+St. Peter in Chains+

August, Month of the Immaculate Heart of May

Prayer Society Intention for August

Most holy and Immaculate Virgin Mary, our tender mother and mighty help of Christians, continue to show thyself to be the helper of the Christian people in these our days… Bring low the enemies of our holy religion and frustrate their wicked designs. (Raccolta)

Introduction

A Protestant movement aiming to “Christianize” democracy in America, the “New Apostolic Reformation,” (NAR), now has been backhandedly endorsed by Pres. Donald Trump, and even conservative Protestants are worried that this group’s beliefs are not Christian. NAR has been building its membership worldwide since the 1990s. The group is characterized on Wikipedia as: “a Christian supremacist theological belief and controversial movement associated with the far-right that combines elements of Pentecostalism, evangelicalism, and the Seven Mountain Mandate to advocate for spiritual warfare to bring about Christian dominion over all aspects of society, and end or weaken the separation of church and state… American Republican politicians such as Mike Johnson, Doug Mastriano, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and Lauren Boebert and activists such as Charlie Kirk have aligned with it… The NAR is rooted in the Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity movements” (The NAR also is known as the Independent Network Charismatic (INC) or Apostolic-Prophetic Movement.)”

A Mother Jones article reveals that Trump’s former national security adviser Mike Flynn has hosted NAR leaders on his “ReAwaken America” tour and Vice-president J. D. Vance appeared in Pennsylvania at an event hosted by Lance Wallnau, a Texas business strategist-turned-NAR superstar, during last year’s presidential campaign. Vance has publicly styled himself as a “post-liberal.” Below we provide some background on NAR, post-liberalism, and Vance’s ties to an even more disturbing philosophy.

What is the NAR

NAR chronicler Holly Pivec, who has been documenting the growth and activities of the NAR for over a decade, has linked Pres. Trump’s new Office of Faith head Paula White-Cain with NAR. ”White, a well-connected televangelist and prosperity gospel preacher, is known as an apostle who concurs with much Bethel Church and NAR theology.” Trump’s executive order establishing the office states its purpose is to “assist faith-based entities, community organizations, and houses of worship in their efforts to strengthen American faith. Mother Jones reports that Trump asked White-Cain to be his “personal minister” in 2002 and engaged other NAR personalities as counselors during his first term as president.

According to Pivec’s article HERE, “The New Apostolic Reformation is made up of hundreds of churches and organizations that are led by apostles and prophets who share a distinct theology. Many of these churches and organizations have joined “apostolic networks.” These apostolic networks are made up of, in some cases, hundreds of churches and organizations that submit to the leadership of a single apostle, such as Harvest International Ministry — a network of over 12,000 churches and organizations under NAR apostle Ché Ahn… The distinctive teaching of the New Apostolic Reformation is that God has restored the governmental offices of apostle and prophet to the church…. NAR leaders teach that God began restoring the office of prophet to the church in the 1980s and the office of apostle in the 1990s. C. Peter Wagner — one of the movement’s most influential U.S. apostles — teaches that 2001 A.D. marked the beginning of the “Second Apostolic Age,” when the proper church government — headed by living apostles and prophets — was finally restored.

“The primary role of apostles, as taught in the NAR movement, is to govern the church. They are seen by many NAR leaders as filling the highest office in church government above prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. Thus, they are often referred to as the movement’s “generals.” The primary role of prophets, as taught in the NAR movement, is to receive new divine revelation. Thus, prophets are seen by many NAR leaders as filling the second highest office in church government second only to the apostles… NAR prophets are not expected to be 100 percent accurate in their predictions. Thus, they still can be considered legitimate prophets even when they make errors. Critics of the NAR movement believe this toleration of false prophecies is in direct contradiction to the Bible’s teaching that a key sign of a false prophet is giving erroneous, or false, predictions (Deut. 18:20-22). (ED. Note: Not to mention the fact that it is Catholic dogma that Divine Revelation ended with the death of the Apostles. Most Protestants believe it ended with the Book of Revelation, our Apocalypse, which is why they also reject NAR teaching).

“Now that the church is under the leadership of living apostles and prophets, it can complete its primary task — the Great Commission, which has been redefined by NAR leaders as a commission to take dominion, or sociopolitical control, of the earth. One of the more problematic teachings associated with the New Apostolic Reformation (though, again, not held formally by all those who would identify with the movement) is referred to as dominion theology. This theology suggests that Christians should attempt to institute God’s kingdom by conquering the “seven mountains” of society, which include (1) politics, (2) education, (3) media, (4) business, (5) religion, (6) family, and (7) entertainment. Popularized by Lance Wallnau and Bill Johnson in Invading Babylon, the Seven Mountain Mandate (7M) becomes the means by which Christians extend God’s Kingdom…

“NAR leaders teach that they and their followers will develop vast supernatural powers and will perform miracles that will surpass those performed by the biblical apostles and prophets and even those performed by Jesus during his earthly ministry. These miracles will include amazing feats such as healing every single person inside hospitals and mental institutions simply by laying their hands on the buildings and having command of the laws of nature, including gravity. One of most radical teachings in the NAR movement is known as the “Manifest Sons of God.” According to this teaching, the people who continue to receive the new revelation given by NAR apostles and prophets will gain more and more supernatural powers until they eventually become “manifest” or unveiled as “sons of God.”

“Though it is called the New Apostolic Reformation, the movement’s teachings are not new but are actually very old. Throughout church history, groups on the fringes of Christianity have attempted to restore the offices of apostle and/or prophet, including the Montanists (second century), the Irvingites (1830s), and the Apostolic Church (early 1900s)” (end of Pivec quotes). And here we must add many other heresies to this list, including Gnosticism, Theosophy, Spiritism and Mormonism. All of these manifestations are only the fulfillment of St. Paul’s prophesy regarding the operation of error, with its lying signs and wonders. Only the apostolic line of canonically elected Catholic popes — proceeding from St. Peter who was appointed by Christ Himself, and ending with Pope Pius XII — could possibly claim any connection to the Divine. And no pope has ever added to Divine revelation but has only determined its true, pre-existing sense.

The apostasy of “Messianic” Judaism should also be added to the heresies list. According to the Mother Jones article, “The NAR also appropriates Jewish imagery. Two days after I heard one shofar at Ephrata, I attended an all-day “prayer burn” at a barn in the countryside where several attendees blew them. Others wore tallitot, or Jewish prayer shawls. A group of tween dancers carried a chuppah, a four-posted canopy often used in Jewish weddings. The group sang in Hebrew as they danced the hora, a standard feature in Jewish celebrations. Then, one of the NAR leaders I recognized from Ephrata took the microphone and began to speak about Jesus. “He’s the Lord of hosts,” she said. A cacophonous roar of shofars came from the crowd.” The entire theological structure of the NAR mimics that of Judaism, for like the Jews — who esteem the Talmud or laws and teaching of their rabbis over the Torah (Old Testament) — the NAR places Holy Scripture and Divine Revelation secondary to the teachings of their apostles and prophets.

What is post-liberalism

HERE we see that post-liberalism is three things. “First, it is an authoritarian ideology adapted from Catholic reactionary movements responding to the French Revolution and, later, World War I. Second, it is a loose international coalition of illiberal, right-wing parties and political actors. Third, It is a set of policy proposals for creating a welfare state for family formation, the government establishment of the Christian religion and the movement from republican government to administrative despotism… “[Post-liberals are now] training conservative Harvard Law School graduates to adopt [a] negative view of the U.S. Constitution… [Post-liberalism] is filtering into some Catholic seminaries and has made its way into American Protestantism under the name of “Christian nationalism” and this is where post-liberalism intersects with the NAR. According to Wikipedia, “Post-liberals advocate for a communitarian approach that emphasizes social conservatism and social solidarity, often drawing on traditionalist conservative and religious frameworks.” But this should rather read as appearing to “draw on traditionalist, conservative and religious frameworks,” for it certainly cannot be aligned with Catholic teaching.

What is communitarianism

Communitarians balance national laws against the undefinable notion of an international “community.” It eliminates U.S. Constitutional Law. Thousands of communitarian programs and laws have been introduced into American communities, and hundreds of elected representatives embrace the new ideology. Communitarian law is the foundation for international communitarian sustainable development programmes under U.N. Local Agenda 21… Communitarianism is linked to COMMUNISM and is also referred to as Civil Society (a freemason term) and The Third Way (a Marxist Platform). The entire philosophy is based on vague notions of what constitutes a “good society” (What is the Hegelian Dialectic?, by Niki Raapana and Nordica Friedrich). “Its common ancestor is a system of philosophy known as “Hegelianism.”

“Hegelianism is named after Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, born in Germany in 1770.  Basically Hegel was an evolutionist, believing that nothing actually “is” but only is in the process of perpetually “becoming,” (primitive Modernism). And as we learn from the 1911 Catholic Encylopedia: “Among Catholic philosophers who were influenced by Hegel the most prominent were George Hermes (q.v.) and Anton Gunther (q.v.). Their doctrines, especially their rejection of the distinction between natural and supernatural truth, were condemned by the Church. [Hegelianism]… is utterly repugnant to the Christian mind.”

In A. Allen Butcher’s The Six Waves of Communitarianism: A History, (referenced by Raapana), Butcher explains how communitarianism was introduced by degrees or “waves” following the Protestant Reformation. The third wave officially introduced liberalism and modernism or progressivism to America at the same time that Marx and Lenin were formulating their ideology on communism and socialism.  The fourth wave brought FDR’s New Deal. Thirty years later, in the 1960s came the fifth wave, ushering in the peace movement, ecology, [ecumenism] and feminism.
 The sixth wave arrived in the 1990s with co-housing, eco-villages and various “networks,” as in networking. When Protestantism exploded into numerous sects beginning with the Reformation, this created the anti-thesis to the Catholic Church, which up until that time had held sway. In the 1800s during the second wave of communitarianism, Hegel’s philosophy was put to work in earnest.

One article authored by a Novus Ordo sect member, who neglected to mention the origins of communitarianism, even encourages NO sect members to become communitarians, as John Paul 2 taught in Centesimus Annus (1991). “Pope John Paul’s great vision of communitarianism and a New Global Order has yet to receive the recognition it deserves in furthering the understanding that humanity is built on religious values, without which transformations in totalitarian regimes would have been impossible” (Robert Phillips, Communitarianism, the Vatican, and the New Global Order). This when Pope Pius XI taught in Divini redemptoris, (1937): “The doctrine of modern Communism… is often concealed under the most seductive trappings… Too few have been able to grasp the nature of Communism. The majority instead succumb to its deception, skillfully concealed by the most extravagant promises… The rapid diffusion of the Communistic ideas is now seeping into every nation… to be found in a propaganda so truly diabolical that the world has perhaps never witnessed its like before… It… strives to entice the multitudes by trickery of various forms, hiding its real designs behind ideas that in themselves are good and attractive.

“Under various names which do not suggest Communism, they establish organizations and periodicals with the sole purpose of carrying their ideas into quarters otherwise inaccessible. They try perfidiously to worm their way even into professedly Catholic and religious organizations. Again, without receding an inch from their subversive principles, they invite Catholics to collaborate with them in the realm of so-called humanitarianism and charity; and at times even make proposals that are in perfect harmony with the Christian spirit and the doctrine of the Church. Elsewhere they carry their hypocrisy so far as to encourage the belief that Communism, in countries where faith and culture are more strongly entrenched, will assume another and much milder form. It will not interfere with the practice of religion. It will respect liberty of conscience.

“We trust that those rulers of nations, who are at all aware of the extreme danger threatening every people today, may be more and more convinced of their supreme duty not to hinder the Church in the fulfillment of her mission. The State must allow the Church full liberty to fulfill her divine and spiritual mission, and this in itself will be an effectual contribution to the rescue of nations from the dread torment of the present hour. Everywhere today there is an anxious appeal to moral and spiritual forces; and rightly so, for the evil we must combat is at its origin primarily an evil of the spiritual order. From this polluted source the monstrous emanations of the communistic system flow with satanic logic. Now, the Catholic Church is undoubtedly preeminent among the moral and religious forces of today. Therefore the very good of humanity demands that her work be allowed to proceed unhindered” (end of Pius XI quotes).

The word communitarianism DOES actually suggest the doctrines of communism and collectivism. And this doctrine, derived as it is from the writings of Hegel, is already condemned, should some be deceitful enough to suggest it is not really Communism in it proper sense. They forget Can. 1324, which states,” It is not sufficient to avoid heretical error but one must also diligently shun any errors which more or less approach heresy. Wherefore all constitutions and decrees by which the Holy See has condemned and prohibited such opinions must be observed.” And they also forget that: “Those, who by words or conduct externally manifest that they personally accept the doctrine of Communism are apostates and incur excommunication ipso facto” (Problems in Canon Law, Rev. William Conway p. 322;1949).

As if the above was not enough, there are further disturbing elements involved in this NAR shift.

The “Dark Enlightenment”

What follows better explains the focus of the Trump administration on eradicating the Democrat Party, funding the introduction of AI, and moving to a more centralized form of government. Of course the errors of liberal Dems, particularly on a moral and faith-based level, must not be tolerated. The party should instead be thoroughly reformed, but this seems impossible given its platform. Yet the goals of Vance and presumably Trump himself are just as bad, buried deep in a philosophy that is both uncatholic and frankly, frightening.

Various website and blog articles report that Vance’s political career was largely funded by Silicon Valley billionaire and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, who filled Vance’s 2022 Senate campaign coffers with $15 million. Thiel also helped finance Curtis Yarvin’s software startup in 2013. Yarvin is best known for his blogs promoting the “Dark Enlightenment,” a philosophy that teaches American democracy is an experiment that has failed, one that should be replaced by an “accountable” monarchy, comparable to the way corporations are structured. While on the surface this may sound appealing to those who hate liberalism and favor monarchy, when combined with the rule of a Protestant elite in matters of faith, it can only spell spiritual disaster.

Key Beliefs of the Dark Enlightenment:

“Monarchy Over Democracy: Yarvin believes that a CEO-like leader should rule with absolute authority, without the inefficiencies of elections or legislative gridlock.

• “The Cathedral: He coined the term “The Cathedral” to describe a self-reinforcing elite system of media, academia, and government institutions that allegedly manipulates society under the guise of democracy.
• Technocratic Authoritarianism: Yarvin sees big tech and AI-driven governance as the future of society, replacing traditional democratic institutions. While Vance does not publicly endorse Yarvin’s most radical ideas, his rhetoric and policy positions reflect the core tenets of the Dark Enlightenment, including:
• Skepticism of democracy and calls for a more centralized, leader-driven governance system.
• Alignment with tech elites who push for corporate-driven governance rather than traditional policymaking.
• A belief that traditional institutions like the press and universities need to be dismantled.”

And all the above we are witnessing as Trump’s second term unwinds. How far it will actually succeed and to what effect has yet to be seen. It could take hold only to be reversed with the next election. It could be implemented and carried out to its fullest extent by a Trump monarchy or the election of Vance. It could topple or be exacerbated by war or a natural disaster. Anything is possible; man proposes, God disposes.

Conclusion

Catholics must remember that the type of democracy written about by the popes prior to the death of Pope Pius XII did not anticipate the later inroads of democracy itself into the Church. By this I mean the intrusion of Americanism, Modernism and ecumenism, which paved the way for the problems we see today; the subsequent leveling down of all religious classes to a more manageable playing field; the teaching of Vatican 2, set out by John Courtney Murray, S. J., that in a democracy, peopled by individuals of different faiths, Catholics have no inherent right to teach the Catholic Church is the only one in which salvation can be found, and finally, the heretical idea that the Church herself can change her teachings, readjust her outlook, or touch even the words of Christ Himself in the Canon of the Mass.  Here we see the necessary preparations for the “community of faith,” the idea that all men — not just the many who would enter the Church — could be saved, regardless of their lack of belief in one God in three Persons, unrepented sins, questionable baptism or marriage status, or their public lives as sinners. This contrary to centuries-old Church teaching and timeless biblical principles.

In many ways what is happening with the NAR and Office of Faith is similar, on a national level, to what happened to the Church in the 1960s. Then we were expected to bow down to men never validly elected to the papacy who usurped the Chair of Peter and proceeded to betray the Deposit of Faith entrusted to them by Christ. Very few priests dared to defy their superiors and meekly went along with all that Vatican 2 brought with it. We were to accept the changes they made, contrary to all we had ever been taught, without a whimper, or be excluded as members of their “church” and treated as pariahs. So we chose the latter, and gladly. Now the NAR has apparently reduced Protestant pastors and evangelists, most of whom at least had what passed as theological training in their various sects, to third in command, subservient to the “governance’ of apostles and prophets.

So if they don’t accept their “revelations,” will they be cast out as non-Christians? Re-educated? Penalized? If classified as outcasts, what place will these Christians have in a communitarian society? Will all this apply to true Catholics in America as well? This is the danger in binding Catholicism or any other religion to a particular form of government, whatever form that might be. The Popes have warned us about this and have made it clear where such ideas originate, as Pope St. Pius X teaches in his address to the French Sillon below:

“The Sillon’s… brand of Catholicism accepts only the democratic form of government which it considers the most favorable to the Church and, so to speak, identifies it with her. The Sillon, therefore, subjects its religion to a political party… What We wish to affirm once again, after Our Predecessor [Pope Leo XIII], is that it is an error and a danger to bind down Catholicism by principle to a particular form of government. This error and this danger are all the greater when religion is associated with a kind of Democracy whose doctrines are false… We fear that worse is to come: the end result of this developing promiscuousness, the beneficiary of this cosmopolitan social action, can only be a Democracy which will be neither Catholic, nor Protestant, nor Jewish. It will be a religion… more universal than the Catholic Church, uniting all men become brothers and comrades at last in the ‘Kingdom of God  – We do not work for the Church, we work for mankind…’ We know only too well the dark workshops in which are elaborated these mischievous doctrines which ought not to seduce clear-thinking minds” (Pope St. Pius X, Our Apostolic Mandate).

And Pope Pius XII warns that unless the TRUE CHURCH is allowed to play a role in establishing a truly moral and God-fearing democracy, it will fail. “If the future is to belong to democracy, an essential part in that achievement will have to be given to the religion of Christ and to the Church. She is the mouthpiece of our Redeemer and the institution which carries on His mission of saving men. She teaches and defends supernatural truths and communicates to men the supernatural helps of grace in order to actuate the divinely established order of beings and ends which Is the ultimate foundation and directive norm of every democracy. The Church has the mission to announce to the world, which is looking for better and more perfect forms of democracy, the highest and most needed message: the dignity of man, the call to be sons of God” (Pope Pius XII, Christmas Message, Democracy and a Lasting Peace,1944).

NAR is the end-result of centuries of revolt against authority of all types, both civil and religious. It began with various schisms and errors in the Church, culminating in the Protestant Reformation. And from there it disintegrated into the chaotic splits that eventually resulted in thousands of Protestant sects. That it has ended in equating God with man, as capable of conveying Divine revelation, comes as no surprise: Strike the shepherd and the flock will be dispersed. And then one will come who will stand in the place of God, showing himself as God. Whether it be a false pope in the Vatican or an apostle in the Office of Faith, the results are the same. And St. Peter, whose feast day we celebrate today, remains in chains, the teachings of his true successors in office castigated and ignored.

St. Peter, ask Jesus to have mercy on our souls!