The Marian Movement of Priests

Father Gobbi

Dear Reader _________________________________

After reading "Apparitions and Mystics - True or False" you ask about Father Gobbi. Using the same criteria stated in the book, this is our report after ten years of research.

Not long back a very lovely old lady called. She had been promoting two of our books and arranging speaking engagements for us in her area. She has a pure heart and loves Our Lady and the Church without compromise. She is, however, not too careful when it comes to the supernatural, and has a tendency to believe in everything that sounds holy.

With a great deal of excitement she said, "Father Gobbi is coming to Los Angeles, and I have arranged for Rick and I to have a private dinner with him and his interpreter."

"You know that we don’t believe in Gobbi.", we interrupted quickly so that there would be no misunderstanding.

"Yes, I know, but if you only met him face to face you would change your mind. You can ask him any questions you want to."

Suddenly we began to see a great opportunity opening up. Apparently he has no idea that we have been writing against him for over ten years. "Well! Yes, he would love to go with you."

On the morning of the appointed day, Rick tried to pray his Rosary but could not concentrate. He went into his office to get the Dolorous Passion by Anne Catherine Emmerich to meditate for a while on the Crucifixion. There on top of his desk was a "Special Bulletin" put out by the Marian Movement of Priests National Headquarters in 1987. How it got there he had no idea. It was not there the night before and none of us had seen it for years. There on that "Special and Urgent Bulletin" was all we needed to close the door on Fr. Stefano Gobbi for good. After that, prayer was easy.

We called our friend and asked if it would be OK to bring Tim Staples from St. Joseph’s Catholic Radio Station. Tim had studied to be a Protestant Minister before his conversion to the Catholic faith. She said it would be great to have him, but Gobbi would not be there, only his interpreter, a Capuchin Friar. We were disappointed but decided to go anyway and didn’t want to waste Tim Staples’ time.

Rick drove two hundred miles and arrived at the home about 3:00 p.m. Nothing of what we were told was the truth. This was not a private meeting. It was a preliminary meeting for all the special devotees of "The Marian Movement of Priests" to organize all the details for Gobbi’s future arrival in Los Angeles on 11-18-94. The priest was there to make sure everything went as planned. Rick was in the middle of the core group of Gobbi’s devotees, about forty people.

They prayed the Rosary and the priest offered Mass. During the Mass he gave a long emotional sermon on Gobbi. Tears came to his eyes as he told of being kicked out of four dioceses in the United States. When Mass was over he said his good-byes to all the people and began to leave.

"Hey!" Rick blurted out so that everyone could hear him, "I came two hundred miles to talk to you, because I was told I could ask you some questions. I don’t believe in Gobbi or in the Marian Movement of Priests."

The Capuchin priest couldn’t leave now; but he was visibly shaken. "Yes! I would be glad to answer your questions," he said as low as he could in order to bring down the tone of Rick’s voice. He put his bags down. "Would you like to go into another room."

"What I want to know is simple," Rick said so that everyone could hear. "Gobbi claims to be a prophet, in that he receives messages from the Virgin Mary and passes them on in his continuing book, ‘The Marian Movement of Priests’. Why should I believe that? What proof is there?"

"What do you mean, what proof?"

"Exactly that! What proof? Has there ever been any miracles to prove the claims?"

"The miracle is that his book has spread throughout the world."

"The Late Great Planet Earth spread throughout the world and sold 7,000,000 copies, written by a Protestant. So what? And Lindsay doesn’t give them away!"

"Read the messages and you will know that they are from Our Lady."

"Father, I have been reading these messages since 1979. In fact, I have a special "Urgent Bulletin" that was sent out in the Marian Year of 1987 that could not wait for the next edition of the book. It says right here on Page Two that the supposed Virgin Mary gave this message, ‘Already during this year, certain great events will take place, concerning what I predicted at Fatima and have told, under secrecy, to the children to whom I am still appearing at Medjugorje.’"

"That’s a misprint. Gobbi said he has never supported Medjugorje."

"Father, Please! You don’t really expect these people to believe a special bulletin went out all over the world at Gobbi’s insistence, and free to everyone, and that it was a mistake? In fact, I have a 1979 edition of the book and a 1994 edition of the same book and they are not the same. Many of the messages from 1974 to 1994 have been changed. Edited? Can you imagine editing the words of the Mother of God?"

Nothing but silence from the priest of the order of Padre Pio.

Rick gave up on that question and went on to the next. "OK! If there is no answer to that question, who is Gobbi’s bishop? I can’t seem to find out who he is, or if Gobbi has his permission to run around the world. Has his bishop approved his writings?"

"All his writings are checked and approved by his spiritual director."

"Is his spiritual director appointed by his bishop or by himself?" Rick new the answer before he asked the question.

Silence again. Rick then started reading off all the prophesies that were predicted by the so-called Virgin that did not take place and all the messages that have been edited out of future books. When Rick was through and the priest was leaving, the good father said, "I don’t promote anything but Fatima."

We still don’t know if he meant he would not promote Gobbi anymore or not, but after eight more hours with the remaining people in the house, not one (in our opinion) still believed in Father Gobbi. Rick showed them how he edited the different editions, all the prophesies that did not come to pass; of how Gobbi was kicked out of Fatima and told to never return; of how his movement started in 1973 at San Vittorino, with Brother Gino, who has since been removed from the Church for homosexual activity and a false stigmata. Rick explained the criteria of discernment and how Father Gobbi fails on all counts.

CHURCH POSITION

What we didn’t know was that at the same time Rick was talking to these people in California, something was happening in Louisiana. In a book we had written about False Mystics, the chapter written about Gobbi was being passed around everywhere and even sent to the Apostolic Nuncio in Washington DC with this cover letter,

"Your Excellency,

I am sending you a short but concise review of Father Stephano Gobbi’s writings that point out his false teachings and subtle harms to true devotion to Our Lady. I have spoken to our local temporary Superior through Monsignor Richard Monton. And he very well indicated that Monsignor Larroque’s hands were tied. I understand. I am asking for your help.

William Begnaud"

That same day William Begnaud followed up with another fax to the Nuncio.

"Your Excellency,

"I am writing to you for possible assistance in the matter of Fr. Stephano Gobbi. Very few people have done as much damage to Our Lady of Fatima and true devotion to Our Lady as he. I pray to the Good God that the truth be protected. I am amazed that he is allowed to confuse and disillusion the faithful and innocent as he does.

"According to the schedule I have faxed you he is going to be on Mother Angelica to give another misleading message to the public. I might add that the former Bishop of Fatima has already forbidden him to return due to his false prophecies. I know that it is a delicate matter but I also have trouble remaining silent when he is allowed to be believed as authentic. I pray to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart that you may find a way to bring this matter to the surface. I am also saddened that they use the Holy Father’s picture as they do. When people see this, I remind them that President Clinton also took his picture with the Holy Father.

William Begnaud"

The following is the reply of Archbishop Agostino Cacciamvillan, the apostolic pro-nuncio of the Pope to the Church in the United States.

Dear Mr. Begnaud,

I acknowledge receipt of your fax-letter with annexed of October 30, 1994.

You may rest assured that your information has been duly noted. As to the writings of Father Gobbi, competent authorities have advised that they are not words of Our Blessed Mother, but his private meditations for which he assumes all the theological, spiritual and pastoral responsibility.

With cordial regards and best wishes, I remain,

Sincerely yours in Christ

[signed]

Apostolic Pro-Nuncio"

In Catholic Replies of the January 12, 1995 edition of The Wanderer, this was written:

"… the apostolic pro-nuncio and representative of the Pope to the Church of the United States, answered an inquiry about Fr. Stefano Gobbi, who claims to have received revelations from the Blessed Virgin Mary, with this statement: ‘As to the writings of Fr. Gobbi, competent authorities have advised that they are not words of our Blessed Mother …’ Thus, Catholics are cautioned not to consider as messages from Heaven those statements which Fr. Gobbi claims to have received from our Lady."

Rick attended the final Cenacle in the United States at Mission San Gabriel in California. Over two thousand "cohorts" were there. Gobbi’s talk was good and he said nothing that Rick disagreed with. In fact, if he was not claiming to be the voice of Our Mother, we would have given him our support. But since that was not the case, Rick passed out over 1000 pamphlets of the Nuncio’s letter and an article we wrote called, "SINS AGAINST MARY".

 

 

GOBBI’S STORY

If your knowledge of Father Gobbi is limited, let us recap his story. It will be helpful if you want to pass this letter around. For years now we have read every single word written in a continuously growing book called "The Marian Movement of Priests". The book is a composite of all the locutions received by a priest named Father Stefano Gobbi.

Gobbi claims Mary spoke to him in Fatima in 1972, telling him to form the Marian Movement of Priests. He says that Mary speaks to him in his heart. He writes down what he hears in his heart. His spiritual director accepts or rejects them, then edits them. Then they are sent out to the world as the voice of Mary.

His writings are very good. They correspond with other private revelations quite well. Not entirely, as you will see, but good. Then again, they would have to be good to fool the priests of the world. There is no one present at these locutions, so a great deal of time can be spent in preparing and editing them.

The first thing that bothered us was the constant insistence that priests simply wait for Mary to tell them what to do. She would do everything. They were to simply do nothing until-- ??? What also bothered us was that this is right about the time that the top communist priest claimed that he had started up an apparitions to help him separate priests from their bishops. (See AA-1025) Then there was the warning of Jacinta of Fatima. Something very bad was going to happen in 1972 throughout the world. Since all 38 prophecies of Fatima came true, what happened in 1972?

The following year abortions were made legal. That could be it, but all the other prophecies happened exactly to the day as predicted. The only other thing that happened was that Gobbi went to see Brother Geno and then to Fatima and started up a movement that goes right after all the priests of the World. Why were these books distributed so easily throughout the world? Where did all the money come from? Other mystics, like Faustina and Emmerich would take 40 to 100 years to be known worldwide. Especially, since communist priest, AA-1025, said that they started up a false apparition to get control of the Church, and this one goes right at the priests.

It also seemed that Gobbi was becoming Pope to many priests around the world. His influence was becoming greater than the bishops simply because he claimed to have messages directly from heaven. Never in thirteen years has God placed His signature on these locutions to prove Gobbi's claims. Never has there been a miracle. God’s signature is miracles.

These things we wondered about, and then, we read a locution claiming that the Anti-christ was alive. Then we knew that he was one of the Twentieth Century False Mystics.

PROPHESY:

For more than a decade Gobbi has been prophesying the coming Chastisement, but nothing happens. On July 3, 1987, his inner female voice gave an urgent message to the world. So urgent that special fliers were sent out to everyone at great expense to its promoters. What was this desperate warning?

"Already during THIS YEAR [1987], certain great events will take place, concerning what I predicted at Fatima and have told, under secrecy, to the children to whom I am appearing at MEDJUGORJE."

So we have it. Not only does his predictions not come to pass [Nothing happened in 1987 regarding the predictions of Fatima, and no "great events" have happened for the next ten years except the fall of communism which Gobbi does not believe happened.], but he advocates the support of a condemned apparition. He advocates that we disobey Bishop Zanic. Can he be a messenger of God? No!

December 1, 1973: "This year will not end before a great sign is accomplished."

April 1978: "This year will not end before a great sign is accomplished." [Same sign as Medjugorje and Garabandal - the warning]

November 25, 1978: "This is the hour of my battle."

January 1, 1979: "The Church is now emerging from a great trial because the battle between me and my adversary has been waged."

January 1, 1980: "In this new year, many things that I foretold you at Fatima will come to pass." [Nothing happened]

February 10, 1978: "As long as he lives [Pope Paul VI] ... I can still hold back the arm of God's justice. But after his death, all will come crashing down." [He has been dead for a long time now.]

July 1, 1981: "This is the hour of the final battle; the hour of my victory."

May 2, 1985: "Not much time will go by before a great chastisement will strike the whole of your poor country."

July 5, 1985: "That which I predicted at Fatima... is today becoming a reality ... everything is moving towards its most painful and bloody fulfillment."

September 8, 1985: "You are close to the greatest chastisement."

October 13, 1985: "The great battle has already arrived."

November 12, 1985: "The times of the purification and of the bloody trial are drawing close."

July 4, 1986: "These are the years of the painful purification which is about to come to its most bloody finish."

January 1, 1987: "Already in the course of THIS YEAR some events will reach their fulfillment. AT THE BEGINNING OF THIS YEAR, how much suffering and how many sorrows I see along your paths." [Again nothing happened in 1987.]

May 13, 1987: "You are now beginning to live through that which I had foretold to you at Fatima."

July 3, 1987: "AS OF THIS YEAR ... [see above] Already DURING THIS YEAR, certain great events will take place, concerning what I predicted at Fatima and told, under secrecy, to the children to whom I am still appearing at Medjugorje."

September 8, 1987: "As of THIS YEAR…"

December 31, 1987: "You are beneath the sign of the great events which have been foretold to you...THERE ARE OCCURRING GREAT SIGNS IN THE SUN, ON THE MOON, AND IN THE STARS." [Nothing!]

January 1, 1988: "The great events for which I have prepared you WILL BEGIN TO TAKE PLACE ..." [There is more, but this is enough. We made our point about Gobbi’s prophesies.]

Poor Satan! He is trying so hard to predict the coming chastisement, but he can't figure it out. An unfulfilled prophesy is a sure sign of Satan, as taught by Holy Writ. No, this Gobbi is not a messenger of God; or are we to believe God is stupid? Are we to believe God cannot fulfill His promises?

Gobbi said that the great disaster would happen in 1985. Not much of a prophet, is he? And, if you are still following him, you know that he now claims that we will know who the Antichrist is by 1988. You know by the booklet "Apparitions and Mystics - True or False" that the Antichrist cannot be even born in our lifetime, or else all the approved mystics over the past 1000 years were wrong. A chastisement, a period of peace, a one world government , and the unity of all Christians must come first. This would take a minimum of 50 years from now, or 2038 AD, and this date matches five approved prophets.

 

SUPPORTING FALSE APPARITIONS

Just as the Pebble is trying to get all the false seers together, so is Gobbi supporting all the false apparitions in the world. If you believe in Gobbi, you must believe in Garabandal, Bayside and Medjugorje.

On June 14, 1979, Gobbi went to Garabandal and his voices gave support to this false apparition. On June 19, 1982, Gobbi went to Yugoslavia and gave support to Medjugorje. His messages consistently say that the bishops are wrong and the false apparitions are true.

December 31, 1983, "The messages which I give, through simple and little souls chosen by me IN EVERY PART OF THE WORLD, ARE NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION. THE APPEARANCES WHICH I AM STILL MAKING, OFTEN IN FARAWAY AND DANGEROUS PLACES, ARE IGNORED."

January 24, 1984: "A fragrant sign of my maternal presence is to be found in the apparitions I am still making in many regions of the world. Yes, in these times I AM APPEARING IN EUROPE, IN ASIA, IN AFRICA, IN AMERICA, AND IN DISTANT OCEANIA."

November 14, 1984: "I have chosen this land [Yugoslavia] in which TO APPEAR IN A NEW WAY, MORE PROLONGED AND MORE EXTRAORDINARY."

January 1, 1985: "I AM MANIFESTING MYSELF TODAY IN SUCH A POWERFUL WAY, THROUGH THE MESSAGES WHICH I AM GIVING, BY MEANS OF THIS LITTLE SON OF MINE AND THE APPARITIONS WHICH I AM CARRYING OUT, IN A CONTINUOUS AND EXTRAORDINARY WAY, IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD. BELIEVE IN MY INVITATIONS, ACCEPT MY MESSAGES, AND LOOK AT MY SIGNS."

July 3, 1987: "...I AM STILL APPEARING AT MEDJUGORJE."

By supporting condemned apparitions Father Gobbi is committing a sin against the first law of discernment: OBEDIENCE. He is advocating that we sin. Not only this, whenever he said Mass at Medjugorje he was committing a mortal sin, a sacrilege, and he knew it. He went four times. What is his excuse for disobeying the Bishop? Listen to his own words:

Msgr. Kennedy: "What is your position regarding Medjugorje?"

Gobbi: "I have been to Medjugorje four times. I have not seen anything externally of which I object ... People are going there as pilgrims [Pilgrimages are illegal], going to confession [not confessing disobedience], Holy Mass [Masses by disobedient priests], praying the Rosary [which ends up in tongues], in great numbers, showing that it must be coming from the Madonna."

Msgr. Kennedy: "The Bishop of Mostar has stated that priests leading pilgrimages to Medjugorje are not permitted to say Mass."

Gobbi: "Priests who lead a pilgrimage to Medjugorje [already a sin], should go there doing what any priest does who leads a pilgrimage, take care of their spiritual needs [disobey the bishop].

[The comments are ours.]

Gobbi: "As for me, I believe in Garabandal."

Although Gobbi supports false apparitions, he does not support true ones.

June 10, 1987: "If, during this year, THERE BE AT LAST CARRIED OUT MY REQUEST MADE TO MY DAUGHTER, SISTER LUCIA OF FATIMA, THAT RUSSIA BE CONSECRATED TO ME BY THE POPE…"

According to Lucia, this consecration has already been done by John Paul II on March 25, 1984. It was done by three past Holy Fathers five times: Pius XII in 1942, Pius XII in 1952, Paul VI in 1964, and John Paul II in 1982. But not until 1984 was it done correctly according to Lucia. So, we must assume Gobbi supports Father Gruner, and his false claims in THE FATIMA CRUSADER.

There is a great similarity between Gobbi and the Pebble. There is a great similarity between their messages. We are heading towards a day when all these false mystics will join together in one last attempt to destroy the Church. Dr. Malachi Martin is, as we speak, doing everything he can to undermind the authority of the Pope of Rome. Then, when we have the next pope, the greatest pope in history [Don Bosco], these false mystics will declare him the Antichrist. This is the master plan.

EDITING

As we have noted earlier, all of these locutions are edited by other priests. Not only that, but if you read a locution from one of the older books and compare it to the newer books, there will be more editing. The reason for this is to avoid followers from seeing the errors. Prior to the 10th edition a locution said;

"I will snatch the prey from his hands, AS IF BY MAGIC, he will find ..."

The 10th edition deleted the word "MAGIC", since it means the use of charms, spells, incantations, enchantment or the art of illusions.

The latest editions will omit any mention of Medjugorje. Can you imagine anyone editing the Bible. Well, yes! Martin Luther did and the N. R. V.’s inclusive language does, but would a real Catholic edit the words of God or Mary? Anyway, since they are busy editing Gobbi's messages, we think they ought to do a better job.

SATANIC LANGUAGE

Really though, they ought to change a great deal of the wording in these messages if they want to fool the priests of this world who are well versed in the demonic. As we said earlier, there are certain words true messengers from Heaven would never use. We suggest the editors pay close attention to the words we have highlighted.

"The NEW CHURCH of Light ... my faithful little COHORT ... Thus a NEW ERA ... you will see NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH ... I am THE mother ... It is THE Archangel Michael ... the perfect glory of THE Father with the frequent REPETITION of the prayer ... Frequently RECITE the holy rosary ... A new world war COULD suddenly fall ... I am THE mother of THE Savior ... Believe in MY invitations, accept MY messages, and look at MY signs! I am THE Queen of Peace; I am THE beginning of THE NEW TIMES; I am THE dawn of THE NEW DAY ... I am asking of you a BODILY FAST ... a SPIRITUAL FAST ... a FAST OF THE HEART ... a FAST OF THE SOUL ... you will form MY COHORT ... always wear your ecclesiastical GARB ... you will know the NEW TIMES, THE NEW ERA, THIS NEW CREATION ... the word of MY POPE."

First of all, there can never be a new Church, since the Church Christ founded will last forever. A "cohort" is a group of 300 to 600 Roman warriors. A very poor choice of words, especially when speaking of only one man. There will never be a "new heaven and earth", since that happened when Christ died on the cross and opened the gates of Heaven and to the Church on earth. Mary is never "THE" mother, She is "OUR" Mother, and of course, God is "OUR" Father. "REPETITION" is what Protestants accuse us of when we pray the Rosary. We do not "RECITE" a Rosary, we "PRAY" a Rosary. Mary never used the word "MY" when referring to a mission God gave to Her. She always says "God desires" or "My Son asked me" or "God sent me".

A "FAST" is a sacrifice, the giving up of something. How can we give up some of our spiritual life, our heart, our love, our soul? Unless we are giving these things to Satan!

NEW TIMES and NEW ERA will be discussed in a following chapter. However, all of CREATION ended on the sixth day, since all was in the mind of the Father and in the hands of the Son. Things are sometimes new to us, but never to God. As we have already said, the Holy Father is not MY POPE. He is "My Son's Vicar on earth".

WHY

We have many close friends who are followers of Gobbi. One of the greatest priests in Texas has secret prayer sessions with a large group of Marian faithful. They read the messages at each mystery of the Rosary. In the Philippines, one of our very good friends gives free lunches and dinners to any priest who will take one of Gobbi's books or listen to the messages. He owns a chain of restaurants. Even as far away as Damascus, well-known, but uncausious priests read the messages every night.

These messages seem God-sent to a priest who is frustrated with liberal Bishops, corrupted priests, immoral societies, and a constantly changing Church. He doesn’t know what to do about all this corruption. Then along comes "Mary" and tells him to do nothing She will do it all..

July 16, 1976: "Pay no attention to all the evil which is spreading more and more and flooding everywhere. Disregard also the great evil which Satan is succeeding in spreading even in the Church."

To fail to admonish the sinner, instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, etc., is a sin against love. And yet, Our "Mother" tells us to "pay no attention" and "disregard" these sins????? Over and over in these messages we are told to wait, just wait, Mary will do it all. We are to do nothing. What are we to wait for? If this is one of the apparitions started up by AA-1025, it is a perfect plan. Let the Masons, communists, and liberals take over the Church, and at the same time get the good and conservative priests to strand back and do nothing about it.

NEW AGE CHURCH

But Gobbi is selling something besides sloth. Have you heard of the "NEW AGE MOVEMENT", also known as the "RAINBOW MOVEMENT"?

August 1, 1973: "It will be a NEW CHURCH for a NEW WORLD."

October 13, 1978: "The NEW CHURCH OF LIGHT."

November 2, 1978: "through the coming into this world of His glorious reign."

November 12, 1981: "This a NEW ERA of peace will begin and you will at last see NEW HEAVENS AND A NEW EARTH."

July 3, 1987: "Jesus will RESTORE His glorious reign. HE WILL DWELL WITH YOU and you will know the NEW TIMES, THE NEW ERA. You will at last see a NEW EARTH AND NEW HEAVENS ... NEW CREATION."

August 21, 1987: "…will lead you to the experience of a second, renewed and more beautiful EARTHLY PARADISE. TO TRANSFORM EVIL INTO GOOD."

October 9, 1987: "a NEW TERRESTRIAL PARADISE..."

October 13, 1987: "The miracle of the sun, which took place during my last apparition, was only a prophetic sign to indicate to you that you should LOOK AT THE BOOK WHICH IS STILL SEALED."

January 1, 1988: "By means of you, THE GREAT RAINBOW of the reconciliation of humanity with God will be able to arise and enfold the whole world in NEW LIGHT."

What are these messages saying? A new light would mean a new Christ, since Christ is the light of the world. A new Church would mean the Church did not last forever as Christ promised. Since this generation [the last age of the world, the age of Christ] will not pass away until all things will be fulfilled, how do we have a new era?

And of course, the New Age Movement is already saying that Christ is on the earth and living in England. This is the whole Protestant line: that Christ will return to this earth and live with them in a Terrestrial Paradise. It is another Jewish dream of Heaven on Earth. The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth is already here and it will be here until the end of this world. It is the Church. The sealed book of Apocalypse that only Christ can open is the Church.

For additional information, write to:

Brother James, S.D.B. (Salesian of Don Bosco) Saints Peter and Paul Church,

650 Filbert St., San Francisco, CA 94133