"For the worship of abominable idols is the cause, and the beginning and end of all evil." ~ The relationship between idolatry and societal chaos according to Sacred Scripture

The Pachamama idol as it appeared in the Vatican gardens during
the Amazon Synod, October 2019.

"The beginning of fornication is the devising of idols:
and the invention of them is the corruption of life."
Wisdom 14:12

We live in an age when, once again, the words of “Second Coming” by Yeats seem prophetic. The centre is not holding. Anarchy is loosed upon the world. The ceremony of innocence is drowned.

But let’s be honest. Based on what we Catholics have witnessed within our very Church over the past several years, none of this comes as a surprise. As I wrote in a previous article, past ages of the Church have understood that when there is chaos and confusion in the Holy See, there will be chaos throughout the Church and, indeed, in the whole world.

In reading Sacred Scripture with my family the other day, the passage above from the Book of Wisdom stood out. It should be remembered that the Book of Wisdom, sometimes called “The Wisdom of Solomon” is part of the Deuterocanonical literature included in the canon of Sacred Scripture by Catholics and Orthodox and Eastern Christians but rejected by many Protestants. Of this book, Saint Augustine opines:  

“For two books, one called Wisdom and the other Ecclesiasticus, are ascribed to Solomon from a certain resemblance of style, but the most likely opinion is that they were written by Jesus the son of Sirach. Still they are to be reckoned among the prophetical books, since they have attained recognition as being authoritative.” [Augustine: On Christian Doctrine, Book II, Chapter 8]

More modern scholars have speculated that the Wisdom of Solomon was written in Greek in Alexandria during the first century BC. The author most likely invoked the name of Solomon to better catch the attention of his Alexandrian Jewish audience. Given what we know of Alexandria’s reputation in antiquity as not only a center of learning and scholarly dispute, but of grotesque moral depravity, frequent mob violence, insurrection, and lynchings, it is likely that the Wisdom of Solomon was written as an attempt to recall the Jews of that city to the proper conduct in both human and divine affairs.

To that extent, the Jews of Alexandria—as an alien minority in a perverse and dangerous world—may serve as a mirror to faithful Catholics navigating within the greater post-Christian West today. It is in that context that we read the following passage from the Wisdom of Solomon within which the above quote may be found:

And from the beginning also when the proud giants perished, the hope of the world fleeing to a vessel, which was governed by thy hand, left to the world seed of generation [This, I assume, refers to the Ark of Noah]. For blessed is the wood, by which justice cometh [This appears to be a prophecy of the Cross of Christ].

But the idol that is made by hands, is cursed, as well it, as he that made it: he because he made it; and it because being frail it is called a god. But to God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike. For that which is made, together with him that made it, shall suffer torments.

Therefore there shall be no respect had even to the idols of the Gentiles: because the creatures of God are turned to an abomination, and a temptation to the souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the unwise. For the beginning of fornication is the devising of idols: and the invention of them is the corruption of life. For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they be forever. For by the vanity of men they came into the world: and therefore they shall be found to come shortly to an end. [Wisdom 14:6-14]

Further down in this chapter, the prophetic author of Wisdom scribes a passage that could apply to our own times as easily as it did to his:

And it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God, but whereas they lived in a great war of ignorance, they call so many and so great evils peace. For either they sacrifice their own children, or use hidden sacrifices, or keep watches full of madness, so that now they neither keep life, nor marriage undefiled, but one killeth another through envy, or grieveth him by adultery: And all things are mingled together, blood, murder, theft and dissimulation, corruption and unfaithfulness, tumults and perjury, disquieting of the good, forgetfulness of God, defiling of souls, changing of nature, disorder in marriage, and the irregularity of adultery and uncleanness.

For the worship of abominable idols is the cause, and the beginning and end of all evil. [Wisdom 14:22-27]

I would encourage you to read the entire passage here. 

When doing so, please remember to pray for those prelates who have been led astray by the prince of this world and his idols, especially those who have, in their worldly arrogance, dared to set an abomination of desolation in the holy places. They have it within their power to purge the corruption which has entered Christ’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church—tomorrow if they wish. May the Holy Spirit inspire them to do so.

I tremble to consider how they will stand before the Just Judge if they fail to repent during this life and continue to lead their flocks so wantonly to destruction.

“What wonder that the whole world was prey to disturbance and confusion?” – Fulcher of Chartres on the relationship between dysfunction in the Holy See and disasters in the world

Scene from the Apocalypse from an illuminated manuscript, ca. AD 1430.

If the world is a complete disastrous mess, blame the Catholic Church. 

Throughout history, this aphorism has popped up with some frequency and in various forms. And while this condemnation has frequently been issued by those of an anti-Papist stripe, it has just as often been uttered by devout Catholics themselves, even saints and popes. How is this possible, you ask? Well, let’s check in with Fulcher of Chartres who in AD 1105 penned the quote that may be seen in the image at the beginning of this post:

“What wonder that the whole world was a prey to disturbance and confusion? For when the Roman Church, which is the source of correction for all Christianity, is troubled by any disorder, the sorrow is communicated from the nerves of the head to the members subject to it, and these suffer sympathetically."

Fulcher was a French priest who took up the cross of the First Crusade in the late 11th century AD. He would later become the chaplain of Baldwin of Boulogne, who would later become the first King of Jerusalem. Fulcher is best known to history for his work, The Deeds of the Franks and the Expedition to Jerusalem, a first-hand chronicle of the great events of his age. Having apparently witnessed everything from the Council of Clermont where the Frankish knights first cried, “Deus vult!” to the re-conquest of Jerusalem and events beyond, Fulcher’s work is among the most valuable accounts of the early crusading era. 

Click for more info.

Let's dip into that work and look at the context of the above quote. All of the quotes from Fulcher in this post are taken from August Krey's excellent compilation, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eye-Witnesses and Participants. 

Near the beginning of his work, Fulcher records the situation in Europe prior to the Crusade, and in particular notes the chaotic situation of the Holy See which was beset by an anti-pope who was the darling of great political powers, particularly Henry IV, Emperor of Germany. Fulcher writes: 

But the devil, who always desires man’s destruction and goes about like a raging lion seeking whom he may devour, stirred up to the confusion of the people a certain rival to [Pope] Urban [II], Wibert, by name. Incited by the stimulus of pride and supported by the shamelessness of the aforesaid Emperor of the Bavarians, Wibert attempted to usurp the papal office while Urban’s predecessor, Gregory, that is Hildebrand, was the legitimate Pope; and he thus caused Gregory himself to be cast out of St. Peter’s. So the better people refused to recognize him because he acted thus perversely. 

Wibert would be known to history as anti-pope Clement III. Fulcher continues: 

After the death of Hildebrand, Urban, lawfully elected, was consecrated by the cardinal bishops, and the greater and holier part of the people submitted in obedience to him. Wibert, however, urged on by the support of the aforesaid Emperor and by the instigation of the Roman citizens, for some time kept Urban a stranger to the Church of St. Peter; but Urban, although he was banished from the Church, went about through the country, reconciling to God the people who had gone somewhat astray. Wibert, however, puffed up by the primacy of the Church, showed himself indulgent to sinners, and exercising the office of pope, although unjustly, amongst his adherents, he denounced as ridiculous the acts of Urban. 

But in the year in which the Franks first passed through Rome on their way to Jerusalem, Urban obtained the complete papal power everywhere, with the help of a certain most noble matron, Matilda, by name, who then had great influence in the Roman state. Wibert was then in Germany. So there were two Popes; and many did not know which to obey, or from which counsel should be taken, or who should remedy the ills of Christianity. Some favored the one; some the other. But it was clear to the intelligence of men that Urban was the better, for he is rightly considered better who controls his passions, just as if they were enemies. Wibert was Archbishop of the city of Ravenna. He was very rich and reveled in honor and wealth. It was a wonder that such riches did not satisfy him. Ought he to be considered by all an exemplar of right living who, himself a lover of pomp, boldly assumes to usurp the scepter of Almighty God? Truly, this office must not be seized by force, but accepted with fear and humility.

Fulcher is by no means the first to condemn the intrusion of worldly politics into the nomination and election of popes. Recall that Hermias Sozomen, writing in the mid-5th century AD, offers a similar viewpoint when discussing the deposition of Pope Liberius by the Emperor Constantius II, the subsequent election of Pope Felix II, the return of Liberius creating a situation where there were two Popes in Rome. Sozomen denounced this occasion and mentions that having two men occupy the seat of St. Peter is a sign of discord and is foreign to ecclesiastical law.

Similarly, when Vigillius participated in the unlawful political deposition of Pope St. Silverius in AD 536 and was later elected Pope while Silverius still lived in exile, his reign quickly descended into discord. War, natural disasters, famine, and death on an unimaginable scale due to plague followed all throughout his miserable reign. When he was later seized by agents of the Empress Theodora and put on a ship to Constantinople, the Liber Pontificalis claims that the Roman people threw rocks at the ship in which he was imprisoned, shouting: “Your hunger go with you! Your pestilence go with you! You have done evil to the Romans; may you find evil where you go!” And it did. Vigilius would spend over a decade in Constantinople as a veritable prisoner under intense pressure from the imperial court to alter Church doctrine. Finally, he would acknowledge: “I am receiving the reward for my deeds.”

Getting back to Fulcher, we next see how he connects disorder in the Church at Rome to catastrophic disorders within Christendom and indeed, the world at large, beginning with our quote from above:

What wonder that the whole world was a prey to disturbance and confusion? For when the Roman Church, which is the source of correction for all Christianity, is troubled by any disorder, the sorrow is communicated from the nerves of the head to the members subject to it, and these suffer sympathetically. This Church, indeed, our mother, as it were, at whose bosom we were nourished, by whose doctrine we were instructed and strengthened, by whose counsel we were admonished, was by this proud Wibert greatly afflicted. For when the head is thus struck, the members at once are sick. If the head be sick, the other members suffer. Since the head was thus sick, pain was engendered in the enfeebled members; for in all parts of Europe peace, goodness, faith, were boldly trampled under foot, within the church and without, by the high, as well as by the low. It was necessary both that an end be put to these evils, and that, in accordance with the plan suggested by Pope Urban, they turn against the pagans the strength formerly used in prosecuting battles among themselves....

Fulcher then commences his account of Urban II’s address at the Council of Clermont and the vast Crusading movement he inspired. This effort lasted nearly four centuries, and was still inspiring men of action even into the late 15th century.

By the time the Crusading effort completely petered out in the 16th century, the Church was rent by the rebellion of Protestantism and threatened by the scourge of resurgent Islam which, by this time, had annihilated the Eastern Empire forever and positioned armed forces at the very doorstep of divided Christendom. In frustration, a saintly pope of this time reportedly echoed Fulcher, saying: “All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics.” He was fortunate enough to find enough men whose faith still burned hot, and inspire the Holy League which beat back the Islamic menace decisively at Lepanto in AD 1571,

It is perhaps apt to consider such things when reflecting upon the wretched state of the Church and the world in our own times. 

Entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels...

I recently came across an article from the Associated Press written by Peter James Spielman that is fascinating for one reason. Please read the first few paragraphs which I am pasting here so that it's not lost in case the AP pulls the original down at some point:

UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ A senior U.N. environmental official says entire nations could be wiped off the face of the Earth by rising sea levels if the global warming trend is not reversed [deleted text].

Coastal flooding and crop failures would create an exodus of ″eco- refugees," threatening political chaos, said Noel Brown, director of the New York office of the U.N. Environment Program, or UNEP.

He said governments have a 10-year window of opportunity to solve the greenhouse effect before it goes beyond human control.

As the warming melts polar icecaps, ocean levels will rise by up to three feet, enough to cover the Maldives and other flat island nations, Brown told The Associated Press in an interview on Wednesday.

Read the full article at this link: U.N. Predicts Disaster if Global Warming Not Checked

The article is intriguing because of the [deleted text] above. Can you guess what goes there?

Here it is: "by the year 2000." This article was written in 1989.

It seems to me that articles exactly like this have been written hundreds if not thousands of times in the thirty years since this story first appeared. Now ask yourself—how many entire nations have been wiped off the face of the earth? How many of these predictions of three foot sea level rises, new dust-bowls in the Midwest, the Maldives underwater, etc. have come to pass? Answer? None.

It seems to me that one of the basic tenets of science is that when you are habitually wrong when posing outlandish hypotheses, you lose credibility as a scientist. And yet, the climate change catastrophists have continued to push this same theory that was first trotted out in the 1970s and 80s, the only difference being the terminology (climate change vs. global warming) and the volume level which is now amplified about 1000%.

Honestly, I can't take them seriously anymore. They've been singing the same tune for going on 40 years now and with the same, unsurprising solution -- transfer of wealth from ordinary people to national and supra-national organizations who are the only ones who can "save us."

It's long past time for people of good sense to stop listening to them.