Everything seems to indicate that the maladies from which the Church is suffering have originated from the fact that she is afraid of the modern world. This is a malady which derives, in turn, from another deeper evil: the crisis of faith, which has also caused charity to grow cold.

In view of these facts, it is reasonable to think that there has been, on the part of the Church, an overvaluation of the world of technology, of the power of ideologies, and of the strength of totalitarian systems.

Parallel with this, and as a consequence of it, the Church has fallen into the simplistic attitude of undervaluing her own treasures: having lost faith in the supernatural content of her Message of salvation, she is now making an effort to fall in behind the World, begging for acceptance. And it is not that we underestimate the power of the System; far be it from us to do so. We can concur with what Revel said[1] about falsehood having made itself the master of the world because the System needs it in order to survive. But the Church had no need to be afraid or to let herself be influenced by the powers which the Kingdom of Lies possesses. What she ought to have done was continue to believe in her own supernatural values because, in the last analysis, good will prevail over evil; and the Church knows that. But, as we have said, when love grows cold it leads inexorably to falsehood. Not in the sense that the Church became a liar –she could not do so—, but in the sense that many of her children have either moved away from the truth or else silenced it or, in their cowardice, hidden it, allowing error full rein. And here one must also, and above all else, include many Pastors, however sad it makes one to say so.

If it is difficult to understand those who openly tell lies, it is harder to figure out the mere cowards. Some of them, assuredly with the best of intentions, have adopted the policy of not denouncing error, fearing, as they themselves say, that it would only make things worse. They argue that it is much more positive and practical to teach the doctrine because the truth will thereby prevail by itself. Perhaps they are right, although I doubt it. The Lie has such an ability to permeate, given the present state of human nature, that it needs to be denounced and stopped. It is the duty of the good shepherd not only to lead his sheep to good pasture, but also to protect them from the wolf. At least that is how the New Testament seems to think; which is why it is filled with instructions to Shepherds to guard their sheep and to keep them away from error (we can read, for example, the pastoral Letters of Saint Paul and Chapter 10 of the Gospel of Saint John). If this doctrine of well-intentioned tolerance had been followed, heresies would have always had carte blanche in the Church: Saint Athanasius would not have put an end to Arianism, or Saint Augustine to Pelagianism, nor would Saint Bernard have unmasked the errors of Abelard, nor would Pope Saint Pius X have severed Modernism. But all this is talking for the sake of talking, for modern Christians are not willing even to comment upon this issue.

Today it is practically evident that the true content of The Third Secret of Fatima was manipulated, falsified and hidden. In reality, it referred to the Great Apostasy that the Church would have to undergo towards the End of Time. To pretend that the prophecy alluded to the murder attempt suffered by Pope John Paul II (A Bishop dressed in white), an incident that had already taken place twenty years before, seems to be not only a heavy-weight and tasteless joke, but also a real insult to the intelligence of the common Christian People.

And yet, whether we acknowledge it or not, we live in a time of general apostasy in the Church, about which two things are evident.

The first evidence is that once the moment has come and the appearance of the Son of Perdition bringing History to an end is near at hand, there will be an apostasy in the Church which will also be dreadfully general.

Therefore, we will have a huge apostasy, for Sacred Scripture says it. For example, Saint Paul, in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians, Chapter two, verse three; speaking about the moment of the last Times the Apostle says that first the great apostasy must come; and about its being a widespread one, Jesus Christ Himself explicitly affirms it: When the Son of Man comes, will he find any faith on this earth?[2]

The second evidence has to do with the present situation: its symptoms in general look a lot like those described by Scripture as the ones which will immediately precede the End. The wilderness the Church is becoming, and the ensuing paganism of Christians at large, along with the rebellion of the World and its persecution against every Christian value are realities out there, whether we want to see them or not.

And let us add to what has been said that the truly important and grave facts usually have profound causes originating them, although very often one does not want, or cannot, speak of them.

Many will smile and accuse us of being alarmists. The truth is that while we Christians are discussing whether or not these times will come, or while we are not even accepting any discussion about this matter, we could ask Institutions like the Bilderberg Group (that is, Freemasonry).[3] They will probably tell us, despite the secrecy with which they shroud themselves, how great their satisfaction is; in view of what they have already accomplished, they are about to achieve their world wide objectives.

(Extracted from the book The Importunate Friend, pp.87-89)