Before we enter into the last phase of the preparation for Pentecost and, in accordance with the coming High Feast, deal with the teaching and the person of the Holy Spirit, I would like – leaving the used rythm for a while – to first draw attention to a letter which has been signed in these days by several cardinals and bishops, as well as by scientists and various lay people.
It has received quite a lot of attention and has provoked discussions. The author of the text is Archbishop Viganó, the former Nuncio in the United States of America.
This letter “Veritas liberabit vos!” (The truth will set you free), which can be found on the internet in several languages, warns impressively that the current Corona crisis can be misused by political forces to push for the installation of a so-called “One-World-Government”. A further paragraph warns of the freedom of the church in relation to the state authorities and emphasizes its autonomy in the church’s own affairs.
First an excerpt of the text:
“We have reason to believe, on the basis of official data on the incidence of the epidemic as related to the number of deaths, that there are powers interested in creating panic among the world’s population with the sole aim of permanently imposing unacceptable forms of restriction on freedoms, of controlling people and of tracking their movements. The imposition of these illiberal measures is a disturbing prelude to the realization of a world government beyond all control.”
Such a text is, of course, publicly rejected very quickly and classified as a “conspiracy theory”. This weakens the impact of the statements and renders those who signed the text untrustworthy.
Quite apart from the fact that, in my view, the text has weak points and should be formulated more intelligently and somewhat more cautiously at certain points – despite these shortcomings – it is a courageous and justified step by church shepherds to draw attention to dangers which could threaten people.
Thus we ask first: “Is it possible that the present pandemic crisis is being exploited by powers to bring about developments that harm human beings and are contrary to God’s instructions for humanity?”
And before that, can there be conspiracies for evil?
The answer to the latter question is a clear YES.
There are many examples in Scripture of such conspiracies, roundups etc. which serve to achieve evil ends, for example
“When it was day, the Jews held a secret meeting at which they made a vow not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. More than forty of them entered this pact, and they went to the chief priests and elders and told them, ‘We have made a solemn vow to let nothing pass our lips until we have killed Paul. Now it is up to you and the Sanhedrin together to apply to the tribune to bring him down to you, as though you meant to examine his case more closely; we, on our side, are prepared to dispose of him before he reaches you.” (Acts 23,12-15)
Historical examples also show that there are indeed conspiracies for evil! Let us think, for example, of the “Wannsee Conference”, when Nazi leaders decided in a secret meeting to systematically exterminate the Jews.
We must also perceive elements of conspiracy – whose aims are often not disclosed – in the Masonic lodges.
Pope Leo XIII wrote in 1894: “Freemasonry is a society whose uncanny pressure has long been felt by the Catholic nations in particular”. In what many historians consider to be a genuine excerpt from the instructions of the “Alta Vendita”, a sort of governmental centre of European freemasons in the nineteenth century, it says: “The Pope, whoever he may be, will never come to our secret societies; therefore the secret connections must take the first step towards the Pope and the Church with the intention of putting both in fetters”.
If, in a broader view, we consider conspiracy to be an association or a cooperation – even if it is an association of official governments – with a negative, inhuman and therefore also God-hostile aim, then we have to characterize, for example, an initiative that is especially initiated by the Canadian government as a conspiracy against life.
OTTAWA, May 8, 2020 (LifeSiteNews) – The liberal government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a joint statement on behalf of 59 nations on Wednesday that will advance global access to “sexual and reproductive health needs” (including abortion and contraception) in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We call on governments around the world to ensure full and unimpeded access to all sexual and reproductive health services for all women and girls,” said the statement, published by Global Affairs Canada on May 6.
The Trudeau government is known for aggressively promoting abortion internationally by pledging $7.1 billion to fund and promote abortion as part of its international aid by 2030, and for putting global access to abortion and “sexual reproductive rights” at the “heart” of its foreign policy.
Global Affairs Canada’s “Declaration on the Protection of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and the Promotion of Gender Response in the COVID 19 Crisis” was issued by ministers from 37 countries on behalf of the “peoples and governments of 58 nations”.
To put it bluntly: We can call this a conspiracy to spread the culture of death, which, under false terms and declarations, supports the murder of millions of innocent children. This is the objective reality, whether or not governments are fully aware of it. They are involved in this anti-Christian action with their signatures.
The signatories are: Argentina, Australia, Albania, Belgium, Bolivia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Cabo Verde, Canada, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Fiji, France, Germany, Greece, Guinea, Italy, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
And it was also done on behalf of Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia, Ecuador, Estonia, Georgia, Ireland, Iceland, Japan, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Republic of Korea, Slovenia, Tunisia, Republic of Korea, Ukraine and Uruguay.
A first conclusion: conspiracies or also political agreements against the life of human beings and thus against God have as background antichristian powers, which have conspired against the Lord and his anointed one. (“Kings of the earth take up position, princes plot together against Yahweh and his anointed” – Ps 2,2) They will often not know it! But they are nevertheless instruments of satanic powers and carry out their plans, and so are involved in a conspiracy plan of evil.
The courageous shepherds are therefore by no means stubborn fanatics of conspiracy theories, but they prove to be vigilant warners that we have to keep an eye on current developments.
Even if one would like to see one or the other formulation more carefully articulated, it is better to warn than to remain silent!