Pope Leo XIII and the Freemasons' Alta Vendita

In 1884 Pope Leo XIII had his famous vision of the devil asking God for 100 years to tempt the world and try to destroy the Church. Who did Satan use in his war against the faith? Freemasonry among others!

The Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita (AV) outlined the Masonic plan to destroy the Church by infiltrating and subverting it. Pope Pius IX ordered publication of the AV in 1859, but it wasn't published in English until 1885, a year after the vision of Pope Leo XIII who the previous Spring wrote his encyclical against Freemasonry, Humanum Genus. Is that why God gave him the warning vision? The encyclical described the evils of Freemasonry and its perversion of doctrine using many of the ideas of the Enlightenment which made human reason, naturalism, secularism, and religious "tolerance" idols. 

The AV is short, only four typed pages, but its contents are chilling. Lucifer spoke only four words when he rebelled against God saying, "I will not serve!" His glorious light immediately went out and he plunged into hell. The AV is the expansion of Satan's rebellious statement and reveals the devil's game plan. Here are a few quotes:

• Our final end is that of Voltaire and of the French Revolution, the destruction for ever of Catholicism and even of the Christian idea which, if left standing on the ruins of Rome, would be the resuscitation of Christianity later on. [The Enlightenment and Freemasonry arose around the same time and many Enlightenment principles were discussed and and advanced in lodge halls. At the time of the French Revolution there were over 70 Masonic lodges in Paris alone and a third of the members of the Third Estate were Masons. But there were also many Masons among the royalists. The Declaration of the Rights of Man was not a Masonic document, but borrowed many of the ideas being discussed at the lodges. Today there are over 1,000 lodges in the city of Paris. Freemasonry is, indeed, still a large and active enemy of the Church.]

• The Pope, whoever he may be, will never come to the secret societies. It is for the secret societies to come first to the Church, in the resolve to conquer the two. The work which we have undertaken is not the work of a day, nor of a month, nor of a year. It may last many years, a century perhaps, but in our ranks the soldier dies and the fight continues. 

• That which we ought to demand, that which we should seek and expect, as the Jews expected the Messiah, is a Pope according to our wants. Alexander VI, with all his private crimes, would not suit us, for he never erred in religious matters. Clement XIV, on the contrary, would suit us from head to foot. [Clement XIV suppressed the Jesuits when they truly were the pope's men and defended the Catholic monarchies. Clement's action also created a priest shortage that impacted many countries leaving many flocks without shepherds.]

• Crush the enemy whoever he may be; crush the powerful by means of lies and calumnies; but especially crush him in the egg. It is to the youth we must go, it is that which we must seduce; it is that which we must bring under the banner of the secret societies. [Evil always targets the young. Think of the Hitler Youth and Stalin's Communist League of Youth. He who controls the young, owns the future.]

• Now then, in order to secure to us a Pope in the manner required, it is necessary to fashion for that Pope a generation worthy of the reign of which we dream. Leave on one side old age and middle life, go to the youth, and, if possible, even to infancy. Never speak in their presence a word of impiety or impurity.... In order to reap profit at the home of each family, in order to give yourself the right of asylum at the domestic hearth, you ought to present yourself with all the appearance of a man grave and moral. Once your reputation is established in the colleges, in the gymnasiums, in the universities, and in the seminaries-once that you shall have captivated the confidence of professors and students, so act that those who are principally engaged in the ecclesiastical state should love to seek your conversation....Offer them at first, but always in secret, inoffensive books, poetry resplendent with national emphasis; then little by little you will bring your disciples to the degree of cooking desired. When upon all the points of the ecclesiastical state at once, this daily work shall have spread our ideas as the light, then you will be able to appreciate the wisdom of the counsel in which we take the initiative.

• ...the end is beautiful....Seek out the Pope of whom we give the portrait. You wish to establish the reign of the elect upon the throne of the prostitute of Babylon? Let the clergy march under your banner in the belief always that they march under the banner of the Apostolic Keys. You wish to cause the last vestige of tyranny and of oppression to disappear? Lay your nets like Simon Barjona. Lay them in the depths of sacristies, seminaries, and convents...you will give yourself a draught of fishes more miraculous than his....You will bring your-selves as friends around the Apostolic Chair. You will have fished up a Revolution in Tiara and Cope, marching with Cross and banner-a Revolution which it will need but to be spurred on a little to put the four quarters of the world on fire. [The infiltration of the seminaries and convents has born great fruit. The gatekeepers kept orthodox men out of the seminaries while the gay cliques took over. Michael Rose exposed that in Goodbye Good Men! and Donna Steichen exposed the collapse of the women's religious communities in Ungodly Rage. Satan uses many groups for his work, but it isn't a formal conspiracy. They simply "breathe together" which is the literal meaning of the word conspiracy. Communism, liberalism, Freemasonry, etc. all embrace evils that undermine the faith]

• Let us not be discouraged then by a check, a reverse, or a defeat. Let us prepare our arms in the silence of the lodges, dress our batteries, flatter all passions the most evil and the most generous, and all lead us to think that our plans will succeed one day above even our most improbable calculations.

Behind the lodge door in the secret meetings of the upper echelon of Masonry, the plot continues. And judging from the crisis in the Church, their activities have helped advance the work of the prince of this world. Are they the only evil actors? Of course not. As I wrote above, Communism has certainly played a role and how many progressive Catholics have spent decades pouring poison in the pot? Catholics for Choice, Call to Action, the Association of U.S. Catholic Priests, the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Catholic Relief Services. I could go on and on about both Catholic, pseudo-Catholic, and secular organizations participating in the evil. Check out the Lepanto Institute.

In 1999 John Vennari published a little booklet about the AV. It's actually longer than the document, but filled with valuable information about Freemasonry. It illustrates graphically that the lodge is alive and well and continues its demonic activity. Interestingly, two freemasons were recently denied Catholic funerals which is bringing a little publicity to the order's dangers and its complete incompatibility with the Catholic faith. Let us all resolve to be as wise as serpents and gentle as doves and to know our enemies so we can defend the faith against them.

May Jesus Christ be praised.