(Rome) When Pope Francis recently visited the Shroud of Turin, he also paid a visit on June 21st to the Great Mother House of the Salesian order in Valdocco. In the Basilica of Maria Auxiliatrix the parent company a meeting took place between the Pope and the Salesians to commemorate on 2015 the 200th year of the birth of its founder, St. John Bosco, who is buried in the basilica. That same evening a meeting followed with the youth on the central Piazza Vittorio in Turin. What the Pope said has not found its way into the mainstream media. He spoke namely about "Masonic, hardcore anticlericals and Satanists".
Pope Francis also spoke to the youth about the epoch in which the holy Founder lived. Upon that the head of Catholic Church, explained that at the end of the 19th century Turin was a center of Freemasonry and Satanism. The Pope said:
Pope Francis talks about the esoteric network of Freemasonry
"In this country in the late 19th century were the worst conditions for growing youth: this part of Italy was full of Masons, even the Church could not do anything, it was full of diehard anti-clericals and even Satanists. That was one of the ugliest moments in the history of Italy." A clear reference to the esoteric network of Freemasonry.
Pope Francis at the grave of St. John Bosco
However, this dark chapter of history said the Pope presented a surprisingly large number of saints who appeared at the same time in Turin and Piedmont. The appearance of the saints Francis contrasted in direct connection with the massive presence of Freemasonry, the anticlericalism and of Satanism. The increased incidence of saints was the answer. "If you want to do a nice piece of homework, then look at how many saints were born in this period! Why? Because they knew that they had to swim against the current of the culture, that lifestyle. [...] Remember the saints of this country and what they have done! "
As the Pope talked to the youth he said the same previously the Salesians in Valdocco. He described Turin as "the center of the Satanists. But how many saints have occurred! "However, this point is not included in the official text of the speech of the Pontiff, which was held in the Basilica Maria Auxiliatrix.
The Encounter with the Waldenses
The Pope did not mention the Waldensians in his speeches. A part of the descendants of the "Masonic and hardcore anti-clericals", were the Waldensian pastors Teofilo Gay, Carlo Alberto Tron and Matteo Prochet to name a few, whom he met the next morning in Turin Waldensian Temple. In his address to the Waldensians, Pope Francis spoke conversely neither of the dark chapter in Italian history nor the saints that have occurred, however. Even Saint Don Bosco was not mentioned in "his" city.
There was a reason: committed Masons and anticlericals had converted in the 19th century to the Waldenses as "true Christians" to demonstrate their opposition to the Catholic Church. Among the Freemasons and anticlericals of Turin were numerous Waldensians, who even sought after the life of St. John Bosco.
Freemasons and Waldensians: Meeting on 100th Anniversary of the Grand Orient of Italy (2008)
In an article published in the 2007 Book Antonio Panaino is quoted as saying: "[...] in the Grand Orient we Protestants, Catholics, some Muslims, many Jews, many Waldensians (...)". Paiano is not only Professor of Iranian Studies at the University of Bologna, but also a leading proponent of Grand Orient of Italy (Grande Oriente d'Italia) and scientific director of the Masonic magazine Hiram.
Relations between Waldensians and Freemasons are so close that the Grand Orient in 2008 conducted a meeting at the Waldensian University in Rome for its 100th anniversary and among whom was one of the deans of the Waldensian Faculty of Theology among the speakers. As an aside it is noted that the meeting was held symbolically on 20 September, the day of the conquest of the Papal States.
For "dark chapter" about which Pope Francis spoke, was this open struggle of the Waldensian, Freemasons, anticlericals and Satanists in the area against the Catholic Church. Against them were a number of saints, among whom St. John Bosco stands out.
Waldensian and Freemasonry: Abolition and Suppression of the Catholic Church
The Piedmont Waldenses took part in the anti-Catholic unrest from 1796 with the arrival of the French revolutionary troops, until 1870, the end of the liberal-Masonic-run Italian unification. According to historians, the first tangible contact between Waldensians and Freemasonry took place in 1787 in Turin. At that time, the Danish theologian and Freemason Friedrich Münter and the Waldensian Pastor Pietro Geymet met. Geymet was the lodge founder.
Leading Waldensians, including the historian Giorgio Spini and his son Valdo, who coincidentally bore the name of the founder of the Waldensian Peter Valdes, were also main representatives of the anti-clerical left and secularism. They supported each anticlerical law vehemently, like those abolishing all orders and confiscation of all monasteries and orders' goods through the new state. Some historians see it as an understandable "revenge". However, considering the overall historical context, it becomes clear that their intentions go much further beyond. The attitude of the Waldensians aimed to the de-Catholicization of Italy, and even on the abolition and suppression of the Catholic Church.
Waldensian Pastor 1870 Present at Storming of Rome - with his dog "Pionono"
Pope kisses Waldensian Bible (Turin 2015)
As at September 20, 1870, Italian troops at Porta Pia had struck a breech in the walls of Rome and entered the city, a Waldensian pastor was there in the frontline. So great was the hatred of the Papal States, which he wished would be eliminated.
The Waldensian Pastor Luigi Ciari took his dog with him in penetrating the Eternal City, whom he had called for contempt "Pionono" after the then reigning Pope Pius IX. He carried Waldensian Bibles on a cart, as a work of "Liberation", with whom he attempted to spread protestantism among the Romans, saying he wanted to "liberate it from the thousand years of darkness of Popish tyranny."
The "heroic deeds" of the Risorgimento, imprisoned en masse, deported or killed bishops and priests, committed thousands of arbitrary acts against the Catholic laity, the real anti-Catholic racism with which the new Kingdom of Italy treated its Catholic population, particularly in southern Italy and in Venice, must not be neglected at this point. The persecution of Catholics under the former Masonic-anticlerical state doctrine continues to act in a highly distanced attitude of Italians towards their country today.
Francis knows the story and yet sat on the first step
Pope Francis gave the Salesians and the young people to understand that he knows the historical context in the area accurately that is the place of origin of his family. Nevertheless, when meeting with the Waldensians all this went unmentioned. Instead, the Pope generously took their hand. He spoke a mea culpa , in which he apologized for everything that was done by Catholics throughout history Waldenses.
That the Pope unsolicited, kissed the Waldensian Bible, brings another in a series of unsuccessful, spontaneous papal gestures towards other faiths that give rise to endless discussions for several decades. Even the words to the Salesians and the young people on the one hand and the Waldensian other hand reveals a certain lack of consistency.
Thus the Pope began on the first step. A step that has not been reciprocated by the Waldensians. Instead, the official Waldensian representative called in his speech to the Pope in Turin he spoke of "Eucharistic communion" with the Catholic Church "regardless of the interpretation of the Sacrament."
Waldensians Respond Triumphalistically with Unacceptable Demands
In addition to the self-humiliation of the Pope who asked for forgiveness, the Waldensian arrogance emerged even more clearly. Some things do not seem to change in history. The present Waldensians indeed hail from Peter Valdes, but since the 16th century it is largely a Calvinist sect. According to their interpretation, the miracle of transubstantiation doesn't depend on God, it depends on the subjective fideistic faith. Whether the Catholic believes or not, the miracle is reality, while the Waldensian does not believe, for him it is not reality. For the Catholic Church, where the transubstantiation is subject neither to a desire nor to the projection of the fideistic subjectivism of the individual, this is an unacceptable position. For them, the Transubstantiation is an objective reality that is wrought by the Lord, the eternal high priest according to the order of Melchizedek, which everyone can perceive with their senses and verify the various Eucharistic miracles.
It amazes therefore the ease with which the Protestant side makes demands, thus violating the limits of ecumenism. The meeting in the Turin Waldensian Temple was yet another example of this.
Against this background, it is also understandable what the well-known Catholic writer Vittorio Messori has written about his "beloved" Turin, where he lived for a long time: Turin shows the wounds even in the map that goes back to the development and city planning of the Freemasons, the order of the esoteric and initiatory symbolism shows the reverence that is in use among Freemasons. Likewise, when the Catholic philosopher of law and writer Luigi Copertino recalled that in the late 19th century Turin was a "center of Satanism."
Text: Giuseppe Nardi
Image: Mil / Osservatore Romano / Udite (screenshots)
Trans: Tancred vekron99@hotmail.com
AMDG
