that source or a central life
witchcraft, etc.-is a dark side of the "new Church" computer is up to you." Interestingly enough,
seldom discussed, even by its Catholic critics. The includes "Catholic Pentecostalism" and a "folk-rock
squeamish should be forewarned: some material in Mass" as other examples of activities in the Conciliar
ATHANASIAN 3
that of "cult voodooists base is in
cuit is to be major city
voodoo may
meaning "spirit, participants in
seek to be "ridden" by their
" though some-such as Montague
that it comes the French vau-
to describe sorcerers in the fourteenth cen-
European witch-
, the Church
pernicious
as mere figures for
deities, deities often demanded
(In 1815, 3, were sacri-
the gods at of an Ashanti
one writer puts it: and sorcery
hand in hand with Mass and the
was permitted to New World
because there were so few priests here
slaves came over hundreds
of the
very poison
THE 4 15, 1984
sucker,
Leprous,
it
measures
were necessary to Toussaint
the famous the West
the voodoo drum even to be heard
governor of (Domini-
can Republic) for It was not for children to be
kidnapped for use as cannibalistic sacrifice. In 1917,
,::,rrnn<e>n any participa-
tion In spirit communication as
case without
of
"No one professing the faith can, without
mortal sin, have anything to do with any form of
craft He told of vile cases desecration of
r,\\.IOrcin with voodoo pins, and the use
by of an ancient European witchcraft
the Petit Albert. That a recipe for the
Hand a magic fashioned from the
hand of an executed murderer, and one in which
brain and an article of clothing of an unbaptized infant
were as a potion in the skull a
thief. (Summers, Witchcraft Black
take part in practices and at the same time to
pose as Christians," concluded the bishop,
opinion, near committing
is
Umbandlstas
hung an effigy
and stuck it with
the monastery where he was
A third
continued on page 8
5
The Humanistic Dimension of the Democratic Platform
John Kenneth Weiskittel
n less than a month the presidential election will state parties to conduct "outreach programs" to re-
occur. The history books will duly record that cruit them. About the platform itself, which urges leg-
Americans voted Ronald Reagan to a second term as islation forcing employers to hire homosexuals and
president or replaced him with Walter Mondale. What the armed services to accept them, Clark praised
will not be recorded in most of them, even as a foot- Ferraro for strengthening that plank and, summing up,
note, is the fact that Mondale ran on a radical platform said: "For the first time in our national rules and in the
shaped by the dictates of Secular Humanism. platform, the words 'lesbians and gay' actually ap-
pear. They are no longer afraid to have those words
The Democratic Party has long veered towards Hu- spoken."
manism in formulating its national policies but the
44,000-word 1984 platform takes a giant leap in the The humanistic character of all of this ought to be
direction of making it the official theology by which all abundantly clear to any reader familiar with the litera-
future candidates of that party will be measured. Es- ture of that secular religion (more aptly called religious
pousals of Christian belief by Mondale and his self- atheism). The two Humanist Manifestos provide the
described "good Catholic" running mate, Geraldine philosophical underpinning. In Humanist Manifesto I
Ferraro, must be taken in the light of their commitment (drafted in 1933), while no specific reference is made
to a document that promotes federally funded abor- to sexual matters, the first attack on Christian morality
tion on demand, homosexual "rights," the Equal is made with the assertion that "the nature of the uni-
Rights Amendment and unilateral disarmament; in the verse depicted by modern science makes unaccept-
light of their commitment to a platform that Human able any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of human
Events reports "would aim American further towards values." The second Manifesto (i 973) openly assails
socialism and greatly weaken our efforts to resist "intolerant attitudes, often cultivated by orthodox reli-
communism anywhere." gions and puritanical cultures, (that) unduly repress
sexual conduct." On the contrary, it affirms, "individu-
San Francisco's Gay Love-In als should be permitted to express their sexual pro-
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, men dressed as clivities and pursue their life-styles as they desire";
nuns, were there. So were 100,000 marchers waving therefore, "we (do not) wish to prohibit, by law or so-
flags of the Marxist rebels in El Salvador and banners cial sanction, sexual behavior between consenting
that bore such slogans as THANK GOD l'M GAY and adults."
GO TO HELL, FALWELL. Then there was Sistah
Boom, a rock group with lesbian members, which Baby-killers of the World, Unite!
dressed in Karate outfits and sang pro-"peace," anti- Sandra Faucher only wanted to place an advertise-
Reagan songs. Members of the lesbian liberation ment but she ended up with a lesson in politics. As
Army, wearing pig heads, decried capitalism. Where? director of the National Right to life Political Action
… In the city called Sodom Revisited, the Homosexual Committee she was shocked when the pro-life
Jungle and the Gay Capital of the World-better group's ad was refused by the committee in charge of
known to us "straights" as San Francisco. All were on the Democrats' official convention guide. "How petty,
hand to welcome that extravaganza of tolerance and how stupid for the Democratic Party to deny its own
understanding, the Democratic National Convention. candidates access to both financial and volunteer
support," she said. "The party is crippling its own
Inside, down on the floor of the Moscone Convention candidates."
Center, the 65 gay delegates and alternates were re-
joicing. Having led the march, they now gloated that This statement surely reflects a certain naivete re-
the Democratic Party had, in the words of Harry Britt, garding just how radical the upper-echelon Demo-
a homosexual delegate for Gary Hart, "said to us that cratic leadership really is. The convention's Host
we are part of their family." Karen Clark, lesbian mem- Committee Chair Nancy Pelosi rejected the ad be-
ber of the Democratic Rules Committee, called the cause it was "contrary to the Democratic Party's plat-
march "a show of support for the Democrats." She form" and, indeed, because "Right-to-life has no
went on to say that the party was "coming to terms" place in the Democratic Party." Not only does the plat-
with homosexuals by such measures as requiring form promote the Equal Rights Amendment but it spe-
THE ATHANASIAN 6 OCTOBER 15, 1984
cifically sanctions abortion in a section entitled "Re- "Preacher" Mondale, writes Finlay Lewis in Wafter
productive Freedom." Mondale and Ferraro have Mondale: Portrait of an American Politician, that he
long been "pro-choice" politicians. Gerry Ferraro has "chose not to crusade against the gambling and boot-
always given the classic cop-out for why she regular- legging that had won the town (Ceylon, Minn.) a local
ly votes for pro-abortion legislation. "As a Catholic," reputation as a miniature Las Vegas." And brother
she once argued in a House debate, "I accept the pre- Lester is a Unitarian minister who has the dubious dis-
mise that a fertilized ovum is a baby. I have been tinction of having put his signature to both Humanist
blessed with the gift of faith; but others have not. I Manifestos.
have no right to impose my belief on them." The
Moral Majority's Cal Thomas, writing in the Los Communism and
Angeles Times, has said of this form of hypocrisy: Another ominous feature of the Democrats' iove affair
"Can one imagine Ferraro saying that as a Catholic with Humanism is the tolerance Humanism takes to-
she accepts the premise that blacks are not inferior to ward Communism. Regular readers of The Athanasian
whites inasmuch as God created both, but that she will recall the provocative admissions made by Betty
has no right to impose her beliefs on white bigots who Friedan about her political views (see "Roman Catho-
wish to discriminate against them?" lics and the Equal Rights Amendment," in the January
i 5, 1982 issue). Stephen Jay Gould, the Harvard pro-
Humanist Manifesto II states: "The right to birth con- fessor who moonlights as a cheerleader for evolution,
trol, abortion, and divorce should be recognized." is a Humanist hero who openly wears his Marxist
Betty "We are all the Karl Marxes of this revolution" colors. Marxism, you see, is considered an accept-
Friedan, a founder of the pro-Mondale National Or- able ideology in such circles.
ganization for Women, and Alan Guttmacher, presi-
dent of Planned Parenthood in the U. , are Manifesto Often, in reading humanist material, one is struck by
signers. (Catholic support of Soviet dissident Andrei the use of words such as "peace," "justice," "free-
Sakharov should be tempered with the knowledge dom," and "democracy" in a way not unlike the man-
that he, too, is a signer of this atheistic Manifesto.) ner Communists use them. A master of this kind of
Friedan and Gloria Steinem, another radical feminist semantics is Corliss Lamont, the author of The Philos-
supporting the Mondale/Ferraro ticket, have both said ophy of Humanism and a member of the editorial
that the "women's movement" is but part of a larger board of The Humanist magazine. Lamont is also
humanist agenda, the next phase of which is to be chairman for the National Emergency Civil Liberties
"human liberation." Committee, a group which boasts for leaders such
radical stalwarts as Leonard Boudin, Tom Hayden,
All in the and William Kunstler and Benjamin Spock. The NECLC
After Walter Mondale chose Geraldine Ferraro as his publishes the bi-monthly Bi!! of Rights Journal, con-
running mate, political pundits were quick to point out taining advertising from such ultra-leftist organiza-
that her home district of Queens, New York, is conser- tions and Communist fronts as SANE, Folkway
vative, blue-collar .. "Archie Bunker country." And Records, International Publishers, Abortion Rights
for Mondale, it can be said that zeal for humanism is Mobilization, and Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln
truly "All in the Family." Brigade.
"Although I have never formally joined a humanist so- If any of this sounds familiar, remember Jesse
ciety, I think I am a member by inheritance," Mondale Jackson's words a few months ago: "Havana has
told delegates in 1 at the Fifth Congress of the In- been good to me" … "Long live Fidel Castro!" Odds
ternational Humanist and Ethical Union in London. are that Fidel Castro will endorse, as he did four years
"My preacher father was a humanist-in Minnesota ago, the Democratic ticket.
they call them Farmer-Laborites-and I grew up on a
very rich diet of humanism from him. All of our family Choke … or an
has been deeply influenced by this tradition, including In contrast to the Democrats' fiasco, the Republican
my brother Lester." Convention in Dallas was like a breath of fresh air. The
GOP sent speaker after speaker to the podium to de-
Walter's father, the Reverend Theodore Mondale (a fend traditional values and to castigate their foes for
Methodist; the would-be president is Presbyterian), what Senator Barry Goldwater summed up as a
had a well-earned notoriety for controversy. com- "mockery of freedom."
mitted to the "New Morality" of humanism was Continued last page
THE ATHANASIAN 7 15, 1984
We certainly have no argument with such sentiments the Vatican. Two cardinals are standing to the side
but rhetoric has to be followed by a consistent perfor- and one says: "Sometimes I wonder if we haven't car-
mance. In the 1980 primaries, Ronald Reagan said ried ecumenism a bit too far." That, l submit, is the un-
that the internationalism of the Trilateral Commission derstatement of the century. t
was a danger to our national security; no sooner was
he elected than he made his Cabinet top-heavy with
members of it. Running for office, he promised to re-
main on good terms with Taiwan; after winning, he Gift Subscriptions to The Athanasian
goes to Red China. The list of Reagan reversals is of this writing, Christmas is still some 2 Vz months
long but it includes: signing the bill making Martin away. Since there however, but one more issue of this
Luther King's birthday a national holiday; appointing newsletter before Christmas, it is not too soon to suggest
to the Supreme Court a woman (Sandra Day O'Con- to our subscribers that they consider gift subscriptions
nor) who voted for pro-abortion laws all her years as ($8.00 for eight issues) for their relatives and acquain-
an elected official; all but ignoring-save for some tances as an appropriate Christmas gift. card would be
verbal volleys-the cold-blooded killing by the USSR sent to the recipient from this office prior to Christmas
of 269 people aboard KAL flight 007, among them notifying that individual of the gift and informing him or
U.S. Congressman Lawrence McDonald (not so her that the subscription will begin with the first issue of
much as one Soviet "diplomat" was forced to leave 1985. Together with the notification card a recent issue of
the U.S.); and helping to install the leftist Napoleon The Athanasian would also be sent. We would appreciate
Duarte as head of El Salvador. There is no reason to our newsletter subscribers' favorable consideration of this
believe that putting the Reagan/Bush team back in the suggestion.
White House would change this pattern. Some speak
of a :'gender gap" but the real problem with Reagan is
a credibiiity gap. How long is It possible to suspend QUESTION BOX
one's disbelief without betraying one's principles? Fr. Francis Fenton
So, in the end, it seems that informed traditional ls it permissible for a traditional priest to give
Roman Catholics are left in a perplexing, political Hm- • Holy Communion at Mass to a member of the
bo when November 6 rolls around. Certainly we Conciliar Church? . E.F., Michigan
ought to get out and expose the humanist aspects of
the Democratic Party in order to show how far that A member of the Conciliar Church is, by that
Party is being steered that way. And if we happen to fact, not a Roman Catholic, however well in-
be in states where there is a strqrig pro-<aoo, pro-fam- tentioned or in good faith he or she may be. Conse-
ily, pro-country and pro-life candidate, it behooves us,, quently, if the priest knows that a particular person is
to help him Win election. But, in the case of the presi- not a Roman Catholic, he may not permit that person
dential race, thej"choice may be more apparent than to receive the Blessed Sacrament. Either an individual
real. Often, the ~st attractive and, thus, the most is a Roman Catholic or not-and, if not, he or she
dangerous lies are tnose which sound closest to the must be treated accordingly.
truth, yet are but hollow echoes. For this reason, there
can be no endorsement of a Reagan reelection in I recently heard that some traditional priests
these pages. t • do not insert the name of John Paul 11 in the
ttttt Canon of the Mass. Is this true and, if so, why? P.L., Tx
"Occultism" continued from page 5
Father Margot, to be a "witch doctor."
Lighting Hidden of Darkness
A It is true and the reason is that such traditional
• priests (and I am one of them) do not believe
that John Paul U is a valid pope. In that portion of the
Some readers may, at this point, be tempted to dis- Canon of the Mass which requires the mention of the
miss the above article as the outline for an as yet un- pope by name, obviously it is taken for granted that
published novel, and I would have to agree that it the one whose name is to be inserted therein is a true
sounds like one. Yet every word is true and, further- pontiff. If the priest offering the Mass is convinced that
more, this merely scratches the surface of the "new John Paul II is not such, then he can hardly in con-
Church's" most sordid scandal. It is a subject best left science utter his name in that section of the Canon of
untouched, were it not our duty to expose the works the Mass to which I refer. In my own case, I most cer-
of evil even (especially?) when they're cloaked with tainly pray for John Paul II and remember him in the
the name Catholic. Several years ago the New Yorker "Memento for the Living" in each Mass I offer.
carried a cartoon of the devil walking leisurely through