The kidnapped religion

7/31/2019 The kidnapped religion

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THE KIDNAPPED RELIGION

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PROLOGUE ....................................................... 5

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATION .................................. 7

CHAPTER I PRIESTLY CELIBACY .................................. 9ORIGIN .................................................. 9BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS ............................... 10CONSEQUENCES ........................................ 13

CHAPTER II CHRISTIAN PRAYER.................................. 17ORIGIN AND EXAMPLE ................................. 17THE ROSARY............................................ 18BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS ............................... 20CONSEQUENCES ........................................ 26

CHAPTER III PAPAL AUTHORITY .................................. 29PAPAL INFALLIBILITY.................................... 29BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS ............................... 34

CONSEQUENCES ........................................ 42ABORTION ............................................... 46INFANT MORTALITY..................................... 47SOCIAL-POLITICAL CONFLICTS ........................ 48ECOLOGY................................................ 50COUNTRIES WITH LOWDEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH ... 53FAMILYPLANNING UNNATURAL? .................. 54

CHAPTER IV IMAGES ................................................... 57BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS ............................... 58THE VIRGIN OFGUADALUPE .......................... 60

1531-1648.......................................1648-1850.......................................1850-2002.......................................

SUPPORT FOR THE APPARITION ....................... 86

CONTENTS


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CHAPTER V SAINTS.................................................... 97INTERNAL IGNORANCE ................................. 97PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES ........................... 100INTRINSIC HOLINESS? ................................. 102POWER OFJUDGMENT ................................. 108THE SANCTIFICATION PROCESS ....................... 109ORIGINS OF THE CUSTOM............................. 110

APPENDIX A LETTER FROM A PRIEST TO THE POPE. .................. 125APPENDIX B THE CONVERSATION OFMOHAMMADS DAUGHTER

FATIMA ABOUT TASBIH (THE ROSARY) .............APPENDIX C SAINT CYRIL, ARCHBISHOP OFALEXANDRIA. ........ 131

TWO VISIONS. ............................................


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PROLOGUE

A few days ago I heard a sociologist on an interestingradio program pondering the importance of the follow-ing thought: Every complaint is a gift. She was con-vinced that a criticism or admonition was something weshould appreciate. I cannot deny that this assertion wasinitially surprising to me.

How could it be possible that a rebuke or criticism shouldbe something we feel thankful for?

While this lady shared her point of view, I could notavoid recognizing that she was effectively correct.

A complaint, in the majority of occasions, is somethingthat should make us reflect seriously. It is a type of alarmthat indicates that something that we do requires ourimmediate attention, before it worsen things.

This reflection is something that would not happen ifthe complainer simply decided to prudently remainsilent.

This sociologist convincingly argued that, for this rea-son, a complaint or suggestion, if it is seen from the cor-rect perspective, constitutes a type of gift that makes those

who are capable of reacting favorably become, over time,people, businesses or organizations that are highly suc-cessful and trustworthy, focused on serving, more thanon being served.

On the contrary, those who feel they are possessors ofsome absolute truth, who claim that others should ad-

just to them, surely have an uncertain future.


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With this book I am trying to respectfully suggest to thosewho lead the Catholic Church that they should rectify,where they can, some doctrinal deviations that, from thepoint of view of this author, though apparently inoffen-sive, not only go against basic doctrinal principles butalso have proved unfortunate.

If, involuntarily, I made some mistakes in this book, Iask the readers to let me know. I assure you I will re-ceive your complaint or suggestion just as I have men-tioned above, as a gift, and a sincere call to correct some-thing.

I am fully aware of my own limitations. In this sense Ihave adopted an attitude similar to the one manifestedby Don Joaqun Garca Icazbalceta,1 when he expressedhis opinion to the Archbishop Don Pelagio Antonio deLabastida y Dvalos,2 related to a historical analysis aboutthe appearances of the Virgin of Guadalupe:

If against my intention, by pure ignorance, some word or

sentence that sounds incorrect has escaped me, from now onconsider it not written.

But, at the same time, do not throw away my explana-tions without the proper analysis. God our Father, in His

wisdom, has given a small dose or portion of truth to allof his children, so that precisely through intercommuni-cation, we can access a higher truth, though obviouslyalways subject to the Marvelous Creator of the Universe.

1 Extraordinary Mexican Investigator (1825-1894), born in Mexico City andconsidered by many as one of the best scholars of Mexican Colonial history.2 Don Joaquins opinion was solicited by the Archbishop mentioned, expressedin 70 interesting points in 63 printed pages. October, 1883.Juan Diego and theAppearances of Tepeyac 2002, Editor: Publications For the Scientific Study ofthe Religions.


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ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDATION

The preparation of this text was realized with strict ad-herence to the established norms of the Christian Bible,both Old and New Testaments. In this English text we

will be quoting the King James Version, which is widelyaccepted in both the Catholic and Protestant communi-ties.3

Nevertheless, one or some of the themes dealt with herecan have a distinct focus from what you have known orpracticed during your life. I dare ask you that once youstart reading, continue until the end. As you read throughthe whole book, you will find answers to the majority of

your doubts.

In parallel, if something exposed in the following pagesis different from what you have always believed, I beg

you not to feel personally offended. I was the first to besurprised when finding serious divergences from con-

cepts found in the Bible in issues many churches prac-tice today.

The most important thing to be aware of is if we havethought in a certain way, and we later discover a seriesof disagreements, it does not mean that these distortionsare our fault. The responsibility falls on those who feltthey had the authority to dare making the erroneousmodifications, going against what our Lord Jesus Christestablished.

I am convinced that an overwhelming majority of faith-ful Catholics are not guilty of the transgressions exposed

3 Note by translator.


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in this book. Many members of the high hierarchy werenot in agreement when many of the doctrinal interpreta-tions and alterations were made, even though they, outof obedience, held to them.

It is not my purpose to create divisions among believers inChrist. To the contrary, my intention is to promote that allChristian groups have as our common denominator thetrue message that God himself wanted to give us.


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CHAPTER I

PRIESTLY CELIBACY

ORIGIN

The word celibate comes from Latin4 and means sin-gle, but the fact that Catholic ministers remain in thisstate does not seem strange to the majority of people. Wehave all take for granted that they have to be celibates.

From a historical perspective, very few times, if ever, wehave questioned the foundation of this custom.

Contrary to the common belief, Catholic celibacy hasmore roots in paganism5 than in Christianity. Many pa-gan priests held this norm in the ancient societies ofBabylon, Lebanon, Phoenicia, Cyprus, Syria, Ephesus,Egypt and centuries later, the public servants of Con-stantinople.6

4 (Caelebs, caelibs) Joan Corominas, Spanish Etymological Dictionary, Edito-rial Gredos.5 As was the case of the followers of the ancient God MITRA from Persia, adoctrine that later became one of the dominant religions in Rome in the 2ndCentury AD. The followers of this cult worshipped the sun and practiced sexualself-restraint. Book of Events Isaac Asimov, Editorial Lasser Press.6 http://www.jornada.unam.mx/2000/abr00/000423/mas-santa.htmlI should mention that in many of these cultures, they didnt simply promise orvow to be chaste, as that did not guarantee they would hold to this norm. Suchsituation frequently caused important disorders in this aspect, which gener-ated the opposite effect than the one originally desired. For this reason theywere castrated physically: Generally, the dynastic changes were prepared in thepalace by the eunuchs. They were professional government officials, who, when

castrated, were consecrated to serve the state. Many high category officials, over

half of the Byzantine officials, had to be eunuchs by necessity.(SUMMA ARTIS,Historia general del Arte, Constantinopla, Vol. VII, Page 14, Jose Pijoan, Edito-rial Espasa Calpe, 1961)


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for celibate, he never established it as some kind of min-isterial requisite.

When Jesus pointed out his own condition, he showed itas a product of a personal voluntary decision. At no time,neither He nor his Apostles set celibacy as a mandatorycondition.11

Proof of this can be found later in time, in the Pastoral12Letter of Saint Paul to Timothy (1 Timothy 3:1-4), wherehe refers to the requirements for minister. Paul wrote:

This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop,he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless,the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour

given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, nostriker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler,not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having hischildren in subjection with all gravity;

eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made

themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heavens sake. He that is able to receive it,let him receive it.

For the English version of this book, we are using the King James Version ofthe Bible, which is widely recognized as a reliable text by both Catholics andProtestants. We feel certain that in the verses here cited and throughout thebook, that comparisons with other translations, both Protestant and Catholic,will express similar to exact meanings. (Note by Translator Ken Blose)11 Saint Paul, here addressing the entire Christian community in Corinth, ex-

pressed the concept of celibacy as voluntary in this advice given in 1 Corinthians7:8-9: I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, It is good for them if they abideeven as I. But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to

burn.12 This letter has been named by both Catholic and Protestant scholars asPastoral as it is directed specifically to Christian ministers.


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It seems that reasons of a practical13 and material naturewere what motivated the Catholic Hierarchy of the 12thand 13th centuries to realize this transformation of thecivil state of their ministers.

Nevertheless, when they made this change, they eitherdid not know the entire contents of the Bible,14 or theyminimized its importance, because, you will be surprisedto discover, from the beginning of the Christian age, SaintPaul himself prevented in an incredibly strong way obli-gated celibacy, as we will see in the same pastoral lettermentioned (1 Timothy 4:1-3a):

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter timessome shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducingspirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy;having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding tomarry

It is totally incomprehensible how they dared place them-selves in this situation, after having received in a clear

way 12 centuries beforehand-this severe warning.What reasons motivated them? Why did they not takeinto account what was established in the Bible? Could a

13 Apart from the supposed reasons related to the amount of time needed topractice a given profession, which is not a good argument, in that there areprofessions which involve a good deal of sacrifice in the area of time, such asa surgeon or mid wife (and many others) in which the interested person needsnot be single, and would even find it a limitation to be so.Everything seems to indicate that among others, there were reasons based onthe testimonies of the ministers, who expressed they would look to favor their

families with their personal goods, before the congregation in their care.14 Contrary to what many people think, the difference between Catholics andProtestants does not lie on different translations of the Bible. All of the Catholicand Protestant versions that I know of, say practically the same thing. Theonly difference between one and the other, is that the Protestant Bible has 66Books, and the Catholic Bible has 9 additional books: Tobit, Judith, Esther,


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practical or material reason be higher than a Biblicaldoctrine?

CONSEQUENCES

Not only is obligated celibacy far from what Bible doc-trine teaches, we can also say that this idea has gener-ated a long chain of problems. Three of the most rel-evant are mentioned here:

The first is the damage done to Catholic Ministers. Manyof them have seen there potential diminished in theirlives because of celibacy, as one brave priest expressed,as do many others, after 39 years in the priesthood.15

In this letter, the priest affirms: I can find no word in theHoly Scriptures that justifies obligated celibacy and at the sametime I find many reasons to justify marriage. The priests andbishops married during the first 1000 years of church life and

then some pope invented this rule which I believe is unjust.Further on in his letter, he adds: I will continue to be apriest dedicated to his parish while God allows me to do thiswork. And I will try to continue to live this pseudo-celibacy.

Macabbees (2), Ecclesiasticus, The Wisdom of Solomon, Baruch and asmall appendix to Daniel, which Protestant Scholars chose not to include, asthe original texts were not in the traditional Hebrew-Aramaic language, butonly in Greek. These books, whether they are included or not, do not alter theprinciples of Christian doctrine. I know some Protestants who use Catholic

Bibles when quoting a verse. The basic difference between the two groups isthe fact that the Protestants argue that the Catholics do no adhere to what hasbeen established in the Bible.15 Anonymous letter sent to the pope by a priest about celibacy. A printed copyof the complete letter can be found in Appendix A of this book, and was takenfrom this web site: http://www.sjsocial.org/crt/celibe.htm/


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The second group of negative consequences is related tothe fact that this forced celibacy has limited in an ex-traordinary way the number of ministers who can effec-tively follow this calling or profession.

Many faithful Catholics have not had their spiritual needsmet because of this lack of priests.

Everyone knows that the number of Catholic priests inrelation to the number of faithful Catholics that they mustserve is reduced. It is practically impossible to evaluatethe tremendous damage caused by this rule.18

The third group of consequences is the grave, irregularbehavior that is derived for the most part from forcedcelibacy.

There are numerous well-documented cases of huge scan-dals, perpetrated by Catholic clergy.

One of the many cases involves the founder of the Le-

gionnaires of Christ, Father Marcial Maciel.19

One ofhis victims described him this way: He disqualified thelove of a woman, but carnal love against nature, with him,was holy.20

The list of similar cases would be endless, and wouldmake it practically impossible to quantify the tremen-dous damage against the faithful, the ministers and Catho-

18 According to figures given by the Mexican Episcopacy Conference (CEM) in

Mexico, each Catholic priest must serve 6,382 Catholics, which is obviouslyinsufficient. This information was published in the newspaper Reforma onMay 16, 2004.19 Described in detail en the Book THE LEGIONNAIRE by Alejandro Espinosa,Editorial Grijalbo 2003.20IbidPage 69


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in a clear and open way, he limits himself to making along, repetitive dictation of quotes from some nationalhero or religious leader, words that were expressed indifferent circumstances from what your child is living atthe moment.

Would you rather let him express his desires in a simpleform? Wouldnt we be able to help him better if he talkedto us in a natural and spontaneous way?

These considerations will lead you to analyze for your-self one of the ways we should pray, suggested by thehierarchy of the Catholic Church.24

THE ROSARY

Through a careful study of the Bible, I have found thatthere is not even a minimum mention, vestige or foun-dation for this Catholic tradition. Out of curiosity, I be-came interested in the true origin of this practice.

While I was doing my study on this subject, I foundmyself in an Arab country, and to my great surprise, Inoted that our Muslim guide had in his hand a beautifulchain of small jade gems. He passed over them one byone with his fingers, just as Catholics do with the rosary.I questioned him on the origin25 and purpose of this ob-

ject that he held.

24 The practice of the Rosary, even though it has existed since the 12th century,

was promoted strongly in the 16th century by Pope Pious V, who prescribedand recommended to all the world the use of the Rosary. It was promoted evenmore from 1878 to 1903 with Pope Leon XIII and then Pope Pious XI in 1937,and later by John Paul II since 1978. (Portal Catolico = www.encuentra.com)25 In some countries it is known as a SIBAH, and in other regions such as Iran,Pakistan and others, it is known as TASBIH.


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or Marian Rosary, Vita Christi and others.31 SaintDomingo de Guzman (1170-1221) was the instigator ofthis prayer, and also founded the order of the Preachers(The Dominicans).32

BIBLICAL FOUNDATION

Putting aside the social anthropological aspects of theorigin of this practice, we must now look a the most im-

portant element for the Christian what has been estab-lished in the Bible.

The Lord Jesus Christ gave the example of a perfectprayer, The Lords Prayer. Though it is apparently sim-ple, the truth is, when we analyze the prayer carefully,we cannot find even the smallest error.

This lack of errors is something that does not occur withman made creations, such as the Hail Mary which isthe cornerstone of the Rosary. We will see these errors

more clearly in the following pages.When the Lord Jesus spoke about prayer,33 he said Butwhen ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do:

31 History of the Rosary (www.ixeh.net/faith/Tesoro/Mayor or/history_so.htm)32 Its been tried, without success (History of the Rosary Encuentra.com portalcatolico) to place the origin of the Rosary even earlier in history (650 AD),arguing that in the Roman Mass of these years they mentioned the words:God Save You, Mary, but it is important to mention that these words do notcome from some Marian Rosary but are derived from the announcement ofGabriel to Mary, quoted in Luke 1:28. The Rosary as we know it today, isprincipally a series of repetitions and has no trustworthy historical mentionbefore the 12th century.33 Quoted from Saint Matthew 6:7, in which Jesus also gives us the ideal prayer,The Lords Prayer


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nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but ofGod.44

In another part, Jesus himself mentioned in his conversa-tions that Mary was not to be in a place of preeminence.45

Not only does the Rosary focus on Saint Mary instead ofGod, but in the second part of the Hail Mary, she is giventhe role of intercessor, an idea with more human than di-vine inspiration: Pray for us sinners. The Bible expressesclearly that the desire of the Lord is that all would go di-rectly to Him, without any intercessors, bridges or inter-mediaries.46

It is obvious that Mary was a holy woman and truly excep-tional during her time on the earth, but her role as an in-tercessor or mediator was not granted to her by God, butrather by a group of people.

44 Underlined by the Author.45 As in Matthew 12:47-50: Then one said unto him, Behold, thy motherand thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he an-swered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who aremy brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and

said, Behold my mother and my brethren! For whosoever shall do the willof my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, andmother.

There have also been Catholic authors who assure that Jesus wanted Mary tobe the mother of all believers based on the verse found in John 19:26-27:When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whomhe loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith heto the disciple, Behold thy mother!The truth is the Lord wanted this disci-ple (believed to be John) to take care of her, so she would not be abandoned,proof of which is found in the text immediately following what I quoted: Andfrom that hour that disciple took her unto his own home.46 As in 1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between Godand men, the man Christ Jesus.(Underlined by the Author)


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CONSEQUENCES

Let us go beyond the doctrinal transgressions these typesof prayer represent, which we have clearly seen go againstthe indications of our Lord Jesus Christ. The conse-quences of this form of behavior have affected many ina personal and collective way.

From an individual standpoint, the damage done is im-measurable. The majority of those who use the rosary orother type of similar, repetitive prayers assume they havemet their obligations to God in respect to prayer, when itis really not so.

In practice, what they are doing is replacing a procedureestablished by God with a mere human invention, whichthey have not taken the time to analyze correctly.

The damage caused to the believer is self-inflicted, as hedeprives himself of this extraordinary medium of Bibli-cal prayer that would help resolve a large quantity of

needs we humans have.By avoiding the Biblical way of praying, which is with

words that come from our heart and are directed to God,we absurdly limit the individuals spiritual growth.

In the social aspect of this argument, we must remem-ber that the final results of any community on the planetare simply the sum of the behavior of all the men and

women who make up that community.

Believe me, what this world is missing is that true Chris-tian who have to be the authentic Salt of the Earth byfavorably influencing his or her environment. The prayersof such an individual would have had a crucial role, if theyhad not been stifled by this important doctrinal transgression.


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CHAPTER3

PAPAL AUTHORITY

For many, the mere thought of questioning the authorityof the pope gives them chills.

If you have a preconceived idea of this issue, I beg of youthat for at least a moment, you would put that idea to

one side. I invite you to objectively analyze this subject.

In this chapter you will find a different focus, which Iassure you, is worthy of seeing in a profound way.

If I am wrong in one or various points of view, I beg ofyou take note of these errors, and I am more than willingto listen attentively to your reasons.47 But believe methat this, and other aspects of our lives, should beanalyzed with out prejudices in an impartial and objec-

tive way.We all know that any community needs a certain socialstructure based on the equality of men to function prop-erly.

Nevertheless, is there a social foundation that justifies notonly the existence of a certain hierarchy, but also the

preeminence or superiority of one person over all the rest?

From a purely social perspective, for the proper func-

tioning and development of a community, we have proven

47 You can send your opinions to [email protected] orwww.thgekidnappedreligion.com


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throughout the centuries that the interaction of all in thecommunity is more desirable than the elevation orpreeminence of one person.

For example, we can see similarities between social in-teraction in a community with the interaction of neu-rons in the human brain.

In this marvelous organ, we can see that each individualneuron does not amount to much, but when they inter-relate through nervous branches they acquire togethertheir true dimension, and in this way become the mostadvanced organism known.

Anyone would agree that it would be absurd to think thatone neuron by itself could do anything, even survive.

It is only through the interrelation and integration thatthese neurons can reach superior functions that each

person enjoys, such as speech, thought and the use ofreason or intelligence.

From a purely sociological focus, we can see that in anyhuman community the same occurs. Advancement anddevelopment is only possible through the joining of amultitude of thoughts.

Surely this is due to the fact that in every community,each man and woman that makes up that communityhas a small dose or portion of the truth. It is onlythrough communication that we can arrive at more fun-damental truths. Perhaps our creator established it that

way with an integrating purpose.

It seems that each one of us is a tiny piece of a giantpuzzle, where only through integration can we have trueadvancement and development.


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To prove this curious and invisible need for cooperation,you and I will note that there are people who are brilliantin some aspect of life, but awkward in other aspects.

I would like to cite as examples extremely privilegedminds like Einstein, Newton, Beethoven and others, who

possessed surprising brilliance for various aspects of theirenvironment, but were incredibly limited in other areas.

The most insightful and observant people have appreci-ated this interesting social phenomena. For example, letus look at what the Ex-President of Mexico Don AdolfoRuiz Cortines had to say when they told him he wasgoing to meet a supposedly intelligent person.

In a very illustrative way, Don Adolfo answered:

Intelligent? Intelligent in what?48

With these simple words he showed that he had noticedthis human condition: We can all have ability in some

things, but we are also surprisingly awkward in others.I want to repeat myself by saying: this particularity ofhuman beings constitutes a powerful factor for cohesion.It obligates us to work in union. Only through this unionand cooperation will we obtain authentic human andsocial economic development worldwide.

It is for this reason that when I think of this human con-dition, I inevitably think of the example of the humanbrain that I mentioned earlier. A newborn child has the

most neurons at birth, but he will not reach his potential

48 This anecdote was quoted in the book by Don Miguel Aleman Velasco I DoNot Plant for Me from Editorial Diana. This book has a biography of DonAdolfo Ruiz Cortines, President of Mexico from 1952 to 1958.


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Has this particular idea existed throughout Christian orCatholic history?

This enviable attribute has only been around for a cen-tury and a half, and came about in a singular way, withPope Pius IX,50 its principle defender.

This prelate was clear throughout his life that he did notappreciate democratic governments, and he leaned to-

ward absolute monarchs. He made open pronouncementsagainst the defenders of liberty of conscience and reli-gion and those who affirmed that the church shouldnot resort to force.51

As a consequence of his particular way of thinking, heconvened the Vatican Council I in 1869. Before the as-sembly of Bishops, he announced that the principle themeof the meeting was to be the infallibility of the pope. Inother words, his purpose was to declare himself infallible.

Despite the fact he put a lot of pressure on the partici-

pants, he suffered a moral defeat. Of the over 1000 bish-ops present, only 451 voted for this ostentation.

But he was not going to yield in his purpose. Throughcalculated maneuvers more suited to a veteran politicalstrategist than to a religious leader, the vote was heldagain, but at a time when only 2 of the opposing bishopsfound themselves in Rome.52

50 Pope from the years 1846-187851 Book In Gods Name by David Yallop, Editorial Jonathan Cape, LTD, Lon-don, England.52 Ibid.


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It would be completely understandable if at your firstanalysis you thought the verse of the Bible gives unob-jectionable authority to the Pope. It is not surprising,because most people who see this verse isolated and in asuperficial way come to the same conclusion.

It is also not strange that throughout history, many sci-entists, investigators and even high member of the sameCatholic hierarchy, when they realized the popes werecommitting grave errors, kept a prudent silence becauseof their superficial understanding and belief of this sup-

posed undeniable authority given by Jesus himself.

Nevertheless, this is such an important subject thathas had such an effect, that it requires a much deeperanalysis, which I invite you to make in the paragraphsto come.

The first thing we appreciate is that this distinction wasgiven specifically to Saint Peter, and in no other part ofthe Holy Scriptures, neither Jesus nor Saint Peter men-

tion, or even hint at, even the smallest possibility thatsome type of successors, heirs, or representativewould have this same prerogative.

We should also mention that the leaders of all other Chris-tian groups, the majority of which have never dared thinkof this possibility, could also self- proclaim themselvessuccessors of Saint Peter.

This makes us reflect that, if Peter had successors, whichis not the case, they would have to be, without a doubt,

those who acted precisely as Peter, dont you believe?

To begin with, Saint Peter was opposed to any form ofhomage or submission given to him by the rest of thefaithful to his person. We can see an example of this in


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That would be a form of binding something, with all itsecondary effects in the present and future.

When the disturbed leader Adolph Hitler generated mil-lions of deaths, he probably did not imagine that thoselives he cut off would alter forever the lives of all wholive on the earth. His pretentious idea of a Superior Racekept him58 from knowing the blessings these shortenedlives of so many people would have generated, both inthemselves and there descendents. Surely there weremusicians, architects, scientists, doctors, physicists, andan infinite amount of people that God wanted to be born,but who never were.

In other words, the descendents of these lives stupidlyshortened in a few years, would have generated an un-imaginable quantity of human beings over the passingof the centuries, which in some form altered the plan ofGod59 and became to mankind an incredibly negativehindrance.

On the other hand, if a human being teaches some theway of the love of God,60 in a way they are completing

58 Aside from the fact that Hitler was mentally affected, he was undoubtedlyclumsy in his capacity of judgement. Though, at the time, there were no stud-ies that proved that all human beings come from the same origin, the simplecommon sense had taught this truth to other persons centuries earlier, such asAristotle, Hernando de Soto and many others. They, who acknowledged simi-larities among different human groups from similar latitudes, could concludeby mere observation that human physical characteristics are a consequence ofclimate, feeding habits and other external factors.59 That does not mean that God in His infinite wisdom cannot accommodate

things again in agreement with His plans, but without a doubt human behaviorin some way has repercussions on the present and future world.60 Just as Peter did when he completed his charge, bound and loosed notonly the lives of many people, but also there descendants, which completedwhat Jesus established en the paragraph quoted before, of binding andloosing things on the earth, that would have consequence in the future.


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the process of loosing, a simple act that also has manyconsequences, in this case positive.

I could continue presenting examples of how human actsgenerate incredible effects, which most men and womendo not correctly understand. This is Binding andLoosing, which depends on what action we commit,dont you agree?

If there is any doubt about the expressed will of God inrelation to papal authority, I would like to remind you ofthe words of Jesus Christ in Mathew 23:9:

And call no man your father upon the earth: for oneis your Father, which is in heaven.

For this reason I am convinced that to consider anotherof our brothers in this world as superior to the rest, or

worse yet, call him Holy Father,61 Representative ofGod on Earth or Pontiff, is openly opposed to what

Jesus Christ established.

61 Besides, that we can see clearly that the Bible prohibits calling another hu-man beingfather, (Mathew 23:9), from a mere human context, a person whois truly spiritual, is the most conscious of there equality with his brothers andsisters of the human race. See how Augustus Caesar acted about it: He wasalways horrified by the title Dominus (Lord) as if it were shameful or insult-

ing. He was in the theater one day, and an actor said Oh good and fairLord! All of the spectators, using the same words, applauded enthusiasti-

cally, He raised his hand to stop these unseemly adulations, and the follow-

ing day he censured them in a severe edict. He also prohibited that his sonsand grandsons would be given this name, seriously or as a joke, and he also

prohibited that among themselves that they would generate a flattering

remark. He always entered in Rome or any other city in the afternoon ornight, so no one would be bothered by vain ceremonies.Unfortunately, thisexample was not followed by the Caesars who antedated him. They, due totheir lower spiritual height, accepted all kinds of adulation and pompous ti-tles. (Lives of the 12 Cesars Section Augustus, LIII, Suetonio, Ed. GrolierJackson.)


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Another singular event that helped during these timeswas the invention of the printing press, in the 15th cen-tury. Once the Bible could be read and analyzed by more

people, the risk of exposure of all the divergences in-creased incredibly.

We must remember that before the appearance of theprinting press,63 the Bible was transcribed by hand byscribes, which made it very expensive and rare, and ifthat wasnt enough, it was written in Greek, Hebrewand other languages. This, together with the fact thatmost people could not read even their own language,made the Bible very inaccessible.

When the extraordinary Bible scholar Casiodoro deReyna64 dared to translate the Bible texts into Spanish,so that all Christians of that tongue could understand it,he was persecuted all over Europe and condemned todie burned alive at the stake. You may well ask, whatcrime did he commit to deserve such a punishment?

To make the Word of God accessible to all who spokeSpanish was not a sufficient reason for such a persecu-tion, unless in a arbitrary, awkward and unjust way they thought those teachings should not end up in handsof the people.

63 We are referring to the invention of the press by Europeans, with metallicprinting tools. The Chinese invented another type of press centuries before,with wooden printing tools. (Encyclopedia Compton 1997). The first bookprinted by Gutenberg was the Bible.64 One of the greatest Bible scholars of all times. He was born in Montemolinaround 1520, and died in Frankfurt March 15, 1594. Historian Carlos Gilly.


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There is a Spanish version (referring to the trans-lation of Casiodoro de Reyna) of the whole Bible,that for a cursed thing is needed

Friar Martin Sarmiento65

CONSEQUENCES

This book would not be adequate to number the longchain of negative consequences that this doctrinal trans-gression has generated throughout history.

For that reason, I want to limit myself to only one of theerrors of the high Catholic hierarchy in the 20th century:their particular demographic vision, and the conse-quences it has caused.

The Catholic Church has said many times that their po-sition on world population problems derives from aninterest in favor of life. Of course, all the inhabitants ofthis planet with use of our mental faculties would agreethat human beings have the greatest value on earth and

we will always defend human life.

Nevertheless, if a religious institution does not authorizethe use of family planning methods, methods that helpfamilies grow according to their particular possibilities,it does not matter what they say, in practice they areacting against the values they claim to defend.

You may well ask, why is this situation being presented,if human beings are the most valuable element in na-ture? If there are more people in the world, wont the

capacity to work and produce increase as well?

65 The words of this Friar, quoted by the historian Carlos Gilly (Basilea Suiza1998 http//www.amen.net/lb/articulos/defesareina.htm) illustrate the attitudeof the Catholic hierarchy of this time.


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In all of the cases you and I can imagine, if there is sometype of rapid acceleration in the factors involved in anyprocess, we will have grave problems.

Is this acceleration that important? Why is it different tohave a country duplicate its population in 80 years ratherthan in 25?

I was once with an engineer in the fourth floor of a con-struction work. We returned to the ground floor by us-ing an improvised elevator that, we later learned, wasabout to break down.

What made us arrive to the ground floor safe and sound?The acceleration with which we arrived to the groundfloor. Arriving to it in 12 seconds was different from ar-riving at only 1.6 seconds.

Here is another example. It is obvious that you and Ineed food to survive. But, if we eat day after day morefood than we are able to digest and assimilate, I assure

you that in a few days we will have serious problems,despite the fact that what we are eating is good andhealthy for us, if eaten correctly.

Similar problems occur in any process when the velocityincreases rapidly between two factors, though it mayseem inoffensive at first. Problems will happen, and thegravity of those problems will depend on the amount ofadjustment made.

Let us analyze another example. When a space ship returns

to earth, all the experts know that it must enter at a deter-mined speed and angle, if not, the results are catastrophic.

I am forever surprised that many socioeconomic expertshave not assigned importance to the rapid demographic


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growth this world is facing. They have not realized thatif a nation doubles in population too quickly, without adoubt there will be grave social and human repercus-sions, and they usually attribute problems caused by suchgrowth to other factors.

Believe me, it is not enough to ponder the extraordinaryvalue that every human life has, it is essential, if we truly

want to benefit human life, to support balanced devel-opment in all matters.

For this reason it is paradoxical to adopt a noble andhumanistic attitude, without correctly evaluating the el-ements that intervene in the issue. They are acting againstthe principles they say they defend.

I do not want to fall into what I am criticizing, - to try toimpose a particular vision in an unilateral way I invite

you to judge for yourself this important issue.

Remember, the way to reach a solid truth is only through

the participation of all.If any nation on the globe doubles in population in only28 years,66 as has happened in the majority of the coun-tries in an important amount of the world in the 20 thcentury, its resources needed to give a dignified life shouldalso double in the same time period. Things such as hous-ing, drinking water, drainage, employment, education,forest reserves, energy and anything else needed to sat-isfy the needs of the people must increase at the samerate as the population.

66 From the Annuals of the United Nations, published at the end of eachdecade.


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No country on the planet67 has been able to do in 28years the equivalent of what they have accomplished inall of their history. For that reason, countless socioeco-nomic problems and social injustices have occurred,

which are usually blamed on other causes.

For example, we can see the problems caused by the factthat housing has not duplicated with the population.Growing slums, cardboard houses built in high risk ar-eas, families without homes, dirt floor shacks withoututilities and other deficiencies are evident in our cities.

As it is impossible to educate this new population seg-ment at the speed required, we also see grave deficien-cies in the formation and transmission of a wide rangeof moral and human values that are so important to anycommunity.

It is also impossible to generate employment at the rateneeded, which when combined with other factors, gen-erate unemployment, migration, growth of an informal

economy, insecurity and many other grave problems.From a ecological viewpoint, not only are we not devel-oping and improving our forests, we are destroying themat such an accelerated rate that it is generating the ex-tinction of many animal species and producing climaticchanges with unpredictable consequences.

In every country with a high rate of population growth,we can see high levels of crime throughout society. For-

67 According to the statistics of the UN on human development, associatedwith the rate of population growth (from the Population Reference Bureau)where on making an individualized analysis by country, it appears that thehuman and socioeconomic development is incompatible with the high rate ofpopulation growth.


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give me for saying it again, but in all of these countries,we often hear that it is the governments fault, or that ofimmigrants, or the economic system, or a whole gamutof other guilty parties.

I must mention also that I am not saying that only with abalanced population growth our problems will be solved.We must also attend to political, economic and educationalelements. But without balanced population growth, it willbe impossible to resolve delays in social development.

It is also not desirable to arrive at the other extreme,with growth rates being low or negative, as is foundamongst 20% of the world population. The most pru-dent idea is to have balanced growth that permits thedoubling of a population in lapses of time greater than40 or 50 years,68 sufficient time to create the resourcesneeded and then support the development of a just andhumane society.

The important thing to remember in all of this is how an

attitude as a defender of life, if it is not founded correctly,acts in contrary to the values that it wants to defend.

I want to present some points as examples of my point ofview, asking you to correct any errors you may find inmy arguments.

ABORTION

The Catholic Church has made important pronounce-

ments in favor of life and against abortion. The truth is,68 To arrive at a growth rate of this nature, the woman of a country must havean average of 2.2 children, which is possible if the majority of couples have 2or 3 children, with which this goal comes automatically, considering that somedo not marry and other cannot have children.


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ment violence as a solution, which inevitably makes thesituation worse.75

If a grave situation of social exclusion as mentioned abovecannot be resolved by any nation on the globe in an en-vironment of peace, much less will it be solved with vio-lence, which is often the solution proposed by leaders

who have lost all sense of reality.

And it is when any nation faces this gamut of social needsthat are not being met that the road to violence is taken

with all of its consequences.

The number of innocent victims in the world derivedfrom this situation reaches truly monstrous proportions.What gets my attention is how, to the media, the Catho-lic hierarchy acts against harmonious growth while atthe same time proclaims the need to live in a world freeof social deficiencies.

ECOLOGY

Never in history has the man-caused deterioration of theenvironment been at such a magnitude as it is today.

Why is this happening? Arent we each day more ad-vanced in all areas of life?

This environmental deterioration has gone hand in handwith population growth, which has surprised the world.Look at the statistics. It took man practically our entire

history to reach the first billion, which occurred in 1812.

75 This is what happened in the Mexican state of Chiapas, whose populationalmost tripled in the short time of 30 years. This generated a situation of socialexclusion, a fact rapidly taken advantage of by some.


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Later, in only 123 years, in 1935, we reached the amountof 2 billion. 21 years after that, in 1956, we reach 3 billion.

It has only taken 18 years more to reach 4 billion, whichoccurred in 1974. 13 years after that, in 1987, we reached5 billion, and 12 years later, October 12, 1999, the amount

was 6 billion.76

Paradoxically, I am sure you have heard at some timethat the rate of population growth has gone down, butlet me explain this drop.

In agreement with the methods of the demographics, therate quoted is calculated on a base that is larger eachtime, which produces the percentage effect of lowering.Look at this example:

In 1956, the population growth of the planet, consider-ing the births and deaths, was around 52 million a year.

And for the year 2000, the global population growth wasaround 89 million a year, but, if we talk in terms of per-

centage, and the method used, we will see that the ratefor the year 2000 will be inferior to that of 1956, eventhough the real amount of population growth in the year2000 was almost doubled. Why?

The calculation of 1956 was realized on a world popula-tion of 3 billion, and for the year 2000 on a populationfor 6 billion 60 million. A lowering of the real amount inannual growth77will not begin until some time beforethe year 2010.

76 Annual Statistics of the UN.77 This does not mean that the population will go lower, only that the annualincrease will be noticeably lower, as the global population will continue togrow until it reaches 11 Billion around the year 2150 (An medium Estimatemade by the UN.)


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If, to all of this, we add the consumption of energy perinhabitant, which has also grown to alarming amounts,we can understand why the environmental deteriorationhas grown in an exponential way.

One of the biggest worries among many is that the highconsumption of energy per inhabitant in the most ad-vanced countries, with the subsequent pollution, threat-ens to extend itself to all countries in development, whichare in the majority.

This happens for the following reason. As countries indevelopment have more and more economic influx, they

will begin to own articles of the modern life, like micro-wave ovens, cars, busses, planes, heaters, washers, irons,etc, with the above mentioned effects.

Sadly the ecological damage envelopes practically eve-rything around us. When we analyze just one of the as-

pects, the deterioration of our forest, the common argu-ment is to look at the problem superficially and blame

this criminal destruction on illegal lumbering.We cant help but think illegal lumbering is only the lastlink in a harmful chain, and on the other end of thechain are all the members of the global community, whoeach day demand more articles made from wood.

One other consequence of the modification of the cli-mate that deforestation causes, along with the misuse ofchemical products, is the thinning of the ozone layer,

which will cause unpredictable consequences.

Mankind has not correctly evaluated other consequencesthat deforestation causes, such as the extinction of animalspecies, erosion of usable top soil, modification of the cli-mate, and damage of the underground water supply.


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All of this is literally attacking the planet, and as theclimatic balance is much more delicate than we oncethought, we are seeing grave consequences.

It has been discovered, for example, that climatic changesare responsible for 150,000 deaths annually. These modi-fications in the environment are now a reality, which

will provoke every day more and more suffering andeconomic losses for humanity.78

Despite the overwhelming data from many diversesources, those who oppose a balanced population growthinsist they are defenders of life with out analyzing whatis really threatening life. If the population continues togrow, at an inconvenient rate, it will continue to attackthe fragile ecological balance of the planet, and will re-duce the probabilities of future generations, which goesagainst life and the human race.

In their persistence they assure us they do not want toreach the extremes of some countries with slow or no

growth, and I am sure this desire is shared by all. Butwhat is desirable is the maintenance of a harmonic growththat permits an economic, educational and ecologicalbalance, which is possible, if together with other meas-ures, we stabilize the population.

COUNTRIES WITH LOW DEMOGRAPHIC GROWTH

Less than 20% of the inhabitants on earth have no growthor a very low population growth, a fact that is rapidly

compensated through migration from all over the world

78 Report on the negative effects of global warming presented to the WorldHealth Organization. The negative effects continue to grow. Quoted in thenewspaper REFORMA, article 358028.


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where there is a high growth rate, and for that reasonthey are deficient in social needs.

It is curious that that this phenomenon, which is presentin a small minority of the world, is used as an exampleby those opposed to demographic planning to argue why

we should not limit population growth.

We cannot forget that the majority of those who havebeen Pope have come from these regions of low popula-tion growth, a truth that surely influenced the fact theyhave not seen first hand the great chain of social defi-ciencies that rapid growth causes.

FFAMILY PLANNING: IS IT ANTI-NATURAL?

One of the favorite arguments of those who oppose fam-ily planning is that artificial methods go against nature.

The truth is if we really want to live in a natural way, we

should return to living in trees and caves. But if we hadproceeded in that direction, the total amount of inhabit-ants in the world would not exceed 1 or 2 percent of theactual amount, and human development would be ex-tremely low.

The clothes we use are anti-natural, the same can besaid of our shoes, houses, hats, glasses, electric light, re-frigerators, telephones, cars, tractors, fertilizers, insecti-cides, planes, computers, compasses, artificial satellites,televisions, books and practically everything else that is

around us.

Even the use of medicine is anti-natural, neverthelessand paradoxically, without medicine the demographicexplosion of the 20th century would have never happened.


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If we had done without this intervention anti-naturalwhich is medicine, the number of inhabitants in the worldwould only be a fraction of what it is now. Is that natu-ral? Would that have been desirable in light of what weare focusing on?

Because of the still limited advances in medicine in thelast 2 or 3 centuries, the number of births for each womanin North America was 13, with only 3 surviving,79 whilethe rest passed away almost at birth. Would that be amore natural situation?

Another example is the invention of the lightning rod byBenjamin Franklin. At the same time a major flood hitLisbon, Portugal in the 18th century. Many Catholic cler-gymen proclaimed that this artificial human interven-tion was the cause of this horrible event.80 They arguedthat lightning should fall where God wants it to, and thisnew invention was impeding Gods desire, which in turnunleashed the above mentioned flood.

If your son or daughter were about to die, and an antibi-otic could prevent his or her death, would you deny thatmedicine to your child so as not to transgress what isstrictly natural?

Would it not be even more anti-natural to not use themarvelous reason God has intentionally given to us?

I am convinced that the truly anti-natural is: to not pre-serve the health of our families, to not do what we can

79 Book of Events, Facts and Things Isaac Asimov (Lasser Press) Further backin history the situation was even worse, with life expectancy thousands ofyears ago being around 16, and the infant mortality rate was much higher.(Studies of Physical Anthropology, Encyclopedia Encarta)80 Event recorded in the Book History of the 500 Immortal Phrases by LuisAngel Rodriguez. Editorial Hispano Mexicana 1944.


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do to take care of our planet, so that more generationscan have an opportunity for life, and also, to not take thenecessary steps toward a true cultural, social, economicand ecological development.

For the Catholic Church to continue with this thought thatfamily planning is unnatural is not only damaging, but alsocontrary to the life they assure us they are defending.

For all of this, and many other reasons that will not fit inthis book, I am convinced that from a human perspec-tive, in order to reach a superior truth, it requires the

participation of the entire world community, and not inany way by one person, whoever that might be.81

No human being who lives on this earth deserves to befollowed completely. All the reasons that you hear, in-cluding what you have read in this book, are no morethan different perspectives that contribute to a greatersocial and collective conscience.

Analyzing from a Biblical point of view, the situation is evenworse. The prohibition to elect only one person as judge,supreme arbitrator or representative of God on the earth,as we have quoted, is even clearer and more explicit.82

If you allow me, I want to ask you a favor: ignore mypoint of view on this issue. Open the Bible yourself, andbegin to read it. Not just isolated verses and paragraphs,

principally the New Testament, and know, first hand,Jesus and the Apostles way of thinking about papal au-thority, and perhaps you will be surprised.

81 The doubt does not lie on if the Catholic Church will allow or not the arti-ficial methods -it will happen; our planet would not resist otherwise-, but onwhen such rectification will take place before more human, social, and eco-logical harm continues.82 Matthew 23:9


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It is my father, he died before I was born and I neverknew his face.

But no one ever took a picture of your father.

I know, that is why I have a picture of another person,to represent him.

What would you say? If at the same time, my father hadgiven me advice and principles to follow, wouldnt it bebetter to worry about that, instead of limiting myself tohaving the picture of another person representing himin my wallet?

In the case of Jesus, we do something similar.85 We arefortunate to have an extraordinary message of love, peaceand understanding that can and should transform ourlives and the lives of those around us. Surprisingly, in-stead of following and deepening our understanding ofthat message, we are motivated by the high Catholic hi-erarchy to worship a diversity of human creations that

even though they may have artistic value, do not matchthe real physical appearance of those they are said torepresent.

BIBLICAL FOUNDATIONS

In the commandments that God gave to Moses, and thatJesus referred to in his conversations, we find this prin-ciple first on the list:86

85 Or worse yet, when we not only put Jesus to one side, and exhibit in placesof worship a diverse group of human creations, with faces that could be ofpublic personalities, girlfriends or people known by the artist or author of thework.86 Exodus 20:4-5


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Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, orany likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, orthat is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waterunder the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself tothem, nor serve them.

If we observe the Commandments of the Holy CatholicChurch we will instantly note that this paragraph hassimply been eliminated. We must emphasize that thisalteration of the sacred scriptures is very grave87 in thatthis mutilation was not effected on some secondary, ir-relevant text, rather on nothing less than the command-ments88 that God gave to Moses.

The reason for this omission is obvious. With this simplebut important commandment, the proliferation of anastronomical amount of statues and other distinct typesof images would have been impeded in the CatholicChurch. From an anthropologic perspective, we can seethat this custom did not come from Christianity, butrather from diverse pagan cultures from the past.

The foundation for why they believed they could makesuch a modification probably came from what we dis-cussed in the last chapter, the erroneous idea that theyhave some kind of universal permission to, among otherthings, change the Holy Scriptures.

87 It is true that God is merciful with any human fault, and will forgive us if weask, but in this particular occasion, not only is it a personal error, but they aremotivating an entire congregation to do it too.88 It is incorrect to omit commandments from the Law of God and substitutethem for those made by man (as is the case in the Commandments of theHoly Catholic Church) independent of the ecclesiastical authority that doesit. As I mentioned above, it is not only a personal sin that is being committed,but rather a premeditated sin that they motivate others to commit. Analyzewhat James 2:10 says: For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yetoffend in one point, he is guilty of all.


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Nevertheless, as I also mentioned in the last chapter,when the Lord advised Saint Peter and the rest of thedisciples that all that is bound on the earth, shall be boundin heaven, with which He warned us of the incrediblerepercussions that result from any human act.

Palatable proof of the effects of binding and loosing canbe seen with this omission of the divine commandment.It has surely caused, in this life and the one to come, achain of unpredictable consequences for faithful Catho-lics, completing the warning that Jesus gave.

I am convinced that more than one thought in the mo-ment they began to worship images, that to ignore thishigh prohibition found in nothing less than the TenCommandments, would have irrelevant consequences,but it is not true.

I would like to use the Virgin of Guadalupe of Mexico asan example, so that you can judge for yourself, takinginto account what you already know about the issue com-

bined with what I will share in the following paragraphs.

VIRGIN OFGUADALUPE

The Spanish adoration of this image started before theapparent appearance of December 12, 1531 and evenbefore the discovery of America. The monks who nowguard the Guadalupe image in the Extremadura89 Con-vent, in Spain, estimate that this veneration began in the12th Century.90 The name Guadalupe comes from theArab word Wad al luben, which means hidden river.

89 According to an interview with Historian Friar Sebastin Garca, chroniclerof the Guadalupe Monastery in Extremadura, Spain. Published in the MexicanWeekly PROCESO, number 1414, December 2003.90 A period in which Spain received strong Arab influences as a majority ofSpanish territory was dominated by them.


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We must recognize that the challenge that the first mis-sionaries had was monumental. There were very fewfriars for the work at hand, which involved first over-coming the language problem, and also the detention ofthe greedy activities of the first Spanish colonists. Theyalso had to confront the evangelistic task of reaching

people who were accustomed to idol worship and hu-man sacrifice.

For example, at the Tepeyac Hill, the Aztecs venerated theGoddess Tonantzin, also known by them as the Motherof God. She was the object of many long pilgrimages whichcame from all corners of the Aztec empire.

In 1547, Bishop Zumrraga is made the Archbishop ofMexico by Carlos V, with the confirmation of Pope PaulIII, but his health began to fail. On June 2, 1548 he dic-tated his last will and testament, and then passed awaythe following day.

With the death of this Archbishop, two questions arise: a.

In all of the voluminous correspondence that Don Juan deZumarraga had with the kings, subordinates, and manyothers, why did he never mention anything about the ap-

pearances? And b. If in truth he was a protagonist of thisevent, why did he not ask to be buried near the place theimage was venerated, instead of in the Cathedral?

The only way we can understand this is to analyze whatuniversal history has to say: The legend of the appear-ance had not been created yet. It would not have its ori-gin until exactly 100 years after the death of Juan de

Zumrraga.

At the same time, in Europe, this was happening: Thereformers were showing that the church was involved indoctrinal deviations. Instead of studying them and modi-


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fying their ideas, the hierarchy went on the defensive,putting into effect the Counter Reformation and at thesame time promoting even more the worship of Mary.

Along with these directions came the desire of the Span-ish crown to substitute missionary monks with secularclergy and Dominicans in The New Spain. These later

played a part in the labors of the Inquisition.

At the same time they were pushing for more venerationof Mary in America. We can see that in two royal sealssent by Queen Juana to the audiences of the Indies onMay 1, 1551,98 where she asks the clergy of New Spain99to promote the devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe ofExtremadura.100

Probably as a consequence of this desire of the crown,around the year 1555, without anyone knowing who didit, an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe101was placed in ahermitage of Tepeyac. Some referred to this image as that

which appeared in the hermitage, meaning that some-

one had placed it there, not that it came from a divinesource.102

98 First Seal of Queen Juana to the Audience of the Indias, Valladolid Spain.May 1, 1551, and the Second Seal expedited precisely in the Monastery of OurLady of Guadalupe. Valladolid, Spain. Quote in the book Tepeyac, Five Cen-turies of Deception by Leoncio Garca-Valds, Ed. Plaza-Janes.99 A curious note, in the texts of these edicts, she issued this warning Do notadmit the indigenous as members of these brotherhoods.100 The Virgin of Guadalupe, en Extremadura, Spain, was venerated, as quotedearlier, since the 12th century. According to Luis Gonzlez Obregn, HermnCorts, in a voyage from Spain in 1530, brought various images of this virgin.

These images were later used as a model to paint the Virgin of Tepeyac.101 During the 16th and half of the 17th century, no confident source dared toeven insinuate that this image had a divine source, except for the interestingconversation that the following paragraphs mention.102 Many of the natives referred to this image during this time as the newmother of God.


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But we will see later during this same 16th century, thetestimony of the extraordinary historian Friar Bernadinode Sahagun:111

His vision is especially important, as he was a memberof the Catholic clergy, and if there was a Divine manifes-tation, he would have known about it. This version was

written, according to the author, in 1576. We will seewith his own words what he thought about this issue,and also an interesting description on the religious cus-toms of the natives.

Having visited the fountain, waters and mountains,it seems an opportune place to deal with the principleancient idolatries that they practiced and still practicein the waters and mountains.

Once he as exposed different rituals that are definedclearly as idolatry, he introduces the issue that we aredealing with:

Near the mountains there are three or four placeswhere they practice solemn sacrifices, and people comefrom very far away. One of these places is here in

Mexico, where there is a small hill that is calledTepeacac, and the Spaniards know it as Tepeaquilla.

Now it is know as the Our Lady of Guadalupe. In thisplace they had a temple dedicated to the mother of theGods, which was called Tonantzin, which means Our

Mother. There they practiced many sacrifices in honorof this Goddess.

111 One of the greatest historians of the 16th century, born in 1499 and died in1590. The text to which I am referring is found in General History of theThings of The New Spain, Volume III, 11 Book, Chapter 12, the last part ofthe sixth paragraph. The entire version in Castillian is known as the FlorentineCodex. Editorial del Consejo Nacional Para la Cultura y las Artes (CONACULTA,Mexico).


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And they came from more than 20 leagues, from allcorners of Mexico to bring many offerings. Men andwomen and their servants came to these celebrations.

It was a great participation of people in those days,and they all said Lets go to the celebration ofTonantzin. And now that the Church of Our Lady ofGuadalupe is there, they call her Tonantzin

A little further on, he complains:

And they should remedy this thing, because the cor-rect name of the Mother of God, Saint Mary, is notTonantzin, but rather Dios inantzin112 It seems thatthis satanic invention is to justify idolatry under themistaken name of Tonantzin.

And they come now from very far to visit Tonantzin,as far as before. Their devotion is suspicious, becausein many places there are churches of Our Lady, andthey dont go to them, and they come from far lands toTonantzin, as before.

Does it not seem illogical to you that this meticulousfriar in 1576, 45 years after the supposed appearance,does not make even the slightest mention of this type ofmiracle? Or was it not sufficiently important to at leastmention, even if he personally did not believe it?

Isnt it more logical to believe that in the face of theabove described pre-Hispanic worship, someone decidedin the following century to take a different road, andthey invented the appearance?

112 Apart from his testimony, with this observation, the author demonstratesknowledge of the language of the natives.


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1648-1850

The liar must have a very good memory.Popular proverb

The first seed of this phenomenon of the appearanceof the Virgin in Tepeyac was sown 117 years after thesupposed event. In the year 1648, when the BachelorMiguel Snchez, influenced by a friend, the Vicar of theHermitage, Luis Lasso de la Vega, published a writingcalled Image of the Virgin Mother of God of Guadalupe,

a text that is still being distributed, with the story of thedivine impression of the image.

This book, that did not have any historical foundation orquotes, was justified through tradition and in the opin-ion of the majority of analysts, had more of an evangelis-tic goal than historical. For that reason, Luis Lasso de laVega had the book translated to Nahuatl, in which it isknown as NICAN MOPOHUA.

From the beginning, this story was criticized by manypeople. In the very year the book was written (1648), agroup of writers in Mexico immediately declared the re-

port by Bachelor Snchez as a mere legend without his-torical sustenance.113

It is interesting to note that even as the process of dis-persing this myth was happening, it had not yet acquiredthe force it would have in later decades. In the same 17thcentury there were distinguished people, such as Sor

113 Tepeyac, Five Centuries of Deception Leoncio Garza-Valds, Editorial PlazaJanes. In this text it mentions that greda Snchez collected the names ofthose who denied the appearances over three centuries and that report can befound in the Collection of Guadalupe Documents, in the Public Library of theCity of New York.


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conjugation of elements and conflictive theologies thatwere being presented in the old continent.117

If the tradition truly existed, why was Friar Francisco deBustamante allowed to speak freely118 against such ideasin front of the viceroy, without being reproached?

And even more relevant, 20 years later, Friar Bernardinode Sahagn (1576) called this phenomenon idolatry. Is it

possible that he had never heard of the appearances? Orat least heard a rumor about them?

On the other hand, we must consider that a tradition,when it exists, is not in itself a reason to justify its per-petuation, in that by nature they are not unchangeable.

The moment any custom is instituted it necessarily needsto replace a previous custom. In other words, the tradi-tion of Guadalupe substituted the worship of Tonantzin,and the worship of Tonantzin replaced sun worship andon and on throughout history.

Some customs and traditions, if they are worthy, shouldbe maintained. Others should evolve in their functionbased on changing human values and they should alsobe oriented to the truths that are revealed from God.

Imagine for a moment that the use or custom of eatingraw meat or using animal skins for clothes, or the canni-balism of thousands of years past, had not been modi-fied, for the simple fact that we were dealing with an

117 It important to restate that the royal edicts (ibid) that motivate said venera-tion (one of them sent from the Guadalupe Convent of Extremadura Spain)prohibited the inclusion of indigenous in the Guadalupe brotherhoods.118 He even called the image apocryphal. Testimony of Alonso Snchez deCisneros, Information of 1556. P. 218-220.


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that the pilgrimage there was not to serve God,but rather was an offense to Him Later headded:

Nothing was done against P. Bustamante, who,despite that sermon, was again elected provincialin 1560, and later general superintendent.

32. Archbishop you have the original file, and youcan see for yourself the authenticity and you canalso find what I left out of this report. After hav-ing read this document no one can doubt the Ap-

pearance of the Virgin in the 1531 and the mi-raculous painting on the cloak of Juan Diego wasan invention born years later.

Here we see what he wrote about the true author of theimage:

34. Here we have, proven in an unchallengeable way,that 25 years after the supposed event, and in the

face of many contemporaries, P. Bustamante, inthis solemn occasion, condemned the new devo-tion to Our Lady of Guadalupe. He asked for se-vere punishment for those who rose up to publishtestimonies of false miracles. He also publishedthat the image was the work of an Indian, and noone raised a voice to contradict him.

Becerra Tanco128 wrote that they had just verifiedthe last appearance to Father Zumarraga, and thatit was spread all over the fame of the miracle

128 One of the most distinguished defenders of the appearances. Author of TheHappiness of Mexico


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36. Now here is the book that Bachelor Snchez pub-lished (the first in which we see the story of theappearance to Juan Diego), and everything changesas if from a spell. Could it be that that book re-lated a glorious story, supported by authentic andunchallenged documents, that was until then un-known?

Once he exposes that the same Miguel Sanchez confessedthat he has nothing to support his story, insisting that hehas on his side tradition, he continues saying:

37. To publish such a strange story, he should havemade known with better punctuality the sourcesfrom where he got it. He should not have beencontent with vague generalities, qualifying in hisown authority as enough some papers, withoutsaying what they were or who their author was.

He trusted in the credulity of his readers, and inthis he was not disappointed.

As regards to the much quoted book NICAN MOPU-HUA,130 Garca Icazbalceta is in agreement (Point 37) withthe majority of historians, regarding the true origin ofthis text:

Adam awakened, in that Lasso de la Vega tookthe issue so to heart, that in the following year,1649, he printed an account, his or of someone

130 The appearance apologists, with the desire to provide historical evidence ofthis translation of Miguel Sanchezs text, decided the following: Without anyfoundation of any type, and to make it more credible, they decided to at-tribute it to Antonio Valeriano (1520?-1605?), even though absolutely no one inthat century makes reference to any Guadalupe appearance.


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elses translation, we do not know, in Mexican131which was used to spread the P. Snchezs story tothe Indians.

As to what this legend does for the true service to God,he expressed:

38. This book came out at an opportune moment togain credit. The admirable credulity of the time,together with the lost piousness, made them admitthat it seemed to resound with the glory of God, with-

out noting, as many do not note now, that the RealTruth is not honored by falsity or error.

He continued relating the results of his careful analysis,until point 70, where he concludes:

With all of my heart I would want that such anhonorable miracle for our country would be true,but I have found that it is not; if we are obligatedto believe and share the true miracle, we are also

prohibited from spreading and supporting the falseones. A few lines later he adds:

In my youth I believed, as do all Mexicans, in thetruth of the miracle. I do not remember from wheremy doubts came, and to rid myself of them, I wentto the apologists, which converted my doubts intocertainty that this event did not occur. I am notthe only one. For this reason, in my judgment it isa delicate thing to continue defending the story. If

I have written about the story here, it was out ofobedience to the precept of the Archbishop.

For the same reason, I beg with all the intensitythat I can, that this report, son of obedience, would

131 NICAN MOPOHUA, as we mentioned earlier, is nothing more than a Nahuatlversion of Miguel Snchezs book.


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Devils advocate, an important element that served asa counterweight to unmask those causes that were notcorrectly founded from a historical or theological pointof view.

On January 25, 1983,133 Juan Pablo II officially changedthe system of sanctification, and he issued an ApostolicConstitution titled Divinus Perfectionis Magister, in

which was ordered a radical reform in the process of thecreation of saints.

Nevertheless, this important modification, which wasmade to speed up the process, substantially altered thebalance that existed before.

Imagine for a moment that in secular judicial processessomeone deciding, in order to speed up trials, to do with-out one of the two parts, whether it be the accuser, thedistrict attorney, or his counterpart, the defense attor-ney. What effect do you think this would produce?

The proliferation of a monumental amount of innocentor guilty parties, depending on the part that was elimi-nated, dont you believe?

By eliminating the Devils Advocate, a person who forcenturies had the important mission of unmaskingfraudulent processes, the results can be seen: it has gen-erated an exorbitant amount of saints.

Before steps were taken to canonize Juan Diego, manymembers of the high Catholic hierarchy gave their opin-

ions on the matter: they opposed to recognize such mira-

133 The Fabrication of the Saints by Kenneth L. Woodward, EditorialEdiciones B.


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cle. They did not want to be treacherous or unbeliev-ing, they simply wanted to avoid the tremendous dis-credit that sooner or later would fall on the church, inthat a canonization could be passed that could easily bedisproved with the slightest historical or theological in-vestigation.

SUPPORT FOR THE APPARITION

To all of this you may ask, what foundation do the apolo-gists have for this supposed miracle? Does another typeof history not recognized by the experts exist?

Perhaps Miguel Snchez and Lasso de la Vega in 1648were, without justifying them, the most nave. Perhapsthey thought the ends justify the means. Maybe whenthey made up this story, they were trying to establish atype of substitution ritual to replace the above men-tioned worship of the goddess Tonantzin by the indig-enous people.

We should remember this: the incomparable message oflife, love, peace and understanding that is Christianityrequires no inventions or lies to be communicated effec-tively.

In any case, in order to aid the monumental task of evan-gelization, it would have produced better results if thechurch, in a general way, took on the exemplary attitudeof the Bishop of Michoacn, Don Vasco de Quiroga. He heldmore closely to the principles of true Christianity, and for

that reason, won the total and absolute support of his peo-ple without needing to use any man made inventions.

The issue most worthy of criticism was and continues tobe the persistence and purification of this myth by some


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members of the High Catholic Hierarchy, knowing thatthey have nothing to back it up.

Let us look at the example in the 19th century, when DonPelagio Antonio de Labastida y Davalos received in aconfidential way, the report made by Garca Icazbalceta.How did he respond?

Given the choice of either maintaining popular supportor following what was established in the Bible and his-tory, which did he choose? Did he expose the truth tothe people? Could it be that he did not know what theBible had to say about it?

Given the abysmal absence of documented support, per-haps the most important step that the appearance apolo-gists took was attributing deliberately the authorship ofNICAN MOPOHUA134 to Antonio Valeriano, an author

who worked way before 1648, something that of course,they cant prove, and hope the faithful will believe blindly.But an action like this, sooner or later, could be known

by the majority. Actually, for those who have even themost superficial historical knowledge of these events, theattribution of the authorship of NICAN MOPOHUA toValeriano seems to be mere silliness.

134 Do not think that the unfounded endorsement of the authorship of this textto Antonio Valeriano (indigenous author and sculptor of the 16th century) wasan innocent or nave act. It was perfectly calculated to historically move thebeginning of the Guadalupe phenomenon backward in time, to a date before1648. If you were to ask them to prove that authorship, they surely would use

a negative argument similar to the one quoted by Garca Icazbalceta, argu-ing that no one denies it. This is an absurd argument as no one from aprevious century could possibly deny something that happened if there neverwas a mention of the event, as it was fabricated in the following century. Thespecialists agree, even many apologists of the appearances, that NICANMOPOHUA was written by various authors, surely a group of natives in 1649,hired for the purpose by Lasso de la Vega.


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If that was not enough, the image, as is the case withmost paintings, has small anthropomorphic errors. Forexample, the hands are smaller than they should be, some-thing that would not be the case if the image was from adivine origin. Also, the dimensions of the painting (68 x43 inches) does not coincide with the dimensions of anindigenous cloak.

If in the moment of the legends creation (1648), the pres-entation of this image as one of divine origin did nothave any justification from a theological or historical pointof view, now more than ever, and sooner or later, thefabrication of this event will turn against its creators.

Another way they have tried to support the appearancesis to attribute many miracles to the image. In reality,divine manifestations can present themselves in our

world, but I would like to share with you some thoughtson this issue.

Any given favorable result before an uncertain or

conflictive circumstance is not in and of itself a proof ofthe existence of a deity.

For example, if Julius Cesar invoked in one of his battlesMars or Jupiter, and the results were favorable, that doesnot prove that those gods exist. The favorable result couldhave been a consequence of better preparation or strat-egy, or simply the product of the same law of prob-abilities.

In parallel, if in some occasion a miracle occurs, and

that manifestation came from God, I must say that ourFather is powerful, so that despite the fact someone usedan inadequate process, God favored the person with amiracle, considering, perhaps, the good intentions