"The Vatican II Conspirators" by Fr. James Francis Wathen
A Forgotten Essay from the Fr. Wathen Files
*This essay is by the late Fr. James Wathen (d. 11-7-2006). I first met Fr. Wathen in 1990 when I came into Tradition, having been raised in my teenage years as a modern Catholic, “Novus Ordo,” as we Traditional Catholics are apt to say. This undated essay is part of the Fr. Wathen Files, and in our estimation it was written circa late 1980’s. We encourage the reader, if he has not done so, to read Fr. Wathen. At the conclusion of this essay by Fr. we will give a more detailed listing of his books.
“Vatican II Conspirators”
Through conspiracy it is possible to bring down any system and to take it over, unless there is vigilance and resistance. In 63 B.C., Catalina plotted to seize the government had not the Consul Marcus Tullus Cicero exposed the conspirators and thus saved the Roman Republic. In 1919, there was established in Russia (At that time there was no “Soviet Union;” this was organized and officially declared only in 1922), an organization called the Communist International (in Russian, the Komintern). The purpose of the Komintern was to direct the activities of Communist parties and members throughout the world. One of the first projects decided upon by the Komintern was to set about the replacement of Latin with the vernacular in the Catholic Church. This sounds unbelievable, does it not? To think that atheistic communists (who most people think of as being interested only in political power) would have had so much interest in the Catholic Church. They had this interest because Communism seeks total power, and the Communists knew that in order to destroy the Catholic Church, they would have to destroy the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass. And lo, there is now no one, universal Catholic Church united by a liturgical language, a common doctrine and a revered tradition. The Church in every country, indeed, every church in every diocese is now different. Parish churches have become places for “experimentation” and entertainment. For years Communist conspirators within the Church failed to change the sacred Liturgy, and this for two reasons: first, because the Popes of the first half of the twentieth century were strong defenders of the Faith (and all that pertained thereto); and secondly, the Communists themselves temporarily gave up their attempt to change the Church, as they hoped that once the Revolution had succeeded worldwide, they would have the political power to subdue the Church as they did the Orthodox church in Russia.
The Communists failed to destroy the Mass in the 1920’s; but they succeeded forty years later through the Second Vatican Council. Since this unholy Council, the Church has been turned into an institution of secular humanism, as is evidenced by the use of such terms as ‘the celebration of life,’ ‘the glorification of man,’ ‘ecumenism,’ to mention but a few.
Pope John XXIII initiated the reconstruction of the Church with his “aggioramento,” which referred to the effort to bring the Church “up-to-date;” in French, “mettre a la date.” The implication was this: All were to recognize that the Church was out-of-date. A most frequently heard expression is: “We live in a changing world.” – As if there had ever been a time when nothing changed in the world; as if the world had formerly been like a stagnant pond. And so a mere thoughtless saying, “We live in a changing world” is used to justify and explain any “experimentation” and the most irreverent activities carried out in the churches because they represent something new and different.
The Catholic Church is now permeated with the heresy promoted by the Jesuit priest, Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), that, ultimately, every human being will be saved. As Dr. Siebel points out, this idea has now been given the status of a dogma of the Church by Pope John Paul II – and even more so now by Pope Francis.
During the reign of Pope John XXIII the conspiracy was allowed to rise to the surface and its agents were given the highest positions in the Church. The conspiracy infiltrated the seminaries and acceded to the controlling chanceries throughout the world. There is no problem with seeing that such is the case, if only one can believe one’s own eyes!
One of the tactics promoted by Communists to undermine the Church and the loyalty and faith of its members is to discredit it through a program of self-accusation. “Learned” lecturers go from place to place at the expense of the schools, religious communities, dioceses, and parishes in order to brainwash the people by dredging up the “wrongdoing of the Church’s past.” It is not at all an uncommon thing for priests in their “homilies” (There are no sermons any more; priests no longer seem able to deliver sermons; this would seem to be due to the fact that their education in the seminaries has greatly deteriorated) must harp on the theme: “We have been guilty in the past.”
When Cardinal Karol Wojtyla was elected to the Chair of St. Peter. He took the name of John Paul II. Thereby he made it clear in what direction he would go – the very same as his predecessors, John XXIII and Paul VI. No matter what they see or hear, Catholics should keep this fact in mind.
The Catholic Church plunges into an ever deeper crisis, for the simple reason that once the revolution has started, there is no end to it. There are always more and more demands for innovations and changes, more experimentation. By now the abuses and follies have reached apocalyptic proportions, and yet there are no shepherds to put a stop to them.1 I take the occasion here to recommend to the reader an excellent booklet; actually, it is a copy of a speech by L’ Abbe Louis Coache, which he gave on October 24, 1969. The book’s title is Eveques, Restez Catholiques (“Bishops, Remain Catholic!”) Any Catholic who reads this book will know what has been happening in the Church since Vatican II. Obviously, the bishops have failed to meet their responsibilities.
Deception in its many forms is one of the main weapons of the Conspiracy. Deception in the Catholic Church is now all-pervasive. Besides out-right lies, those in power and their spokesmen and pen-men use more subtle means to deceive us. Half-truths are told, words with double meanings are used, history is distorted, logic is violated at every turn, controversy is forbidden, the Scriptures are mistranslated and deliberately misquoted or quoted out of context. Dr. Siebel finds the Pope himself very deliberately falsifying the words of Our Lord and St. Paul in order to give strength to his humanism.
Along the same line, allow me to call the following point to the reader’s attention: In the encyclical here under study, Pope John Paul uses the expression, the “Missionary and apostolic church” (12.1). A Scripture scholar would never use such a phrase, because both words mean the same thing; one word is Latin, the other is Greek: The apostolic Church is a missionary Church, because the very meaning of the word apostle in Greek is ‘the one who has been sent out;’ from apostellein, ‘to send out.’ This word is coined from a Hebrew model ‘sholiah,’ ‘sent out.’ Classical Greek does not have the word ‘apostle;’ it appeared for the first time in the New Testament. Likewise, the word missionary is derived from the Latin word for ‘send,’ mittere. To say “missionary and apostolic,” then, is like a chemist saying “formic acid and myric acid.” Both are the same: one is Greek (myric), and the other term ‘formic’ is Latin (after formica, which is the Latin word for an ‘ant.’).
The United Nations was instituted and has always been controlled by the Communist International. The Communist program calls for the UN to be the “front office” of the One World government, an agency of which will be a world council of “all the major religions” – Judaism, Christianity, Mohammedanism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, etc., tossed together like a kind of salad – each enjoying and granting complete religious freedom to each other and all their members – the very kind, as Dr. Siebel shows, Pope John Paul so effusively advocates in Redemptor Hominis. By recognizing and honoring the UN by their presence and good wishes, Popes Paul VI and John Paul II abdicated the leadership of the Catholic Church and his own position of the Vicar of Christ the King and tendered them to this organization of power-usurpers. Speaking to this hypocritical assemblage of atheists, agnostics, Communists, Jews, Masons, and cannibals, the Pope said: “You will lead the world to peace.” It was one of the greatest blunders a pope could ever make.
The Pope seeks popularity and public support by very plebian conduct: telling jokes, singing folk songs, and acting like a cheerleader. Such things are beneath the dignity of the person who occupies the Chair of Saint Peter. No great spiritual leader, no prophet has ever sought popularity within the sinful world. What the crowd likes is of poor taste and low quality. The only way to please the masses is to yield to the demands of the masses. Formerly, the Catholic Church was under strong leadership; it was a dominant and guiding force, and one the powers of this world had to reckon with. Now, however, radicals are in charge and all are instructed to defer to them. With the encouragement of expedientist bishops, these radicals clamor for additional “reforms”: abortion, divorce, the abolition of priestly celibacy, the priesthood (and, after that, episcopacy!) for women, and so on. The crowd will applaud only when their demands are met. It is impossible to please the masses of the sinful world if one commands morality and integrity of faith.
Nowadays it seems that the Catholic Church depends on modern scholars, on the “research” of theologians who have very little faith or none at all. Never before has the Church depended on human wisdom and knowledge, never has it depended on human theories which come and go; the new supplants the older. The Catholic faith is based upon divine revelation, the inspired scriptures, and a tradition that goes back to the Apostles. It is preserved not by arrogant and self-righteous academics, but by saints, martyrs who give their lives for the sake of Christ.
Ecumenism is the plague of our times. Christ did not teach ecumenism. There were plenty of agnostics and atheists in his day. Our Lord knew them; but He did not commission his apostles to go and discuss their mutual differences. He told them to go and preach. “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned.” (Mk 16:16) The Apostles did as they were told. And when they heard that something was going wrong in the early Church, they either went themselves to correct the problem, or delegated an assistant to do so. We do not read of any dialogue with either trouble-makers or unbelievers.
Ecumenism has brought nothing but harm to the Catholic Church. Catholics of the Conciliar Church have conceded, have given up many things (even their faith!) to please so-called “separated brethren,” while the separated brethren have not yielded an inch. Catholics are losers. Many people leave the Church because the liturgical services of worship have become trivial and meaningless. Converts to Catholicism are rare or nowhere to be found. Only that attracts which is strong; what is weak does not attract; indeed it repels. Catholics are now ashamed of their Church.
Pope John Paul II (*and now Pope Francis) continues to use the term (first used by Pope John XXIII) that the Catholic Church is “open.” Open to what? Open to heresies, “experiments,” and to Protestant influences - (For their part the Protestants are continuing the “unfinished Reformation.”)
In truth, the Church has become open to evil and been closed to the true Faith and to Catholic tradition. Pope Paul VI several times received in audience Communist leaders from the Soviet Union, from Hungary, and other Communist-held countries. Yet, he refused to grant audience to groups of “Traditionalist” Catholics who came to Rome as pilgrims. He refused to see his brethren in the Faith, the true defenders of Catholic truth, who strive to be loyal to Jesus Christ. Yet, he found it possible to welcome warmly Podgorny, Gromyko, Kadar, and the like. Can we call such a Church “open”? It is closed to the faithful and open to radicals and even to the persecutors of the Church. In his encyclical we see Pope John Paul II praising his predecessor to the heavens. There is a Latin proverb that says: Similis simili gaudet - He enjoys one similar to himself.
*This marks the end of the essay as the last page cannot be located. Should I find it, I will update the essay accordingly.
Books by Fr. Wathen: The Great Sacrilege (1971): A critique of the Masonic New Mass, Who Shall Ascend (2 vols., 1994): An Exhaustive 800+pg book on several topics, the New Mass, the new Sacraments, Extra Ecclesiam Nulla salus, etc., I Know Mine and Mine Know Me (2013, 2 vols., 748pp.): Fr.’s emails which were put into book form, Thoughts on Mary (2012, 55pp.)
This author remembers a sermon, circa 1989, in which Fr Wathen said, “The American bishops, a more pathetic breed of human being is hard to find.” What would this good priest say today were he alive?