Malachi Martin

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Not to be confused with Malachi Martin (murderer) or Malachi Martin (politician).

The Reverend

Malachi Brendan Martin
Born(1921-07-23)23 July 1921
New York, New York, U.S.
Pen nameMichael Serafian
OccupationBiblical archaeologist
Catholic priest
Exorcist
Novelist
Professor
Theologian
NationalityIrish, American
RelativesF. X. Martin (brother)

Malachi Brendan Martin (23 July 1921 – 27 July 1999), also known under the pseudonym of Michael Serafian, was an Irish-born American Traditionalist Catholic priest, biblical archaeologist, exorcist, palaeographer, professor, and writer on the Catholic Church.

Ordained as a Jesuit, Martin became Professor of Palaeography at the Pontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. From 1958, he served as secretary to Cardinal Augustin Bea during preparations for the Second Vatican Council. Disillusioned by the council, Martin asked to be released from certain aspects of his Jesuit vows in 1964 and moved to New York City.

Martin's 17 novels and non-fiction books were frequently

Soviet espionage
in the Vatican.

Biography

Early life, education and ordination

Martin was born in Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland, to a middle-class family[2] in which the children were raised speaking Irish at the dinner table. His parents, Conor and Katherine Fitzmaurice Martin, had five sons and five daughters. Four of the five sons became priests, including his younger brother, Francis Xavier Martin.[3]

Martin attended Belvedere College in Dublin, then studied philosophy for three years at University College Dublin.[4] On 6 September 1939, he became a novice with the Society of Jesus.[5] Martin taught for three years, spending four years at Milltown Park, Dublin, and was ordained in August 1954.[6]

Upon completion of his degree course in Dublin, Martin was sent to the

Arabic manuscripts.[4] He undertook additional study in rational psychology, experimental psychology, physics, and anthropology.[1]

Work

Martin participated in the research on the Dead Sea Scrolls and published 24 articles on Semitic palaeography.[7][8] He did archaeological research and worked extensively on the Byblos syllabary in Byblos,[9][page needed] in Tyre, and in the Sinai Peninsula. Martin assisted in his first exorcism while working in Egypt for archaeological research.[10] In 1958, he published a work in two volumes, The Scribal Character of the Dead Sea Scrolls.[11]

In 1958, Martin was assigned to serve as a private secretary to

Cardinal Augustin Bea, working with him in the Vatican until 1964.[citation needed] Martin's years in Rome coincided with the beginning of the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), which was to transform the Catholic Church in a way that the initially liberal Martin began to find distressing. He became friends with Monsignor George Gilmary Higgins and Father John Courtney Murray.[2]

Biblical Institute of Rome

In Rome, Martin became a professor at the

Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity under Bea. Martin became acquainted with Jewish leaders, such as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, in 1961 and 1962.[12] Martin accompanied Pope Paul VI on a trip to Jordan in January 1964. He resigned his position at the Pontifical Institute in June 1964.[2]

In 1964, Martin requested a release from his

dispensation from his vows of poverty and obedience on 30 June 1965[2] (cf. qualified exclaustration). Even if dispensed from his religious vow of chastity, Martin remained under the obligation of chastity if still an ordained secular priest. Martin maintained that he remained a priest, saying that he had received a dispensation from Paul VI to that effect.[6]

Martin moved to

taxi driver,[4][2] while continuing to write.[4][6] He co-founded an antiques firm and was active in communications and media for the rest of his life.[1]

Communications and media

Central Park, New York

In 1967, Martin received his first

Choice Book Award of the American Library Association.[13] He then published Three Popes and the Cardinal: The Church of Pius, John and Paul in its Encounter with Human History (1972) and Jesus Now (1973). In 1970, Martin became a naturalized U.S. citizen.[14]

In 1969, Martin received a second Guggenheim Fellowship, allowing him to write his first of four bestsellers,[15] Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Living Americans (1976).[4] In the book, Martin calls himself an exorcist, claiming he assisted in several exorcisms. According to McManus Darraugh, William Peter Blatty "wrote a tirade against Malachi, saying his 1976 book was a fantasy, and he was just trying to cash in."[10] Darraugh also said that Martin became "an iconic person in the paranormal world."[10]

Martin served as religious editor for the

Firing Line on PBS.[18] He was an editor for the Encyclopædia Britannica.[19]

Martin published several works of fiction and non-fiction in the following years:

His other works included:

  • The Pilgrim (1964)[4]
  • The Encounter (1970)[4]
  • The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church (1981)
  • The New Castle: Reaching for the Ultimate (1982)
  • Rich Church, Poor Church: The Catholic Church and its Money (1984)
  • There is Still Love: Five Parables of God's Love That Will Change Your Life (1984)

Martin's bestselling[15] 1987 non-fiction book, The Jesuits: The Society of Jesus and the Betrayal of the Roman Catholic Church, was highly critical of the Jesuit Order,[4] accusing the Jesuits of systematically undermining church teachings.[20]

Later life

Martin was a periodic guest on Art Bell's radio program, Coast to Coast AM, between 1996 and 1998.[21] The show continues to play tapes of his interviews on Halloween.[10]

Martin's The Keys of This Blood: The Struggle for World Dominion between Pope John Paul II, Mikhail Gorbachev, and the Capitalist West was published in 1990.[4] It was followed in 1996 by Windswept House: A Vatican Novel.[4]

The Vatican restored Martin's faculty to celebrate Mass in 1989, at his request.[4] He was strongly supported by some Traditionalist Catholic sources and severely criticized by other sources, such as the National Catholic Reporter.[22][23][24] Martin served as a guest commentator for CNN during the live coverage of the visit of Pope John Paul II to the United States in October 1995.

In the last three years of his life, Martin forged a close friendship with the Traditionalist Catholic philosopher Rama P. Coomaraswamy (1929–2006). During this period, Martin was received in a private audience by John Paul II.[citation needed]

Death

The footstone of Malachi Martin in Gate of Heaven Cemetery

In 1999, Malachi Martin died in Manhattan of an intracerebral hemorrhage, four days after his 78th birthday. It was caused by a fall in his apartment in Manhattan. The documentary Hostage to the Devil claimed that Martin said he was pushed from a stool by a demonic force.

Martin's funeral took place in St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in West Orange, New Jersey, before burial at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, in Hawthorne, New York.

Work

Writings

In 1964, under the pseudonym of "Michael Serafian", Martin wrote The Pilgrim: Pope Paul VI, the Council, & the Church in a Time of Decision. The book contained Martin's views on the Jewish question in Europe and on the Second Vatican Council. Martin's fictional works purported to give detailed insider accounts of Church history during the reigns of Popes Pius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI (The Pilgrim, Three Popes and the Cardinal, Vatican: A Novel[15]), John Paul I (The Final Conclave[15]) and John Paul II (The Keys of This Blood, Windswept House).

Martin's non-fictional writings cover a range of Catholic topics, such as

demonic possessions, exorcisms, Satanism, liberation theology, the Second Vatican Council (The Pilgrim), the Tridentine liturgy, Catholic dogma, Catholic modernism (Three Popes and the Cardinal; The Jesuits), the financial history of the Church (Rich Church, Poor Church; The Decline and Fall of the Roman Church), the New World Order and the geopolitical importance of the Pope (The Keys of This Blood).[citation needed
]

Opinions

Three secrets of Fátima

Martin often spoke and wrote about the Three Secrets of Fátima and was an ardent supporter of Father Nicholas Gruner's interpretations of them: "Father Gruner is fulfilling a desperately needed function in the ongoing perception of Mary's role in the salvation of our imperiled world. Father Gruner is absolutely correct that the consecration of Russia as Our Lady desired, has not been executed".[25] According to Martin, the unreleased third secret of Fatima was that the Soviet Union would be converted to Christianity. The Vatican released what it claimed to be the third secret letter in 2000. This text did not mention Russia or the Soviet Union.[26]

Other theories

Martin did not believe in the alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary at Međugorje in what is today Bosnia and Herzegovina. He said that false pretenses were used in obtaining earlier his recommendation.[27] Concerning the Garabandal apparitions, he remained open minded.[28]

In March 1997, Martin claimed on

Radio Liberty
's Steel on Steel, that two popes were murdered during the 20th century:

Martin stated that, along with

diabolic possession, angelic possession also exists and that angels could have use of preternatural powers in certain circumstances.[29][unreliable source?][30]

Siri theory

Martin partially gave credence to the

Siri thesis, saying that Cardinal Giuseppe Siri was twice elected pope in papal conclaves, but declined his election after being pressured by so-called worldly forces acting through cardinals present at the conclaves. Martin called this the little brutality. On the one hand, Martin says that Siri was intimidated; on the other hand he says that Siri did indicate that his decision not to accept was made freely.[31][32]

Freemasons

Martin claimed that John XXIII and Paul VI were

allegorically mentioned these supposed facts in his 1986 novel Vatican: A Novel, where he related the Masonic adherence of Pope Giovanni Angelica and Giovanni De Brescia.[13] Martin also claimed that Archbishop Annibale Bugnini was a Freemason and that Agostino Casaroli, long-time Cardinal Secretary of State, was an atheist.[31]

Metz accord

In his 1987 book The Jesuits, Martin describes negotiations and a diplomatic agreement between

1978 conclave
that resulted in the 26 August election of Albino Luciani, Martin wrote of the unexpected election of a Cardinal Angelico, a figure that has been interpreted as corresponding to Luciani.

Controversies

Alleged affairs

There were three allegations made against Martin of having affairs with women:

Laicization dispute

The

incardinated
into any particular diocese.

Martin himself is quoted as stating 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)".[42]

The Daily Catholic said its 2004 statement was based on one by William Kennedy, according to which the declaration of Martin's laicization was mounted in retaliation for his book The Jesuits, which accused the Jesuits of deviating from their original character and mission by embracing liberation theology.[43][failed verification]

Alleged ordination as a bishop

During a videotaped memorial titled Malachi Martin Weeps For His Church, Rama Coomaraswamy claimed that Martin had told him that he had been secretly consecrated a bishop by Pius XII. Martin's mission was to ordain priests and bishops for the underground churches of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Coomaraswamy died in 2006.[44][45][46]

Alleged authorship

Joseph Roddy allegations

Journalist Joseph Roddy alleged — in a 1966

Commentary.[53]

Roddy alleged that tidbits of information were leaked to the New York press that detailed Council failings vis a vis Jews under the pseudonym of Pushkin. Roddy claimed two unidentified persons were one and the same person — a "young cleric-turned-journalist" and a "Jesuit of Irish descent working for Cardinal Bea...who was active in the Biblical Institute" — he figuratively named as Timothy O'Boyle-Fitzharris, S.J. so as not to reveal the true identity of his source.

In his 2007 book Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, Edward K. Kaplan confirmed that Martin cooperated with the

Roger W. Straus, Jr.'s Farrar, Straus and Giroux printing company. It was published in the hope that it would influence the deliberations in the council. Once Martin's identity as author was revealed, it led to protests "and the book had to be removed from circulation at considerable financial loss to the publisher". Kaplan lastly states that Martin was the primary source of information for Joseph Roddy in writing his 1966 article for Look Magazine, and that O'Boyle-Fitzharris was, in fact, Martin. Kaplan judges the Roddy article as "dangerously misleading [due] to the credence it gives to the claim that without organised Jewish pressure the council declaration on the Jews would not have been accepted."[12]

Martin explicitly denied he was a spy, along with denying other rumors. Michael Cuneo, in his book American Exorcism, writes, "Martin told me that he was perplexed, and more than a little annoyed, by the swirl of rumors surrounding his personal life."

Elsewhere, Martin admitted some of his work involved intelligence gathering behind the Iron Curtain and throughout the Middle East, and at times threatening cardinals with blackmail if they did not want to do what Bea and John XXIII wanted from them at the council. "I saw cardinals sweating in front of me," Martin recalled. "And I began to enjoy it."[54]

Alleged Jewish heritage

Rumors appearing on various Catholic or sedevacantist websites[55] and magazines[56] alleged that Martin had Jewish ancestry that descended from Iberian Jews who migrated to Medieval Ireland and the Kingdom of England in the 15th century, and also alleged him being an Israeli spy[29][unreliable source?] because of his first name, Malachi, after a Hebrew prophet and his extensive travels in the Levant. These allegations were rebutted by William H. Kennedy (In Defense of Father Malachi Martin).[57] After having made genealogical inquiries with surviving relatives of Martin in Ireland, Kennedy concluded that Martin's father was an Englishman who moved to Ireland, and that Martin's mother was Irish on both sides. Fr. Rama Coomasrawamy confirmed this independently.[44] The Irish language name Maélsheachlainn is usually anglicized as "Malachy", and Saint Malachy was a 12th-century Irish Catholic saint.

Alleged photograph

Claims that Martin features as a curial monsignor in full

Prefect of the Casa Pontificia from 1969 to 1986.[60][61]

See also

Bibliography

Books

Articles

Related books and articles

References

  1. ^ a b c Corley, Felix (6 August 1999). "Obituary: Malachi Martin". The Independent. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-0-385-50176-7
  3. ^ "Papers of F.X. Martin", UCD Archives
  4. ^
    ISSN 0791-5144. Archived
    from the original on 21 February 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  5. ^ Annuario Pontificio, 2010, p.1438.
  6. ^ a b c Galati, Eric (9 August 1999). "Malachi Martin (obituary)". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  7. JSTOR 43073693
    .
  8. Annual of the Department of Antiquities of Jordan
    : 8–9. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  9. OCLC 418237964
  10. ^ a b c d McManus Darraugh. "The Strange Case of Father Malachi Martin", Independent, January 13, 2017
  11. ^ Martin, Malachi (1958), The Scribal Character of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Bibliothèque du Muséon, Louvain: Publications Universitaires, 2 volumes.
  12. ^
    ISBN 978-0-300-11540-6
  13. ^
    ISBN 978-0-06-015478-3
  14. ^ "Malachi Martin Is Dead at 78; Author of Books on the Church". The New York Times. 30 July 1999. Retrieved 1 April 2019.
  15. ^ a b c d "Bestseller", The New York Times (list)
  16. ^ Martin, Malachi (2 September 1977), "On Human Love", National Review
  17. ^ Martin, Malachi (22 November 1974), "Death at Sunset", National Review
  18. ^ Buckley, William F. Jr. (23 December 1973), "The Jesus Movement: Interview with Malachi Martin", Firing Line, PBS
  19. ISBN 978-0-02-580440-1
  20. ISBN 978-0-671-54505-5
  21. ^ "Guests: Malachi Martin - Biography & Interviews". Coast to Coast AM. Retrieved 28 September 2018.
  22. ^ Woodward, Kenneth L. (8 October 2004), "Looking for sanctity in all the wrong places", National Catholic Reporter
  23. ^ "Right and righteous who run with Ralph Reed", National Catholic Reporter (editorial), 27 December 1996 – 3 January 1997
  24. ^ Greeley, Andrew (22 May 1998), "Farrell's Hugo would be a papal Gorbachev", National Catholic Reporter
  25. ^ "Plotting World Order in Rome. Vatican expert Malachi Martin tries to scope out papal succession", U.S. News & World Report, 10 June 1996
  26. ^ SOURCES, SUSAN MARTIN, COMPILED FROM NEWS WIRE SERVICES AND OTHER (26 June 2000). "'THIRD SECRET OF FATIMA' RELEASED". The Buffalo News. Retrieved 7 November 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Sabalto, Rich (1999), "Mystery Cloaks Father Malachi Martin's Death", Weekly Newsletter, Unity
  28. ISBN 978-0-9732148-1-9
  29. ^
    ISBN 978-1-885692-08-5
    .
  30. ^ Bell, Art (18 October 1996), Interview with Malachi Martin, Coast to Coast AM [dubious – discuss].
  31. ^
    ISBN 978-2-9511087-0-7
  32. ^ Derksen, Mario (18–20 November 2004), "Eclipse of the Church: 1958 and Beyond", Daily Catholic, vol. 15, no. 186
  33. ^ Loeffler, John (March 1997), The Wisdom of Malachi Martin, Soquel: Radio Liberty
  34. ^ Martin, Malachi (1987). The Jesuits. pp. 85–86.
  35. ^ Martin, Malachi (1987). The Jesuits. pp. 79–94.
  36. ISBN 978-0671824846
    ..
  37. ^ Jones, Arthur (8 March 2002), "A wicked priest and a shattered marriage", National Catholic Reporter
  38. ^ Kennedy, William H. (2008), Occult History (PDF), pp. 129–57, archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2011
  39. ISBN 978-0-8264-1384-0
  40. ISBN 978-0-8070-7277-6
  41. ^ Cain, Michael (14 April 2004), "A Reputation Recouped!: The 'Fly on the Wall' is Freed at Last!", The Daily Catholic, vol. 15, no. 104
  42. ^ "Malachi Martin", Expert answers, EWTN, retrieved 23 July 2010
  43. ^ Kennedy, William H.; Widner, SJ, Tom (April 2004), High Ranking Jesuit Confirms Malachi Martin's Status as Life Long Priest, William H Kennedy, archived from the original on 11 November 2005
  44. ^
    OCLC 54977738. The Southern Poverty Law Center describes the publishing house as specializing in the most extreme radical traditionalist materials (Intelligence Report, Winter 2006, Issue Number: 124
    ).
  45. ^ Coomaraswamy, Rama, On the Validity of My Ordination, CoomaraswamyCatholicWritings
  46. ^ Ekelberg, Mary Ellen, The Underground Church of Pius XII, Catholic Counterpoint, Broomall, ...
  47. ISBN 978-0-8028-2659-6
  48. ^ "Hells Bibliophiles", Rip, F2
  49. ^ Brennan, Michael (30 July 1999), "Malachi Martin Is Dead at 78; Author of Books on the Church", The New York Times
  50. Mélanges de l'Université Saint-Joseph
    (in French), Beyrouth: Imprimerie Catholique
  51. ^ Roddy, Joseph (25 January 1966), "How the Jews Changed Catholic Thinking", Look Magazine, vol. 30, no. 2
  52. ^ Cartus, FE (September 1965), "The Vatican Council Ends: Reform on borrowed Time?", Harper's Magazine
  53. ^ Cartus, FE (January 1965), "Vatican II & The Jews", Commentary (letters), archived from the original on 6 January 2009
  54. ^ Kaufman, Ben L. (22 December 1973). "Jesus Now Author Not A Swashbuckler". The Cincinnati Enquirer. Archived from the original on 1 December 2017.
  55. ^ "~In Today's Catholic World (TCW) True Catholic News~", Today's Catholic World, Daily News for the Church in Eclipse, December 2005
  56. ^ "Serviam N° 9", Serviam, Nostra ætate, 12 January 2009
  57. ^ Kennedy, William H. (July 2002), "In Defense of Father Malachi Martin", Seattle Catholic, archived from the original on 2 March 2007
  58. ^ Malachi Martin, Puritans
  59. ISBN 978-1-84529-496-0
  60. ^ Albino Luciani
  61. ^ Martin, Jacques (1993), Mes Six Papes: Souvenirs Romains du cardinal Jacques Martin [My Six Popes: Roman Memories of the Cardinal Jacques Martin] (in French), Paris: Mame

External links

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