The Screwletter Tapes

C. S. Lewis, the famous author of The Screwtape Letters once said that writing something from the perspective of a demon left him with the uncomfortable sensation of being spiritually dirty. One must make an extraordinary effort to enter into the reality of pure evil, even if the deed is done with the best intentions.

I do not dare to compare myself to Lewis. He is one of the few teachers to whom I owe the knowledge of so many holy things. He was one of the first markers I found in my way to Christ. I owe him also the awareness of a battle between good and evil that happens within our own chests and inside the sacred sphere of the Church.

When I say “the Church” I am not referring to a collection of buildings, institutions, and dominions of all kinds that conform the physical reality of the Catholic Church. I am not referring to Christendom either. Buildings and kingdoms the Church has lost and gained. The Church of Roman Spain went on to a long eclipse of many centuries and came back forever changed by that prolonged exposure to Moorish culture. North Africa was lost first to the barbarians invading the Roman Empire, then painstakingly recovered only to fall into the heresy of Donatism and finally lost to Islam to this day. Souls, something much more important than a continent or a country, were lost by the millions to Illuminism, Socialism, Communism, and the manifold heresies of the last three centuries. And yet the barque of Peter continued its crossing of history having the certainty of finding Christ waiting by the last shore at the end of time.

Until we reach that happy moment, the long sufferings of the Christian people must continue. At times the vessel appears to sink and it is quite difficult to keep the faith in reaching that distant point where the Master is waiting for us. How many times we sigh hoping to see Him approach walking over the waves, ready to climb on the boat and calm the storm with only one word!

It seems to me this is one of those moments. You may disagree with me if you wish: I am only going to describe what I see with my own eyes. Just yesterday one person on a well known social platform told me that “there are only a handful of homosexuals among the Catholic clergy” and challenged me to produce a list. By the way, I do have a long list but I am not interested in proving anything by the numbers when the effects of sin so clearly overwhelm our Church, the Bride of Christ.

However, I am constantly trying to understand where I am, what is happening, where should I go next. Constant prayer is my compass as we move into totally uncharted waters. The Church has never been infiltrated by demonic forces to the degree we see today. Trying to figure out what they’ll do next requires to some extent to try to think in terms of evil.

A letter was sent through time and space to John XXIII, the Pope of 1960, the same Pope that called the “pastoral council” that was going to be called the Second Vatican Council. You can easily research the origins of that letter online, there is plenty written about it. The envelope contained the “Third Secret of Fatima” delivered to the Vatican by Lúcia de Jesus Rosa dos Santos O.C.D. the only one surviving  of the three visionaries of Fatima.

It is not my intention to speculate about the contents of that envelope. It obviously contained a series of instructions. Several predictions of Our Lady of Fatima came to pass between 1917 and 1960. There was that inexplicable red radiance in the sky before the onset of World War II. Then came the horrors of that war just as Our Lady had prophesied, and the concomitant sufferings of the Holy Father, Pius XII. The ominous influence of Russia in world affairs, the proliferation of Communism and materialistic, hedonistic ideologies. But the fulfillment to a tee of those terrible prophecies was not enough to convince any Pope from 1917 to 1960 (and even to our days) to obey the loving advice of Mary Queen of Heaven. Russia remained unconsecrated to her Immaculate Heart and 1960 came and went without the Third Secret ever seeing the light of day. Why?

Some sources affirm that part of the message contained in that letter to the Pope of 1960 announced a terrible age of apostasy that would descend upon the Church and would not spare the Holy See, not even the Chair of Peter. That apostasy in turn would unleash a series of natural disasters, wars, and persecutions meant to purify the world and the Church. Could that be true?

Other apparitions of Our Lady followed. One in particular (still not approved by the Church) took place at San Sebastian de Garabandal, a remote little village in the Cantabrian region of Spain. Between 1961 and 1965, Our Lady of Mount Carmel allegedly appeared to four girls 9 to 11 years old. The use of the word “allegedly” deserves an explanation. During those four years the apparitions were quite frequent and involved an extraordinary number of well attested miraculous, inexplicable events. Theologically, the messages and events of Garabandal were flawless. St. Pio of Pietrelcina and St. Teresa of Calcutta were among the believers. Only one thing prevented the Church from approving the visions: Our Lady had allegedly communicated to the seers this:

“Many Cardinals, Bishops and Priests go down the path of perdition and with them they take many more souls.”

The statement allegedly corresponds to a part of the message that one of the seers, received in an ecstasy on June 18, 1965 through the Archangel Saint Michael. It caused quite a stir, as you can imagine. The “path of perdition” could be related to the introduction of sexual abuse in the Church by infiltrates planted by various groups hostile to Catholicism, and the alteration of the ages old traditional practice of the faith.

In time, some doctrinal novelties came, defended in the name of a vague “spirit of  Vatican II” that perverted the deposit of faith and resulted in the erosion of morality among the clergy and the faithful. The changes caused many in the Church to lose their zeal for the faith. The number of priestly vocations plummeted. Entire seminars were emptied of postulants.

Who could deny the scandals of pedophile clerics, now well known, something that in 1965 would have been unimaginable for most Catholics. As these terrible times advance, we see worse things: priests that promote homosexuality, Bishops affirming that the concept of sin is obsolete since “God forgives everyone” and the faithful can rely on the mercy of God to forgive anyone practicing even the most grievous and sinful acts.

Today, it is painfully obvious that the warnings uttered by Our Lady in Fatima, and Akita were prophetic and accurate. It is possible that the letter sent to the Pope of 1960 contained some statements that were too shocking for Pope John XXIII to communicate to the faithful at large. As a result, the hierarchy of the Church, is now infiltrated and spiritually paralyzed by immoral men who seek to hijack the Catholic Church for their own nefarious purposes.

The Church is a sign to the world. If the Church ceases to be “the salt of the Earth” then the world has no expectation of ever seeing a better future. You are now seeing the world bereft of almost any hope of seeing Christ. In his homily of May 4, 2020, Pope Francis affirmed:

“The Lord died for all. And also for people that do not believe in him or are of other religions: he died for everyone. That does not mean that proselytism must be done: no but he died for everyone. He justified everyone.”

As the Catholic Church abandons its divinely assigned mission to bring the light of Christ to all mankind, the world will descend into darkness and chaos, nature will fall into further disorder, social structures everywhere will collapse and fail. Chaos is advancing as a result the Church dereliction of duty. Spiritual realities command the material reality: as darkness takes hold of the spiritual realm, the material realm will suffer and become hostile to man. (See Genesis 3:17)

Those who are now at the helm of the Catholic Church are not going to change course and return to Holy Tradition until a serious chastisement falls upon them. God knows what things we will have to see before this ordeal is over. There are however, many good men left that do not want to let go of Holy Tradition and “contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.” (Jude 1:3)

Various groups of faithful lay and religious have preserved the faith as it was before the infiltrates began to destroy doctrine, liturgy, and practice. It does not belong to us to restore the Church since we do not have the power to do it by our own efforts. We can ask Our Lord for the restoration that will come at the good time of God, we can pray, attend the Traditional Mass, learn the unpolluted doctrine of times past and —most importantly— live and form our consciences accordingly following the advise of St. Paul: “Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

We do not have to play the devil’s game. He has loaded the deck with false cards, he seems to be winning but there is not even the most remote chance that he will defeat Christ and completely obliterate the Church. We can use our time wisely by reminding others of our hope. Declaring Christ to the world is not “proselytism” but it is God’s will. We are under orders to bring the light and life of the Gospel to a dying world.

Be a sign of union. Stay away from contentious groups, grow in the mind of Christ and be in union with Him. Pray, fast, sacrifice but never worry about how this age will end because we have been assured of God’s triumph.

‘Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. (Luke 12:32)