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<div class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-headline_area"><h1 class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-headline">Infiltration: Real or Imagined?</h1>
<span class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-post_author"><a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/author/william-kilpatrick" target="_blank">William Kilpatrick</a><br></span></div><div class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-headline_area"><a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/2019/infiltration-real-or-imagined" target="_blank">https://www.crisismagazine.com/2019/infiltration-real-or-imagined</a><br><span class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-post_author"></span>
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</tbody></table><p><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">Has</span> the Catholic Church</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>been infiltrated by anti-<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Catholic</span> forces intent on its destruction?</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>This is the thesis of Taylor Marshall’s <a href="https://www.sophiainstitute.com/products/item/infiltration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">new book</a>,</b></span> <i>Infiltration</i>: <i>The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within</i>.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>The book has already generated a lot of controversy, </b></span>with <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=773" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">one critic</a>
accusing the author of “McCarthyism” and “wild assertions.” <b><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">Marshall’s
main assertion is that </span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Church</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">has been infiltrated by Masons,
Modernists, and communists</span></b> who aim to change the Church’s mission “from
something supernatural to something secular.”</p>
<p>Marshall uses the word “infiltration” in two senses: an infiltration
of personnel and an infiltration of ideas, and it’s not always clear
what sense he’s using. However, in the main, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>he’s writing about </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the
infiltration of <u><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">ideas.</span></u></b></span></p>
<p>Indeed, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the primary document </b></span>he refers to—<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><i><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita</span></i></b></span>—<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>is </b></span>less <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>about</b></span> the placement of agents than about <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the gradual introduction of a new climate of thought</b></span>. The author of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b><i><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)">The Permanent Instruction</span> </i>admitted that it might take more than a century before the process produced “a pope according to our own heart.”</b></span></p><div class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-QlKH6dW8">
<ins class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-CANDisplayAD m_-9110422350724917364gmail-CANDisplayAdDisplayed" style="display:block"><div style="padding:0px"><div style="padding:0px"><img src="https://secureaddisplay.com/i/view/?Viewable=1&isMobile=0&AULU=31049420180502T2200289306460AB42454C400A8A16937CB3EB93D7&cb=1562239308013&ccvid=254066439&pvid=937014890" style="width:1px;height:1px" width="1" height="1" border="0">Was there an actual penetration of the Church by agents of communism
and/or Freemasonry? Marshall does name some names, and he does offer
evidence, but although his evidence is not always conclusive, it is
suggestive. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Earlier popes were certainly worried about</b></span> t<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>he influence of
Masons and Modernists</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Pope Leo XIII published four encyclicals against</b></span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Freemasonry</b></span>, and <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Pope Pius X was convinced</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>that Modernists had
infiltrated</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the clergy and the seminaries.</b></span></div></div></ins></div>
<p><b>Communist Infiltration<br>
</b>Marshall also cites <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the testimony<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>of </b><b>Bella Dodd</b></span>,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> a former
communist agent, who told</b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> a House Committee </span><b>that “in the 1930s we put
eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Church</span>
from within.</b></span>” Similar testimony was offered to the committee by Manning
Johnson, another former agent; however, no other corroborating evidence
of their testimony has been produced.</p>
<p>Still, the possibility of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>physical infiltration </b></span>should not be
dismissed out of hand. It’s<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the kind of thing that Soviet communists
were capable of doing and have actually done.</b></span> There is abundant
evidence, for example, that<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> <b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/disinformation-ronald-rychlak/1131271505?ean=9781936488605" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">communists did successfully infiltrate</span> the Russian Orthodox Church</a></span>.
</b></span>And, according to ex- communists such as Whittaker Chambers and
Elizabeth Bentley, as well as later researchers such as Stanton Evans
and <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/american-betrayal-diana-west/1112409211?ean=9781250055811#/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Diana West</a>,<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> the Roosevelt administration </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>had been thoroughly penetrated by communist agents.</b></span></p>
<p>We also know that <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Soviet communists waged a highly successful campaign to smear<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Pope Pius XII </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>as “<a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/disinformation-ronald-rychlak/1131271505?ean=9781936488605" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Hitler’s Pope</a>.”</b></span>
In addition, smear campaigns were launched to discredit several other
high-ranking anti-communist prelates such as Archbishop Wojtyla.
Moreover, as historian Paul Kengor asserts,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the attempted <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-pope-and-a-president-paul-kengor/1125157103?ean=9781610171526#/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">assassination of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Pope John Paul II </span>was ordered by the GRU </a>(Soviet military intelligence).</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>During the Cold War, Soviet communists viewed </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Catholic Church</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>as
one of their greatest enemies</b></span>, implying that the motive to undermine the
Church existed; and, as exemplified by the infiltration of the Russian
Orthodox Church, so did the capability.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Not every <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">conspiracy</span> is a theory</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Real conspiracies—some with
devastating results—are a part of history. Sometimes, comrade X really
does instruct agent Y to infiltrate organization Z. On the other hand,
it’s important to understand that not every disaster is the result of a
conspiracy.</span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Some ideas are very seductive and they can spread widely </b></span>without the
help of organized conspirators. The conspiratorial movements that
Marshall identifies—<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Freemasonry, Modernism, liberalism, and
communism—all share </b></span>many ideas in common. In essence, they <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>are all forms
of <u><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">humanism</span></u>—the <u>idea that mankind can effect some kind of secular
salvation</u></b></span> by the proper manipulation of the social environment.</p><b>
</b><p><b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">These ideas are often couched in</span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> terms that are very appealing to</span> </span></b>
<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Christians</b></span>—“<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>peace,” “love,” “brotherhood,” “compassion</b></span>,” <span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>“the dignity of
man,</b></span>” and the like. In many respects<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>, these movements are counterfeits
of</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Christianity</b></span>; they have an emotional appeal for many precisely <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">
</span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">because they echo </span>parts of<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Christian message.</b></span></p>
<p><b>The Human Potential Movement<br>
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">In the 1960s and ’70s, the “gospel” of </span></b><a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/sensitivity-movement-desensitized-catholics-evil" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>humanistic psychology swept through</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Church </b></span></a>with
amazing speed. Almost overnight, the tenets of pop psychology were
substituted for Catholic doctrine. Religious studies texts for high
school students frequently cited <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>popular psychologists such as Carl
Rogers and Abraham Maslow,</b></span> and<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> the cultivation of self-esteem</b></span> in
students <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>became a top priority</b></span> for Catholic teachers. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Instead of </b></span><b>moral
precepts,</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> students </span>were introduced to faddish strategies such as “values
clarification” and “moral reasoning.” Meanwhile, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>goals such as
self-acceptance and self-esteem</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>came to be seen as more important than</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
the achievement of sanctity.
</b></span>And,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> since Human Potential Psychology had
no room for</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>the concept of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">sin</span></b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>countless Catholics suddenly discovered
that they were “OK” as they were, </b><b>with the result that</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the practice of
Confession</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>nearly disappeared.</b></span></p>
<p>Many of these striking transformations in the Church are still with
us today, but there is little evidence that they were the result of any
deliberate conspiracy. <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Carl Rogers was certainly the most important
figure <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">in</span></b> <b>the Human Potential Movement</b></span>. It was he who made the case that
“growth psychology” could be applied to every area of life. Yet, there
is no evidence that I’m aware of which would link Rogers to Masons or
communists or any other conspiratorial group. Because Rogers did his
graduate work at Columbia University he was almost certainly exposed to
the ideas of John Dewey, the author of the “Humanist Manifesto,” but,
then, so was my mother and so were about half of the teachers in
America. The fact is, Rogers was rather apolitical, and was quite
uncomfortable with the idea that he was looked upon as the founder of a
movement.<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> </b><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">It’s difficult to imagine him as part of any conspiracy,</span></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)"> </span>yet
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>the infiltration of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Church</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>by the theories of </b><b>Human Potential
Psychology</b> </span>arguably <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>did more harm to</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> Catholicism</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>than Freemasons or
communists ever did.</b></span></p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Many who are currently in charge in <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Church </span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">were formed in the
milieu which</span> Rogers <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">helped to create.</span></b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">This includes</span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Pope</span> Francis, who
once taught psychology and who seems exceedingly fond of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the therapeutic
psychobabble that was born in that era. </span></b></span>Moreover, much of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Church</b></span>’<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>s
current sensitivity to</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>sexual minorities</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>seems to be an outgrowth of the
sensitivity movement spawned by <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">Rogers and other humanistic
psychologists</span>.</b></span> The concern with “acceptance,” “accompaniment,” and
respect for “lived experience” seems to come straight out of the
Rogerian playbook of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>non-directive therapy.</b></span></p>
<p>I have some firsthand experience of the attraction of humanistic
psychology. I became interested in Rogers’ work while in graduate
school, and I can attest that it had something akin to a religious
appeal. Although<span style="background-color:rgb(207,226,243)"><b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">the tenets </span>of Humanistic Psychology</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> contradicted </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>key
elements of Christian doctrine</b></span>, it didn’t seem so to me at the time.
Instead, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>self-esteem psychology seemed to me to be simply a more
enlightened, more compassionate form of <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">Christianity</span>.</b></span> At the same time, I
was reading the work of the <i>nouvelle</i> theologians mentioned by
Marshall—Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Henri de Lubac, Karl Rahner, Hans
Kung, and the like—and what they said seemed to dovetail with what
Rogers, Maslow, Fromm, and other psychologists were saying about human
development and human potential.</p>
<p>Alas<span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>, even Rogers finally admitted<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>that his experiments in human
potential had probably done more harm than <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">good</span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">.</span> The prime example was <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>
the </b></span><a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/2014/sensitivity-movement-desensitized-catholics-evil" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>collapse of </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the Immaculate Heart of Mary Order of Sisters</b></span> </a>after
being exposed to a two-year program of intensive encounter groups led
by Rogers and his team. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Within a few years of Rogers’s intervention, all</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>
600 of the Immaculate Heart nuns</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>had left </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>the order.</b></span></p>
<p>Nevertheless, despite the damage that resulted, there appears to have
been no conspiracy on the part of Rogers or any of his colleagues to
infiltrate the Church. <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Rogers’s theories certainly have a close
resemblance to Modernism and other humanistic schools of thought,</b></span> but he
claims that his ideas simply grew out of his own experience as a
therapist. As Donald Trump might say, “No Collusion, no conspiracy.”
Still, it bears repeating that one would be mistaken to jump to the
opposite pole and conclude that all conspiracy theories are wild
fantasies.</p>
<p><b><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">The Saint Gallen “Mafia”</span><br>
</b>Ideas are generated by people and they are transmitted by
people through articles and pamphlets, over the media, in classrooms and
meetings, and in informal conversations. Marshall devotes a chapter of
his book to<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> the Saint Gallen “Mafia”—a small group <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">of high-ranking
bishops and cardinals who assembled regularly in Saint Gallen,
Switzerland,</span> to discuss reforming <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)">the Church</span>, </b></span>and also, says Marshall,
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>to find a candidate for pope who could defeat</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Cardinal Ratzinger,</b></span> and,
after that failed,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> to find someone to replace</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b> him. </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> That someone turned
out to be Jorge Bergoglio.</b></span></p>
<p>Given that his suspicions are confirmed by other sources such as
Austen Ivereigh, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">Marshall seems on solid ground here. But some of his
musings regarding Saint Gallen rest on more shaky ground. </span>Marshall
points out that Saint Gallen was once a hotbed of communism and that it
was located close to the Swiss headquarters of the Order of Templars of
the Orient, a mystical religion associated with the infamous occultist,
Aleister Crowley, and that Father Theodore McCarrick travelled there
annually for a period of at least ten years. Marshall suggests that
there might have been a link between these coincidences and the
activities of the Saint Gallen “Mafia.” But contiguity does not prove
conspiracy, and in the end he is only able to make rather strained
symbolic connections.</p>
<p>However, <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>what he says<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>about</b></span> t<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>he Saint Gallen group itself</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">is less
speculative. </span><span style="background-color:rgb(208,224,227)"><b>He names thirteen members of the “mafia,” including
<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">Cardinal Carlo Martini, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, Cardinal Walter
Kasper, and Cardinal Cormac Murpy-O’Connor. </span>And his thesis is backed up
by Danneel’s official biographer who explained that “the election of
Bergoglio was prepared in St. Gallen” because the “election of Bergoglio
corresponded with the aims of St. Gallen, on that there is no doubt.”
It’s also telling that Danneels himself referred to the group as a
“mafia,” and that he stood next to Bergoglio on the balcony of Saint
Peter’s immediately after his election as pope.</b></span></p>
<p>Did the activities of the Saint Gallen group amount to a conspiracy? A plot? Or were their meetings, in the words of one <a href="https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/articles.cfm?id=773" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">critical reviewer</a> of Marshall’s book, “the normal manner in which all human groups pursue their own interest”?</p>
<p>Well, that would depend on what sort of interests they were pursuing.
One might suppose that when professional bank robbers get together to
plan a heist, their meetings are similar in form to those of other
“human groups”—first, some informal chit chat, then a call to order,
then a proposal, then some feedback from group members, etc. The
difference between a meeting of bank robbers and a meeting of the bank’s
board of directors has to do not with form but with intent.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Marshall maintains </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>that some bishops have crooked intentions</b></span>—that
they have been acting more like bank robbers than bishops. Indeed,<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> <i>Infiltration</i>
contains two chapters on</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>scandals in the Vatican Bank</b></span>—complete with
charges of <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>money laundering,</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>disappearing assets</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>Mafia involvement (the
real Mafia,</b></span> not the Saint Gallen one), <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>and mysterious murders.</b></span></p>
<p>Marshall concentrates on b<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>ank scandals that occurred </b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>during the
papacies of Paul VI, John Paul II, and Benedict XVI (who called in
Archbishop Viganò to straighten out the mess.)</b></span> But <span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"><b>Pope</b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> Francis </b></span>h<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>as his
own peculiar problem with banks</b></span>. <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>He seems to view them not as places
where money can be safely deposited</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>but as safe places to deposit
wayward priests and bishops. In 2013, he appointed Msgr. Battista Ricca
as Prelate of the Vatican Bank despite Ricca’s involvement in a series
of homosexual scandals. </b></span>Ricca doesn’t seem to have had any particular
qualification for the position, and, in view of the scandals, he seemed
an unlikely candidate for such a sensitive job.</p>
<p>A few years later, after the Vatican received evidence of sexu<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>al
abuse of seminarians by Argentine bishop Gustavo Zanchetta,</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Francis
carved out a position for</b></span> <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>him <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">in another Vatican financial
institution</span></b></span>—The Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See.
Like Ricca, Zanchetta had no qualifications for the job. On the
contrary, he had been accused of mishandling diocesan funds. In June of
2019,<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b> he was formally charged with sexual abuse and could face 3 to 10
years in prison</b></span>.</p>
<p>I bring this up because, except for a brief mention of Ricca,
Marshall does not. He has very little to say about the many scandals
surrounding the Francis papacy. Marshall assumes that most Catholics
already realize that something is dreadfully wrong within the Church,
and his book is an attempt to explain some of the historical and
intellectual currents that have led to our contemporary crisis. Many
Catholics know next to nothing about this historical context, and an
acquaintance with the controversies over Freemasonry and Modernism would
provide a much needed perspective.</p>
<p><span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>“Ideas have consequences,” wrote political philosopher Richard
Weaver. </b></span>And <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>it seems <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)">beyond doubt</span> that<span style="background-color:rgb(255,242,204)"> the Church</span> has been infiltrated
and influenced over the years by ideas with damaging consequences. </b></span>To
what extent this infiltration of ideas was and is the result of
deliberate plots is difficult to say. However, it’s important to try and
find out. Harmful ideas can be more easily combatted if we know
something about the motives of the people who promote them.</p>
<p>As some of <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>Marshall’s</b></span> critics point out, his<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> book is not a
comprehensive or definitive history of the time period that he covers; </b></span>
<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>some of the plots he discusses are <span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)">not </span>proven.</b><b> Nevertheless</b></span>, <span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b>ideas</b></span> don’t
simply float in over the transom. They<span style="background-color:rgb(217,234,211)"><b> are carried by people, and<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"> </span></b></span><span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>
sometimes</b></span>, we must assume<span style="background-color:rgb(234,209,220)"><b>, by people with malevolent intent. </b></span>It’s not
enough to say that these ideas merely reflect the culture surrounding
the Church; that’s simply a way of saying that no one is responsible.
Moreover, it’s not enough to dismiss people who raise the possibility of
plots as mere conspiracy theorists. Until the release of the <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/american-betrayal-diana-west/1112409211?ean=9781250055811#/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Venona Project papers </a>in
1995, communist infiltration of government agencies during the
administration of FDR was wrongly regarded by many as no more than a
rightwing fantasy.</p>
<p>It would be nice to wait until all the facts are in regarding, say,
the Saint Gallen group before speculating about their intentions, but
time may be running out. As Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, a leading
member of the group once said, “Four years of Bergoglio would be enough
to change this”—“this” meaning the Church founded by Christ.</p>
<p><i>Editor’s note: Above is Pope Francis appearing at the window of
St Peter’s Basilica after being elected pope on March 13, 2013. Retired
and scandal-ridden Cardinal Danneels of the St. Gallen mafia is second
from the pope’s left. (Photo credit: FILIPPO MONTEFORTE/AFP/Getty
Images)</i></p>
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<span class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-post_tags_intro">Tagged as</span>
<a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/conspiracy-theory" rel="tag" target="_blank">conspiracy theory</a>,
<a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/humanistic-psychology" rel="tag" target="_blank">humanistic psychology</a>,
<a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/infiltration-2019" rel="tag" target="_blank">Infiltration (2019)</a>,
<a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/secular-humanism" rel="tag" target="_blank">secular humanism</a>,
<a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/st-gallen-mafia" rel="tag" target="_blank">St. Gallen Mafia</a>,
<a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/tags/taylor-marshall" rel="tag" target="_blank">Taylor Marshall</a>
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<img alt="William Kilpatrick" src="http://3m7ajlsrzj92lfd1hu16hu7vc-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/William-Kilpatrick_avatar_1388375486-75x75.jpg" class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-avatar m_-9110422350724917364gmail-avatar-75 m_-9110422350724917364gmail-photo" width="75" height="75"><h4>By <a href="https://www.crisismagazine.com/author/william-kilpatrick" title="Posts by William Kilpatrick" rel="author" target="_blank">William Kilpatrick</a></h4>
<p>William Kilpatrick taught for many years at Boston College. He is the
author of several books about cultural and religious issues, including <i>Why Johnny Can’t Tell Right From Wrong;</i> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Christianity-Islam-Atheism-Struggle-Soul/dp/158617696X" target="_blank">Christianity, Islam and Atheism: The Struggle for the Soul of the West</a> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorrect-Guide-Jihad-Guides/dp/1621575772/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1467592202&sr=1-1&keywords=the+politically+incorrect+guide+to+jihad" target="_blank">The Politically Incorrect Guide to Jihad</a>. His articles have appeared in numerous publications, including <i>Catholic World Report, National Catholic Register, Aleteia, Saint Austin Review, Investor’s Business Daily,</i> and <i>First Things</i>. His work is supported in part by the Shillman Foundation. For mor</p></div></div><div id="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-post-88679" class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-post_box m_-9110422350724917364gmail-grt m_-9110422350724917364gmail-top"><div id="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-tl-author-box"><div class="m_-9110422350724917364gmail-tl-author-info"><p>e on his work and writings, visit his website, <a href="http://turningpointproject.com/" target="_blank">turningpointproject.com</a></p>
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