Malachi Martin

[HagiaSophia]

mercygate:

FWIW, Dr. Martin played a key role in my becoming Catholic. Not only his books, but his personal challenge to me: Fixing me with those obsidian eyes of his he said: “You’re going to have to die Catholic, of course, or you’ll go to Hell!”

Who could resist?

Oh that’s so Malachy — and he was a charmer, an absolute charmer, full of more stories and antecdotes…but his core, was his belief in Christ and the Church. In my mind, I always saw him as a prophet right out of the OT. His own story of grace, restoration and repentance moved me no end.

 

[mercygate]

Oh that’s so Malachy — and he was a charmer, an absolute charmer, full of more stories and antecdotes…but his core, was his belief in Christ and the Church. In my mind, I always saw him as a prophet right out of the OT. His own story of grace, restoration and repentance moved me no end.

You sure have his NUMBER! Did you know him personally also? He knew about a million people . . .

 

[HagiaSophia]

mercygate:

You sure have his NUMBER! Did you know him personally also? He knew about a million people . . .

I never got to meet him but he was an acquaintance of a close personal priest friend of mine and his stories…all the wonderful stories - what he DIDN’T put in the books.

Through Malachy I met the most wonderful authors and commentators through their works and he has turned out to be much more than an author, he’s a prophetic voice.

I remember my reaction to the first fiction book he wrote-- I told my friend, he’s either a madman or a saint, I’m not sure which. My friend told me to keep on reading and there is no doubt in my mind today that I was kept in the church – I’ve mentioned it before but that speech he gives in Final Conclave always summed up for me what he believed about this Church. God bless him and Cardinal Cook for having given him a shelter in the storm.

 

[Shoshana]

HagiaSophia:

I his work on exorcism is considered one of the most quoted written on the subject. QUOTE]

I have read this book over and over again…it was one of the books of reference I used when I was involved in an exorcism for 5 years. I can honestly say there is much truth to it…I just learned the hard way… . It was an experience I will never forget…but an experience I would not have missed for the world!

Yes, Malachi Martin is well-thougth of by Fr Gruner’s people and himself. They also believe he was a prophet of his time.

 

[Jennifer123]

Thank you for your comments. They are interesting. I will search the forums for other info on him and see what I come up with.
I just have misgivings due to his appearences on Art Bell and the issue of laicization (which you’ve answered on this thread in case anyone is interested forums.catholic-questions.org/showthread.php?t=60066&highlight=laicization ).
I hope you’ll forgive my reticence but I just want to make sure I’m heading into Truth here.
Thanks again

 

[Jim]

EWTN’s resident theologian writes on Malachi Martin:

"We get many questions about Malachi Martin, his books and his credentials. Not all of them can be answered due to an absence of information. The following is what is known.

"Malachi Martin states, and the Holy See will confirm if asked, that ‘In 1965, Mr. Martin received a dispensation from all privileges and obligations deriving from his vows as a Jesuit and from priestly ordination.’ [Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 25 June 1997, Prot. N. 04300/65]. Malachi Martin alleges that he has the permission of the
then Pope, Paul VI, to say the Mass in private. Although laicized priests are prohibited from performing the sacraments, except in certain cases provided for in Canon Law, there is no way to verify whether he has such an exception, and the Congregation would not necessarily know if the Pope verbally assured him he could celebrate Mass in private. Generally a man should be taken at his word unless there is evidence to the contrary.

…]

"Concerning Malachi Martin’s own theological tack it should be noted than on his World Wide Web homepage he accepts as his own the Profession of Faith of Campos. Campos is the Brazilian diocese where for many years the bishop, Antonio de Castro Mayer, refused to implement the liturgical decisions of Pope Paul VI, just as Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (the founder of the Society of St. Pius X) had done. In June 1989 when Archbishop Lefebvre ordained 4 bishops, contrary to the explicit will of Pope John Paul II, then retired bishop Castro Mayer assisted at the ordination and was excommunicated along with Archbishop Lefebvre and the four ordinands [canon 1382, Ecclesia dei]. The Profession of Faith of
Campos clearly manifests the same spirit of self-judgment concerning Tradition, its extent, its interpretation and its application which brought about this schism. And while this text professes an admirable adherence to Tradition, it undercuts this profession by opposing the actual decisions of the only one capable of authentically interpreting Tradition. Sadly, based on his web site it seems evident that Malachi Martin, who on many occasions has defended the Church in public discourse, shares these positions.

Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL"

 

[mercygate]

Jim:

EWTN’s resident theologian writes on Malachi Martin:

"We get many questions about Malachi Martin, his books and his credentials. Not all of them can be answered due to an absence of information. The following is what is known.

"Malachi Martin states, and the Holy See will confirm if asked, that ‘In 1965, Mr. Martin received a dispensation from all privileges and obligations deriving from his vows as a Jesuit and from priestly ordination.’ [Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 25 June 1997, Prot. N. 04300/65]. Malachi Martin alleges that he has the permission of the
then Pope, Paul VI, to say the Mass in private. Although laicized priests are prohibited from performing the sacraments, except in certain cases provided for in Canon Law, there is no way to verify whether he has such an exception, and the Congregation would not necessarily know if the Pope verbally assured him he could celebrate Mass in private. Generally a man should be taken at his word unless there is evidence to the contrary.

…]

"Concerning Malachi Martin’s own theological tack it should be noted than on his World Wide Web homepage he accepts as his own the Profession of Faith of Campos. Campos is the Brazilian diocese where for many years the bishop, Antonio de Castro Mayer, refused to implement the liturgical decisions of Pope Paul VI, just as Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre (the founder of the Society of St. Pius X) had done. In June 1989 when Archbishop Lefebvre ordained 4 bishops, contrary to the explicit will of Pope John Paul II, then retired bishop Castro Mayer assisted at the ordination and was excommunicated along with Archbishop Lefebvre and the four ordinands [canon 1382, Ecclesia dei]. The Profession of Faith of
Campos clearly manifests the same spirit of self-judgment concerning Tradition, its extent, its interpretation and its application which brought about this schism. And while this text professes an admirable adherence to Tradition, it undercuts this profession by opposing the actual decisions of the only one capable of authentically interpreting Tradition. Sadly, based on his web site it seems evident that Malachi Martin, who on many occasions has defended the Church in public discourse, shares these positions.

Answered by Colin B. Donovan, STL"

However . . . when he was counseling me, he referred me to St. Agnes parish in Manhattan. A straight-up TLM indult parish which also celebrates the Mass of Paul VI.

 

[miguel]

HagiaSophia:

I never got to meet him but he was an acquaintance of a close personal priest friend of mine and his stories…all the wonderful stories - what he DIDN’T put in the books.

Through Malachy I met the most wonderful authors and commentators through their works and he has turned out to be much more than an author, he’s a prophetic voice.

I remember my reaction to the first fiction book he wrote-- I told my friend, he’s either a madman or a saint, I’m not sure which. My friend told me to keep on reading and there is no doubt in my mind today that I was kept in the church – I’ve mentioned it before but that speech he gives in Final Conclave always summed up for me what he believed about this Church. God bless him and Cardinal Cook for having given him a shelter in the storm.

My dad has an autographed copy of Hostage to the Devil. I read it in College. It took me from child Catholic to adult Catholic…very powerful. Later on, I also read The Jesuits and about half of The Keys of this Blood.

 

[HagiaSophia]

miguel:

My dad has an autographed copy of Hostage to the Devil. I read it in College. It took me from child Catholic to adult Catholic…very powerful. Later on, I also read The Jesuits and about half of The Keys of this Blood.

 

[HagiaSophia]

mercygate:

However . . . when he was counseling me, he referred me to St. Agnes parish in Manhattan. A straight-up TLM indult parish which also celebrates the Mass of Paul VI.

He also helped them raise money as I recall. And Lord knows he encouraged everyone he met to attend church and pray.

 

[Clint_Ellis]

Rand Al'Thor:

I was listening to an old CA show with Fr. James (an exorcist from New York). talking about exorcism and a woman called up asking about Malachi Martin’s book “Hostage to the Devil”. It tells of five cases of possession in the United States. Fr. James said he has read it and it is accurate, and he also said he knows Mr. Martin.
…

In the past I have found that Mr. Martin brings out strong responses from those who are extremely devoted to him. Any negative comments or critical questions about him are ‘swarmed’ by his defenders. Judge for yourself from the responses this message receives.

Clint

 

[HagiaSophia]

Clint Ellis:

In the past I have found that Mr. Martin brings out strong responses from those who are extremely devoted to him. Any negative comments or critical questions about him are ‘swarmed’ by his defenders. Judge for yourself from the responses this message receives.

Clint

Well you’re here - so what does that mean?

 

[Eileen_T]

mercygate:

You sure have his NUMBER! Did you know him personally also? He knew about a million people . . .

I have a couple of tapes of his called Catholicism Overturned. When I listened to them for the first time I thought, “So that’s what happened to the Church.”

 

[Eileen_T]

Jim:

EWTN’s resident theologian writes on Malachi Martin:

"We get many questions about Malachi Martin, his books and his credentials. Not all of them can be answered due to an absence of information. The following is what is known.

"Malachi Martin states, and the Holy See will confirm if asked, that ‘In 1965, Mr. Martin received a dispensation from all privileges and obligations deriving from his vows as a Jesuit and from priestly ordination.’ [Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, 25 June 1997, Prot. N. 04300/65]. Malachi Martin alleges that he has the permission of the
then Pope, Paul VI, to say the Mass in private. Although laicized priests are prohibited from performing the sacraments, except in certain cases provided for in Canon Law, there is no way to verify whether he has such an exception, and the Congregation would not necessarily know if the Pope verbally assured him he could celebrate Mass in private. Generally a man should be taken at his word unless there is evidence to the contrary.

Fr Martin requested and received a special dispensation by Pope Paul VI to remain a Catholic priest and say Mass in private.

Father Vincent O’Keefe SJ, former Vicar General of the Society of Jesus and a past President of Fordham University, affirmed that Malachi Martin was in fact granted a dispensation from all his vows in the Jesuit order except for chastity.

Some disgruntled Jesuits spread defamatory rumours about him because of his book *The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church *

 

[stanley123]

There is a book called Clerical Error:A True Story, by Robert Blair Kaiser. I read the book a while back, and I don’t have the book in front of me now, but according to what I remember, Mr. Kaiser was a reporter for Time and before that spent 10 years with the Jesuits but left before being ordained. According to the book, he left the Jesuits because he got sick and tired of being propositioned by homosexual Jesuits. He then got married, and as a reporter for Time, he became caught up in the second Vatican Council and invited many of the key figures at the Council to his house so that he could become informed of what was going on. One of the key figures was Malachi Martin. According to Mr. Blair, Father Martin began a sexual liason with his wife and destroyed his marriage. Mr. Blair also gives testimony to other marriages that were destroyed by the sexual escapades of Father Martin. There are also some passages concerning an alleged homosexual relationship of Father Martin.

 

[La_Chiara]

stanley123:

There is a book called Clerical Error:A True Story, by Robert Blair Kaiser. I read the book a while back, and I don’t have the book in front of me now, but according to what I remember, Mr. Kaiser was a reporter for Time and before that spent 10 years with the Jesuits but left before being ordained. According to the book, he left the Jesuits because he got sick and tired of being propositioned by homosexual Jesuits. He then got married, and as a reporter for Time, he became caught up in the second Vatican Council and invited many of the key figures at the Council to his house so that he could become informed of what was going on. One of the key figures was Malachi Martin. According to Mr. Blair, Father Martin began a sexual liason with his wife and destroyed his marriage. Mr. Blair also gives testimony to other marriages that were destroyed by the sexual escapades of Father Martin. There are also some passages concerning an alleged homosexual relationship of Father Martin.

Ugh, I read Robert Blair Kaiser’s book “A Clerical Error” about six months ago. I was left with a thorough distaste for Robert Blair Kaiser. He trashed Malachi Martin, his former wife, and just about everyone else who didn’t see things his way. What a hatchet job!

(Note: I deleted much of my original post in order to be charitable. Because I am unable to charitably convey my great distaste for Robert Blair Kaiser after having read his book “Clerical Error”, I will say no more.)

 

[stanley123]

La Chiara:

Ugh, I read Robert Blair Kaiser’s book “A Clerical Error” about six months ago. I was left with a thorough distaste for Robert Blair Kaiser. He trashed Malachi Martin, his former wife, and just about everyone else who didn’t see things his way. .

I did hear that some people had that reaction. However, my reaction to the book was not so much that people did not see things the way Blair wanted, but the problems were the homosexual Jesuits who were trying to seduce him at the seminary, and after he left the seminary, the problem was mainly the secretive adulterous affair that Father Martin was carrying on with his wife. By the way, I think that the complete title to the book is “A Clerical Error: A True Story”.

 

[La_Chiara]

stanley123:

I did hear that some people had that reaction. However, my reaction to the book was not so much that people did not see things the way Blair wanted, but the problems were the homosexual Jesuits who were trying to seduce him at the seminary, and after he left the seminary, the problem was mainly the secretive adulterous affair that Father Martin was carrying on with his wife. By the way, I think that the complete title to the book is “A Clerical Error: A True Story”.

That may be the title of his book, but truth is certainly relative. In this case, Kaiser’s book is a “true story” from his perspective. And he was clearly, mentally ill in the period he was writing about. I suspect that the “true story” told by any number of people that he trashed in the book–Malachi Martin, Kaiser’s wife, and the clerics he accuses of plotting against him–would be substantially different than Kaiser’s version. And how much of the “truth” does Kaiser not tell us or spins his way? I suspect a lot.

What kind of man would drag his former wife’s reputation through the filth, as Kaiser did, in order to get revenge on a Catholic priest and other Catholic clerics that he thought did him wrong? And Kaiser considers himself a Catholic? A Christian? May God have mercy on him.

 

[Matt16_18]

Condemned to a life in purgatory for falling prey to a sinner in the VaticanKaiser, now the Vatican correspondent for Newsweek, has revealed everything in a cathartic memoir, Clerical Error: A True Story, to be published next month in the US. It reads like a Shakespearean saga of innocence, ambition, betrayal, farce and tragedy, all are played out amid the convulsions of a church breaking with the past.

Witnesses have confirmed the story. ‘Having known most of the dramatis personae, I read this true story with undivided interest and compassion,’ the renowned theologian Hans Kung says …

Kaiser, still a practising Catholic, pauses when asked if he could forgive: 'No, I’ll never forgive Martin. He wrote about demonic possession and I think he had an inside track …

 

[La_Chiara]

Condemned to a life in purgatory for falling prey to a sinner in the VaticanKaiser, now the Vatican correspondent for Newsweek, has revealed everything in a cathartic memoir, Clerical Error: A True Story, to be published next month in the US. It reads like a Shakespearean saga of innocence, ambition, betrayal, farce and tragedy, all are played out amid the convulsions of a church breaking with the past.

Witnesses have confirmed the story. ‘Having known most of the dramatis personae, I read this true story with undivided interest and compassion,’ the renowned theologian Hans Kung says …

Kaiser, still a practising Catholic, pauses when asked if he could forgive: 'No, I’ll never forgive Martin. He wrote about demonic possession and I think he had an inside track …

1. HANS KUNG??? Need I say more?
2. And I say again: Kaiser considers himself a Catholic? A Christian? Seems to me forgiveness is an integral part of our faith. But instead Kaiser writes a book to get revenge–“a cathartic memoir”. Clearly, it is just as well that he was never ordained as a Catholic priest.