HOLY SPIRIT: "The Holy Spirit demands that we walk in faith -- NOT by sight OR emotions. Therefore, He does not frequently or routinely give us visions or prompt us to respond with dramatic emotional outbursts. The Holy Spirit does not satisfy carnal desires for emotional rewards. Because we must walk by faith and not by sight, the Holy Spirit RARELY lets us see the spirit world, and certainly not on a routine basis, or when we want to."

DEMONS: "Demons love to manipulate human emotions. They control MANY by giving them emotional 'highs' or rewards. Demons also love to give humans emotional extremes. Demons FREQUENTLY help people see the spirit world, thus decreasing their need for faith. People with demon spirit guides frequently have visions and super-natural experiences."

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: Again, the R/C frequently depends upon either their own supernatural experience, or upon the testimony of ones who claims to have had a super-natural experience. Walking only by faith seems to be denied. Catholics seem to be depending upon emotional highs or rewards. This point seems to be very rich in possible comparisons of R/C to demonism. But, it will take a former insider like yourself to fully plumb the depths of this point.

FORMER CATHOLIC: First of all, let me start by saying the whole Catholic mass is surrounded by the promise of the supernatural abilities of a priest to change a simple piece of bread into God, so the average Catholic is already preconditioned to look for some �sign�. The ex-cathedra statement (the supposition that the pope speaks in place of the Holy Ghost) of the infallibility of the pope was also based on supernatural visions of the epileptic pope Pius IX, who �was morbidly eager to believe his court prelates� stories about visions and prophecies�. His vision of Mary convinced him that she was his ally in this preposterous, anti-scriptural doctrine of infallibility, yet the pope did not consider even once that Peter, out of fear, had erred concerning doctrine and had to be rebuked by Paul. Roman Catholics have their bleeding statues, weeping statues, stigmatics, thousands of visionaries, and the most fantastic fairy tale stories about saints that did not even exist. The hundreds of apparitions of Mary, conveying messages totally contrary to the word of God, are riddled with stories of supernatural miracles �proving that it must be God�. Let me give you an example of a �miracle�.

�The sinner entered, adored the cross, and wept. She returned to the picture: �O Lady� she said, �I am ready; where shall I return to do penance? �Go� said the Virgin, �beyond the Jordan, and thou wilt find the place of thy repose�� (Glories of Mary, 98-99).

�The nobleman went to the church, and on seeing the figure of Mary he felt himself, as it were, invited by her to cast himself at her feet and trust. He hastens to do so, kisses her feet, and Mary, from the statue, extended her hand for him to kiss� (Glories of Mary, 232).

�Not long after his return to Assisi, whilst Francis was praying before an ancient crucifix in the forsaken wayside chapel of St. Damian�s below the town, he heard a voice saying: �Go Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin�� (Catholic Ency., VI, 22).

�The great servant of God, Brother Bernard of Corlien, a Capuchin, did not know how to read, and his fellow religious wished to teach him. He went to ask for advice from the crucifix, and Jesus answered him from the cross: �What necessity for books or reading! I am your book � a book in which you can always read the love I have borne you�� (Devotion of the Holy Rosary, 96).

�Father Bernardine de Bustis relates that a hawk darted upon a bird which had been taught to say Ave Maria...the bird said Ave Maria, and the hawk fell dead. By this Our Lord wishes to show us, that if an irrational bird was saved from destruction by invoking Mary, how much more surely will he be prevented from falling into the power of an evil spirit, who is mindful to invoke Mary in his temptations� (Glories of Mary, 96).

I think Catholics walk by faith in their �miracles�, not by faith in God or His word.

�For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.� (Rom.10:3)

HOLY SPIRIT: "We can grieve the Holy Spirit by disobeying Him. When we disobey Him, He withdraws and does not function in our lives. The Holy Spirit NEVER goes against our free will. God doesn't want puppets or robots."

DEMONS: "Demons bring quick punishment to anyone disobeying them. They are quick to take over and control, ALWAYS trying to usurp the person's free will. Demons love puppets and robots."

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: It seems to me that the Church wants puppets and robots. Historically, the Church has always reacted vigorously and physically, and quickly, against "heretics", which is anyone who disagreed with Rome. The blood on their hands of Protestants and practitioners of any religion other than R/C is evidence of this. Jesus Christ never taught that His Church was to kill people who disagreed with Him; only the pagans do that, and Rome has done it in abundance. As the Pope becomes the False Prophet, supporting Antichrist, he will spill blood again.

FORMER CATHOLIC: One writer estimated that Rome was guilty of the blood of 50-60 million people, but others have estimated it much higher. One thing for sure, Roman Catholicism�s attitude is that she rules over all things.

�There is no king now upon any throne who sets forth his pretensions in more imperious tones than Pope Pius IX.; yet, they crouch at his feet as submissively as the slave at the feet of his task-master. When he insists-as other popes have done before him-that God has given him �full power over the whole world, both in ecclesiastical and civil affairs, and that to maintain the contrary is impious and heretical�.� � (The Papacy And The Civil Power (1876), R.W.Thompson)

�...since the decree of papal infallibility...this means the pope, who represents and absorbs all the authority of the Church...says: �She [Roman Catholicism] is, under God, the supreme judge of both laws, which for her are but one law and hence she takes cognizance, in her tribunals, of the breaches of the natural law as well as of the revealed, and has the right to take cognizance by nations as well as of its breaches by individuals, by the prince as well as the subject, for it is the supreme law for both. The state is, therefore, only an inferior court, bound to receive the law from the Supreme Court, and liable to have its decrees reversed on appeal." "the Roman Catholic religion assumes, as its point of departure, that it is instituted, not to be taken care of by the people, but to take care of the people; not to be governed by them, but to govern them;" and from this stand-point of deadly hostility to the institutions under which he was born, and which allowed him the liberty he was so unpatriotically abusing, it was but a single step to such bold and audacious avowals as the following: "The people need governing, and must be governed....They must have A MASTER....The religion which is to answer our purpose must be above the people, and able to COMMAND THEM....The first lesson to the child is, obey; the first and last lesson to the people, individually and collectively, is, OBEY; and there is no obedience where there is no authority to enjoin it....The Roman Catholic religion, then, is necessary to sustain popular liberty, because popular liberty can be sustained only by a religion free from popular control, above the people, speaking from above and able to command them; and such a religion is the Roman Catholic....In this sense, we wish THIS COUNTRY TO COME UNDER THE POPE OF ROME. As the visible head of the Church, the spiritual authority which Almighty God has instituted to teach and govern the nations, we assert his supremacy, and tell our countrymen that we would have them submit to him. They may flare up at this as much as they please, and write as many alarming and abusive editorials as they choose, or can find time and space to do-they will not move us, or relieve themselves from the obligation Almighty God has placed them under of obeying the authority of the Catholic Church, pope and all."

Will Rome spill blood again? I believe so David. The Western Watchmen, Dec.24, 1908 the Catholics are quoted as saying:

"Protestantism- we would draw it and quarter it.[?] We would impale it and hang it up for the crows to eat. We would tear it with pincers and fire it with hot irons. We would fill it with molten lead and sink it in a thousand fathoms of hell fire."

"The Feb.20, 1994 Denver Post reported that 'an estimated 15,000 people...have been expelled, sometimes at the point of a gun, from their homes and lands because of the religion they practice[?]....The 'expulsados' are evangelicals and other protestants...who were thrown out of their communities by local authorities who are Catholics. One missionary who visited Chiapas State, was told of dozens of brutal attacks on non-Catholics. One woman's house was torched and she was shot in the face with a shotgun when she tried to rescue her children. She escaped through a corn field to another Christian's house who took her three hours on foot to a hospital. Her children were found later either dead in the fire or mutilated by machete blows. When she recovered, she was forced to join a slum camp with thousands of other Christians whose homes had also been confiscated by their Roman Catholic attackers" (Battle Cry, July/August, 1994, 2-4).

�Stunned by the staggering growth of evangelical �sects� in Brazil leaders of the Roman Catholic church have threatened to launch a �holy war� against Protestants unless they stop leading people from the Catholic fold...At the 31st National Conference of the Bishops of Brazil...Bishop Sinesio Bohn called evangelicals a serious threat to the Vatican�s influence in his country. �We will declare a holy war; don�t doubt it,� he announced, �the Catholic Church has a ponderous structure, but when we move, we�ll smash anyone beneath us.� According to Bohn, an all-out holy war can�t be avoided unless the 13 largest Protestant churches and denominations sign a treaty...that would require Protestants to stop all evangelism efforts in Brazil. In exchange, he said Catholics would agree to stop all persecution directed toward Protestants� (Charisma, May 1994).

HOLY SPIRIT: "The Holy Spirit loves us and brings us into eternal life in the presence of God."

DEMONS: "Demons hate us and lead people into eternal destruction separated from God forever in Hell."

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: There is no salvation in the Roman Catholicism doctrine.

FORMER CATHOLIC: Rome teaches that it is the �sin of presumption� to believe you are saved. The whole system is based on working for your salvation even though the word of God says salvation is �not of works lest any man should boast� (Eph.2:8-9). II Corinthians 11:3 says:

�But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the SIMPLICITY that is IN CHRIST.�

When the �keeper of the prison� asked Paul and Silas, � What must I do to be saved?", Paul answered, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ". In a prayer card from Mother of the Savior Seminary, Blackwood, NJ, we get a list of 60 things you MUST DO to be saved:

�Things necessary for salvation: Believing in God; Hoping in God; Loving God; Being sorry for offending God; Adoring God; Aspiring after God; Thanking God; Calling upon God; Being led, restrained, comforted and defended by God; Consecrating all thoughts, words, actions and sufferings to God; Referring all actions to God's Glory; Suffering whatever God appoints; Desiring God's will; Having understanding enlightened, will inflamed, body purified and soul sanctified; Expiating offences, overcoming temptations, subduing passions, acquiring virtues; Loving God's goodness, hating my faults, loving my neighbor, having contempt for the world; Being submissive to superiors, courteous to inferiors, faithful to friends, and charitable to enemies; Overcoming sensuality, avarice, anger and tepidity; Being prudent, courageous, patient and humble; Being attentive at prayer; temperate at meals; diligent in employment, constant in resolutions; Having a pure conscience, being modest, letting conversation be edifying, and deportment regular; Laboring to overcome nature, working with God's Grace, keeping His commandments and working out my salvation; Seeing the nothingness of this world, the greatness of heaven, the shortness of time and the length of eternity; Preparing for death, fearing God's judgments, thereby to escape hell and in the end obtain salvation.�

HOLY SPIRIT: "Jesus loved us enough to die for, and shed His OWN blood for us, paying the price for our purification from sins Himself."

DEMONS: "Demons never shed any of THEIR blood for them, teaching the people that they must do this for their purification so that Satan and the demons can 'bless' them. Or, in the case of Christians, demons brings about all sorts of self-imposed punishment and/or rigid legalistic rules so that 'God' can bless them."

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: Catholic adherents are infamous for their self-imposed punishments in penance designed to get 'God' to bless them.

FORMER CATHOLIC: In The Secret History of the Jesuits, by Paris, we read of the harsh treatment Jesuits inflicted upon themselves:

�To beat or flagellate ourselves, and offer each blow as a sacrifice to God through Mary, to carve with a knife the holy name of Mary on our chest: to cover ourselves decently at night so as not to offend the chaste gaze of Mary; to tell the Virgin you would be willing to offer her your place in heaven if she didn�t have her own; to wish you had never been born or go to hell if Mary had not been born; to never eat an apple, as Mary had been kept from the mistake of tasting of it� (61).

They teach the people that they should do sacrifices to make reparation for sins themselves. The harsher the punishment inflicted on the sinner, the more blessed the individual. This opened the door for some very bizarre self-inflicted abuse by so-called �saints� that is, without a doubt, demonic. In Otis Von Corvin�s book, The Mirror of the Clergy, (a book long on the Vatican�s hit list) he elaborates on the kind of harshness the saints of Rome voluntarily submitted themselves to:

�There were some who had their hands tied behind their backs, apparently driven by a demonic spirit, thinking themselves unworthy to look up to heaven. Others were sitting in heaps of ashes hitting their heads against the ground over and over. Still others cried and wept as if in grief. Some others chastised themselves for not being able to shed more tears. Many refused to nourish their bodies, and when given food they only took a few bites and threw the rest away, triggered by a sense of unworthiness, or they refused to drink but a few drops at a time. Many clad themselves in filthy rags that stank and were full of lice, and often they had self-inflicted wounds. In many cases they spit blood because they had chastened themselves mercilessly. Some of them who were about to die begged not to be buried, but be left to decay like animals. One of these misled souls lived in a cage, never to see the light of day again. Others dug themselves into the hot desert sand right up to their necks. The "holy Eusebius" carried 260 pounds of iron chain and weights at all times. Again, others made vows not to speak to another person as long as they lived, or hopped around on one leg for many years, or they ate grass like an ox. St. Barnabas had a sharp stone embedded in his foot and was suffering excruciating pain, yet he would not allow anyone to remove the stone. Some slept on beds of thorns. Some tried to go along without sleep at all. Simeon, the son of an Egyptian shepherd, ate only on Sundays. Before the meal, he would tie a rope around his waist so tight, that he developed ulcers on his skin that stank so bad that no one wanted to come near him. He came under the illusion that his sufferings were not yet enough, so he came up with an idea to torment his flesh even more. He would go to worship the goddess of the Syrian, Kebele, and stood on top of a 10 foot high pole for several years. The greater the madness, the higher the poles, and at the peak of it he stood on top of a 30 foot pole for close to 30 years. How he managed not to fall off when sleep overcame him is not documented. He managed to fast for 40 days at one time, but because of physical weakness, someone had to tie him with a chain to a pole that was extended from his pole. So you see their highest aim was to trample nature under foot. The God-given sex drive was considered very unchristian-like and was condemned and battled against. Many young men and women went out into the desert to quench their sex drive by tormenting their bodies, not realizing that through this torment the flesh was even more aroused than before. Many made short process of the root of evil by cutting it off. Amongst them was Origen, a Christian theologian and teacher, and many followed in his foot steps, with the majority being priests and lay people, which led to the point where a law had to be implemented to stop this madness. These, and many other stories were told of those who went out away from civilization. It is hard to understand why completely "normal people" would suddenly have the urge to wander away from the simple gospel of JESUS CHRIST and become part of a mystical lifestyle that has every sign of demonic tendency, yet millions followed them to do likewise.�

HOLY SPIRIT: "Jesus paid the price for our sins ONCE and for all [1 Peter 3:18]"

DEMONS: Demons always demand more and more sacrifices. They are NEVER satisfied."

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: Is this the reason R/C's "sacrifice" Jesus Christ over and over again through the Mass? This seems powerful proof that R/C is disguised demonism and paganism. They seem never satisfied with the amount of symbolic Savior's blood they shed in the Mass. While we are speaking of the Mass, there are two things I wish to bring up for your reaction. Doc Marquis, former Satanist Illuminist, boldly stated that R/C is disguised Satanism. He also said that the Mass, when said in Latin, evokes powerful demons; he said that the priests who really knew the 'score' were very upset when Mass began to be said in a language other than Latin. Doc predicted that, soon, the Mass would begin to be said in Latin again, as we approach the appearance of Antichrist. Secondly, in Fox's Book of the Martyrs, I noticed a peculiar occurrence: the average population of R/C seemed to be susceptible to being provoked enmasse, at which point they would fall upon the Protestants and murder them in public. It seems as though several of the most heinous murderous rampages against Protestants occurred after Mass had been said. Is there something within the Mass, maybe tied in with Doc's assertion above, that allows mental programming of the individual adherent, particularly after they had gone to Mass for years and years and years of their life?

FORMER CATHOLIC: I believe when anyone mocks the finished work of Jesus on the cross for our sins, (as in the following quote) they open the door for demons.

"The priest brings Christ down from heaven, and renders Him present on our altar as the eternal Victim for the sins of man - NOT ONCE BUT A THOUSAND TIMES! The priest speaks and lo! Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest's command" (The Faith of Millions, by John O'Brien).

One of the great changes that came about after Vatican II was the �Novus Ordo� (New Order) or �New Mass�. Despite the decree Quo Primum by Pope Pius V on July 19, 1570 which stated:

�We determine and order that NEVER shall anything be added to, omitted from, or CHANGED in this Missal...We specifically warn all persons in authority, of whatever dignity or rank... NEVER to use or permit any ceremonies or Mass prayers other than the ones contained in this Missal ordered by the Sacred Council of Trent...We herewith declare that it is in virtue of our Apostolic Authority that we decree and determine that this our present order and decree is to last IN PERPETUITY AND CAN NEVER BE LEGALLY REVOKED OR AMENDED AT A FUTURE DATE...And if anyone would nevertheless ever dare to attempt any action contrary to this order of ours, given for all times, let him know that he has incurred the wrath of Almighty God and of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul� (The Dawning Of The New Age New World Order, Cutty, 148) (Emphasis mine).

"Never-changing Rome" changed! The mystery surrounding the Latin Mass for some reason appeared �more holy�, and I�m not sure why. I just remember that it had a devastating affect on many Catholic believers who became disillusioned by the lack of mysticism. There remains great division in Catholic circles over this and there is a move to return to the Latin Mass, so it would not be a surprise. The Black Mass is the Latin Mass backwards. What does that mean? It is recognized by authorities that backward-masking can be detected by the subconscious mind. Interesting that the backward masking of the Satanic Mass is the Catholic Mass forward! As for your comment about Doc Marquis' assertion that Roman Catholicism is just disguised Satanism, let's hear what William Schnoebelen, a former high-level Satanist says in his book Lucifer Dethroned:

"...as part of my occult training, I had entered the studies for the Catholic priesthood in the Old Roman Catholic church, and had taken the Minor Orders." (29)

As he advanced deeper into Satanism he had to perform two paradoxical tasks.

"...join the Order of Freemasons and become a Master Mason, then take the higher degrees. The second, oddly enough was was to receive Holy Orders and become a Catholic priest!...This was surprising to me...I knew that Catholics were strictly forbidden from being Masons...It was explained to me that certain 'currents' of occult power flow down through the centuries, chiefly through human lines of succession...The Catholic church, I was told, was the repository of the Petrine (allegedly from St. Peter) current of magickal energy. The Freemasons were the custodians of the Johannine (from St. John) current. Part of the dynamic which truly made ceremonial magick work was that it was the confluence of these different currents of energy. The opposition between the Catholics and the Masons was actually superficial, they explained. At the highest levels, these two sects converge." (54-56)

As to why the priests were upset over the mass not being said in Latin:

"...the Catholic liturgy of the Mass or Eucharist is basically an occult ceremony...white magic...(141) Enochian is the magickal language of Satanism, whereas Latin is its ceremonial language. True magicians know Enochian must be spoken backwards to produce its greatest effect, which is very difficult to do without demonic assistance. I used to have demons which would enable me to speak in several different languages (Greek, Hebrew, German and Latin) which I did not know (except some college Latin). They also enabled me to talk or chant backwards - both in English and Enochian - with little difficulty." (180).

HOLY SPIRIT: "The Holy Spirit gives the desire to read the Bible."

DEMONS: "Demons try to keep people from reading the Bible."

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: Infamous for its attacks on people reading the Bible for themselves. This parallel is striking in proving that R/C is disguised Satanism, don't you think?

FORMER CATHOLIC: Yes David, I agree. Rome is notorious for forbidding her people to read their Bibles, and if by some chance they should, then they are warned not to interpret them. Rome, however, interprets her behavior a little differently:

"It is said that we deprive the Faithful of the word of God, which is the soul's daily bread. We may answer this falsehood by stating that while, indeed the Scripture is our soul's daily bread, Mother Church purportions it to our needs. Just as parents do not give the whole loaf to their children, or a knife with which to cut it lest they injure themselves, so it is the duty of the Church, of the priest or the preacher, to distribute this spiritual bread of the word of God to the people in portions suited to their requirements. It is said that the word of God is the light of the world. Well, indeed do we admit this truth. But we do not place a lighted candle in a child's hands, lest he burn himself" (The Priest, His Dignity and Obligations, "St." John Eubes, 99).

"From all of which it must be abundantly clear that the Bible alone is not a safe and competent guide because it is not now and has never been accessible to all, because it is not clear and intelligible to all, and because it does not contain ALL THE TRUTH of the Christian religion" (Finding Christ's Church, John A. O'Brien, p. 20).

"If occasionally she has seemed to restrict its use or its diffusion this, too, was through an easily comprehensible love and a particular esteem for the Bible, that the sacred book might not like a profane book be made a ground for curiosity, and endless discussion, and abuses of every kind" (Catholic Encyclopedia, XV, 9).

"More than this, parts of the Bible are evidently unsuited to the very young or to the ignorant, and hence Clement XI condemned the proposition that the reading of Scripture is for all. These principles are fixed and invariable but the discipline of the Church with regard to the reading of the Bible in the vulgar tongue (language of the people) has varied with varying circumstances" (Catholic Dictionary, Addis & Arnold, 82).

"Through Luther, although Calvin seems to have been the first to announce Monobiblicism clearly, the Bible became the arm of the Protestant revolt. A DUMB AND DIFFICULT book was substituted for the living voice of the Church, in order that each one should be able to make for himself the religion which suited his feelings. And the Bible opened before every literate man and woman to interepret for themselves was the attractive bait used to win adherents" (Catholic Commentary, 11).

"But nothing was further from the minds of the writers, and of the Apostles generally, then that these writings be gathered together and made into a book, which would be accepted as a complete statement of the doctrine of Christianity. Any one of them would have been shocked had he known that his letters would in time be made use of by heretics in an attempt of usurping the place of the authoritative teacher, the Church of Jesus Christ. That compositions intended to meet certain local circumstances should be accepted everywhere as an infallible guide in faith and morals independent of any authority to interpret them, is distinctly wrong" (Our Faith In The Facts, Donovan, 348).

"Yet it does happen that some devout Christians experience a certain disappointment when they open the Bible. They expect to find uplifting and heartwarming phrases and are faced instead with dry lists of ritual observances, fierce imprecations of some of the prophets and the enigmatic sentences of the Apocalypse -- if not the matrimonial adventures of the Kings. It must be admitted that the Bible in no way resembles a manual of devotion; apart from the Gospels and Sapiential books, it has little to offer the believer nourished on the Imitation or even the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola" (Henri Daniel-Rops, 20th Century Encyclopedia, Vol. 60, 112-113).

"...if the sacred books are permitted everywhere...in the vernacular, there will by reason of the boldness of men arise there from more harm than good" (Council of Trent, recorded in Decrees of the Council of Trent, Schroeder, 273-278).

HOLY SPIRIT: "The Holy Spirit helps us to understand the Scriptures."

DEMONS: "Demons bring confusion. They block a person from understanding the scriptures."

ROMAN CATHOLICISM: Attempts to keep the person mightily confused about the Scriptures, and then try to keep them from reading the Bible for themselves. As I read their doctrines, I am amazed at how confusing they are.

FORMER CATHOLIC: Rev.17:4-5 says:

�And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.�

Babylon means �city of confusion�. This perfectly describes Roman Catholicism, for indeed her doctrines are confusing and deliberately so! Example: Purgatory:

�Roman Catholicism teaches that when we sin we steal from God. If we were to steal from a man we would not only ask his forgiveness but also pay him back, so when we tell God we're sorry we are forgiven the eternal punishment, but we still have to pay God back. This is called the temporal punishment. The eternal punishment, absolved in Confession, is Hell. The temporal punishment may be satisfied by good works, almsgiving, saying indulgenced prayers and bearing our Cross. Temporal punishment not fully paid on earth is completed in purgatory� (Externals of the Catholic Church, Msgr. Sullivan, 376).

The �temporal punishment� of purgatory (i.e. burning lake of fire or as one Catholic apologist said �day at summer school� where �Buddha and Mohammed walk on a beach�) leaves one slightly ignorant on exactly how much suffering is required or sufficient to �purify�, yet they send out literature saying such things as:

�If they�re in Purgatory, they�re all looking to YOU to intercede for them for the alleviation of their sufferings. They need our prayers and indulgences...They can no longer help themselves...It just breaks our hearts to think how some Catholics neglect the suffering souls of their family and friends in Purgatory today....� (Apostolate for Family Consecration, Oct.7, 1996)

When the priests ask you to pay for a Mass to be said for your loved ones who are suffering in purgatory, you�d feel horrible if you did not comply. My own dad often gave money for Masses to be said for his dad. But, as the church is raking in the money for these �suffering souls�, she neglects to remind the paying customer that she cannot assure them that it will in any way help their loved ones!

�I would say that the Catholic church claims no jurisdiction over souls in the other world, and professes absolute ignorance regarding God�s particular application of the infinite merits of the passion and death of His Son to the souls in purgatory. All Masses and prayers for the dead are applied �by way of sufferage� - that is our dependence on God�s secret mercy and will, who in His infinite justice may apply to another soul altogether the Masses said for a certain individual� (Question Box, 1913 Edition, 460-461).

This same nonsense and confusion surrounds the doctrine on indulgences. They used to promise us 300 days out of purgatory if we said a certain prayer. Worse than that, during the crusades they promised plenary (full) indulgence for killing �heretics�!

�The period of the crusade marks a turning point in the history of indulgences, for they were given more and more freely from that time onward...For example at the council of Siena, in 1425, a plenary indulgence was offered to those who took arms against the Hussites; while wars against the Waldenes, Albigenses, Moors, and Turks were stimulated by the same means� (Catholic Dictionary, 442).

Indulgences insult our Lord Jesus Christ by offering a counterfeit substitute for His eternal and perfect satisfaction rendered by His obedience and death which satisfies the justice of God. Another example of Rome�s confusion is Limbo.

"LIMBO is from the Latin word limbus meaning a fringe or border and is the name given to that place on the borders of hell in which the just who died in a state of grace before Christ were detained until our Lord's Resurrection from the dead. Such souls were friends of God but, because the Redemption had not yet taken place, they were still suffering the effects of Original Sin. Heaven not being open to them they were detained in Limbo as not deserving the tortorments of hell, since they were not guilty of personal sin; [Rom.3:23; 5:12] but they had to experience a temporary loss of God. It was into this part of hell that the soul of Christ descended while his body was in the grave after his death. This is the usual interpretation given to I Peter 3:I8-19: �being put to death indeed in the flesh, but enlivened in the spirit, in which also coming he preached to those spirits that were in prison.� This limbo is sometimes called the limbo of the Fathers, that is, the Fathers of the Jewish people, men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, who were detained here. This is to distinguish it from the limbo of children, the place where children go who die without baptism. The existence of the limbo of infants has NEVER BEEN DEFINED BY THE CHURCH, BUT IT IS A CONCLUSION THAT WE ARE LED TO from a consideration of the fact that baptism is necessary for entrance into heaven, while we are reluctant to believe that God will punish those who have never been guilty of personal sin...The inhabitants of this limbo are in a somewhat different position from those who were in the Limbo of the Fathers, for they are in a state of purely natural happiness and know nothing of heaven which is closed to them for ever, whereas the Fathers knew they would attain heaven some day.� (Catholic People�s Encyclopedia, 1966, Vol.2, 627-28)