"In the last days, false visionaries will arise like a swarm of flies from hell to try to obscure the true apparitions with false ones." - Our Lady at LaSallette (Can you name ONE false apparition?)

The Apostle, St. John tells us exactly how to recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. He says "as for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."  (1 John 4:6)

The Church is a rock built on Peter. Submission to the Holy Father and to the teaching voice of the living Church is the fundamental principle of Catholicism. Every Catholic knows this to be true. Jesus Christ himself laid this corner stone. Christ did not found his Church on the outpouring of his precious blood on Calvary. Christ did not found his Church on the Bible. He did not found his Church on belief in his real presence in the Blessed Sacrament. He did not found his Church on devotion to his Blessed Mother, who is co-redemptrix and mediatrix of grace. He most certainly did not found his Church on the private, subjective impressions of individuals who imagine that they are able to interpret how best to bring Christian Salvation to the rest of the world!

Christ founded his Church on the individual man Peter, as the visible head of a living society. Christ's true Church is a living social entity. It can only survive if the living members are consciously submissive to the living teachers. The Church is destroyed if the faithful are not submissive to the Pope or to the Bishops who are the successors of the Apostles. The Bishops share equally, with the Pope, in the apostolic appointment of the first Bishops who were the Apostles. When a Bishop, who is in union with Rome, officially teaches from his apostolic seat: his pronouncements about issues concerning his jurisdiction carry the weight of Magisterium. Today submission to the official teaching voice of the Church is universally ignored. In case after case, obedience to the Church is rationalized away by Catholics of every persuasion - even by those who claim to be most faithful to her. This pandemic rejection of the "rock" is nothing less than a worldwide apostasy from the true Catholic religion.

Loyalty to Peter and to the Magisterium is the binding force that holds the Church together. Only from a position of unity does the Church have the strength to bring salvation to the world. It brings salvation by proclaiming God’s infinite love for men, the remission of sins through the precious blood of Jesus, the necessity of obedience to the laws of God and His Church, and through the administration of the sacraments. Above all other things, the devil knows that loyalty to the Church is his primary obstacle to its destruction.

The devil has greatly succeeded in his effort to destroy the unity of the Church. Today, more than ever, he has succeeded in wreaking havoc in the unity of the Church even among her very elect. He has succeeded in such great measure that the whole world is now in the final stage of the consummation of the Great Apostasy (II Thes. 2:3). This universal apostasy from the true Church is manifested in the modern day by the total disintegration of Christian civilization. This Great Apostasy will be followed, before the final return of Christ, by the reign of the Antichrist. (II Thes. 2:4)

The rock of the Church appears to be cleft on two sides. Convention holds that conservatives are on the right, while liberals are on the left. In reality the Church is only divided by one line of fissure. This line of fissure is disobedience to the Magisterium. The rock of the Church is cleft by of the rejection of the teaching authority of the Church. The Protestant Reformation itself is based upon the rejection of the divine teaching authority of the Church. Martin Luther believed in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Martin Luther believed in the great dignity of Most Holy Mary as mother of God. But, he rejected the teaching authority of the Church. What Martin Luther and all of the Protestant reformers used to gain followers, was the wonderful Gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ ... just as the Apostles had done! They triumphantly heralded the salvation available to men through the remission of sins, which Christ had accomplished through his sacrificial death on Calvary. But, while they accepted the salvation that comes through faith in Jesus Christ they rejected the teaching authority of the Church. This was the beginning of the Great Apostasy.

Luther, and the other Protestant reformers, rejected the critical role of the living Church as Teacher. Their apostasy consisted in the rejection of the authority of the Magisterial Church! Though they did adopt a Gospel of Jesus, similar to the Gospel of the Apostles, they divorced their religion from obedience to the living Church. It was a trade-off the devil was willing to make then, and there is a similar trade-off he willing to make today. Christ can not reign in the world if the Church itself is divided. The devil's thirst to inject controversies into the Church is unquenchable! He knows that divided, she can not stand! If Satan is able to divide Catholics within the Church by infecting it with division between the faithful and the Apostles, he is literally hacking into the very hands and arms of the Body of Christ. Division corrupts the Church!

The Apostle, St. John tells us exactly how to recognize the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood. He says "as for them, they are of the world - and the world listens to them because they speak the language of the world. But we are children of God and those who know God: LISTEN TO US. Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."  (1 John 4:6)

John is referring to the Apostles, and to their successors, the Bishops!  The "us" to whom St. John refers are the Bishops!  The "children of God" listen to the Bishops!  They listen to the teaching voice of the legitimate successors of the Apostles! "Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood." (1 John 4:6)

In the modern world, in the midst of the most devout believers, the devil has succeeded in dividing the Catholics of today by using the very same strategy that he first used to separate the Protestants from the Church. The Protestants were deceived into justifying their disobedient apostasy from the Church as teacher by over emphasizing one essential doctrine. That doctrine was salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Christ himself had emphasized faith as a critical element for salvation. The early Protestants knew that the doctrine of faith in Jesus was essential. But, by focusing on the importance of this single doctrine, they justified blatant disobedience to the Church itself. Their rejection of the authority of the living Church was the root of the Great Apostasy!

Today, through false apparitions, the devil is succeeding again in separating Catholic faithful from the barque of the true Church. He has done this by injecting other important ‘Gospel’s’ that the faithful believe to be essential. But, in doing so, he obtains exactly what he wants – intentional disobedience to the living Church. Through false apparitions the devil uses devotions like Eucharistic Reparation, or devotion to praying the Rosary to accomplish his divisive purpose. These beautiful devotions are no more important than the doctrine of faith in Jesus Christ. By false apparitions, the devil injects his versions of these doctrines, with the specific intention to incite the faithful not to listen to "US". Through these calculated deceptions, the faithful begin live in conscious disobedience to the Bishops. Thus, many of the Churches most sincere members are deceived into renouncing their loyalty to the successors of the Apostles. Really, they are rejecting the rock! They reject the rock because they are rejecting the teaching authority of the Church. This teaching authority is the authority of Bishops who are clearly in union with Rome. ("That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.") These divisions which have now occurred among the most faithful Marian Catholics are the culmination of the Great Apostasy!

The Bishops of Lourdes in France, the Bishops of Fatima in Portugal, the Bishops of Saint Faustina in Poland, and the Bishops of Akita in Japan blessed and approved those special messages from heaven. In a very short time, these devotions have permeated, saturated, and edified the whole Church. The Pope's themselves by manifest devotion have ratified the original acceptance given to these messages by the local Bishop. Devotion to the messages of Our Lady of Fatima, (whose main seer is still alive), and to the Divine Mercy have already become integral devotions for Catholics all over the world. Faith in these messages, and the practice of the devotions that they introduced, has become part of the fabric of modern Catholicism.

According to Cannon Law, according to tradition, and according to many recent official pronouncements by the Vatican, the Bishop who has jurisdiction over a particular area is solely responsible to make official pronouncements on matters concerning the validity of purported apparitions within his diocese. The messages given through modern true apparitions, such as Fatima and Akita, are very clear. They contain terrible threats of cataclysm. Because the local Bishop who, according to Cannon Law, has the primary duty and the sole authority to evaluate such messages has approved them, the faithful have no reason to doubt that these messages are true or that they are from God. Approved messages do not divide the Church, or cause continuous arguments. Since the appropriate local Bishop has actually approved these heavenly messages, their good fruits are obvious throughout the whole world. They draw the Church into unity. When the proper Church authority first evaluates and approves heavenly messages, they quickly edify the entire Church. The obedience of a visionary to a local Bishop is more than a mark of authenticity - it is an extremely critical element for the credibility of the visionary.

Regarding false apparitions, Our Lady at LaSallette predicted: "In the last days, false visionaries will arise like a swarm of flies from hell to try to obscure the true apparitions with false ones." This prediction has been fulfilled. Since then, many dozens of disapproved Catholic apparitions and locutionists have arisen. In recent decades, three of these have had a significant impact on the landscape of modern Catholicism. These supposed apparitions occurred at Garabandal, Spain; Bayside, New York; and Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Those who believe in these messages, continue to follow many other disapproved apparitions, and mystical locutionists as well. They have in fact resulted in networks of Catholics who oppose both the Bishop's of the condemned visionaries, and all other Catholics who respect to the pronouncements of these Bishops. These interconnected groups and cliques are united by only one thing: their public tolerance of disobedience to the teaching voice of the responsible Bishop. Their devotion to Our Lady of the Rosary, and their love of the Eucharist is shared universally by all devout Catholic's. Their message is no different than the messages of Our Lady at Fatima, or Akita, or Our Lord to Saint Faustina. What makes them different is not their devotion to Our Lady. What makes them different is that they thrive on an endless paranoia - while they feel personally bound to a special message. But these messages are condemned by the official Church on the local level - and because of that, the messages are rejected by other faithful Catholics. These vision-chasers are not really "catholic" in the original sense of the word. True Catholics are manifestly united with each other in their submission to the Holy Father, and they are submissive to the Bishops in union with him. (Those who are not of God refuse to listen to us.) To be "one in faith" means that all are submissive to the teaching voice of the Church. Only someone infected by apostasy would publicly disobey a Bishop by disregarding his explicit directives by obstinately persisting in the promotion of a message whose promotion he has forbidden. This is especially true when the purported message, has no substantially different content than other messages that are already fully approved. The issue then becomes one of obedience or disobedience – not of edification. The division caused by a disapproved message becomes the issue - not the crux of the message.

Six different local Bishops in succession have categorically condemned the messages of Garabandal. Over a 35-year period, six different bishops in succession have forbidden all pilgrimages of veneration to that site. They have forbidden that the messages from this site be published or disseminated. Today several of the "seers" can not even remember the events that supposedly happened to them. The hysteria resulting from these controversial messages has confused and disrupted the Church for 35 years. The culmination of the "Great Apostasy" began at the time of Garabandal. It was at that time when both liberals and conservatives began to reject the teaching authority of the Church. With the liberal's rejection of the Papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, and the conservative's acceptance of the condemned message of Garabandal, the devil insured that apostasy would consume the Church from both sides. This began the culmination of "the great falling away."

With the Garabandal phenomenon, countless conservative Catholics preferred to place their faith in a condemned apparition rather than to subject themselves to obedience to the teaching Church. They chose to place their faith in the frightening message of the seers, and to reject the official judgment of the responsible Bishop. It would not matter in the slightest if Garabandal really were an authentic message. The willingness of Catholic faithful all over the world to disregard the clear, legitimate pronouncement of the local Bishop spawned the final stage of the great apostasy. If someone had willfully chosen to disobediently promote the message of Saint Faustina while it was still under interdict from Rome – he would be subject to excommunication - perhaps even to eternal damnation – for his willful disobedience to the teaching Church. The truth of the message is NOT the critical element. Obedience to the Church is the critical element! "Those who are not of God REFUSE TO LISTEN TO US." (1 John 4:6)

Four different local Bishops in succession over a 25-year period have absolutely condemned the seer and the messages at Bayside as spurious. The messages of Bayside consisted in such doctrines as "the pope posing as Paul VI is an impostor" and "test tube babies do not have human souls – but they are in reality, incarnate demons", and "communion received in the hand is invalid and shall not be counted as a communion."

The messages themselves explicitly rejected the teaching authority of the local Bishop, and thus placed itself in opposition to the teaching Church. The local Bishop immediately forbade that these messages be published or disseminated. All the Bishops of that diocese have since repeatedly forbidden that those messages be disseminated, or that pilgrimages to be made in homage to this apparition site. Nonetheless, for many years, millions of devout Catholics put their faith in the visionary at Bayside – and flagrantly disobeyed the authority of the Bishop by promoting those messages. When the seer of Bayside, Veronica Leuken, died - she died excommunicated from the Church! (Her predecessor, mentor, and friend, the false visionary Mary Anne Van Hoof of Necedah Wisconsin, also died excommunicated from the Church.) This is how the devil is enabled to draw Catholics out of unity with the Church and into apostasy: by causing them to reject the authentic teaching voice of the Church by giving their loyalty to a seer who is clearly disobedient to his ecclesiastical superior.

Two different local Bishops in succession over an 18-year period, and a unanimous vote by Yugoslavian Bishops Conference have condemned Medjugorje. The first official condemnation came from the local Bishop in 1985. At that time, the Bishop began to work tirelessly to discourage the promotion of the messages. In 1987 he issued an internationally published paper explaining his reasons for condemning the messages. But the Bishop's prohibition was universally ignored by promoters everywhere. Then, the issue took on the character of a daily war between the Bishop and the promoters of the seers. In 1989, an extraordinary conference of the Yugoslavian Bishop's was called which voted to ratify and support the first Bishop's official condemnation of the messages. That too was ignored by the promoters of the Medjugorje messages. Then, again in 1998, the second Bishop issued an absolute and unequivocal condemnation of the messages. In that condemnation, the Bishop used words never before used in an Official Church Document. The Bishop stated that "I am changing the form of the words of this condemnation from: 'The supernaturality has not been proven TO: the non-supernaturality of these events has been proven."

People who imagine that Medjugorje has not been condemned seem to be unaware that the official condemnations by the official local Church has been going on - not occasionally - but daily. Pope John Paul II knew very well that the Bishop Peric, whom he appointed as the successor of Bishop Zanic, was absolutely opposed to the messages of Medjugorje. Bishop Peric had been the direct representative of of Bishop Zanic to the Vatican for years. Bishop Zanic's original condemnation of Medjugorje and it's messages was absolute and unequivocal. (How could Our Lady really teach that "all religions are equal?") Also, contrary to the notions of Medjugorje supporters, it has never been the province of the Roman Pontiff to pass judgment on local issues. Supporters of Medjugorje never tire of saying that they await Rome's final decision - and yet they seem unaware that NEVER in history has the Roman Pontiff infringed on the judgment on the legitimacy of the 'visions" of the millions os schizophrenics - or frauds - who claim to have visions within any local province. Rather, the Vatican has tirelessly re-issued statements that only the local Bishop of any province has the authority to pass judgment on such matters. The fact that the Holy Father appointed to Bishop Peric in 1994 (who was a staunch and vocal enemy of the promoters of the messages) to hold the office of Bishop over the area of Medjugorje should be enough to quiet any claims of private Papal support.

Medjugorje is very similar to Bayside. The Bishops in authority have strictly forbidden that the messages be published or disseminated. Yet millions upon millions of devout Catholics pilgrimage to the site. Like Bayside, medals honoring the site have been struck. Like Bayside supporters, Medjugorje supporters introduce the supposed messages of 'Our Lady' everywhere they go. Like Bayside supporters, Medjugorje supporters find their whole identity as Marian Catholics tied up in a loyalty to the messages of Medjugorje. They seem ignorant of the fact that the Universal Church itself emphasizes the necessity of the Rosary, and the value of Eucharistic Reparation. All Catholics faithful to the Fatima and Divine Mercy devotion ardently desire that Medjugorje promoters return to unity with the magisterial Church. However, just like at Bayside, these supposedly faithful Catholics continue to ignore the pain of division which they inflict on other faithful Catholics. They continue to ignore the directives of the responsible Bishop regarding the promotion of the messages. They disobediently continue to promote these messages - as if without these condemned messages - there could be no true Catholic Faith at al! In their formal condemnations of Medjugorje, the Bishops have cited countless examples of unrelenting disobedience by the the now adult seers. They cite continual failure to produce promised signs – even 18 years later, (just like Garabandal), and they cite the scandalous traffic of the promotion of seers who now live abroad, or who travel the world making public appearances for substantial fees -- where the Blessed Virgin supposedly then appears to each of them where ever they go! This is NOT the Catholicism of antiquity. It is a charismatic hybrid of a traveling salvation show - which includes special appearances by the Blessed Virgin to the seers of Medjugorje on tour.

Historically, it was required in some places that even a priest from another diocese, receive the express permission of the local bishop to enter the diocese. For a priest from outside the sovereign province of the Bishop, to invade that Bishop's sovereign province, and to perform activities and operations  that had been specifically forbidden by the Bishop - would be an act tantamount to war!  This is exactly what has happened in Medjugorje. The disobedience of priests to the local Church is not "good fruit" – it is apostasy! All of the priests, who operate within the area of Medjugorje in support of the visionaries, have specifically had their faculties to function as priests removed by the local Bishop! Still, they carry on sacramental functions – under penalty of excommunication! This is a very serious matter! It is hardly a "good fruit" to have countless priests functioning within a sovereign diocese while acting in direct disobedience to the local Bishop!

Unlike Fatima, which was untouched by war, the area of Bosnia-Herzegovina has been ravaged not by one, but by TWO horrific local genocidal wars. After the United Nations was called in to set up "peace keeping" forces in the war ravaged area of Bosnia-Herzegovina, NATO later waged a terrifying air and ground war against the Serbs who controlled Bosnia-Herzegovina. The condemnations of the Bishops of Medjugorje which went unheeded by most Catholics, were followed by unending genocidal wars in the region. Genocide, rape, and sexual slavery, and decades of unending war are hardly good fruits. In April of 2001, the Franciscan banks which were created to hold they money from Medjugorje pilgrims were raided by United Nations troops - and their documents were seized.  This was because the area of Medjugorje had become associated on the local level as a stronghold for underground Serbian guns and munitions. It has also become widely known as a red-light district of organized crime, prostitution and pornography. The "fruits" of Medjugorje have been unending civil war on a local and national level, and endless religious rancor and infighting between devout Catholics on an international level. The fruits of the visitations blue-eyed Queen of Peace of Medjugorje, are a stark contrast from the fruits of the brown-eyed Queen of the World who came to Fatima.

The Great Apostasy itself has been culminated by the falling away of good Catholic who have cleaved to the messages of Garabandal, Bayside, and Medjugorje. These well intentioned Catholic people are doing exactly the same thing that the original disobedient Protestants did. They keep the message of the Church, but they disregard the Church! In Luther's day it was the Gospel of the Jesus, today, it is various messages of Our Lady. Both choose to disobey the Bishops who are the appointed successors of the Apostles! "They refuse to listen to 'US'. This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."

Followers of disapproved apparitions say that they must listen to God and NOT to men! What they are really doing is that they are obeying human "visionaries" and disobeying the Bishops! This is clear because they defy explicit directives of the Bishops regarding pilgrimages or propagation of the messages. Rather, they cast slurs upon the competence of the Bishop, or claim that the Bishops are now under the influence of Satan! Thus, from within the ranks of the "very elect" comes the stench of the blasphemy of the Holy Spirit. That is, saying that what the Holy Spirit is working through the Apostles is the work of Satan. In these very souls, who are so uniquely consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the Great Apostasy has come to it's to final fruition. The seriousness of the totality of this "great falling away" must not be minimized.

These souls, especially consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, have now torn asunder the precious fidelity to the Church itself. Now, they themselves choose which visionary's are appointed by God, and which ones are not. These elect consecrated children of Mary have fallen away - and they do not realize it. Yet, they continue to haggle and argue with other Catholics within every parish in the world. These faithful children of the Church have been duped by the Protestant heresy which teaches that the Holy Spirit alone directs each individual to correctly discern what is the truth - but they can not see it. No matter how faithful to the Church they say they are, they act in complete disobedience to the Church by disregarding the directives of the responsible Bishops. The pronouncements of the Vatican on these matters could not have possibly been made more strongly than they already have been made: only the local Bishop is appointed to speak for the Church in such matters!

Without realizing it, they become messengers of a new Gospel which really has apostasy at its root. The Gospel becomes the message that a condemned apparition should be given homage. By successfully infecting Catholics in the ranks of the very elect with this poison of disobedience, Satan has divided the Church today more effectively than at any point in all of human history.

Surely, the diabolic deceptions of these false apparitions have been great! The fabrications that have been constructed to promote these false messages are unbelievable! They are so deviously and intentionally constructed, and the false signs and wonders are so demonic in their origins, that their evil is beyond the comprehension of the simple Catholic believer. Still, they were warned in advance by Christ that the "deceptions would be so great that they would deceive the very elect". Those who promote messages, whose promotion has been specifically forbidden, will be held accountable. Their own words of their purported fidelity to the teaching voice of the Catholic Church will condemn them!

Most of those who disregard the teaching of the local Bishop actually believe that it is the Church, which is under the influence of the Devil ... just as the Protestants believed!  Like the Protestants did, they have set themselves up as internal sects, which openly challenge the official public Church. They offer many reasons about why they do not need to "listen to us". They question, minimize, and discount what is clearly the command of the local Bishop at the particular apparition". "This is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood."

While they list the fruits of the apparitions as proof of their divine origin, they encamp en masse in the tens of thousands, at apparition sites explicitly forbidden by the presiding Bishop. Whatever the fruits are, they are no more significant than any conversion or cures the Protestants obtain through the Holy Name of Jesus. Protestant Christianity has changed millions of lives for the better! Even Scientology, and New Age channeling hypnotherapy have wonderful "fruits"! Ask anyone who believes! The perceived fruit of an apparition is no measure of its orthodox validity. How could anyone be deceived if there seemed to be no fruit?

The followers of forbidden apparitions consistently argue that it is the Bishops themselves who are the ones deceived! To disobey specific commands to avoid "pilgrimages", they publicly announce that they must re-name their pilgrimages, so they advertise them "spiritual journeys." As if by calling a pilgrimage by a different name they will not be guilty of disobedience! (Professing themselves to be "wise", they become fools!)

Mostly, they are blinded by a false assumption that they themselves are not deceived, because the holy name of the Blessed Virgin Mary is being used. They believe that because of the dire circumstances of the world today, the rules don't apply to them! This is the delight of the heresy of Gnosticism. These heretics believed that they possessed hidden knowledge. They believed that they knew something that the official Church did not!

Really, they are practicing what is nothing more than an addictive behavior. They are hooked in a clique, but they deny that it's a cult. Followers of condemned visionaries share an addiction to a sense of the importance of condemned messages. They are actually more than simply addicted. They are trapped! They are trapped by a camaraderie, which is inflicted on one and all through the disobedience of the group as a whole. Like a house of cards, each feels obligated to the others: but, theirs is a loyalty that is not common to all Catholics!. They imagine that they belong to the true inner ring. This inner ring can not see that they have actually been separated from the true, magisterial, apostolic, Catholic Church. They fail to grasp that they have not been granted a divine amnesty from their obligation to obey the directives of the local Bishop on the matter.

They believe that a dull Bishop has judged their beloved visionaries falsely and unfairly. Some actually feel obligated to resist the Bishop. They think they must do this in order to advance the special messages of worldwide importance. They think that the Bishop just doesn't really understand as they do. Some take delight in hurling insults and ridicule at other Catholics who insist that the Bishops must be obeyed. These "Catholics" are so full of self-will that they are downright contemptuous of anyone who does not scrape and bow to their schismatic theories. Some insolently persist in an unyielding self-righteous stance in the controversy itself. Their very identity has become tied to advancing condemned apparitions. Some seem to no longer even care WHAT the Church teaches! Others simply deceive themselves in a false belief that their disobedience to the Bishop is a cross that they must bear. But, without knowing it they themselves are consummating the Great Apostasy, because their disobedience truly comes from the ranks of the "very elect."

If we want to advance the true Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we must at least try to bring back these souls! In many cases, they are the cream of the Catholic crop! If they would return as true warriors into the bosom of the Church, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary could proceed with leaps and bounds! As it is, these deep divisions have resulted in a modern Church in total disarray. Satan has ravaged it both from the left (the modernists), and from the right (the disobedient conservatives). Both sow dissension. Both sow apostasy. Both cleft the rock of the Church. This universal rejection of the teaching authority of the living Church, and the total disintegration of Christian civilization which has accompanied it, is the consummation of the "Great Apostasy" which was predicted by Saint Paul to come immediately before the Great Tribulation. (II Thes. 2:3).