Archbishop Sheen’s Prophetic Projection of the New Church of Man

David Martin | The Daily Knight

The late Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (1895-1979) was a prophet in his own right who had a penetrating insight into world communism and the path it would take in the latter part of the 20th century and beyond. He spoke of how the coming Antichrist or false prophet would be a globalist operating under the guise of Catholicism.

Sheen said that the religion of the Antichrist “will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God” adding that “he will deceive even the elect.” He said the false prophet would be “a latter-day Judas Iscariot” whom Satan would recruit from the Catholic bishops. 

During his Jan. 26, 1947, radio broadcast, Venerable Fulton Sheen spoke as if he were peering into the 21st century. He said that the false prophet will not present himself with horns and claws but as a pacifist who brings a pseudo message of peace.

“He will come disguised as the Great Humanitarian; he will talk peace, prosperity and plenty not as means to lead us to God, but as ends in themselves.”

Sheen said that this false bishop would scorn absolute principles proclaimed from the heights of the Church, i.e., dogma, rules, etc.

“[Antichrist] wants no proclamation of immutable principles from the lofty heights of a Church, but mass organization through propaganda… [He wants] opinions not truths, commentators not teachers, Gallup polls not principles, nature not grace — and to these golden calves will men toss themselves from their Christ.”

It is the false prophet who seduces the faithful with these idols, the key idol being the earth occupied by the prince of darkness. The Archbishop describes this infernal prince as:

“An angel fallen from heaven” and "the Prince of this world" whose business it is to tell us that there is no other world. His logic is simple:  if there is no heaven there is no hell; if there is no hell, then there is no sin.”

This calls to mind Pope Francis’ 2015 recyclical Laudato Si, which proclaims earth, and not Heaven, to be “our common home.” It promotes a universal secular kingdom that unconditionally welcomes all (except loyal Catholics).

False Prophet Promotes Borderless World Government that Scorns Patriotism

Bishop Sheen said that the Church through the centuries “was Catholic and universal, uniting all men on the basis of one Lord, one faith and one Baptism” and that it always upheld national patriotism as ‘a virtue.’ He goes on to lament how many in the future would understand the counter-church to be the real Catholic Church

“In the new era, what the modern lost soul will take particularly about the counter-Church, is that it is catholic or international. It breaks down all national boundaries, laughs down patriotism, dispenses men from piety to country which the Christ enjoined, makes men proud that they are not Americans, French, or British, but members of a revolutionary class under the rule of its Vicar.”

Bishop Sheen’s 1948 Book on Communism

In his 1948 release, Communism and the Conscience of the West, Bishop Sheen said that the time would come when the Church’s visible head acting as chief shepherd of world communism would preach ecology, economics, and a one world religion that declares the new church of man to be infallible.

“The twentieth century will join the counter church because it claims to be infallible when its visible head speaks ex cathedra from Moscow on the subject of economics and politics, and as chief shepherd of world communism. 

“[Satan] will set up a counter church which will be the ape of the [Catholic] Church … It will have all the notes and characteristics of the Church, but in reverse and emptied of its divine content. It will be the mystical body of the Antichrist that will in all externals resemble the mystical body of Christ.

“We are living in the days of the Apocalypse, the last days of our era. The two great forces – the Mystical Body of Christ and the Mystical Body of the Antichrist – are beginning to draw battle lines for the catastrophic contest. 

“The False prophet will have a religion without a cross. A religion without a world to come. A religion to destroy religion. There will be a counterfeit Church.

“Christ’s Church the Catholic Church will be one; and the false Prophet will create the other. The False Church will be worldly, ecumenical, and global. It will be a loose federation of churches and religions, forming some type of global association.”

The Archbishop describes this new ecumenical religion:

“A world parliament of Churches. It will be emptied of all Divine content; it will be the mystical body of the Antichrist. The Mystical Body on earth today will have its Judas Iscariot, and he will be the false prophet. Satan will recruit him from our Bishops.

“The Antichrist will not be so called; otherwise, he would have no followers. He will not wear red tights, nor vomit sulphur, nor carry a trident nor wave an arrowed tail as Mephistopheles in Faust. This masquerade has helped the devil convince men that he does not exist. When no man recognizes [him], the more power he exercises.”  

Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing

“Our Lord tells us that he will be [will appear] so much like Himself that he would deceive even the elect – and certainly no devil ever seen in picture books could deceive even the elect.

“In the midst of all his seeming love for humanity (‘mercy’) and his glib talk of freedom and equality, he will have one great secret which he will tell to no one: he will not believe in God. Because his religion will be brotherhood without the fatherhood of God, he will deceive even the elect. He will set up a counter church which will be the ape of the Church, because he, the devil, is the ape of God.”

(Fulton J. Sheen, Communism and the Conscience of the West [Bobbs-Merril Company, Indianapolis, 1948], pp. 24-25)

In the end, adherence to the licentious church of man will lead man to a sorry end with plagues, riots, and wars until we see the great war to end all wars (WWIII). According to Archbishop Sheen, the coming hand of divine justice will vindicate moral law since it will show how it resulted from our having rejected moral law. Heeding false prophets under the illusion of obedience angers God since it demonstrates obedience to the devil and not to God.

Pacifist, Ecologist, and Ecumenist

17 years ago, the late Archbishop of Bologna Cardinal Giacomo Biffi said that Antichrist presents himself as a “pacifist, ecologist, and ecumenist.” He said this at a Lenten retreat he conducted on March 3rd, 2007, to Benedict XVI and the leaders of the Roman Curia. After the retreat, the Pope praised Biffi, saying he had delivered a “very accurate and precise diagnosis of our situation today.”

If we didn’t know any better, it was Benedict who used Biffi to air this truth for the Church seeing that this force of Antichrist was soon to become the key issue in the Church.

Cardinal Biffi’s assertion is drawn from the work of the Russian philosopher Vladimir Soloviev. Using Soloviev, Biffi wanted to put the Pope and the Curia on guard against being weakened by the spirit of the age.

“Today,” said the Cardinal, “we run the risk of having a Christianity that puts aside Jesus, the Cross, and the Resurrection and replaces it with ‘a mere set of values.’” Biffi made the point that Antichrist dilutes the truths of the faith, accommodating every interest, thus becoming more and more popular – a man of the people, not of God.”

Given both Bishop Sheen’s and Cardinal Biffi’s warning of a false teacher to come and given Benedict’s XVI’s full assent to what Biffi said, can our bishops at least consider that Francis was the one referred to? Concerning the false prophet, Archbishop Sheen said, “He will come disguised as the Great Humanitarian.” Are we not seeing this now with Francis' visit to New Guinea?

In his trip to Indonesia last week, his whole focus was on unity with Islam and indigenous religions, which breaches the Faith. Any other pope of history would have striven in true charity to convert them away from these religions and to the Catholic Faith.

Public Acts of Idolatry

Let us not forget how Francis travelled across the seas in July 2022 to apologize to the indigenous people of Canada for the Church’s role in bringing the Faith to them over the past century. Francis alleges that this infringed on their culture. To “repair” for this “infringement” he engaged in pagan smudging rituals wherein they called upon pagan gods (devils) to purify and bless their land. 

We saw a similar thing in October 2019 when Francis displayed and venerated the Pachamama earth idol in St. Peter’s Basilica to repair for “crimes” committed against “Mother Earth.” Francis alleges that the Christian West is primarily responsible for these “sins” against the earth idol. His unrelenting down-talking of Western Capitalism testifies to his communist aspirations, which he openly defends, even saying, “It is the Communists who think like Christians.” These sayings and doings are acts of apostasy and idolatry. 

Even as a seminarian he embraced Marxism, and he is universally applauded today by the Freemasons with whom he is affiliated. Marxism and Freemasonry are wholly committed to destroying the Catholic Church. According to Popes Paul IV and Pius XII, those who embrace or advocate these ideologies automatically excommunicate themselves, thus preventing their ascent to the office of bishop, cardinal, or pope.

Did Francis ever make it?