Consolation, May 28, 1941

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Contents

Hitler's Religion 3

Papal-Berlin Axis 5

Seek the Lord 7

Intermediary Between Pope and Russia 10

Catholic Europe 11

Rome's Conqueror 12

British Comment

The War's Burden 13

"New Order" 13

Men of Good Intent 14

Religionists Disturbed 15

Counsel by J. F. Rutherford

Moderation 16

The Theocratic Kingdom 18

Spiritism 19

The New Government

Kingdom Joys in Mississippi 20

The Zeal Peculiar to God's House 22

A Well-soused Religious Gentleman 24

A Wise and Just Decision 24

Britain Resists the "New Order" 25

Bulletin of British Ministry of Home Security 26

The Graf Spee 27

Raids Across the Channel 28

600,000 Tons of Idle Shipping 29

Some Liberty-Haters 30

Roosevelt Among the Prophets 31

Catholic Domination 2

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Notanda

Catholic Domination [By Elton Groves]

◆ The newspapers have deluded many into thinking that Hitler is bent on destroying the Catholic Church. This is mere propaganda, as the facts easily demonstrate. The truth is that Hitler is the Catholic Hierarchy's weapon to force Catholic domination on the world. Both Hitler's goal and his methods were devised by Jesuit priests hundreds of years before the Fuehrer came on the scene.

The Papal backing behind the march of the Catholic dictators has been revealed by many journalists, among which are included Pierre van Paassen, Dutchman; George Seldes, American; Lawrence Fernsworth, American Catholic; G. E. R. Gedye, Englishman; Jose Bergamin, Spanish Catholic; John McGovern, Scottish Catholic and member of Parliament; Lord Strabolgi, English member of Parliament.

The fate of publications on this hemisphere which carry any comments reflecting discredit on the Papacy is noteworthy. The Converted Catholic, written and published by ex-priests of the Roman Catholic Church, has been boycotted from the newsstands in the city of New York, where it is printed. The Protestant Digest, which has constantly pointed out the tie between the Hierarchy and Nazi-Fascism, has suffered the same fate. A visit to Brentano's, which claims to dispense the greatest variety of publications in the world at its Fifth Avenue store, will bring you only shakes of the head and sly looks from the clerks, if you ask for either of these publications. Similarly the books of Judge Rutherford, which have reached the amazing total of 350,000,000, in 75 languages, are stocked in no book stores, because they have been proscribed by the Hierarchy. Though found at the New York Public Library, it is said that they are fast disappearing through theft. These facts alone show the Hierarchy's hatred of a free press.

CONSOLATION

"And in His name shall the nations hope."—Matthew 12:21, A. R. V.

Volume XXII Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, May 28, 1941 Number 566

Hitler's Religion

IS IT of no importance to you that the scourge of Europe, the bloodiest butcher of all times, is a Roman Catholic? Do you know that the Catholic Church admits that Hitler is a recognized Catholic? Are you familiar with the curious fact that a group of Polish Catholics has requested the pope to excommunicate Hitler and that he has ignored their plea?

Do you know that Masonry has been destroyed in Nazi Europe, and that Masons have been persecuted like wild beasts at the command of Hitler and Mussolini? Is it news to you that not only are the dictators of Germany and Italy both Catholics, but also Petain, Weygand, Quisling, King Leopold of Belgium, Salazar (the dictator of Portugal), Franco (knighted "Defender of the Faith" by the pope), and Joseph P. Kennedy, ex-ambassador and chief American critic of Great Britain? Have you ever read in an American newspaper that the sale of the Holy Bible was forbidden in Catholic Quebec, or that 110,000 copies of the Bible were shipped by an English Society and permitted to enter Spain, afterwards to be confiscated and ground up to make paper pulp, at the orders of "Defender-of-the-Faith" Franco? Do you think that a glimpse of what Catholic domination will bring to America is worth your consideration? If these facts or considerations do not matter to you, then read no further. (See Notanda, p. 2)

Hierarchy outrages have been perpetrated upon The Christian Century, The New Republic, and The Nation, a liberal weekly published in New York city for more than half a century. Where other attacks failed, they have been smeared as "Reds". For an interesting study of the technique of "Red-baiting", George Seldes' The Witch Hunt, published by Modern Age Books, New York city, is recommended. (NOTE: You need not try the local bookstore for this.) Seldes is also author of The Catholic Crisis, in which he records no free editor in America of any consequence that has not had pressure or threat of boycott from the Papal agents in this country.

Examples could be multiplied, but the above is considered enough to focus attention on the reason for this Catholic attack on freedom of publication, namely, that the Hierarchy organization, which is founded on a "refuge of lies", cannot endure free expression. It thrives on darkness and deception and flees from the light. Once the people are enlightened about its murderous activities, it is impossible to drain substance and support from the protesting populace.

This explains the Franco "Rebellion" in Spain. The Catholic Church owned the land, the power companies, and citrus and other food supplies so pitifully needed by the starving peasantry. Enough freedom of speech had been permitted under the Republican administration to expose this feudal tyranny so thinly veiled under a religious name. Rome must act. The legions of Hitler, Mussolini and Franco finally crushed the cause of freedom, while Catholic bishops throughout the world ballyhooed about the 'valiant struggle' of "Christian Franco" against the "hordes of Communism"; H. R. Southworth, writing for The Nation, described this hullabaloo as the "most dishonest of our age".

America is going into a tailspin chiefly because the Hierarchy has thrown a monkey wrench into the free principles of our operation. Boycott and threat sometimes serve her purpose. Against Jehovah's witnesses she has employed priest-led mobs, burned their possessions, driven them like cattle, mutilated their bodies by castration, and persecuted them with all the fury of the Holy Roman Inquisition. Few newspapers have covered the facts, and Americans have been led to believe generally that Jehovah's witnesses are "troublemakers" who "hate everything", as described in the Saturday Evening Post. As for the Post's un-American conduct and policies, more will follow.

In this country we are permitted to see the first step in Catholic domination, which always carries with it the bludgeoning of free press and free dissemination of ideas. It is pointed out that such freedom is heinous to Rome, for the simple reason that free expression means her undoing. Her vicious assault upon Jehovah's witnesses is incited by the desperation with which she views exposure. When her self-exaltation, and her claims to represent Almighty God, and to have sole power to dispense both salvation and punishment, receive a thorough going-over, in the light of Bible truths; and the history of her anti-Christian conduct is set beside her extravagant assertions of representing Christ; when all this is brought out for intelligent examination in plain English, it appears to her that "the jigius is upius pretty quickicus".

This predicament of the Catholic Hierarchy was foretold centuries ago by Jehovah through His prophet Isaiah. "Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death [such as sole rights on praying out of "purgatory", claimed by the Catholic Church], and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. Therefore thus saith the Lord God, . . . Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet; and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place." (Isaiah 28:15-17)

The Lord's truth is likened unto a "fountain of living waters". (Jeremiah 2:13; 17:13; compare Revelation 22:17) "Hail" refers to His 'hailstorm of truths'. "And there fell upon men a great hail out of heaven, every stone about the weight of a talent: and men [particularly the Hierarchy] blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail; for the plague thereof was exceeding great." (Revelation 16:21) The comment made in Light (Book Two), copyrighted in 1930, was as follows: "This is not literal hail, but cold, hard and destructive truths which fall from Jehovah's heaven. . . . [Jehovah's witnesses] are the ones that hurl the hail, and this they can do only by faithfully keeping the commandments of the Lord and giving the testimony of Jesus Christ. Therefore the remnant must be his witnesses and publish God's truth. There must be a widespread witness to the truth amongst the nations to make known God's purposes, particularly with reference to the prophecies which smite Satan's organization; and while doing this work the remnant will be the object of persecution and much opposition. The opponents will blaspheme God's name because that hailstorm of truth 'shall sweep away the refuge of lies' that have long blinded the people. —Isaiah 28:17."

Here is stated the Scriptural reason why the Hierarchy persecutes everything and everybody that stands in her way to world domination. In America it has been noted that she starts out with throttling the press and choking every organization that is offensive to her schemes. One might reasonably ask, What has this to do with Hitler? The answer is that Nazi Germany, now including most of continental Europe, represents complete Catholic domination. Nazism is Catholic Action run rampant. It is the result of the unrestrained ambition of all popes to crush even the semblance of opposition. The Papacy does not love even “good Marshal Petain” or Brother Benito with the same devotion of heart accorded to Adolf Hitler.

Papal-Berlin Axis

Our cowardly press has failed to note the heart-and-hope alliance between the pope and the Fuehrer. Aside from all the documentary evidence which will be presented, let the intelligent and honest man ask himself this question: Why should the pope favor England or America, two nominally Protestant countries which support the “heresy” of freedom? Does not everyone see that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy has a tremendous stake in Hitler’s conquests? Hitler’s first move has always been to destroy every opponent of the Church of Rome in each butchered country. The corpse of the nation has always had a big injection of Catholic religion; Masonry has been exterminated, and Catholic orders reinstated.

The most important fact about Hitler is that he is backed up by the international power of Roman Catholicism. If this is true, and it is true, is not every priest an agent of Hitler, and every Roman Catholic who obeys the priest without question, a suspect of subversive activities? Let those who have set upon the Communists and Jehovah’s witnesses give that consideration, if they honestly seek to rid the country of spies. If they are only smearing red paint for Hitler, then they will surely rue such action.

The Lord foretold the appearance of the triple monstrosity of Communism-Fascism-Nazism. (Daniel 12:11; Mark 13:14) They were reared up by the Catholic Hierarchy, at the instance of the Devil, to mock and oppose God’s kingdom, THE THEOCRACY. “It is Satan, that wicked one, operating his religious-totalitarian conspiracy against THE THEOCRACY, that is now desperately fighting against Jehovah’s kingdom. There is no compromise and no possibility of peace between God and the wicked. Today the Vatican officials, together with Fascist, Nazi and Communist dictators, are moving with all their power to destroy everything in the earth that will not submit to their devilish rule.” (Watchtower magazine, issue of January 15, 1941, paragraph 1) Thus is clearly stated the great issue today.

Hitler is a Catholic. He has a concordat or working agreement with the Vatican. The pope himself was one of the first to acclaim Hitler’s puppet, Petain; and a Belgium cardinal was loud in praise of Leopold’s treachery that shocked the world which remembered the brave stand of Leopold’s father, Albert; the United States ambassador to Belgium astonished the uninformed with the news that the advancing German troops protected all the Catholic churches; a remarkable feature of the Nazi advance was the behind-the-lines strategy of parachute troops landed in priest and nun costumes; yet the United States press continues to peddle the deception that the pope is a great benefactor. The press systems of America form the greatest propaganda agency for Rome that exists in the world today. When they do not lie, they suppress stories of public interest. If it is difficult to prevent some leakage of incriminating evidence about the Hierarchy they manhandle the dispatch or hide it among the obituaries. They have done a brilliant piece of batting for the foreign foes of this nation, and every outcry has been drowned under belittling epithets or outright libelous abuse. There is a partial picture of the majority of newspapers. Listen to them if you want to be fooled!

Turn back the pages of memory to the year 1933. Communism and Fascism were already disturbing the world with their raucous voices. Pope Pius XII, present pope, was then secretary of state to the Vatican, and was active with von Papen in the affairs of Germany. That was the year also of the Reichstag fire and Hitler's appointment as chancellor. Then came the concordat that started the Fuehrer to Catholic victory on the bloody corpse of Europe; July 6, 1933:

PACT WITH POPE TO BE SIGNED TODAY

Herr Hitler, the German Chancellor, is not going to abandon his Catholic faith. Reports that he will join the Evangelical Church of Germany were denied in Berlin yesterday, says Reuter . . . Although a concordat between the Pope and Hitler is virtually concluded—it is likely to be initiated today—the offices of all Catholic societies and clubs in Prussia were shut down during the week-end. Even the offices of the Y.M.C.A. were raided and documents and funds seized.

CENTRE PARTY'S EXIT

The disappearance of the last political party outside the Nazis is considered to be only a question of hours, following the announcement that the Centre (Catholic) Party has dismissed all its employees.

Whether the Centre deputies will retain their seats or not it is certain, says the British United Press, that political Catholicism is doomed. [Thus Pacelli fooled the world by changing the name of "political Catholicism" to "National Socialism" or "Nazi". This trick probably earned for him the Papal crown in 1939.]

The Christian Social People's Party "faded out" yesterday, its four members in the Reichstag joining the Nazi ranks.

A prophecy that the National Socialist State would flourish for centuries, and a threat to crush with all brutality and entire lack of consideration any attempt to overthrow the Government, were uttered by Hitler in a speech at Bad Reichenhall, Bavaria, adds the exchange.

"Internal unity, that is to say, the disappearance of every party save the Nazi Party, is on the eve of attainment," he declared. "From this inner consolidation will evolve external power."

Thus Hitler thundered as reported in the Daily Herald (England) July 6, 1933.

Hitler's 'destruction' of the Catholic Centre Party did not disturb the pope any more than the change of name in marriage disturbs a bride. In fact, he was gratified. It afforded an opportunity to delude the world into believing that his ruthless ally was, in fact, persecuting the Catholic Church in Germany, and so the murderous Hierarchy would appear in the guise of a martyr, receiving the world's sympathy just as the real victims of Nazi terror. American presses could be counted on, with a little pressure here and there, to play up this martyr-role. Hitler would be rewarded with some special favor or indulgence, perhaps even a by-pass to bliss without the usual sojourn in "purgatory". He thanked the god of this world, Satan, (2 Corinthians 4:4) for the ingenuity of his secretary of state, Eugenio Pacelli. The Papal march to world domination could now proceed under the new banner of Nazism without detection by the liberal, democratic nations. Now the world may observe the results.

Nazism was referred to by a German in South America as the 'Catholic Revolutionary Movement'. (New York Times) Just as Coughlin's National Party means "Nazi" Party, so the Nazi swastika is the smokescreen behind which the minions of Rome advance. Fascism is merely a synonymous term, and both are linked with Communism. The combined purpose is to rule the world in defiance OF THE THEOCRACY, otherwise known as the Kingdom of Heaven, which Jehovah has decreed shall destroy this "abomination that maketh desolate". (Daniel 11:31) "Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron." (Psalm 2:9) "In the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever." (Daniel 2:44) "And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever."—Revelation 11: 15.

Hitler is in the lead of the totalitarian monstrosity that seeks to "consume" all other nations, in defiance of Jehovah. This totalitarian combine sets itself up in the place of THE THEOCRACY, and is therefore the "abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing where it ought not", or "in the holy place" assigned to God's kingdom. (Compare Matthew 24: 15 with Mark 13: 14. See also "Lovers of Righteousness", Part 2, in the Watchtower magazine of September 15, 1938, which gives a brief history of the rise of Communism-Fascism-Nazism and then states, page 277: "The monstrosity, the giant Goliath, therefore pictured a 'totalitarian state', which places the state above Jehovah God and Christ Jesus, and which commands all people to be subject to the 'state', in defiance of Jehovah God.")

This is the year 1941. The people have no time to look back. The present is filled with terrors sufficient to blind all thought. It is upon this terror that the Hierarchy relies. People blinded by fear can be driven much more easily. Jesus foretold this day: "Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." —Luke 21: 26.

These are indeed terrible days, fraught with peril, "for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath." (Revelation 12: 12) It is therefore the more imperative that the people put aside hysteria and give sober thought to the situation. Fear of creatures is worse than hopeless. It makes those who yield to it the easy victims and dupes of propaganda and they join the headlong rush to destruction. (Proverbs 29: 25) Only the Lord is properly to be feared, for He alone can save and destroy, grant life and cause to perish in death. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (Proverbs 9: 10) "Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread." Not even death is to be feared, because if one dies in the righteous performance of duty, a "martyr" or witness to the name of Jehovah, the Lord will resurrect such as may fall at the enemy's hands. Jesus stated this admonition: "And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul [right to existence] : but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."—Matthew 10: 28.

Seek the Lord

What, then, should the reasonable creature do? How often the Scriptural answer is repeated: "Seek the Lord"! (1 Chronicles 16: 11; 22: 19; Ezra 6: 21) The prophet Isaiah shows that there is a time limit set for such seeking: "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near." (Isaiah 55: 6) It is necessary to act at once, because Armageddon is near. "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness; it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." (Zephaniah 2: 3) Such teachable people are admonished to do this "before the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon you".—Verse 2.

Included within the meaning of 'seeking the Lord' is the study of His Word, the Bible. (2 Timothy 2: 15; Psalm 119: 105; John 17: 17) In the first chapter of Isaiah (verse 18) the Lord calls this to the attention of the people: "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord." The Lord is now giving an understanding of the prophecies for the comfort of those who seek Him and study His Word. Among these prophecies now to be understood, several prophetic dramas depicted the close alliance between the religious and commercial with the political element, particularly the totalitarian monstrosity now overrun ning the earth. It is therefore important to consider how the facts today show the fulfillment of these prophecies.

Hitler's religion and his alliance with the Papacy consequently have significance, because the pope and the Nazi dictator are the foremost representatives in religion and politics. The relationship between the two is pointed out, not to ridicule the Catholic people or the German nation, but in order to give further evidence of the fulfillment of the prophecy that religion and politics, together with commerce, would join hands to oppress the people and fight against THE THEOCRACY in these latter days.

The emphatic statement is here made that Hitler is engaged in a work of 'converting' Europe to Catholicism such as existed before the Reformation in which Luther, Zwingli, Huss and the English "martyrs" led a break-away from the Church of Rome. The fires of the Roman Catholic Inquisition, instituted to consume these "heretics", failed to stop the rise of Protestantism. The pope also organized a counter-Reformation intended to offset the loss of influence and power due to the Protestant cleavage. Four hundred years ago the "Society of Jesus" was founded by Ignatius Loyola. The members of this order became known as "Jesuits". Their announced purpose has always been to destroy Protestantism. Masonry, democracy and liberalism, called the "children of Protestantism", are also slated for oblivion. This is the Jesuit aim, has never changed in 400 years, and has only been amplified to meet modern developments.

Back in the sixteenth century some terrible things were perpetrated upon the people of Europe by Catholic authorities in their anger against the loss of power through Protestantism. Catherine de Medici, niece of the pope, caused the massacre of the French Protestants whom she had invited to her daughter's wedding, while Catholic church bells in Italy celebrated this mass murder; the bloody duke of Alva butchered and burned in the pope's name; "Bloody Mary" fostered the Catholic Inquisition, in which several hundred righteous Englishmen, such as Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Rogers, were burned at the stake, and thousands more punished; and in 1588 the destruction of the Spanish Armada, sent against England by the pope, was a great backset to the Jesuits.

The Jesuits did not get very far for several centuries, but their efforts were by no means abandoned. Under President McKinley the United States, Protestant and consequently hated, was both attacked by Catholic Spain and menaced by Catholic Germany, whose fleet Admiral Dewey eluded in Manila. Again in 1912 the pope urged the kaiser of World War 1 fame to become the "sword of the church".

In all of these instances the Papal aggressors received setbacks. But today, the Scriptures disclose, the Roman Catholic Hierarchy will have a brief moment of complete success in which she will cry 'All is well, all is safe'. Since it is the Lord's purpose to permit this short term of power, it is certainly not the purpose of this publication to prevent rise to world domination, nor could it be prevented. But attention is called to the evidence of its advancement, and its methods of advancement, that the people who so desire may "come out of her [the death-dealing Hierarchy organization]" that they may avoid the punishment and "plagues" presently to be visited upon antitypical Babylon by the hand of Jehovah's Executioner.—Revelation 18:4.

Returning now to the fulfillment of prophecy concerning the conspiracy between religion, commerce and politics, particularly with the totalitarian monstrosity. Some still believe that Hitler has fought the Roman Catholic Church. Nothing could be farther from the facts. The dissolution of the German Catholic Centre Party had long been desired by the pope because such was in reality a liberal party, and consequently as much hated by the ruling Jesuit element of the Church of Rome as is Protestantism. Competent journalists such as the above-mentioned clearly pointed out these facts. The same was the cause of the demise of the Catholic Dolfuss in Austria. It was to the liberal element that Mussolini referred in his tirade against the democracies and "a certain vacillating Catholicism" with which he "would know how to deal".

Consider the facts revealed in the year 1936, year of Italian triumphs in Ethiopia and the Catholic onslaught upon men of their own faith in Spain. The pope was not "mad" with Hitler about anything in that year. Some interesting disclosures are made by The Leader (English newspaper) in its issue of April 14, 1936, in an article about the pope entitled "Man Who Rules Over 350,000,000 People!" This was a complimentary sketch containing such statements as, "His income [the pope's] is over £30,000,000 a year, and yet he has no direct interest in the spending of hardly a penny." Under the subhead "Hitler as Guest" comes the paragraph: "Tradition orders him to eat in solitude. He does not obey. Usually a secretary or a cardinal is the guest. Sometimes bigger fry. Hitler lunched with the Pope not long ago." No indication of Papal disapproval at this time.

In this four-column glorification of the pope and Vatican there is but one doubtful note that Englishmen especially would do well to reflect upon today:

It is this man of whom now the world wonders: Could he stop the Abyssinian war? . . . Could the Pope excommunicate Mussolini as a courageous Pope once excommunicated King John?

Even Archbishop Hinsley of Westminster, head of the Catholic Church of England, cannot give an answer.

"Until he is invited to intervene by both sides he cannot act as judge," the Archbishop has explained. "Our Holy Father's choice is between evils. Either he must condone what the world regards as a monstrous injustice, or he can denounce his neighbour as a lawbreaker. If Fascism goes under nothing can save Italy from chaos. God's cause goes under with it."

"God's cause goes under with [Fascism]." Those were the words of the head of the Catholic Church of England, spoken in April 1936. Since Italy has now joined Germany in the murderous attack upon England, and the present pope has blessed the arms of Italy, the real enemies of the British Empire readily appear. Other issues of Consolation disclosed how German bishops, with the sanction of the pope, similarly praised the arms of Hitler, and quoted newspaper accounts of the treachery of priests in various parts of the Empire. Another case of this kind is published in the Daily Mirror (England), February 11, 1941:

. PRIEST'S SECRET CODE: FINED £20

A code by which, it was stated, information could be sent out of the country was found in the possession of a young Roman Catholic priest on his arrival by air at a Barton (Lancashire) aerodrome from Dublin.

He was Father George Colum McCabe, aged twenty-six, of St. Ambrose's Rectory, Birmingham-road, Kidderminster. He was fined £20 at Eccles.

Airport officials said that the document, giving a code and its key, was found in Father McCabe's wallet.

It is no wonder that Catholics have been excluded from the Churchill government, and the British Purchasing Commission in New York specifies in hiring typists that they must be of English, Scotch, Welsh or Ulster Irish (Ulster is a Protestant county of Ireland and head of the several northern counties fighting with Britain against Hitler's army of Catholic Action; Southern Ireland, of which Dublin is the capital, remains Catholic and anti-British, the harboring place for spies such as McCabe). (Authority for information about the British Purchasing Commission is In Fact, issue of March 17, 1941.)

Hitler's cementing together of a Catholic-Latin bloc of Central and Southern Europe has been pointed out by Wythe Williams, "well-known radio commentator and journalist," recently the co-author with Dr. Albert Parry of a publication entitled Riddle of the Reich. (The New York Times Book Review, March 23, 1941) Hitler describes himself as "Katholisch" in the German Who's Who called "Wer Ist", containing an autobiography of the Fuehrer which precedes all other names in the volume. "Katholisch" means Roman Catholic. The following words of Hitler's are so definitely the speech of the bigot that their Catholicism is unmistakable:

We shall recreate the splendid tradition of the Crusades, we shall carry out our mission to bring civilization to the east of Europe. A great field of activity will be opened up, and there will be a lot to do for the German Catholic clergy among the people who have run wild and who have been robbed by Jews and Bolsheviks, not only of their land but of their God.

From Paris the German controlled wireless has lately broadcast declarations that Hitler has never been against the churches. In Germany also since the war began Hitler has eased the restrictions upon some churches and in particular has sought a new working agreement with the Catholic clergy.

There are well-authenticated accounts, for instance of a mission to the United States undertaken for Hitler by Father Odo, otherwise Duke Carl of Wurttemberg, with the purpose of persuading American Catholics that Hitler is fighting to give them fresh fields for conversion to Christian belief, says the London Times.

All the above quotations are from a dispatch of Times-Southern Special Service, carried by the Vancouver Daily Province (British Columbia, Canada) Tuesday, January 7, 1941. Americans should be and some are interested in the mission of "Father" Odo. The facts were published in the New York Times of November 4, 1940.

Hitler Intermediary Between Pope and Russian Dictator

On January 3, 1941, International News Service released the following:

HITLER AIDS POPE AS STALIN LIFTS CATHOLIC BAN

ROME, Jan. 3. (By International News Service) Marking perhaps the first time that the Vatican has obtained any important concessions from Russia, Josef Stalin especially relaxed Soviet anti-religious laws to permit Catholics in Russian-occupied territories to attend Christmas services,—learned today.

It was learned that Chancellor Hitler acted as intermediary between Pope Pius and the Soviet dictator.

Pope Pius, it was learned, was intensely gratified at the action of Germany and Russia—especially his success with Stalin. The Pontiff sent his personal thanks to Hitler through Mgr. Orsenigo. [Requoted from The Converted Catholic, February, 1941]

The New York Enquirer, newspaper which has been barred from Germany, had the following headline three days later, January 6, 1941:

POPE THANKING HITLER FOR AID, STIRS CAPITAL

BAN ON CATHOLICS EASED BY STALIN AT HITLER REQUEST

Washington, Jan. 5. — Excitement is running high in the capital today over a turn in the events in Europe considered of leading significance—the liaison furnished, according to news stories, by Hitler, which resulted in Josef Stalin acceding to the wishes of Pope Pius XII and permitting the holding of Catholic holyday services in the Russian-occupied countries of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania during Christmas week.

According to apparently well-authenticated news stories of the past few days, the Pontiff was not only "intensely gratified at the action of Germany and Russia—especially his success with Stalin," but, according to the same stories, he "sent his personal thanks to Hitler through Mgr. Orsenigo."

It is conceded by many persons high in diplomatic circles here that the fact that the pope "sent his thanks" to Hitler is of tremendous import.

Perhaps even Washington officials are beginning to see the close co-operation between Hitler and the pope, and also that Communism has always been in the little family group.

Those who have been shocked by the ruthless ferocity expressed in Mein Kampf will be interested to learn, according to Otto Strasser, "co-plotter and intimate friend of Hitler," that the book was really written by "Father" Staempfle, "a priest of great learning and editor of a paper at Miesbach." According to The Converted Catholic, February issue, Strasser says in his book Hitler and I that Hitler, "fearing the knowledge Father Staempfle had of his weaknesses, had him assassinated by a 'special death squad' on the night of June 30, 1934."

Catholic Europe

The pope's plans for the "new order" in Europe are accurately described in The Converted Catholic, February issue, under the subhead "Latin Catholic-Fascist Bloc", as follows:

Newly Catholicized, Fascist France is to play an important rôle in Hitler's plans for his new Europe. According to the Overseas News Agency, all the Latin Catholic nations—France, Italy, Spain and Portugal—are to be formed into a Catholic-Latin religious bloc, providing that military, political and economic control remains in the hands of Berlin. Marshal Pétain, who is even more in favor at the Vatican than Mussolini, will head this bloc of Catholic-Fascist nations, under certain conditions: France's navy to be turned over to Germany, French Morocco to Spain. Mussolini, weakened by recent defeats of his armies, is being induced to revoke his claims on Nice, Corsica and Tunisia.

This shapes up to the whole preconceived aim underlying Nazi-Fascist efforts, the restoration of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation. All that would remain (after the collapse of Protestant England) would be the crowning of Hitler by the Pope as a modern Charlemagne.

Europe has thus been Catholicized and returned to a condition far worse than the "dark ages" which prevailed before the Reformation gave that continent some measure of freedom. England remains the chief "heretical" country, whose Queen Elizabeth was ex-communicated a little less than four hundred years ago. England is the thorn in the Papal side and, of course, is to be exterminated along with Protestant America.

Just how tender will be the mercies of Catholic Action, if once England and America lie prostrate, is well illustrated by what befell Germany itself after the death of the Republic, and the conditions there today. On page 2 of the New York Sunday Mirror Magazine Section of February 9, 1941, appears a "General Map of the Concentration Camps, Prisons and Jails in Germany", the locations being marked in red. These red markers are so numerous they blur together so that the whole half-page map appears like a blotch of blood. Beneath is a reproduction of a photograph of a weeping, aged woman, and the explanation follows: "Hardly a family in Germany has escaped suffering some form of punishment by the police."

Bibelforschers (Jehovah's witnesses)

Says the article:

At present, many political prisoners are from the ranks of the Bibelforschers (literally Bible Searchers, actually Jehovah's witnesses). There are few Communists, but very many plain citizens who could not embrace the new ideals and so became punishable. For the most part they are convicted of specious criminal offenses with, however, a criminal background—perjury, offenses against the national economy, sins against rules for giving work, insults, etc.

After release, any prisoner may, if the authorities so desire, be sent to a concentration camp for an indefinite period of "preventive custody". Every BIBELFORSCHER MUST be so transferred, women as well as men. No BIBELFORSCHER may EVER attain freedom. Communists, except party officials, may possibly be released after some years of proved "conversion"; BIBELFORSCHERS, never.

In line with this description of the treatment of Jehovah's servants is the following dispatch in the New York Times, March 22, 1941:

REICH PACIFIST SENTENCED TO DIE

Berlin, March 21 (UP)—Ludwig Cyranek, 33 years old, a member of the "International Society of Earnest Bible Scholars", which opposes any form of military service, including air-raid defense, has been sentenced to death by a special court at Dresden, D.N.B., the official news agency, reported today. Five others, including two women, were sentenced to prison.

The New York Times did not explain that "International Society of Earnest Bible Scholars" is one of the names given Jehovah's witnesses in Germany. The New York Times prefers to howl with the mobs, and call Jehovah's witnesses "Fifth Columnists", as they did last summer. The end of their howling time is even now fixed by the Lord God of Hosts.—Psalm 145: 20.

What Happens in a Concentration Camp

Such glimpses, as reported by Konrad Heiden in his book, The New Inquisition, of life inside the concentration camps are given to us now and then:

Arrived in Buchenwald, we were ordered to descend (from the truck). "Hats Off," came another command, and now we had to run between two rows of S.S. men. Some of them struck out with their fists and feet; others used brass knuckles and whips. A bulky sergeant wielded a short-handled whip resembling a Czarist knout, and doubtless intertwined with wire or studded with lead pellets. He laid it on our heads and every lash brought a spurt of blood. . . . There were no facilities for washing. . . . There was one latrine about thirty feet long for the entire barracks with their 10,000 men.

There is also among Rome's modern Inquisition methods the rack, the thumb-screw, the squeezing of head, testes, and torture with molten iron, until death itself becomes a blessing.

Rome's Conqueror

Hitler, who has a commission from the pope to conquer in the name of the Catholic Church, is not lacking in assistants in America. The same priests and Catholic Legionnaires who have assaulted and tortured Jehovah's witnesses in many parts of the United States will form an effective nucleus for the American S.S. In the Catholic clerics, already trained in fiendish cruelty, is found a Gestapo, now organized and bloodthirsty to destroy any opponent of the pope. Recent information shows that their ferocity is unabated against Jehovah's witnesses, who daily report destruction of their property and assaults on their persons. Let this be borne in mind: Jehovah's witnesses will not be the only victims of Catholic Action unrestrained. Look upon Germany, and devout-Catholic Hitler, and be warned.

Jehovah's Purpose

Jehovah's purpose is to permit wickedness to go to its full and be cut off by His Executioner when at its height. (Psalm 92: 7; Judges 3: 29, with explanation in Watchtower magazine, October 15, 1940, issue.) Religion, chief among which is Hitler's Catholic religion, is doomed. Does anyone conceivably think we need more of Hitler's religion? Our blood brothers at Valley Forge had not a Papist among them. George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, sixty among Washington's generals, John Hancock and a great many of his cosigners of the Declaration of Independence, were Freemasons. So were the Marquis de Lafayette, Diderot, D'Alembert, Condorcet, the famous Swiss philosopher Helvetius, Jean Jacques Rousseau, and Voltaire, who vitalized the French Revolution, which struck so heavily at Catholicism. Our authority for this enumeration is The American Mercury, in its article on "The Annihilation of Freemasonry", which outlines the destruction of this anti-Catholic institution in Europe and says:

The Nazis acted more swiftly. Immediately on Hitler's rise to power the ten Grand Lodges (Masonic) of Germany were dissolved. Many among the prominent dignitaries and members of the order were sent to concentration camps. The Gestapo seized the membership lists of the Grand Lodges and looted their libraries and collections of Masonic objects. Much of the loot was exhibited in an "Anti-Masonic Exposition" inaugurated in 1937 by Herr Dr. Joseph Goebbels in Munich. The exposition included completely furnished Masonic temples.

The persecution was carried over into Austria when the country was captured by the Nazis. The Masters of the various Vienna lodges were immediately confined in the most notorious concentration camps, including the horrible living hell in Bavaria. The same procedure was repeated when Hitler took over Czechoslovakia, and then Poland. Immediately after conquering Holland and Belgium, the Nazis ordered the dissolution of the lodges in those nations. It was also Point One on the agenda of Major Quisling in Norway. It may be taken as part of the same ugly picture that General Franco of Spain in 1940 sentenced all Freemasons in his realm automatically to ten years in prison. When France fell last June, the Vichy government caused the two Masonic bodies of France, the Grand Orient and the Grande Loge, to be dissolved, their property being seized and sold at auction. [The American Mercury, February, 1941]

Thus an age-old dream of all the popes is being realized through Catholic Hitler. The Catholic Church is sweeping all freedom from the face of the earth, and the attacks upon Jehovah's witnesses who expose her crimes is merely one part of an international program. What is no part of her plans is Jehovah's decree that in the height of her power she shall be cut off by His Field Marshal, Christ Jesus. Her allies will turn against her, and in the end she will try to escape alone, as did Sisera, defeated general of the Canaanites. But the doom of religion is sealed, and those who look to it for support shall likewise perish. Thus the choice of life or death lies before all men. One must choose THE THEOCRACY, which affords protection and salvation, or religion's road to death, exemplified by Hitler.—Elton Groves.

British Comment

By J. Hemery (London)

The War's Burden

● The daily expenditure of the nation is about thirteen million pounds, or, stated in dollars at current rate of exchange, about sixty-five million dollars. It is a tremendous burden, but is borne without murmuring. Some of this expenditure is, of course, received back in wages and profits, and many businesses are doing well out of the war, and the rate of wages paid is much higher than in ordinary times. The Exchequer in turn gets back a very considerable amount of the extra by taxation of profits and by income tax deduction. There are limitations in ability to purchase, because of shortness in supply, and there are the limitations in food, both by dangers in importing and by rationing; but there is no complaining, because the nation is ready and willing to sacrifice to see Nazism and Fascism rooted out of Europe, and to make as certain as possible that any attempted invasion of Britain shall have no chance of getting a hold on this land.

"New Order"

● Since Hitler and his gang of aggressors began to use this word as a cover for their actions in Europe the word has become common among those who look beyond the war, and whose hope is for a better adjustment of conditions of life for the masses of the people. Its use by Hitler is more recent than his cry for more living room for the German people. His grand ideas of dominion grew with the increase of his early successes, and he began to see himself as a world ruler with some chance of putting his demonized ambitions into a grand fulfillment, with himself as the dominant figure in the earth.

His original profession of being Germany's deliverer from its domestic troubles expanded to living room for the great people they were to be; now this great people are on the warpath to establish a "new order" in Europe, and, when that is accomplished, to spread the rule over the seas and establish that "order" throughout the whole earth. How much Hitler's grandiose ideas have permeated the German peoples within his kingdom no outsider can know; but, human nature being what it is, there can be little doubt that he has persuaded the majority that he is a man of destiny to raise them to his own claims for them. It is certain that the youth and the younger of the last generation are obsessed with Hitler's notions and claims for himself. Those amongst the peoples through the earth who have heeded the call of Jehovah to His Word know that the time is come when the Devil and his evil hosts are abroad in the earth, and that men everywhere are being subjected to evil suggestions, and to otherwise commendable ideas for a readjustment of social conditions which are absolutely opposed to violence in their establishment, but which are intended to lead the people away from thoughts of the purpose of God in His Theocratic kingdom, and to cause them to believe that of themselves they can bring order out of the chaos into which the earth is thrown.

Whatever may be thought of the possibilities of Hitler's success there can be no question of the fact that his schemes and the successes he can already count have forced the nations into a realization that new forms of national life and international relationships have become an imperative matter.

Men of Good Intent

● Separate from religionists there are very many men educated and fully alive to the need of much alteration in the regulation of the management of the nation's affairs if there is to be a better sharing out of the fruits of labor. There are inequalities in educational facilities: money can give to the children of the well-to-do that which is as yet impossible to the great majority. The public-school education, however good it is, or however clever the scholar, does not give access to the professions as readily as that of the acknowledged schools practically separated to the education of the children of the rich. This distinction is almost rigidly maintained as one of the means of keeping up a class distinction in the land. An applicant for some position is asked, "At what school were you?" and if he can name one of the acknowledged schools his chance is a much better one than if he had to say, "At so-and-so council or board school."

Then there are men who see the imperative need for a readjustment of the agricultural industry, not only for the nation's safety in wartime, but in order to have waste land brought into cultivation, and, too, for the improvement of the land laborer's lot. There are many who seek to get the health conditions of the people improved, and their social conditions vastly altered for betterment. The Labor Party which has thrown its power into the war effort intends to see to it that the nation shall not be run for the special advantage of capital, nor in the money interest, and that the facilities of the nation shall be open to the people instead of at the disposal or to the particular advantage of the wealthy. The changes will bring an abundance of domestic scrapping when the time comes for the attempts at all this change.

In the meantime there is the war, and no man can foresee the course of events, however expectant or hopeful he may be. Hitler and his gang are wading through seas of blood for the realization of their plans and ambitions, and both Britain and the smaller nations of Southeast Europe have much to bear and to suffer before this dread thing is over.

The British people, now feeling the material as well as sympathetic aid of the American people, are set in their purpose, and are confident of the outcome, and are looking forward to the better things to be in consequence of being forced into a terrible war, and the consequent sacrifices.

That all this is related to the judgments of God and His purpose of setting up the long-foretold Kingdom on earth is something which religionists refuse to believe, and which politicians, and the intelligent of the people, will not take into account. The religionists must be held to be mainly responsible for the refusal of the people to listen, and for the darkness which covers the people concerning the purposes of God. They have perverted the plain words of the Bible, and have led the people to believe they, the religionists, were the only ones who could say what the Scriptures reveal, and that they only have the right to so teach. They have made a great set of organizations for themselves; in fact, they have made a kingdom of their priesthood, and have proclaimed the most terrible of sanctions for unbelief of what they teach, threatening the pains of eternal torment if their dogmas are rejected.

Religionists Disturbed

● The Papacy has already made its proclamation through the recently published five points of the pope’s declaration, and the British religionists have told the world they accept his points, but added five others, mainly to make themselves heard. Undoubtedly all of them are feeling the blowing of the winds of trouble. The Papacy, looking back through the centuries, and knowing the hold it has in the earth, confidently expects to be foremost in any readjustment in the affairs of the nations, having weathered the storm. The British religionists, confident in the strength of Britain, not only to withstand the threatened invasion of Britain and the attacks on the 'Empire', but also to carry the war through to the destruction of Nazi aggression, and believing they are helping in a battle for righteousness in the earth, also expect to share in the “new order” outlined by the pope. But they have not the consciousness of strength Rome has: they are divided among themselves, although on occasion they will sing, “All one body we”; and they are very conscious of the fact that the profession of religion in Britain, and the standing of the priests and the parsons, are ever getting less in numbers and esteem.

Catholic Action

● Like most other Roman Catholic activities, this takes various forms. The war situation is providing opportunities among the various forces for great Roman Catholic activity. A “Militant Christian” (as he signs himself) writes to his paper suggesting the formation of an “Anti-blasphemy League”, “which ought to include both Catholics and all who believe they are fighting for Christian civilization.” Cardinal Hinsley, who is doing some broadcasting, takes care to put over something that is calculated to associate non-Catholics with their organization. He has already got more than 300,000 crosses which he has blessed distributed in certain forces, and wants to get the navy accepting them. This is not propaganda! But what of this as blasphemy? A “Legion of Mary” is being brought into notice. It is said that Mary is a priest, and the mediatrix of all graces; that God would not have willed to send a Savior except through her; that all God’s gifts and virtues and graces are administered by her. This is said in the name of religion, but it is grievous blasphemy against the name of the Father, and Jesus Christ: of the Father, who in His love for the world gave His only begotten Son; and of the Son, who so willingly conformed to the Father’s will as to give himself unto death as “the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”.

COUNSEL by J. F. Rutherford

Moderation

OUR day was prophetically described in these words: "As in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that No'e entered into the ark, and knew not, until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." —Quoted from Christ's words at Matthew 24:38, 39.

Wine is a beverage or liquor made from the juice of grapes and allowed to ferment. The alcoholic content thereof produces intoxication when used to excess. There could be no wine without fermentation, the result of a natural law which the great Creator God made. In the Genesis account, chapter nine, it is recorded that after the flood Noah planted a vineyard, gathered the grapes that grew therein, and made wine from them, and drank the wine and became intoxicated.

To say that Noah did that because he was ignorant of the natural law of fermentation would be foolish. The record shows he planted the vineyard with full knowledge that wine by fermentation would result, otherwise why did he press out the juice from the grapes and wait for it to ferment before he drank it? Had he desired only the grape juice he would have pressed out the juice and drunk it immediately. The flood had nothing to do with the operation of fermentation, as has been improperly claimed. God was not displeased with Noah and did not subject him to a fine, imprisonment or other punishment for making and possessing wine; but long thereafter gave to him the very highest commendation.

Read Ezekiel 14:14; also in Hebrews, chapter 11, Noah specifically is commended for his faithfulness and devotion as a witness for Jehovah, and it is plainly stated that he had God's full approval. But religious clergy and prohibitionists denounce him.

Centuries later Christ Jesus performed miracles for the purpose of establishing the faith of the people in Him as the Messiah sent from God. Would it be at all reasonable that in the performance of miracles for this purpose Jesus would use anything in connection therewith that God had prohibited or that was at all displeasing to God? Certainly not; because He repeatedly stated He came to do, not His own will, but His Father's, who sent Him. Therefore what Jesus did had the full approval of God, His Father.

The first miracle Jesus performed was that of making wine. The record thereof is found in John 2:1-11. He was present at a marriage feast at which all the guests were drinking wine which the bridegroom had provided. The supply on hand was exhausted. Being called upon to do something for the guests in the way of supplying wine, Jesus then and there performed His first great miracle by making wine from water. The divine record shows it was even better than the other wine.

The Pharisees, priests and scribes and lawyers who composed the clergy when Jesus was on earth, and whom Jesus denounced as hypocrites, accused Jesus of being a winebibber, as recorded at Matthew 11:19. Manifestly they did this because Jesus indulged in the moderate use of fermented wine. Had He been drinking plain grape juice they would have said nothing about it. Had God ruled that the making, possession and use of wine should be prohibited, Jesus certainly would not have drunk any of it whatsoever. He kept God's law fully.

Just before His death Jesus established the Memorial of His own death by the breaking of bread and by producing wine and inviting His disciples to drink of it. (Matthew 26: 27) Furthermore, He commanded His followers to continue to perform this Memorial once each year until the coming of God’s kingdom. If prohibitionists had their way, no wine could be had for use in obedience to the Lord’s commandment. The fact that the Lord used wine on this occasion is conclusive proof that its making, possession and use has God’s approval. This instruction is given to one of God’s servants: “Use a little wine for thy stomach’s sake and thine often infirmities.”—1 Timothy 5: 23.

A great amount of sorrow and suffering amongst men has been by reason of the excessive use of wine and strong drink. The use of wine is authorized by the Holy Scriptures, but the use thereof must be in moderation. Manifestly it is proper to use wine in moderation, otherwise the Lord would not have caused to be recorded, with His approval, the use thereof. There is a wide distinction between the moderate use of wine and the use of tobacco in any form. Tobacco is not Scripturally approved under any condition, whereas wine is frequently spoken of with approval in the Word of God.

Moderation in all things is the proper and Scriptural course. Philippians 4: 5 reads: “Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” An immoderate eater is a glutton. A drunkard and a glutton are placed in the same class, and both are disapproved by the Lord. (See Proverbs 23: 21; Deuteronomy 21: 20.) The Scriptural admonition to God’s servants is to take “a little wine for thy stomach’s sake”, but ‘do not be given to too much wine’. (1 Timothy 5: 23; 3: 8) If one finds he cannot take a moderate amount of wine for his well-being, then he should avoid it altogether. If it works injury to himself or to any other person, then it should not be used.

It is written, at Proverbs 23: 20, 21: “Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.” Manifestly Jesus used wine and ate food, and that furnished an excuse for the Pharisees to charge Him with being a glutton and a winebibber and a friend of publicans and sinners. Concerning this matter Jesus said: “The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners.” (Matthew 11: 19) Of course, the Pharisees falsely charged Him with excesses, because Jesus always does right.

Proverbs 23: 31 reads: “Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.” According to Rotherham’s translation this text reads: “Do not look on wine when it becometh red, when it giveth in the cup its sparkle, glideth down smoothly.” Some have insisted that this text means that no one should even look at wine; but that is an unreasonable construction of the scripture. Wine made from certain grapes is red at all times and does not change its color. When a man, however, has imbibed wine to excess he begins to see “red”. Stated in modern phrase, then, this text really means: Do not look on wine to use it when you see red, that is, when everything looks red to you. When it looks red to you and slides down easily, then it is time to let it alone; you have had enough or too much.

When one is engaged in the service of the Lord, strong drink in any form should be avoided. To those Levites who served in the priest’s office God gave commandment: “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, thou, nor thy sons with thee, when ye go into the tabernacle of the congregation, lest ye die; it shall be a statute for ever throughout your generations; and that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean.” (Leviticus 10: 9, 10) The clear inference here is that it was not improper to drink moderately when not serving in the tabernacle. It cannot be successfully argued that these scriptures, because taken from the "Old Testament", no longer apply. The entire Bible was written for the instruction of men in righteousness, as stated at 2 Timothy 3:15-17. When one is engaged in God's service he should avoid wine and other intoxicating drinks. That is not the proper time for such things. At other times, BE MODERATE.

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