16 thoughts on “Interview 019 – Fr. Joannes Petrus Part 2: Freemasonry and the Occult”

1. khkofair 6 July, 2015 at 8:22 am

   A lot of rubbish. It’s for certain that conspiracies exist and we know of many historical ones now, the Masonic one etc; but the fact that an inventor or artist was struck by a sudden vision or inspiration should imply occultism? Should we believe without question the word of bored, dumb, self-loving socialites now or a century ago? When one believes and accepts the things we do, it is extraordinarily important to NOT jump on everything, but be very discerning. This does the opposite, and I am beginning to think I am seeing a trend.

   I see it happen when people get too isolated and bogged down in their own way of thinking and social world, especially when it’s transferred to a corner on the Internet: prudence and vigilance becomes neglected and anything presented agreeing with the narrative is let through the gate. Your little circle agrees and nods their heads, but to the people looking on from outside things just get weirder and weirder. I hope I’m wrong and that’s not happening to another great webpage!

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2. Fr. Joannes Petrus 6 July, 2015 at 9:59 am

   The very reason I speak that way is the effort to avoid what you said. I am not sure Tesla rec’d that vision from hell…but when you start looking into the occult activity over the last two centuries, it starts to become more and more believable. Is electricity from hell? That is the radical conclusion…and I am trying to avoid that. When I read Solange Hertz years ago, I thought she was too radical. I am not thinking that anymore. Again, I am not sure Tesla was an occultist…BUT he made himself available for this by his not practicing the faith, by reading and enjoying works that opened him up to occult influences, and by seeking and wanting to find a solution to things outside of God. Thus, it is fitting that God allow the devil to inspire him as he was reciting Faust in the park…take it or leave it, it is very suspicious. But there is more to it than that, namely the use of the imagination. It is the devil’s playground…says St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross and others. The very opposite is held today. People love the imagination and that is where all the money is to be made…he who has a good imagination WILL BE RICH in our world today. The devil is most easily able to influence us here. So, Telsa had a very powerful imagination, opened himself up to the diabolic by turning away from God (no vacuums). Does this sound to conspiratorial. No. I think it is a sound conclusion from epistomology and theology. There are only two cities…take your pick. The devil had his permission from God as witnessed by Pope Leo XIII…and that was nearly the same time. Perhaps you might consider reading Solange Hertz’ little work on Hell’s Amazing Grace…I think that is the title.

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   1. Epic Michael 19 December, 2015 at 3:35 am

      Father, i listen to your sermons all the time on audio sancto, reginaprophetarum and youtube channel: sensus fidelium. They have helped me greatly in renewing my catholic faith. Have you written any books i can read or can you recommend some about these topics you talked about? thanks and God bless you.

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3. khkofair 6 July, 2015 at 10:33 am

   Thank you for your reply, Father, but to be honest I wouldn’t know where to begin to argue against you. I don’t agree with your or her interpretation at all. To me it seems the problems are more basic, and attacking electricity or any neutral invention is attacking wind-mills. Which came first, electricity or the apostasy? To me, the apostasy. If we didn’t live in a selfish, evil culture, children would be able to look away from a screen for longer than a minute; you seem to believe that electricity made ths culture the selfish and evil place it is. Is gun-powder the evil, or is it the hands that fire the cannon? Is fire, or the person burning the Church?

   Where I do know what to say and disagree strongly is on the importance of imagination in the modern world. You are completely wrong there. As anyone in music, television, painting, or writing, or any such creative field will tell you, creativity will NOT make you any money at all. Today a very, very narrow formula is what the people eat up.

   Actually the more I am thinking about this the more shocked I am. An unapologetic attack on inventiveness and imagination from a Catholic priest… Nope.

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   1. kmo 7 July, 2015 at 7:46 pm

      I didn’t see anything he said as an attack on modern inventions. Nore did he claim electricity was somehow evil. He was just putting forward something to think about. The world is a fundamentally different place because of all the technology we have today. If the devil did inspire it, all he did was give us hints. If God didn’t want us to have these things he wouldn’t have made it materially possible. Father is clearly not saying we need to abandon technology and live like the Amish.

      This was posted on Reddit the other day:

      http://bigthink.com/words-of-wisdom/nikola-tesla-2

      “When wireless is perfectly applied the whole earth will be converted into a huge brain, which in fact it is, all things being particles of a real and rhythmic whole. We shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but through television and telephony we shall see and hear one another as perfectly as though we were face to face, despite intervening distances of thousands of miles; and the instruments through which we shall be able to do his will be amazingly simple compared with our present telephone. A man will be able to carry one in his vest pocket.” -Nikola Tesla, 1926

      Now the smart phone is the most common device used to view porn. Pointing that out doesn’t make the smart phone evil, it’s merely an admission that the way it can be used is evil. All I’m saying is that because of all the rapid advancement in technology, Occult inspired or not, the Devil has a lot more options available to tempt us now than he did in the past.

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4. Fr. Joannes Petrus 6 July, 2015 at 6:18 pm

   Basically, I try to stick to the principle “Never deny, rarely affirm, always distinguish”… That is a summary of how St. Thomas approached all things. One of the biggest problems we suffer from today is the fallacy of relative to absolute. What is relatively true is stretched to be absolutely true. This is a major problem with the Protestants. And since this revolution we are living in is very much promoted by them from the beginning…that fallacy is often a pitfall for many, even Catholics. Thus, by saying the electricity is a problem, I am not saying it is THE problem nor the cause of the problem in itself…but definitely has greatly contributed to the problems. By saying that imagination is a money maker, I am saying it is behind all the movie makers, many investors in speculating, etc… The best selling movies and books are all imaginative … mythological … fantasy works. ALL of the imagination, almost entirely. Is it to be condemned? NO, the imagination is part of human nature and is needed to think by forming images, but it is to be controlled and put in its place. Today, it is queen and needs to be dethroned. I am on very safe grounds holding this position because it is from the mystical doctors (St. Teresa of Jesus calls it the madman of the interior castle) as well as others. If this gentleman had listened to the talk, he would have heard that a saintly man, a mystic, Bd. Francis Palau explained what the perfect revolution looked like based on Apoc. 12 and 13. That is what the comments said about Tesla and others should be taken in view of… The revolution underlying these the modern problems is the cause. And it has major roots in the occult that are undeniable. It has taken my years of study and reflection to come to see this and it is still disconcerting. Thus, I feel for this man…it is a normal reaction.

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5. khkofair 7 July, 2015 at 10:47 am

   I’ll say that I find it disconcerting that what you say relies on plenty of caveats and I personally will believe a saint to worry about the demons but never the demons about what they do. Athanasius had an excellent and well-educated priest on some time ago, Fr. Ripperger, who had the humorous expression: “The devil isn’t under every rock — he’s under every other rock.” You, Fr. Joannes Petrus, seem to be to say he’s under every rock – because a devil-worshipper said so or because a vision this, a vision that; even that the rock itself is from the devil. No thanks, but I welcome your pity into my soft, woolen world.

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   1. khkofair 7 July, 2015 at 10:59 pm

      Athanasius, to edit comments at your discretion to remove anything you want is your privilege, but let me say that I find it distasteful how you, instead of simply not allowing a comment, you edit it to destroy it’s coherence and meaning and, intended or not, completely change the impression a reader gets from reading it. I would also suggest you write it more clearly that you do this, but maybe I am just too dumb to get it or see it in the same way as you obviously think of me to keep me own comments at a reasonable level. I do not believe a humorous sentence which says what all can see for themselves with the accompanying connection “That was rude, you know” warrants censorship, even if it is directed to a priest.

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      1. rubens7 Post author7 July, 2015 at 11:11 pm

         If you want to draw attention to it, that is your own affair. I just felt you were overreacting. I went over Father’s comments again and again, and I could find no justification for your claim that he “talked to you like you were mad”. I felt it would show more deference for a priest to edit out the first line. Really, I thought it would make your comment look better, not worse, and I did not see the first line as integral to the rest of it. So please accept my apologies. If you would rather I can remove it altogether.
         I don’t mind if you disagree with Father, and you are welcome to try to argue further and you are perfectly free to disagree with his judgment on Tesla or anyone else (I’m not sure how much time Father has to make responses). But let’s not mischaracterize. Father didn’t call you mad, he did not say all electricity is evil, or that all use of the imagination is evil.
6. Pat 7 July, 2015 at 12:48 pm

   This is fascinating. I strongly agree with what this priest is saying in regard to imagination. This seems completely right and it does not seem to be an attack on inventiveness and imagination, but a beautiful presentation of facts and opinions based on study as to an explanation of why things might be the way they are! Yay! Makes sense to me. And this comes from personal experience from working in several different creative fields for decades as a non-Catholic, and then after conversion. Imagination is not “bad” and it is certainly vital, BUT, “it must be controlled and put in its place”. A reading of The Ascent of Mt. Carmel by St. John of the Cross could prove very helpful.

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7. kmo 7 July, 2015 at 7:30 pm

   Fr. Petrus thank you for all your homilies over the past couple years. They have been hard hitting but I’ve grown a lot from listening to them. Still haven’t deleted The Lord of the Rings from my Kindle but I think about it differently now, and am definitely giving a second thought to anyone who tries to derive a theology from this fantastical work. I keep you in my prayers along with the other priests from AudioSancto.

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   1. Pat 8 July, 2015 at 9:29 am

      Perhaps there is reason to consider turning off the com box. It seems to have no value on these kinds if blogs. Just because the blog designers created the blogs with comment areas doesn’t mean it is necessary or good. Others ( i.e. Rorate Caeli) have found this to be true, I think. This blog …or any others of a nature such as this where sensitive controversial topics are presented seem to not benefit from the com box. It becomes a never ending battle ground fueled by emotions and as we see evidenced in this stream, time consuming retorts and misunderstandings.

      Please prayerfully consider disposing of the com box. It simply is not necessary or fruitful.

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      1. rubens7 Post author8 July, 2015 at 10:20 am

         If the Republicans pass the TPP you can count on it, because then I will be legally able to be sued in Canadian courts for violations of their draconian laws. In the meantime I’ll consider your points. I like generating discussion, and khkofair hasn’t really crossed any lines, rather has merely vociferously disagreed, but the scenario you mention is very messy and not impossible.
8. FLOR solitaria 26 July, 2015 at 8:28 pm

   If I may be permitted a modest contribution to the discussion, I would like to draw attention to the vision Pope Leo XIII had about the conversation between Jesus and the devil. The devil asked for more power and more time (about 100 years more) saying that he will then be able to topple Christ’s Church. Pope Leo XIII had the vision in 1884, the decade during which Edison was perfecting his discoveries; since then it’s been like a mad race for most of humanity to invent more and more destructive things. But what I find very telling is that the entire modern life depends on a switch: if there is no electricity, everything comes to a screeching halt.

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9. sam 31 August, 2015 at 7:20 pm

   I’ve seen some neat stuff here but the good interviewees are mixed in with some questionable ones.

   With Fr. Peteus, what is the background of this priest? He has a religious name? Is he with an order? What authority does he have to operate? Why did you not elaborate a little more on who this priest is? How are we to even know his credentials beyond being traditional?

   For the recent podcast with John M regarding economics, I thought it was interesting, but John isn’t listed as a faculty member at UD. What is the deal?

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   1. rubens7 Post author7 October, 2015 at 8:31 am

      Re Fr. Petrus: He is a traditional priest known to me, who is with an order and celebrates the TLM in FSSP parishes. He prefers anonymity. So you can take it or leave it that he is well studied and a priest in good standing with the Church.

      re: John M: He is on facebook, you can ask him. I know he is retired and teaches as an adjunct, so it may be that UD doesn’t list adjuncts.

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