Lux Lucet

Ecclesiastical Megalomania: The Economic and Political Thought of the Roman Catholic Church by John W. Robbins (Unicoi, Tennessee: The Trinity Foundation, 1999, 326 pages).

Although to some this may sound strange, Ecclesiastical Megalomania (EM) by Dr. John W. Robbins ranks among the best books ever read by this reviewer. It is crisply written, hard hitting without compromise, and God exalting. It also manages to be absolutely fascinating.

In a mere nine days citizens of the United States will be greeted with a visit from Antichrist in the person of pope Francis I, yet it is doubtful that even one American in a hundred has the discernment to recognize the pope for what he is. It is a marvelous thing that a nation founded by Protestants a little over 200 years ago could be so confused as the true nature of the papacy as to invite the pope, the absolute head of the Roman Catholic Church-State, to address Congress, visit the White House and tour Independence Hall. It is enough to remind one of Hezekiah giving the emissaries from Babylon the grand tour of his palace. But such is the case is this confused nation of ours.

No doubt, the papal visit will bring with it all the pomp and pubic adulation one would expect to accompany a royal visit. Public officials will clamor the pope’s attention and the media will sing his praises. But if this were not bad enough, what is far worse is the fact that many Evangelicals not only will swallow the mainstream media narrative hook line and sinker, but Evangelical leaders, not content to remain on the sidelines, will join the Antichrist’s chorus themselves and invite their foolish followers to sing along.

To all this nonsense Robbins’ book is the perfect antidote. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the definition of “megalomania” as, “the insanity of self-exultation.” “Ecclesiastical” means of or relating to the church.  Taken together, Ecclesiastical Megalomania mans the insane self-exultation of the Church, the Roman Catholic Church, that is.  Quoting the words of popes and various other Catholic prelates, Robbins does a brilliant job demonstrating that insane self-exultation is the modus operandi of the Roman Catholic Magisterium when it comes to making pronouncements on matters economic and political. But not only that, Robbins also shows that the economic and political thought of Rome is unalterably, radically opposed to constitutional capitalism, the political and economic system of the Bible, and historically of the nations of the West, including the United States. In Robbins’ words,

It might be expected that an institution such as the Roman Church-State, ruled by an absolute emperor, structured in a rigid hierarchy, supranational in scope, aristocratic in character, and none of whose officials is elected – an institution that in more than one way is an anachronism, and intrusion of the ancient world into the modern – would not favor constitutional capitalism. But how deep-seated its hostility to freedom and free enterprise is was a surprise even to this author. The popes have expressed their hatred, not only for Protestantism (a hatred perhaps muted recently, not by a change of mind, but by the relativism of the Church-State influenced by postmodern culture), but also for the political and economic expression of Christianity: capitalism (EM, 24).

With this in mind, the openly socialist and globalist pronouncements of pope Francis can be seen for what they are. Far from representing, as some think, a leftist aberration, the current pope’s obvious socialism is, in fact, a continuation of Rome’s longstanding war against constitutional government and laissez faire capitalism.

The Economics of Rome

True to its title, EM is divided neatly in two. Part One examines Romanist economics, while Part Two looks at Catholic political theory.

In a passage that likely will shock many readers, Robbins lays the blame for much of the world’s economic misery on the Vatican.

Roman Catholic economic thought, as developed by the popes in their encyclicals and by Roman Church-State councils, has been a contributor to, if not the only source of, several forms of anti-capitalist political and economic organization during the long hegemony of the Roman Church-State. Among these forms are

    (1) feudalism and guild socialism in Europe during the Middle Ages;

    (2) fascism in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Croatia, and Latin America in the twentieth century;

    (3) Nazism in Germany in the twentieth century;

    (4) interventionism and the redistributive state in the West, including the United States in the twentieth     century; and

    (5) liberation theology in Latin America and Africa in the twentieth century.

To understand how the economic thought of the Roman Church-State spawned these anti-capitalist systems, we begin with Thomas Aquinas’ discussion of private property. Private property is the central economic institution of civilized societies, and it is the Roman Church-State’s rejection of private property that contributed to the establishment of several varieties of destructive anti-capitalism throughout the world (EM, 30).

The foundation of Rome’s socialism and its hatred of capitalism, Robbins tells us, is a dogma called the universal destination of goods. Robbins explains,

The Thomistic notion of original communism – the denial that private property is part of the natural law, but that common property is both natural and divine – is foundational to all the Roman Catholic arguments for various forms of collectivism, from medieval feudalism and guild socialism to twentieth century fascism and liberation theology. The popes refer to this original communism as the “universal destination of all goods” (EM, 38).

According to Catholic dogma, since the goods of the earth originally were given to man collectively, and since

Pope Francis I

private property is an addition to this original natural law, it is proper for governments to redistribute goods from those who have more than they need – who determines what a man needs is not the actual owner of the property, but government officials acting at the behest of the pope – to those who have not. The universal destination of goods is the theoretical basis for the socialist pronouncements made by Francis I in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, which moved Rush Limbaugh to comment,

I have been numerous times to the Vatican. It wouldn’t exist without tons of money. But regardless, what this is, somebody has either written this for him or gotten to him. This is just pure Marxism coming out of the mouth of the pope. Unfettered capitalism? That doesn’t exist anywhere. Unfettered capitalism is a liberal socialist phrase to describe the United States. Unfettered, unregulated.

Although we welcome Limbaugh’s denunciation of Francis’ Marxism, we reject the notion that “somebody has written this [Evangelii Gaudium] for him or gotten to him.” As even Francis admits, “There is nothing in the Exhortation [Evangelii Gaudium] that cannot be found in the social Doctrine of the Church.” Rome is socialist to the core. And when popes make radically socialist statements, these should not be viewed as a break with church teaching, as if Rome has always favored capitalism and limited government. Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, as Robbins points out time and again in EM, the political and economic theories that lead popes to make anti-capitalist statements is part of the warp and woof of the social teaching of the Roman Catholic Church-State. Francis I understands this. Unfortunately, many of his critics – both Roman Catholic and Evangelical – do not.

The Politics of Rome

In Part Two of EM, subtitled Autocracy Adored, Robbins begins his discussion with a lengthy quote from Lord Acton. Acton was an English Roman Catholic who, oddly enough, also was one of the 19th century’s harshest critics of the papacy. Acton is best known today for his famous quote, “Power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” But while this quote is well known, not many people realize that the object of Acton’s famous remark was the power wielded by popes and kings.

In Chapter Fourteen, “The Magisterium,” Robbins makes the important point that the popes claim infallible authority, not, as some believe, just in matters of religious dogma, but also in political and economic affairs. Writes Robbins,

We must emphasize the fundamental teaching of the Roman Church-State that it is both infallible and the authority on political and economic matters. Some people labor under the mistaken idea that only when the pope speaks on matters of faith and morals, narrowly considered, does he claim to be infallible and his statements binding on ordinary Catholic laymen. Now the question of when the pope is infallible or fallible does not affect out analysis of Roman Catholic political and economic thought; the content of that thought does not change. But the issue of the pope’s infallibility and how it is treated by some Roman Catholic writers suggest that they want us to think of the pope as some harmless, eccentric, and ineffective man in Italy who speaks for no one but himself. That, however, is not the teaching of the Roman Church-State, and any Roman Catholic who suggests it is either misinformed or disingenuous (EM, 147).

One of the great strengths of EM is Robbins’s use of original sources to back up his claims. The effect is a devastating refutation of many false beliefs about the Church held both by Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Citing Pius XI’s 1931 Encyclical Quadragesimo Anno, Robbins quotes the pope’s own words to make his point that the popes have claimed for themselves the right to make authoritative pronouncements extending beyond matters of faith to those of politics and economics, “But before proceeding to discuss these problems, We lay down the principles long since clearly established by Leo XIII, that it is Our right and Our duty to deal authoritatively with social and economic problems” (EM, 147). Robbins further buttresses his point with a quote from the 1983 revision of the Rome’s Canon Law, which states, “To the Church belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles, including those pertaining to the social order, and to make judgments on any human affairs to the extent that they are required by the fundamental rights of the human person or the salvation of souls” (EM, 147, 148).

From at least the time of Roman Catholic Al Smith’s 1928 presidential campaign, Romanist politicians have publically stated that they are not beholden to the Roman Catholic Magisterium for their politics and economics, angrily denouncing those who suggest otherwise as anti-Catholic bigots. But as Robbins points out, such claims are either misinformed or disingenuous. In light of the fact that several major contenders in the 2016 presidential primaries are Roman Catholic – among them are Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio; Joe Biden another Roman Catholic has hinted that he will run but has not yet made a formal announcement – the pope’s claims to speak authoritatively on politics and economics raises the issue of Vatican influence on Catholics who serve as public officials. Far from being the stuff of anti-Catholic bigotry, Evangelicals and other non-Catholics have good reason to question to loyalties of Roman Catholic elected officials. And those reasons are supplied by the popes themselves.

If anyone supposes that this reviewer is showing lack of charity toward Roman Catholics by making such comments, consider that the very reason pope Francis is coming to address Congress can be chalked up, at least in part, to the influence of two high-ranking Roman Catholic politicians, Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner and Democratic House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. The pope, it would seem, enjoys bi-partisan support in Congress.

Useful for Scholars and General Readers Alike

Robbins is an author with the rare ability to write for both the scholar and the general reader. Throughout the book, his writing is crisp and clear, so that even someone with little previous knowledge of Roman Catholic social teaching can read this work profitably. On the other hand, the book’s many well-documented footnotes and substantial bibliography make this book a must read for any Evangelical interested in doing scholarly work on Roman Catholicism.

Summary

EM is a remarkable and unique work, one highly recommended to any Evangelical interested in learning more about the social teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. Unlike just about every other contemporary Evangelical writer, Robbins is not ignorant as to the true nature of the papacy and the Roman Catholic Church-State. Believing the historic Protestant teaching about Rome – that the office of the papacy is the Antichrist and the Roman Catholic Church the Babylonian Mother of Harlots – Robbins has written a book that is as fascinating as it is bold.

With the pope soon coming to the US and the mainstream media’s propaganda machine already cranking up the volume, now is as good a time as ever for American Evangelicals to acquaint themselves with this remarkable book.