Avoiding the sin of curiosity and the value of viewing brief videos
+St. Hermenegild, Martyr+
Please pray for pray-at-home and Traditional Catholics in Nigeria who despite help from America are in fear for their lives from Muslim terrorists.
Introduction
Recently I realized that the controversies we have been drawn into by the media and its many platforms is a result of sinful curiosity, after reading this in Revs. McHugh and Callan’s work on moral theology. There they state: “Curiosity about the latest news or rumors that keeps one from duty or more important matters …or about things that do not concern one… is a venial sin.” Many of these things really do not concern us; they are merely useless pieces of information. Excessive indulgence in such things that amounts to no more than curiosity is forbidden. I have especially warned Catholics about the dangers of viewing long-winded videos produced by those of the LibTrad persuasion, even when done only out of curiosity. This could amount to a mortal sin, since the LibTrads often misrepresent or water down dogma and these attempts may not be readily identified even by well-informed Catholics.
Truth be known, the most powerful and worthwhile videos are often relatively brief. Those following this blog know that we oppose the condemnation found on many Traditional sites of those practicing what they believe to be the Jewish religion. This has largely been reduced to a cultural observance of certain traditions, infrequently supported on a religious level by actual synagogue attendance (see HERE). Even the more educated among the Jews are often unaware of the actual anti-Christian content of such books as the Kabbala and the Talmud. They are just as appalled, in many cases, by the Zionist control of their government and its hatred of all non-Jews as we are. They also are aware of the Masonic element that drives Zionism. This is supported by the research below, featured in a previous blog:
“Approximately 5.8 million adults (2.4% of all U.S. adults) [are] Jewish” according to a 2021 Pew Research report (https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2021/05/11/the-size-of-the-u-s-jewish-population/ ) The rest of this section is taken from a Pew report issued in 2020). “This includes 4.2 million (1.7%) who identify as Jewish by religion and 1.5 million Jews of no religion… Religion is not central to the lives of most U.S. Jews. Even Jews by religion are much less likely than Christian adults to consider religion to be very important in their lives (28% vs. 57%). And among Jews as a whole, far more report that they find meaning in spending time with their families or friends, engaging with arts and literature, being outdoors, and pursuing their education or careers than find meaning in their religious faith. Twice as many Jewish Americans say they derive a great deal of meaning and fulfillment from spending time with pets as say the same about their religion…” And only 9% of that 2.4% identify as Orthodox, those most likely to take their religion seriously and practice it.
“Compared either with U.S. Christians or with the adult public overall, U.S. Jews are far less likely to say that religion is important in their lives. However, Orthodox Jews rank among the most religiously devout subgroups in the country by this measure… Among Jews who are neither synagogue members themselves nor live in a household where anyone else belongs to a synagogue, 47% do not identify with any institutional branch or stream of Judaism.”
A hatred for the Jews in general is something contrary to Church teaching and is entirely unjustified. And the paragraphs above and this short video tell us that especially in these times, there is even less justification for it. Much like new converts to the Novus Ordo, those identifying as Jewish but ignorant of its true origins and teachings — of the fact their religion was long ago hijacked — cannot be held responsible for what they do not know. And if that is sufficient in convincing people of their innocence, nothing more is required. When true Catholics spend inordinate amounts of time watching videos on the Jews, even about the evils of Zionism if they are already convinced of it; or lengthy LibTrad videos, even on the destruction of the Church, the papacy and loss of Mass and Sacraments — which we already well know — it simply is a waste of time. The following page taken from St. Alphonsus Liguori ‘s Preparation for Death warns us of the dangers of misusing precious time, when some of us may have little time left on earth.
“There is nothing more precious than time; but there is nothing less esteemed and more despised by men of the world. This is what St. Bernard deplores when he says: ‘Nothing is more precious than time, but nothing is regarded more cheaply.’ The same saint adds: ‘The days of salvation pass away, and no one reflects that day which has passed away from him can never return.’ You will see a gambler spend nights and days in play. If you ask him what he is doing, his answer is: I am passing the time. You will see others standing several hours on the street, looking at those who pass by, and speaking on obscene or on useless subjects. If you ask them what they are doing, they will say: We are passing the time. Poor blind sinners! who lose so many days; but days which never return. O time despised during life! You will be ardently desired by worldlings at the hour of death. They will then wish for another year, another month, another day; but they will not obtain it: they will then be told that time shall be no longer. How much would they then pay for another week, or another day, to settle the accounts of their conscience? To obtain a single hour, they would, says St. Laurence Justinian, give all their wealth and worldly possessions. But this hour shall not be given.”
Time not spent in prayer, penance, study of the faith, labor, good works, rest or lawful recreation is time wasted. Please consider this when you sit down at your computer, television or cell phone to view videos or programs that will keep you from any of these.
Another (now deleted) brief video on the Jesuits
Another excellent video exposing the Jesuit conspiracy theory and its false oath, which has since been removed from the Internet, addresses the false Jesuit oath videos now widely circulated on the web as proof that the Jesuits are behind the New World Order. To avoid confusion, those who have viewed these videos need to understand that some of the earliest allegations against the Society of Jesus founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in 1540 came from those dismissed with cause from the Society by their superiors or were generated by Catholic priests who had gone over to Protestantism. Under pressure from European monarchs, Pope Clement VII suppressed the Jesuits in 1773, but this suppression was seen more as a means to calm the fears of European monarchs who complained that their authority was being overshadowed, not because there was any credence given by the pope to the allegations made against the Jesuit Order. Pope Pius VII revived the order in 1814, but the relentless campaign against them continued, spearheaded primarily by the Freemasons. They were never given credit for their charitable work — the hospitals and schools they ran, their missionary and spiritual labors, their Catholic advice to monarchs.
Protestant intrigues
Wikipedia summarizes the accusations against them as follows: “The Protestant Reformation, the English Reformation, and later the Age of Enlightenment brought new suspicions against the Jesuits. They were accused of upholding Ultramontanism, infiltrating political realms and non-Catholic churches. In England, it was forbidden to belong to the Jesuits, under grave penalties, including the death penalty. A 1689 work, Foxes and Firebrands by Robert Ware (later exposed as a forger), claimed Jesuits took a secret oath that stated:
“I do further promise and declare that I will, when opportunity presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly and openly, against all heretics, Protestants and Masons, as I am directed to do, to extirpate them from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex nor condition, and that will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle, and bury alive these infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their women, and crush their infants’ heads against the walls in order to annihilate their execrable race…” This forgery would be laughable if the persecution of Catholics during the Reformation was a laughing matter. For what is described here is exactly that persecution the Protestants put into practice for over three centuries, against both English and Irish Catholics.
Wikipedia further notes: “Many anti-Jesuit conspiracy theories emerged in the 18th century Enlightenment, as a result of an alleged rivalry between the Freemasons and the Jesuits. Intellectual attacks on Jesuits were seen as an efficient rebuttal to the anti-masonry promoted by conservatives, and this ideological conspiracy pattern persisted into the 19th century as an important component of French anti-clericalism” (end of Wiki quotes).The alleged “Jesuit Oath” which appeared in the 19th century and is rejected by Catholics, Protestants and historians alike has long been exposed as a hoax manufactured by rabid anti-Catholics such as the Know-Nothings in this country. Hatred of the Jesuits is rooted in hatred of the papacy and all things Catholic. For as Catholics well know, fully vested Jesuits take a vow of obedience to the pope and were employed by the papacy to conduct special missions on his behalf to deal with sensitive issues.
An examination of the actual claims made over the centuries regarding the Jesuits easily show they were fabricated by their Protestant and Masonic antagonists. As one Internet author observes: “Ultimately, the supposed oath of the Jesuits is a fabrication, due to its origin and historical contexts in which it arose. It reminds us of a biblical principle established by the prophet Isaiah, for whom the Lord expressed: “Do not call conspiracy all the things that this people call conspiracy; nor fear what they fear, do not be afraid. Sanctify the LORD of hosts; let him be your fear, and let him be your dread” (Isa. 8:12, 13).”
Why Weishaupt hated the Society of Jesus
Freemasonry, which emerged as the end result of the Reformation, attempted to implicate the Jesuits in its founding by using the Jesuit template for the creation of the Illuminati. This is testified to by Msgr. George E. Dillon in his Freemasonry Unmasked, where he writes: “Weishaupt’s organization, for the perfection of which he deeply studied the constitution of the then-suppressed Society of Jesus, contemplated placing the thread of the whole conspiracy destined to be controlled by the Illuminati in the hands of one man advised by a small council. They were so trained that they would obtain the mastery in every form of secret society and thus render it subservient to their own chief.” Weishaupt was originally a professor of Canon Law at the University of Munich, and as Dillon further notes:
“The hatred for God and all form of worship and the determination to found a universal republic on the lines of communism was on the part of Weishaupt a settled sentiment. Possessed of a rare power of organization, an education in law which made him a pre-eminent teacher in its highest faculty, an extended knowledge of men and things, a command over himself, a repute for external morality, and finally a position calculated to win able disciples… Weishaupt employed for fifty years after the death of Voltaire his whole life and energies in the one work of perfecting secret associations to accomplish by deep deceit and by force the ruin of the existing order of religion…”
This is further confirmed by Nesta Webster, in her Secret Societies and Subversive Movements, where she quotes the Jesuit Augustin Barruel: “It was Weishaupt who perpetually intrigued against the Jesuits. That Weishaupt did, however, draw to a certain extent on Jesuit methods of training, is recognized even by Augustin Barruel, himself a Jesuit, who, quoting Mirabeau, says that Weishaupt admired above all those laws that regime of the Jesuits, which, under one head, made men dispersed over the universe tend towards the same goal. He felt that one could imitate their methods while holding views diametrically opposed. Barruel says elsewhere that Weishaupt appears ‘…specially to have wished to assimilate the regime of the sect to that of the religious orders and above all that of the Jesuits by the total abandonment of their own will and judgment, which he demands of his adepts.’ But Barruel goes on to show ‘the enormous difference that is to be found between religious obedience and Illuminist obedience.’”
Weishaupt’s hatred of the Jesuits is explained in Prof. John Robison’s Proofs of a Conspiracy as follows: “Weishaupt had long been scheming the establishment of an association or order which in time would govern the world. In his first fervor and high expectations, he hinted to several ex-Jesuits the probability of their recovering under a new name the influence which they formerly possessed, and of being again of great service to society by directing the education of youth of distinction, now emancipated from all civil and religious prejudices. He prevailed on some to join him, but they all retracted but two. After this disappointment, Weishaupt became the implacable enemy of the Jesuits, and his sanguine temper made him frequently lay himself open to their piercing eye and drew on him their keenest resentment, and at last made him the victim of their enmity.” The Illuminati was founded in 1776, during that time when the Jesuits had been disbanded, so this availability of former Jesuits gave Weishaupt a fertile field to till. But thankfully, it reaped few fruits.
Illuminati spy networks
Until, that is, the successful infiltration of the Catholic hierarchy. In his book Perfectabilists, (2009) Terry Melanson relates that Weishaupt incorporated from the Jesuits elements of the particular examen and confession, also notetaking for ones’ spiritual director, into his diabolical system. He then used these to construct a system of “intelligence gathering, spying and informing,” on fellow members as well as others. And here we see the prototype for the OSS, CIA, FBI and yes, the very system that Giovanni Montini set up in the Vatican during World War II. This system could have passed papal inspection as something supervised and suggested by the Jesuits, or explained as such when questioned by those suspicious of its operations. And perhaps it was in part — at least to those traitors who had already infiltrated the Jesuits, working as double agents. That was the entire purpose of Weishaupt in creating his Illuminati — to make his agents appear to be what they were not. Serving as high-ranking Illuminati, both Montini and Roncalli worked on different fronts to carry out the orders of their Grand Master. Montini’s activities are documented in The Phantom Church of Romebelow:
“Author Martin A. Lee, writing in a 1983 issue of Mother Jones, notes: “When the Allies liberated Rome in 1944, the Dominican Felix Morlion, [founder of Pro Deo/Intercip in the U.S. and Portugal, a “Catholic” propaganda machine] re-established his spy network in the Vatican; from there he helped the OSS obtain confidential reports provided by apostolic delegates in the Far East, which included information about strategic bombing targets in Japan. In the period following the war, the United States hastened to capitalize on the apparatus William Donovan, head of the Office of Strategic Services, had established, particularly in Italy… C.I.A. money was dispensed to many [Italian] bishops and monsignors, one of whom was the future Paul VI, and Catholic Action became another primary recipient of C.I.A. funds…Dr. Joseph Retinger [who was advocating for the European union]…through Dr. Luigi Gedda [Pope Pius XII’s medical advisor], was able to conscript the services of the future Pope Paul VI [who formerly was one of four section leaders of Vatican intelligence]…
“Even during the war, Montini had worked with the American intelligence services, passing information to and fro between the Vatican and the OSS… As Archbishop of Milan, he turned over the dossiers of politically active priests…The rapport between the C.I.A. and the Vatican became closer in 1963 when John XXIII died and was succeeded by Paul VI.This narrative is corroborated by David Wemhoff in Part IV, Chapter 11 of his work. In it, Wemhoff quotes private correspondence listing Montini, also his great friend Jacques Maritain, as avid Pro Deo supporters. Later in Part XIV, Chapter 59, Wemhoff cites declassified documents in which a C.I.A. correspondent names Montini as co-founder of Pro Deo and Cardinal Giuseppe Siri as being appointed in some way to participate in Pro Deo operations. C.I.A. operatives also claim that Pope Pius XII (unofficially) endorsed Pro Deo, but his official papal documents do not reflect Morlion’s statements regarding democracy, nor could they reflect his Americanist viewpoint.”
Conclusion
The Jesuits were never perfect. They had their rogue elements and their fair share of those dismissed from the Society. Some have said they were both the best of the best and the worst of the worst. We saw them at their worst in men like Leonard Feeney, Avery Dulles, Malachi Martin and John Courtney Murray. And at their best in clergy such as St. Edmund Campion and St. Peter Canisius, St. Peter Claver, St. Francis Xavier, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, St. Isaac Jogues, Rev. Pierre-Jean de Smet and many others. The irony of all the Jesuit conspiracy theories circulating today is that the men they point to are no longer Catholic, far less Jesuits. But this of course is something those propagating these idiotic reports probably don’t know and don’t want you to know. Their goal is to project the evil image of secret societies onto the Church past and present, in order to divert attention from the completion of the Illuminati’s plans to implement the New World Order/religion.
Hopefully the above will replace the content in the deleted video as well as possible. Several have inquired about the Jesuit Oath claims, and to help them refute this argument when brought up by others, it seemed helpful to explain the story behind these false allegations. We must always be ready and able to counter these attacks in the defense of our faith, as Can. 1325 orders us to do. Otherwise we appear to agree, or to consider it of little consequence, and this places us outside the Church. As Rev. Michael Mueller, C.S.S.R writes in his The Church and Her Enemies (1880): “But if we cannot teach the world, let us teach our Catholics. Whatever is calculated to confirm them in their holy faith and prevent them from becoming familiar with infidels and Protestant seducers must be considered a most wholesome lesson. The miserable end of the persecutors of the faith, the awful judgment which God was pleased to visit on them, are certainly calculated to confirm Catholics in the truth and to make them turn a deaf ear upon all those who impiously deny it.”
May these words do just that, for all our readers.
