The silence about the reality of the crisis went on for too many years; indeed, for as many years as the lack of remedies to fix it lasted. Desertions multiplied at a frightful rate, and an immeasurable number of Catholics was allowed to remain buried in doubts about the Faith; the Hierarchy was debased; the Priesthood was degraded; the sacraments were slowly suppressed; faith in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist was blurred so as to be on the same level as the Protestants’; the Concepts of the Church and Justification were altered; Papal Authority was lost in favor of conciliarism; the revelations of Fatima were manipulated and falsified; … and a long Etcetera.

            Throughout this long period, there was an attempt to entertain the Catholic faithful with a multitude of external goings-on and an abundance of shows, which served well two clear purposes: on the one hand, to distract people’s attention from the real problems, and, on the other hand, to make them believe, due to the enormous din, that something was there, when deep down there was really nothing. The Hierarchy multiplied its trips; large Youth Gatherings proliferated; spectacular and abundant canonizations – almost every Sunday – were celebrated outdoors or indoors; vulgar closer relationships of the Pope with the People were broadcast in the press and elsewhere ... ; while, at the same time, people of dubious faith and even more dubious conduct were  being appointed to influential positions within the Government of the Church at an alarming rate; etc., etc.

            Meanwhile, the poor Christian People languished in their Faith ... and began deserting the Church. The splendor of the Liturgy with which we had worshiped God for hundreds of years was, gradually and without pause, being substituted by the noise of guitars, rock music, Festivals held inside the temple, the commotion of the charisms that the Spirit inspired everywhere – among the charismatic and non-charismatic alike, but the Spirit blew everywhere: everyone possessed the Spirit. Until the Church finally began to realize that the worship of God had been substituted for the worship of man.

            Finally, the facts won the day and become evident as realities; they were too obvious. And now, at the present time, important members of the Hierarchy of the Church are beginning to admit, though timidly and while playing down its importance, the reality of the crisis. Unfortunately, they have not put forward any remedies. Meanwhile they go on preaching. A lot of preaching but without content, and without confronting the real problems: Faith must form the life of Christians.... Laymen must be conscious of their vocation as laymen... The ministerial Priesthood is of paramount importance ... The prominence of women in the life of the Church is a ruse ... But they do not specify how to fulfill that ministry, or what that prominence consists of; and they do not show the dangerous errors in Faith and Morals that are proclaimed even by Cardinals.... A comedian once said, either laughing or crying, that the current Church has made preaching about Birds and Flowers a trend, alluding, undoubtedly, to the lack of presenting authentic doctrine. And so on.

            Of course, we have not addressed the root of the crisis in which the Church is submerged. The crisis – and the ensuing danger – is much deeper and more horrible than it seems to the naked eye. It is the moment of the true Glory of Satan, which had its beginning and foretaste in the Garden of Olives, about which I will speak next.