L I B R A R Y
"DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN CHURCH" BY MALACHI MARTIN, PH.D.
Professor of Palaeography at the Vatican's Pontifical Biblical Institute
Secretary to Cardinal Bea during preparations for the Second Vatican Council
Secretary to Cardinal Bea during preparations for the Second Vatican Council
BIBLICAL REFERENCE
Mat 23:31-33 Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that you are the children of them which killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
BACKGROUND
Education
Malachi Martin was born in Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland, to a middle-class family[2] in which the children were raised speaking Irish at the dinner table. Catholic belief and practice were central. His parents, Conor and Katherine Fitzmaurice Martin had five sons and five daughters. Four of the five sons became priests, including his younger brother, Francis Xavier Martin.[3] Martin received his secondary education at Belvedere College in Dublin. He studied philosophy for three years at University College Dublin, and on 6 September 1939, became a novice with the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits).[4] He taught for three years, spent four years at Milltown Park, Dublin, and was ordained in August 1954.[5] Upon completion of his degree course in Dublin, Martin was sent to the Catholic University of Louvain in Belgium, where he took a doctorate in archaeology, Oriental history and Semitic languages. He started postgraduate studies at both the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and at the University of Oxford, specializing in intertestamentary studies and knowledge of Jesus Christ and of Hebrew and Arabic manuscripts. He undertook additional study in rational psychology, experimental psychology, physics, and anthropology.[1] Martin took part in the research on the Dead Sea Scrolls and published 24 articles on Semitic palaeography in various journals.[6][7] He did archaeological research and worked extensively on the Byblos syllabary in Byblos,[8][page needed] in Tyre, and in the Sinai Peninsula. Martin assisted in his first "exorcism" while staying in Egypt for archaeological research.[9] He published a work in two volumes, The Scribal Character of the Dead Sea Scrolls, in 1958.[10]
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
He was sent to Rome to work at the Holy See as a private secretary of Cardinal Augustin Bea SJ from 1958 until 1964. This brought him into contact with Pope John XXIII.[citation needed] Martin's years in Rome coincided with the beginning of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which was to transform the Catholic Church in a way that the initially liberal Martin began to find distressing. He became friends with Monsignor George Gilmary Higgins and a fellow Jesuit priest, Father John Courtney Murray.[2] In Rome, he became a professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, where he taught Aramaic, paleography, Hebrew and Sacred Scripture. He also taught theology, part-time, at Loyola University Chicago's John Felice Rome Center. He worked as a translator for the Orthodox Churches and Ancient Oriental Churches Division of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity under Cardinal Bea. Thus, Martin became well acquainted with prominent Jewish leaders, such as Rabbi Abraham Heschel, in 1961 and 1962.[11] Martin accompanied Pope Paul VI on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in January 1964. He resigned his position at the Pontifical Institute in June 1964.[2] In February 1965, Martin requested release from the Jesuit Order. He received a provisional release in May 1965[2] and a dispensation from his vows of poverty and obedience on 30 June 1965[2] (cf. qualified exclaustration). Even if dispensed from his religious vow of chastity, he remained under the obligation of chastity if still an ordained secular priest. Martin maintained that he remained a priest, saying that he had received a dispensation from Paul VI to that effect.[5] He moved permanently to New York City in 1966, where he ...continued to write.
Guggenheim Fellowships
In 1967, Martin received his first Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1969, he got his first breakthrough with his book The Encounter: Religion in Crisis as a result of his expertise in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and with which he won the Choice Book Award of the American Library Association.[12] Afterwards came other liberally oriented books like Three Popes and the Cardinal: The Church of Pius, John and Paul in its Encounter with Human History (1972) and Jesus Now (1973). Malachi Martin became a United States citizen[13] in 1970. He received a second Guggenheim fellowship in 1969, which enabled him to write his first of four bestsellers,[14] Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Living Americans. With this book, published in 1976, Martin references his experience as an exorcist. According to the book he assisted in several exorcisms. During that decade, Martin also served as religious editor for National Review[16][17] from 1972 to 1978, when he was succeeded by Michael Novak. He was interviewed twice by William F. Buckley, Jr. for Firing Line on PBS.[18] He was an editor for the Encyclopædia Britannica.[19] Martin published several books in quick succession the following years: The Final Conclave (1978), King of Kings: a Novel of the Life of David (1980) and Vatican: A Novel (1986) were "factionals". The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church (1981), The New Castle: Reaching for the Ultimate (1982), Rich Church, Poor Church: The Catholic Church and its Money (1984) and There is Still Love: Five Parables of God's Love That Will Change Your Life (1984) were non-fiction works. His bestselling[14] 1987 non-fiction book, The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church, was highly critical of the Order, accusing the Jesuits of systematically undermining church teachings.[20]
Later life
Martin's The Keys of This Blood: The Struggle for World Dominion between Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Capitalist West was published in 1990 and was followed in 1996 by Windswept House: A Vatican Novel. Martin continued to offer Mass privately each day in the Tridentine Mass form, and vigorously exercised his priestly ministry all the way up until his death. He was strongly supported by some Traditional Catholic sources and severely criticized by other sources, such as the National Catholic Reporter.[21][22][23] Martin served as a guest commentator for CNN during the live coverage of the pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States 4–8 October 1995. In the last three years of his life, Martin forged a close friendship with the Traditionalist Catholic philosopher, Rama Coomaraswamy (1929–2006). In the final years before his death, Martin was received in a private audience by Pope John Paul II.
Decline and Fall of the Roman Church
Martin wrote this book to analyze the sudden and rapid decline of the Roman Catholic Church in its ecclesiastical organization and doctrinal unity since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). The book is an account of the history of the Roman Catholic Church progressing from the earliest beginnings and Roman Emperor Constantine the Great's relationship with the church during the reign of Pope Silvester I up through the post Vatican II popes and Pope John Paul II. Martin shows the transformations that took place in the institution of the papacy as the relationship between temporal power and spiritual authority was worked out throughout the years. Martin tells how the early popes were chosen, including how many were appointed by secular rulers until the invention of the conclave. The last two chapters of the book—concerning popes Pius XII and John Paul II—give background information on recent papal history from Martin's perspective. The Pius XII chapter contains information on both the pope's encounter with Marxism and his visionary life. Martin, was a protégé to Pius' confidante and confessor, cardinal Augustine Bea, who was the source for this information. The book was translated into Spanish, French and German.
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
He was sent to Rome to work at the Holy See as a private secretary of Cardinal Augustin Bea SJ from 1958 until 1964. This brought him into contact with Pope John XXIII.[citation needed] Martin's years in Rome coincided with the beginning of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which was to transform the Catholic Church in a way that the initially liberal Martin began to find distressing. He became friends with Monsignor George Gilmary Higgins and a fellow Jesuit priest, Father John Courtney Murray.[2] In Rome, he became a professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute, where he taught Aramaic, paleography, Hebrew and Sacred Scripture. He also taught theology, part-time, at Loyola University Chicago's John Felice Rome Center. He worked as a translator for the Orthodox Churches and Ancient Oriental Churches Division of the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity under Cardinal Bea. Thus, Martin became well acquainted with prominent Jewish leaders, such as Rabbi Abraham Heschel, in 1961 and 1962.[11] Martin accompanied Pope Paul VI on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land in January 1964. He resigned his position at the Pontifical Institute in June 1964.[2] In February 1965, Martin requested release from the Jesuit Order. He received a provisional release in May 1965[2] and a dispensation from his vows of poverty and obedience on 30 June 1965[2] (cf. qualified exclaustration). Even if dispensed from his religious vow of chastity, he remained under the obligation of chastity if still an ordained secular priest. Martin maintained that he remained a priest, saying that he had received a dispensation from Paul VI to that effect.[5] He moved permanently to New York City in 1966, where he ...continued to write.
Guggenheim Fellowships
In 1967, Martin received his first Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1969, he got his first breakthrough with his book The Encounter: Religion in Crisis as a result of his expertise in Judaism, Christianity and Islam and with which he won the Choice Book Award of the American Library Association.[12] Afterwards came other liberally oriented books like Three Popes and the Cardinal: The Church of Pius, John and Paul in its Encounter with Human History (1972) and Jesus Now (1973). Malachi Martin became a United States citizen[13] in 1970. He received a second Guggenheim fellowship in 1969, which enabled him to write his first of four bestsellers,[14] Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Living Americans. With this book, published in 1976, Martin references his experience as an exorcist. According to the book he assisted in several exorcisms. During that decade, Martin also served as religious editor for National Review[16][17] from 1972 to 1978, when he was succeeded by Michael Novak. He was interviewed twice by William F. Buckley, Jr. for Firing Line on PBS.[18] He was an editor for the Encyclopædia Britannica.[19] Martin published several books in quick succession the following years: The Final Conclave (1978), King of Kings: a Novel of the Life of David (1980) and Vatican: A Novel (1986) were "factionals". The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church (1981), The New Castle: Reaching for the Ultimate (1982), Rich Church, Poor Church: The Catholic Church and its Money (1984) and There is Still Love: Five Parables of God's Love That Will Change Your Life (1984) were non-fiction works. His bestselling[14] 1987 non-fiction book, The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church, was highly critical of the Order, accusing the Jesuits of systematically undermining church teachings.[20]
Later life
Martin's The Keys of This Blood: The Struggle for World Dominion between Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Capitalist West was published in 1990 and was followed in 1996 by Windswept House: A Vatican Novel. Martin continued to offer Mass privately each day in the Tridentine Mass form, and vigorously exercised his priestly ministry all the way up until his death. He was strongly supported by some Traditional Catholic sources and severely criticized by other sources, such as the National Catholic Reporter.[21][22][23] Martin served as a guest commentator for CNN during the live coverage of the pastoral visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States 4–8 October 1995. In the last three years of his life, Martin forged a close friendship with the Traditionalist Catholic philosopher, Rama Coomaraswamy (1929–2006). In the final years before his death, Martin was received in a private audience by Pope John Paul II.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malachi_Martin
Decline and Fall of the Roman Church
Martin wrote this book to analyze the sudden and rapid decline of the Roman Catholic Church in its ecclesiastical organization and doctrinal unity since the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). The book is an account of the history of the Roman Catholic Church progressing from the earliest beginnings and Roman Emperor Constantine the Great's relationship with the church during the reign of Pope Silvester I up through the post Vatican II popes and Pope John Paul II. Martin shows the transformations that took place in the institution of the papacy as the relationship between temporal power and spiritual authority was worked out throughout the years. Martin tells how the early popes were chosen, including how many were appointed by secular rulers until the invention of the conclave. The last two chapters of the book—concerning popes Pius XII and John Paul II—give background information on recent papal history from Martin's perspective. The Pius XII chapter contains information on both the pope's encounter with Marxism and his visionary life. Martin, was a protégé to Pius' confidante and confessor, cardinal Augustine Bea, who was the source for this information. The book was translated into Spanish, French and German.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Decline_and_Fall_of_the_Roman_Church
EXCERPT FROM "DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN CHURCH" BY MALACHI MARTIN, PH.D.
[Pg 43] There were, of course, numerous blood descendants of Jospeh, Mary's husband, but only those persons in bloodline with Jesus through his mother qualified as desposyni. All of them had clung to Jesus and to his mother, and when both of these had gone, to the first Christian community, in Jerusalem from the beginning and, later, throughout the Middle East.
The Jewish Christians had been the subject of the first crisis in the church. They had been split by factions from the start; and at the first council, in A.D. 49. Peter and Paul had broken with them, insisting that non-Jewish converts need not be circumcised to become Christians, and that only Jewish converts need be bound by the Torah, the law of Moses. The decision was momentous, allowing Christianity to spread beyond Judaism, but it left the Jewish Christians in a sort of religious no-man's-land.
Ever since the Emperor Hadrian had conquered Jerusalem in the year 135, all Jews, and that included Jewish Christians, had been forbidden to enter Jerusalem under the pain of instant death. That ban had not yet been lifted, at the time of Sylvester's meeting with the Jewish Christians.
Sylvester knew their history well. Jewish Christians had composed the only church ever in Jerusalem until the year 135. They left it only once in 102 years following Jesus' death, just before the city's capture by Emperor Titus. Led by their bishop, Simeon, son of Cleophas, who was Jesus' uncle by marriage, they had fled to Perea (In modern Jordan). In A.D. 72 they had returned to Jerusalem and had remained there until Hadrian's ban. After that, Jewish Christian churches were set up all over Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia, but they were always hated by the local synagogues as apostates of Judaism, and always in quarrel with Greek Christians who refused to be circumcised and observe Torah-- things the Jewish Christians insisted on.
They therefore asked Silvester to revoke his confirmation of Greek Christian bishops in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Ephesus, in Alexandria, and to name instead desposynos bishops.
In addition, they asked that the Christian practice of sending cash contributions to the desposynos church in Jerusalem as the mother church of Christianity, which had been suspended since the time of Hadrian, be resumed.
[Pg 44]
Silvester curtly and decisively dismissed the claims of the Jewish Christians. He told them the mother church was now in Rome, with the bones of the Apostle Peter, and he insisted that they accept Greek bishops to lead them.
It was the last known discussion between the Jewish Christians of the old mother church and the non-Jewish Christians of the new mother church. By his adaptation, Silvester, backed by Constantine, had decided that the message of Jesus was to be couched in Western terms by Western minds on an imperial model.
The Jewish Christians had no place in such a church structure. They managed to survive until the first decades of the fifth century. Then one by one, they disappear. A few individuals reconcile themselves with the Roman Church-always as individuals, never communities or whole Jewish Christian churches. Another few pass into the anonymity of the new Eastern rites- Syriac, Assyrian, Greek, Armenian. But most of them die--by the sword (Roman garrisons hunted them as outlaws), by starvation (they were deprived of their small farms and could not or would not adapt themselves to life in the big cities), by attrition of zero birthrate. By the time that the first biography of Jesus (apart from the Gospels) is published in Chinese and in China at the beginning of the seventh century, there are no more surviving Jewish Christians, The desposyni have ceased to exist. Everywhere, the Roman pope commands respect and exercises authority.
The Jewish Christians had been the subject of the first crisis in the church. They had been split by factions from the start; and at the first council, in A.D. 49. Peter and Paul had broken with them, insisting that non-Jewish converts need not be circumcised to become Christians, and that only Jewish converts need be bound by the Torah, the law of Moses. The decision was momentous, allowing Christianity to spread beyond Judaism, but it left the Jewish Christians in a sort of religious no-man's-land.
Ever since the Emperor Hadrian had conquered Jerusalem in the year 135, all Jews, and that included Jewish Christians, had been forbidden to enter Jerusalem under the pain of instant death. That ban had not yet been lifted, at the time of Sylvester's meeting with the Jewish Christians.
Sylvester knew their history well. Jewish Christians had composed the only church ever in Jerusalem until the year 135. They left it only once in 102 years following Jesus' death, just before the city's capture by Emperor Titus. Led by their bishop, Simeon, son of Cleophas, who was Jesus' uncle by marriage, they had fled to Perea (In modern Jordan). In A.D. 72 they had returned to Jerusalem and had remained there until Hadrian's ban. After that, Jewish Christian churches were set up all over Palestine, Syria, and Mesopotamia, but they were always hated by the local synagogues as apostates of Judaism, and always in quarrel with Greek Christians who refused to be circumcised and observe Torah-- things the Jewish Christians insisted on.
They therefore asked Silvester to revoke his confirmation of Greek Christian bishops in Jerusalem, in Antioch, in Ephesus, in Alexandria, and to name instead desposynos bishops.
In addition, they asked that the Christian practice of sending cash contributions to the desposynos church in Jerusalem as the mother church of Christianity, which had been suspended since the time of Hadrian, be resumed.
[Pg 44]
Silvester curtly and decisively dismissed the claims of the Jewish Christians. He told them the mother church was now in Rome, with the bones of the Apostle Peter, and he insisted that they accept Greek bishops to lead them.
It was the last known discussion between the Jewish Christians of the old mother church and the non-Jewish Christians of the new mother church. By his adaptation, Silvester, backed by Constantine, had decided that the message of Jesus was to be couched in Western terms by Western minds on an imperial model.
The Jewish Christians had no place in such a church structure. They managed to survive until the first decades of the fifth century. Then one by one, they disappear. A few individuals reconcile themselves with the Roman Church-always as individuals, never communities or whole Jewish Christian churches. Another few pass into the anonymity of the new Eastern rites- Syriac, Assyrian, Greek, Armenian. But most of them die--by the sword (Roman garrisons hunted them as outlaws), by starvation (they were deprived of their small farms and could not or would not adapt themselves to life in the big cities), by attrition of zero birthrate. By the time that the first biography of Jesus (apart from the Gospels) is published in Chinese and in China at the beginning of the seventh century, there are no more surviving Jewish Christians, The desposyni have ceased to exist. Everywhere, the Roman pope commands respect and exercises authority.
After the Edict of Thessalonica, 7000 protestors were massacred in the streets of Thessalonica. The name of the Pope emerging from the council of Ephesus, who approved of the massacre of Thessalonica, was named Pope Sixtus III, (Literally, "Sixth III"). The Theodosius Codex established under his Pontificate, put control of all buying and selling under the Papacy, outlawed NT Jewish Christianity, and led to the complete extermination and starvation of Christ's own family. Among them, personal descendants of the Apostles from the New Testament, such as James (the "Lord's brother", Gal.1:19)