ARE WE IN THE GREAT APOSTASY?

A Priest preaches to an almost empty Church

Are we living in the Great Apostasy?

This article is designed to explore the possibility that we are living in the time of the Great Apostasy. As unbelievable as that may seem, there is a good deal of evidence that we are in apocalyptic times. It is generally accepted theology that there will be an Antichrist that will cause the faithful to abandon or compromise their faith. This abandonment is called the “Great Apostasy” and is detailed in the 2nd Chapter of 2nd Thessalonians in the New Testament. Information on the Antichrist is also contained in that Epistle written by St. Paul. The Antichrist makes his appearance on earth only during the Great Apostasy.

Over the last 50 years, the Catholic Church has experienced widespread dissension and apathy over its teachings regarding abortion, contraception, cohabitation, and traditional marriage. Less than 40% of Catholics attend weekly mass and less than 10% go to confession yearly. A majority of Catholics favor birth control and a sizable minority favor abortion. For many Catholics the fear of offending God and the possibility off going to Hell is no longer a concern. There has been a major falling away from the faith or “apostasy” that is widespread across the world. The Catholic Church has never undergone this level abandonment of the faith in its 2,000 year history. In recent years, many priests and nuns no longer teach or believe traditional church teaching on social issues. The Church has experienced scandals over the last 50 years that would be unthinkable in any other period of its history.

The Catholic Church has approved apparitions and visions relating to this troubling time. They are ; Our Lady of Good Success in 1634, Our Lady of La Salette in 1846, St. John Bosco in 1862, Our Lady of Knock in 1879, and Our Lady of Fatima in 1917. The Knock & Fatima apparitions will be explained in detail.

The Knock apparition in Ireland was a silent apparition but contained apocalyptic overtones. St. John the Evangelist who wrote the Book of Revelation was one of the principal figures in the apparition. He was seen holding open the Book of Revelation indicating the world was soon approaching turbulent times. The Book of Revelation Chapter 13 gives us the best detailed description of who the Antichrist will be. According to Chapter 13, the Antichrist will be a popular male world leader who fully recovers from a terrible wound. The numbers 666 will form a type of identification of him.

The Fatima apparition in 1917 in Portugal is most famous apparition in the church’s history. It correctly predicted the end of World War 1 in 1918 and the rise of another more destructive war, World War 2. The rise of Russia as a world menace was also predicted. 1917 was also the year Communism took control of Russia and quickly converted one of the most Christian countries to the most atheist. The urgent prayer that the Virgin Mary gave to the three children at Fatima to be said after each decade of the rosary, “Oh my Jesus, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy” indicates the evil that would prevail during the 20th Century. The Virgin Mary predicted a great victory would occur as her final message at Fatima, “The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary”. Could this be the defeat of the Antichrist’s influence in the world?

The Virgin Mary stated in her Fatima apparitions that more souls go to Hell for sins of the flesh than for any other sin. It seems that Hollywood, more than another other entity has been the most effective in promoting immorality and licentiousness. Southern California has also been the breeding ground for the tidal wave of pornography that has swept our nation. Also, remember the sexual revolution got its start in California in the mid 1960’s. It does seem plausible that the Antichrist would have an affiliation with this section of the country.

The influence of evil in the world grew exponentially in the second half of the 20th century. Each decade increased in immorality and apathy to traditional religious beliefs. The one figure who stands out as a possible Antichrist is Ronald Reagan. He is without a doubt one of the most popular Presidents in the modern era. It seems ludicrous to even hint that he could be the Antichrist. In the following part of this article I will list some interesting information about his life and his decisions as Governor & President that taken as a whole, place him as a possible Antichrist. I totally agree that someone can twist details to make a theory plausible. However, I think there is more here than a bunch of partisan facts. We are in extremely evil times and the progress Satan has made influencing the world & the Catholic Church has been incredibly stealthy. Satan did not put the Catholic Church in such a precarious position without his human and infernal followers directing his will in secret.

Ronald Reagan was born in 1911 and died at the age of 93 in 2004. His life covers most of the 20th Century and matches perfectly Pope Leo XIII’s revelation from Our Lord in 1884 that Satan would be given between 75 and 100 years in the 20th Century to try to destroy the Catholic Church and
seduce souls. Pope Leo XIII would compose the famous St. Michael the Archangel Exorcism prayer following this Church approved revelation. This prayer was recited after every Sunday Mass in the Catholic Church around the world until the mid 1960’s when Vatican II effectively eliminated it. St. Michael is Satan’s arch enemy and the protector of the church.

Mr. Reagan’s full name is Ronald Wilson Reagan each name containing 6 letters. This 666 identification and the fact he fully recovered from a serious wound in a 1981 assassination attempt at the age of 70 conforms to the Chapter 13 Revelation description of the Antichrist. Mr. Reagan never went to church as President claiming his presence would put people in danger. He did not feel the same way apparently when he attended professional sporting events throughout his presidency.

Mr. Reagan came to Southern California in 1937 as a 26 year old actor. He lived there the rest of his life. When he was Governor of California in 1967 he signed the nation’s most liberal abortion law. At that time, only a few states had legalized abortion. This law influenced many other states since California is the trend setter for the nation. Within 6 years, abortion was legalized throughout the nation by the U.S. Supreme Court. As President, 2 out of his 3 choices for the Supreme Court were pro-abortion. Legalized abortion has killed more than 60 million children in the United States since 1973. The worldwide total is in the hundreds of millions. The destruction of babies in the womb of their mother is one the worst sins ever committed by mankind.

The sexual revolution exploded onto the national scene during Mr. Reagan’s first term as Governor. The 1980’s, his Presidential years, were known as the decade of greed and immorality. The woman of the 80’s was Madonna. She went out of her way to mock the Blessed Virgin Mary.

In 1969, he signed into law the nation’s first no fault divorce law. This law completely transformed divorce from a rarity into commonplace. This law was quickly copied by other states and by the 1980’s, the divorce rate was at 50%. This high divorce rate has devastated millions of families over the course of the last 50 years.

Ronald Reagan, throughout his life occasionally consulted astrologists in making decisions. In one example, at his astrologist’s request, he delayed his being sworn in as Governor of California until midnight of January 3, 1967. He signed in a sweeping bill legalizing astrology in California on August 30, 1974. This law helped legitimize astrology nationally. Catholic teaching strictly forbids the practice of astrology.

An Empty Church

In 1978, as a popular former Governor, he lobbied for pro homosexual forces in California to defeat the Briggs proposition. This proposition wanted to bar homosexuals from teaching in the classrooms. Reagan’s strong opposition to this bill was an important factor in its defeat.

Ronald Reagan was the “40” President of the United States. The number 40 is the most commonly used number in the bible. There was approximately 40 days between when Reagan was shot on March 30, 1981 and when Pope John II was shot on May 13, 1981. There was also approximately 40 days between when the Pope was shot from when the Medjugorje apparitions started on June 24, 1981.

The Medjugorje apparitions as noted above began in Reagan’s first year in office and have continued until the present. This apparition site of the Virgin Mary has attracted millions yearly with focus on prayer and penance. This apparition is among the longest running in Church history and it has produced thousands of conversions. The apparition has had a positive effect on the church faithful throughout the world. Although, not church approved yet, why would God give us this strong presence of his mother, the Mother of the Church, unless the world was in serious jeopardy? The timing of this apparition and its continued length seems to be more than a coincidence. The Medjugorje messages and visionaries have always been faithful to church teaching.

In 1981 the Eternal Word Television Network {EWTN} was created. This television Catholic network has been vital to the Roman Catholic Church faithful in teaching traditional Christian values in an increasing antiChristian world. Its founding by Mother Angelica is nothing short of miraculous. It continues to this day on private donations and has become the leading Catholic television network in the world. The year 1981 stands out as a momentous year. In 1981, Reagan came onto the world scene and became the most powerful individual in the world. The EWTN network and the start of the Medjugorje appartions also commenced in 1981. They have been a strong bulwark against the Satan’s influence of the Catholic Church and the world. It appears the battle lines were drawn in 1981.

Pope John Paul II is arguably one of the greatest Popes in modern times. He was canonized a Saint in 2014 just 9 years after his death. His time as the Pope paralleled Reagan’s 8 years as President. Did Jesus Christ put one of his greatest Popes in power at the same time as the Church’s greatest enemy was on the world stage? In 1982, Reagan fell asleep in a meeting with Pope John Paul II. The only world leader he did this to. Was it jet lag as explained, or was it a sign of disrespect for the Vicar of Christ? Both men share an interesting fact concerning their deaths. They both died on the first Saturday of the month which is a very special day dedicated to the Virgin Mary. First Saturday devotion to the Virgin Mary is key part of the Fatima message.

The United States reestablished formal diplomatic relations with the Vatican in 1984 during Reagan’s first term as President. However, it was the Congress led by Protestant Senator Richard Lugar that authorized the funding. The funding was cut off in 1867 from the fallout of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. Since there were Catholics involved in the assassination, anti-Catholic sentiment rose up in the country and funding for diplomatic relations with the Vatican was withheld until 1984. The great admiration many Congressman had for Pope John Paul II made the difference in getting the funding approved.

Pope John Paul II through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary deserves the credit for ending the Cold War. The strong moral leadership he gave to the people of Poland commencing in 1979 to peacefully confront the evils of communism would inspire other Soviet Bloc countries that freedom and democracy were possible in their lifetimes. He was such a threat to communism that the KGB tried to kill him on May 13, 1981. The millions of rosaries said over 40 years to the Blessed Virgin Mary for the liberation of Eastern Europe was the decisive blow to free those countries from atheistic rule. On December 25, 1991, Christmas Day, the Soviet hammer and sickle flag was taken down from the Kremlin for the last time.

Pope John Paul II traveled the world continuously for over 20 years. He visited more countries than all of his predecessors combined. This fulfilled Jesus Christ’s statement in the gospels that the word of God be preached throughout the world before the end times would begin.

From 1960 to 1990 the most popular boy name in America was Michael. The name Michael had never cracked the top 25 before the 1950’s. Was it that our Heavenly Father wanted a stronger presence of St. Michael the Archangel in the country dominated by the Antichrist? The dramatic increase of boys being named Michael greatly increased devotion to this warrior angel as their patron saint at the time the church stopped praying the St. Michael prayer after mass in the mid 1960’s.

Mr. Reagan was generally viewed as a fiscal conservative. It is ironic that during his 8 years in office as President he more than doubled the national debt. The economy grew during his term in office but it was fueled by deficit spending that other generations would have to pay for. This deficit spending would convince future administrations that it was okay to defer expenses to future generations. The national debt, from George Washington to Jimmy Carter stood at 1 trillion dollars. The deficit under Reagan went from 1 trillion to almost 3 trillion by the time he left office. It now stands at 32 trillion dollars. The United States of America is now averaging annual deficits that are over 1 trillion dollars per year. It all started in the 1980’s.

In 1999, Pope John Paul II named St. Bridget of Sweden a patron saint of the continent of Europe. Considering most of the Catholic saints have come from Europe, this was quite an honor. She lived from 1303 to 1373. In one of her prophecies she predicted the Antichrist would have significant influence over the world in the year 1980. Also, Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen declared in 1950 “the two great forces of the Mystical Body of Christ and the Mystical Body of the Antichrist are beginning to draw up battle lines for the catastrophic contest “

If the Antichrist was truly on the earth over the past century then the Catholic Church would be one of his main targets to destroy. Let’s take a look at the present day Catholic Church. It had its most horrific scandal in its long history, the sexual abuse scandal. Priests abusing adolescents is repulsive and evil. To make things worse, at times these abuses were covered up and denied by Church officials.

The shortage of priests and nuns in today’s Catholic Church is one of its most severe problems. Many churches have been closed and masses eliminated. Vocations have tried up in this materialistic and permissive culture. The size of Catholic families and the horrible abuse scandal has also led to fewer vocations.

Many Catholics do not follow church teaching and are not raising their children in the Catholic faith. Missing mass or not going to confession is commonplace. The term, “mortal sin” is never even mentioned much anymore. Many of the Catholic Colleges and Universities no longer adhere to the Catholic teaching regarding social issues. Catholic politicians vote against church teaching routinely throughout the country. Most of today’s Cardinals and Bishops feel it is appropriate for a Catholic politician to receive Holy Communion if they vote for and support abortion rights.

The catechism of the Catholic Church written by Pope John Paul II is not viewed as mandatory by many Catholics. There certainly is an “apostasy” or falling away from the faith happening in the church today. The Church has never found itself in this position that many of its members are questioning traditional church teaching. On this present course the Catholic Church is hurdling into a schism, or a splinter of its faithful along liberal and conservative factions.

There has always been conflict or dissension in the Catholic Church. However, it has never been to this world level. The leader of the Catholic Church has always been publicly faithful to church teaching over the last 2,000 years. This seems to be changing with the current Pope.

Pope Francis is one of the most popular Popes in the modern era. His views on Communion for Non-Catholics, Communion for those remarried couples that haven’t had their first marriage annulled, and those couples that are cohabiting have been in opposition to Catholic Church teaching. His view of Communion for those Catholics that have not had their first marriage annulled contradicts the teaching of the Pope he made a saint, Pope John Paul II.

Pope Francis has allowed non-Catholics to receive Holy Communion in Germany. He has reversed Catholic teaching on the death penalty. He now says it is immoral, breaking with the official Catholic Catechism approved under Pope John Paul II. Pope Francis feels life without parole sentences are also immoral and nobody should be in jail for life. In 2015, he issued a papal encyclical on climate change. Combating global warming has had a big role in his pontificate. The Vicar of Christ’s priority is the shepherd of souls. There are others that can look after the environment. The Pope has been very reluctant in intervening on schismatic conferences like the German Catholic Bishops Conference that is proposing changing church teaching. They have been meeting for years proposing these changes and only recently has the Pope made any direct appeal for them to reverse course. The Vatican had no problem canceling the United States Bishops vote on an abuse reform measure on November 12, 2018. The Pope did not like the measure and the call was made to stop the vote on it until a later date. Obviously the Bishops and Cardinals obeyed the Pope which the German Bishops and Cardinals should be expected to if asked. The momemtum this German Bishop’s conference has gathered proposing changing church moral teaching will be hard to stop. The Pope should have squashed this type of apostasy in the beginning of the process not at the very end.

Unfortunately, Pope Francis has had a poor record dealing with the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandal. He allowed Cardinal McCarrick to represent him around the world until he was forced to remove him from the priesthood due to his sexual abuse of minors and seminarians becoming public. McCarrick’s abuses were well known in Vatican circles before he acted as an Ambassador for Pope Francis and he became the first Cardinal in the history of the Catholic Church to be removed from the ministry.

In a terrible deal for China’s very small Catholic population, Pope Francis has ceded control over the appointment of Catholic Bishops to the Chinese Communist party. He has kept this China deal very secret. On June 16, 2016, in reference to couples living together who are not married or cohabitating, he feels they can be considered real marriages under the eye of God if they show fidelity to each other.

In 2017, Pope Francis brought in a statue to the Vatican of Martin Luther in honor of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Revolution. This revolution split the Catholic Church, and up to today’s crisis, was the most harmful period in the church’s history. Pope Francis has praised Martin Luther as a great reformer. Reformers are loyal to church teaching and do not contradict 1,000 years of Catholic doctrine. A Pope praising Martin Luther is more evidence of Satan’s strong influence inside the church. In a stunning reversal on Catholic Church teaching on the sanctimony of marriage, Pope Francis stated recently stated same sex civil unions should be legalized. St. John Paul strongly condemned this policy in his 2003 Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith document. This is another example of Pope Francis’s changing of traditional Catholic Church moral teaching.

On October 4, 2019, Pope Francis unexplainably hosted a pagan ceremony with Pachamama statues in the Vatican Gardens. He even blessed one these statues and brought it in to St. Peter’s Basilica. Pachamama is considered a goddess representing mother earth and fertility of the land. Obviously for the Vicar of Christ or any Roman Catholic to participate in any form of worship of idols is extremely blasphemous.

The apostasy has reached the Vicar of Christ. Prayers are needed for the current Pontiff of the Catholic Church. He needs the faithful’s prayers to help him do God’s will and follow Church teaching. We need to pray for the Pope that he understands being “rigid” is not a sin if a soul is striving to follow church teaching. Jesus Christ commands us to strive to “be perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect” Matthew 5:48. Following church teaching is never mutually exclusive but benefits all souls. Pope Francis recently has severely restricted the use of the Latin Mass rite for the faithful. This a complete reversal of Pope Benedict’s 2007 apostolic letter. He stated he felt that those participating in the Latin Mass were not being faithful to Vatican II. However, when more then 100 German Catholic parishes blessed same sex couples he said nothing. The Catholic Catechism strongly rejects this type of blessing.

Satan is a cunning enemy of God’s children. His main tactic is to tempt us into sin and eventually ruin our souls due to the effects of sin. Jesus will always forgive the repentant sinner but the truly evil aspect of today’s world is that many souls do not feel the need to repent. What were mortal sins in the past 2,000 years of church teaching are no longer considered sins. Many young people do not know what a grave sin is so they are unlikely to feel they have done anything wrong are want to confess it. Some Catholic Church leaders are partly to blame for this misinformation because they have ignored their important role in teaching what a sin is. Many of the Catholic Bishops have emphasized social justice teaching and have neglected moral teaching. The result has been the shepherds of souls have allowed the wolf (Satan) freedom to attack and ruin souls. These Bishops have been shepherding their own public relations rather than the flock God assigned to them.

We know from Matthew 4: 5-7, that Satan was bold enough to quote scripture to Jesus Christ in his tempting of the Son of God in the desert. In Mark 8: 31-33, it illustrates how Satan uses St. Peter to tempt Jesus to not die for our sins. It is well know that Satan induced Judas, one of Jesus’s original 12 Disciples, to betray the Son of God. From St. Paul in 2nd Corinthians 11:14, we learn that Satan can disguise himself into an “angel of light”. If Satan can quote scripture to God and penetrate Jesus’s inner circle, then he can easily fool us into thinking there is nothing wrong with the direction of the world or of the Catholic Church.

Jesus Christ was completely innocent but was put to death by religious leaders in the name of God. He did his preaching and works in the open for all to see but was still condemned. The faithful of Jesus’s time were aware that a Messiah was prophesied to appear in Israel. In today’s world, very few people know anything about prophecies concerning the Antichrist or his predicted appearance on the world stage. Major biblical figures such as Jesus Christ the Son of God, or the Antichrist, a man directed by Satan are very hard for people to believe. Remember, even John the Baptist in Matthew 11: 3-5 had to be reassured by Jesus Christ that Jesus truly was the Messiah.

The purpose of the Antichrist is destroy the Catholic Church and ruin as many souls as possible. As stated before the Catholic Church is in the midst of its worst chaos of its 2,000 years. If a pope is truly contradicting church teaching then the apostasy has reached the pinnacle of its destructiveness.

Adam and Eve committed the first or original sin over a forbidden fruit. That sin completely changed world history. Obedience is very important to God especially among church leaders. Changing, modifying, or ignoring Church teaching is a serious sin. Jesus Christ stated in Matthew 5:19 “That is why whoever breaks the least significant of these commands and teaches others to do so shall be called least in the kingdom of God. Whoever fulfills and teaches these commands shall be great in the kingdom of God”.

------------------------------------

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

The author of this treatise requested to remain anonymous, however he agreed to provide some general biographical information, as follows:

"Married for 30 years with three grown children. Life long Catholic, middle aged. Have been wearing the brown scapular for 20 years. Attend weekly Eucharistic adoration hour at the local church. 4th degree Knights of Columbus. Strong devotion to Divine Mercy. Says the rosary daily. I have written prayers about several saints and Jesus. Definitely more interested in evangelizing than about eschatology. Raised by devout parents and came from a family of eight brothers and sisters. Lives in a strong traditional Catholic region. The happiest people are the ones who love Jesus Christ the most."