Satanism and the Church
During the Middle Ages, the Inquisition pushed many unacceptable clerical behaviors underground. Black magic in particular was an activity peculiarly suited to fallen priests because it mirrored the “white” magic of sacred liturgy. Plus, during the Middle Ages, only the clerical class had the education, free time, and most of the tools needed at hand. So there in the darkness, heresy, sex, and lingering pagan practices subversively combined into Satanism.
In fact, fallen priests were believed to be the only ones who could perform a Black Mass, the satanic mockery of the Catholic rite. For even defrocked, priests retained their power of transubstantiation given at ordination. Changing the bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ thus allowed them to defile God himself.
Indeed, in the very first modern novel about Satanism, Là Bas (“Down There” or “The Damned” in English), there are several very telling remarks. It is a semi-autobiography written in 1891 by Joris-Karl Huysmans about satanic cults in fin de siecle Paris. In one section a character explains:
“Meanwhile think over the phrase which you applied a moment ago to the magicians: ‘If they had entered the Church they would not have consented to be anything but cardinals and popes,’ and then just think what kind of a clergy we have nowadays. The explanation of Satanism is there, in great part, anyway, for without sacrilegious priests there is no mature Satanism.”
Huysmans, J.K., Down There: A Study in Satanism, 1891, Paris, trans. by Keene Wallis, 1924, Chap. IV
Later, the conversation continues:
“But tell me, what class of people are these modern covenanters with the Devil?”
“Prelates, abbesses, mission superiors, confessors of communities; and in Rome, the centre of present-day magic, they’re the very highest dignitaries,” answered Des Hermies. “As for the laymen, they are recruited from the wealthy class. That explains why these scandals are hushed up if the police chance to discover them.”
So what does all this have to do with ritual abuse? Simply this, the worship of the Devil is based on defilement. The more sacred or innocent the object of pollution is, the more power is generated. Thus, sodomizing children, especially in a ritualistic manner, is a satanic sacrament.
And yes, it was not confined to the Middle Ages nor to modern Paris. I’m a survivor, and I have met other survivors from around the country. Much of what I detailed in my novel, The Harrowing, is actually based or suggested by my experiences.
I even told an Independent Catholic bishop once that there were satanists in the Church.
He just nodded sagely, and asked rhetorically, “Where else would they hide?”
Where indeed. For more information, see Priests of Darkness.