LECHERY IN THE CHURCH OF ROME EXPOSED

 

BY RAND WINBURN

 

A Protestant Reformation Publication

 

WARNING: This Treatise contains Roman Catholic Church Latin translations which use explicit language not suitable for the young, the immature, the religious, or the self-righteous.

 

Lechery: "unrestrained, excessive indulgence of sexual desires; gross sensuality; lewdness." (Webster)

 

Lecher: "a man who indulges in lechery; lewd, grossly sensual man." (Webster)

 

The root of both words is Old French, lechier, meaning to live a debauched life.

 It literally means to lick. (Webster)

 

"And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified."

 

"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters….having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication"

 

"And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird."

 

"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."

 

"And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."

 

"For without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie."

 

In these verses from the Revelation, our sovereign Lord has given His Church important clues as to the identity of the false church, Mystery Babylon the Great. It is upon her the wrath of God is destined to be displayed before the unbelieving world. This ministry wishes to expose the identity of this great whore. The Lord wills the true Church know upon whom His righteous judgment must fall. Once her identity is known, we are certain true believers will separate from her, warning others. The Elect who reside in her will awaken and flee. To that end, we have collected data damning to the Church of Rome, her Papacy and priesthood. It is damning because of its scope in time and place, its depth of depravity, and its fulfillment of prophecy foretold the Apostle John. Our research spans centuries and culminates in modern day current events. Every fact is documented so that the reader may ascertain for himself its veracity. If what we present to the reader is unbiased historical fact and not biased fiction, then the reader has but two choices: either (1) ignore the preponderance of damning evidence and testimony; or (2) believe the overwhelming evidence and testimony pointing to the Church of Rome as that doomed, soon to be damned false church depicted as 'Mother' in Revelation 17 & 18.

Furthermore, if this is so, then her head, the Vicar of Christ, can be none other that the very Antichrist, that Man of Sin, the son of perdition, marked out in Scripture as the head of that false Christian body, who usurps the authority and honor due Christ. For the Papacy is unlike any office in professing Christianity. No other dynasty in Christendom has consistently insisted in being declared 'Papa' over the Church Universal, receiving worship and obeisance, (II Thess. 2:3-4). Nor has any other dynasty in Christendom succeeded in this goal. Nor has any other dynasty ruled the Roman Catholic Church. Nor will any other dynasty do so, even until the Day of Christ Jesus.

Additionally, the wretched decay and corruption in the Church of Rome can be attributed, in part, to the passivity of the Papacy in addressing and swiftly dealing directly with the sins of his priesthood and orders. The silence of the popes is a sign of complicity.

We begin our journey into the Church of Rome's bottomless pit of perversion by outlining the decrees of the Ecumenical Church Councils from A. D. 325 through A. D. 1215 which denounced the moral and venal crimes pervading the 'Christian' priesthood.

 

Sexual & Other Crimes of the Clergy Habitual

 as Proven in the Catholic Church Councils

 

By reviewing the public records of history, including the Catholic Church's own Councils, we find that sexual perversity is no new thing for the Church of Rome's nuns, priests and popes. Common sense dictates that the public pronunciation of these crimes, (some of which are unspeakable), by the hundreds of bishops attending these Councils could only have occurred if the crimes in question had reached an unmanageable level. Who would have wanted these sins exposed to public scrutiny if they could have been dealt with in a less high profile fashion? Secrecy is the norm in the Catholic Church. Therefore, we may infer that the ungodly depravity of the hierarchy, priesthood and orders had reached a critical level evident to each convening Council, requiring action of some kind be taken, even if in word only.

Unable to alter the records found in the  innumerable books worldwide which contain this information, the Church of Rome has taken a new tact. Vatican II is their latest official means used to 'soften' their grim historical image as foes of freedom, adversaries of truth, and promoters of promiscuity. Since Vatican II, the Church of Rome has taken an ecumenical approach to winning converts to her fold. Threats of force, torture and death no longer appeal to the laity as a means to compel the lost to salvation through her pope and holy Mother Church. At least for now.

 Because the United States is blessed with free speech and free press, one is able, without difficulty, to research and compile evidence of the innumerable sex crimes committed by those depraved priests and nuns who populate the dioceses, nunneries and monasteries in this and other countries. The 1980's and 1990's has evidenced an alarming trend in the rise of reported rapes, pedophilia, and sexual abuse in general, by the Roman Catholic 'holy' orders. Lord only knows how many victims of the predatory priests and nuns have never reported their abuse to any authorities, or having reported the disdainful acts to the religious authorities, remain cloaked in secrecy, never to be made public by the Church.

There are three main sources the reader may use to confirm the documentation for him or herself: 1) the Internet, using search engines; 2) the library, using numerous book source materials and newspaper indexes; 3) secular bookstores which carry current books on the subject. Don't look for books on this subject in your local Christian Bible bookstore. Censorship is their rule, not their exception.

The writings of the Church Councils themselves, admittedly an unbiased source of information, may be accessed by the reader either through libraries or Internet web sites. For this research the present writer used three sources: Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, Edited by Norman P. Tanner S. J., [London and  Washington, D. C.: Sheed & Ward Ltd. and Georgetown University Press, 1990.]; Disciplinary Decrees of the General Councils, by Rev. H. J. Schroeder, O. P.; [St. Louis, MO and London: B. Herder Book Co., 1937]; and Translations and Reprints from the Original Sources of European History, Vol. IV., Canons and Creeds of the First Four General Councils, [Philadelphia: University of PA Press, circa 1900].

In addition to citing the canons which speak of the illicit sexual practices of its orders, we will also cite those which expose the avarice and simony of the clergy, proving their love of the world and the things thereof. We begin our foray into removing the cloak of the secret past by examining the Council of Nicæa.

 

Council of Nicæa, A. D. 325

 

Canon 1. Self-mutilation incompatible with clerical office.

The discerning reader will immediately understand the thrust of this canon: sadism and masochism form the grounds for salvation for these misguided religious. One is 'saved' by suffering. Or one 'saves' by his own suffering for others. One cannot help but bring to mind the unclean spirit described in Mark 5. Flagellation is proof of demon possession, not the work of the Holy Spirit.

            Canon 3. 'Sub-introduced' women not to dwell with clerics.

Already the religious were engaging in fornication, not taking care to hide their sins from public scrutiny. Efforts were made by the Council to curtail this wicked behavior by limiting the clergy's "house guests" to mothers, sisters or aunts, in order to "escape all suspicion" of wrongdoing. After this decree took effect, it was amazing how many new 'relatives' of the priests materialized.

Canon 9. On inquiry into the character of ordinands.

The official Church was experiencing a deficiency in the moral and ethical character of its priests. They were ordaining idolaters, adulterers, murderers, blasphemers, bigamists, heretics, etc. Despite the ordinand's baptism, confirmation and ordination, it became apparent that the priest's inherent sin nature was unchanged, proving the lie of baptismal regeneration, the lie of Holy Spirit "strengthening" via confirmation, and the lie of the impartation of the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit in their ordination.

            Canon 17. Clerics are forbidden to take interest or devise other schemes of dishonest profit.

Common sense dictates that the clergy would have no money to lend had they truly adhered to the vow of poverty. Instead, the Church hierarchy gained immense wealth through venality, extortion, thievery, and promises of shortened time in Purgatory given the dying penitent, in exchange for his leaving the Church all his possessions. Schroeder tells us the bishops were demanding 50% interest. Thus, we can see the origin of 'loan sharks.'

 

Council of Constantinople, A. D. 381

 

            Canon 6. On accusation against bishops.

Due to the growing number of accusations of evil doings directed toward the ruling bishops by the general populace, certain rules were instituted for the purpose of suppressing truth. Those who held non-Catholic beliefs (i.e., 'heretics', who comprised true Bible-believing Christians), were not allowed to testify against a bishop. But it was the true Christians, called 'heretics,' who abhorred the sins of the established Church, and who went to great lengths to expose them.

 

Council of Chalcedon, A. D. 451

 

            Canon 2. Against simoniacal ordinations

The Dominican Schroeder informs us, "When over and above the ecclesiastical power, the bishops began to exercise also considerable civil power in the community, a power that increased rather than diminished with subsequent centuries, the way was opened for the worst kind of ecclesiastical venality and intrigue. "

            Canon 3. No bishop, cleric or monk shall engage in secular business.

Schroeder quotes Cyprian, who details the greed of the priesthood, "Many bishops…abandon their Churches, desert their people, and wander up and down through foreign provinces scanning the markets for profitable merchandise            ; while their brethren in the Church hunger, they covet money in abundance, seizing lands by deceit and fraudulent practices and increasing their capital by compound interest." [De lapsis, 6]. Does the reader hear echoes of Revelation 18:11-19?

            Canon 4. Against disorderly conduct in monks.

Promiscuity is denounced to those religious who, rather than "embrace a quiet life and attend to fasting and prayer only," continue to attend those places, in secrecy, which they publicly renounced. Although not specified in this canon, common sense dictates such off-limit premises would include whore houses and bars. Once again, we see the inefficacy of the sacraments in the lives of these 'holy' terrors.

            Canon 16. A consecrated virgin and a monk may not marry under penalty of excommunication.

Although most humans are born with the innate desire to love another and to raise a family through the bonds of marriage, the Holy Catholic Church has determined, by its own authority, that such needs, desires and wants shall be declared evil and sinful - unsuitable for serving God in holiness and truth. This canon is but the tip of the iceberg seen in that prophecy of Paul's, in which he declares the doctrines of devils, (I Timothy 4:1-3), predicted to be instituted by Mystery Babylon. It is while 'under obedience' to such unbiblical rules that sodomites, lesbians, pedophiles and adulterers may thrive, undetected for centuries. Of course, such illicit behavior ignores hypocritical vows of chastity, and is contrary to the Christian law of grace.

            Canon 27. Those who forcibly carry off women, also their accomplices, are severely punished.

Both the clergy and laity had a propensity to kidnap and rape women at will. Schroeder illuminates the subject: "The purpose of such abduction was either marriage or, more usually perhaps, the gratification of lusts." Again, we see the inefficacy of the sacraments of the Catholic Church, the 'failure' of the Holy Spirit to lead His own into all truth, and the fulfillment of prophecy in identifying the great whore, the Mother of all harlots.

 

Council of Nicæa II, A. D. 787

 

            Canon 4. Any bishop who extorts gold, silver, or anything else from clerics and monks under his jurisdiction, shall upon conviction be suspended or excommunicated….

Four hundred and fifty years from the first Nicene Council decree against simony and extortion, the evil still persists. This fact is yet another proof of the "falling away" of the once orthodox Roman Catholic/Greek Orthodox Church [see II Thess. 2:3; Rev. 17:4; 18:12]. Let the reader meditate on the centuries of decadent dealings by the Papacy in order to pay for the building of that prostitute, Vatican City-State.

            Canon 16. Clerics should wear modest and unostentatious clothing and not array themselves in gay and showy apparel with silk.

Although the lay people were struggling to make ends meet, the Catholic clergy were able to spend a portion of their filthy lucre on clothing woven with silk, proving they that wear soft clothing are in kings' houses, not the House of God. Here we are drawn, once more, to the image of the woman arrayed in purple and scarlet color described in Rev. 18:12.

            Canon 18. No bishop is permitted to have a woman in his service in the episcopal residence or in the monastery.

As leaders of the Church, bishops were severally chastised for fornication. It was bad enough the lower ranking clergy were fornicators, but bishops were expected to set a better example. Again, we see that 450 years has changed nothing in the sins of the Catholic Church.

            Canon 19. Vows of those presenting themselves for holy orders and for the monastic state are to be made without the exaction of money.

Whenever the clergy saw opportunity to make a buck, they took it, making merchandise out of religion.

            Canon 20. Henceforth no double monasteries shall be erected….Monks and nuns shall not dwell together in the same monastery, for thus adultery finds its occasion. Nor shall one have access to the monastery of the other.

Not surprisingly, as in coed college dorms, fornication was rampant in double monasteries which housed both monks and nuns. Sin had gotten so out of hand that there needed to be an official decree published, for all the world to see, that monks and nuns were transgressing their holy vows, breaking the very commandments of God they promised to uphold. Eleven hundred years later, The Awful Disclosures of Maria Monk detailed that in Montreal, Canada, the fornications and rapes of nuns by priests were alive and well behind closed convent doors.

 

Council of Constantinople IV., A. D. 869

 

            Canon 19. Metropolitans shall not go to the Churches of their subjects, impelled by avarice, abuse their power by imposing heavy [financial] burdens on them, squandering money intended for the poor and other ecclesiastical purposes.

These wicked deeds are ongoing today. The Santa Rosa Press Democrat recently detailed the exploits of the Bishop of the Northern California Diocese. In addition to sodomy, he was found guilty of "mismanaging" $16 million of diocese funds, which had disappeared. [11/11/99; page 1].

            Canon 20. A bishop who possesses Church property shall be deposed if he expels the owner for failure to pay rent without giving him due notice.

At the Council of Chalcedon it was decreed that no religious could partake of secular business enterprise. In contradiction to that canon, the Church now allows bishops to assume the role of 'holy' landlords, legally collecting rents.

 

The First Lateran Council, (Rome), A. D. 1123

 

            Canon 1. Ordinations and promotions for money are devoid of every dignity.

Simony will not go away in the Roman Catholic Church. Council decrees go unheeded, while the public gets fleeced because of the clergy's perpetual love of money over love of God.

            Canon 3. Priests, deacons and subdeacons are forbidden to live with women other than such as were permitted by the Nicæan I Council.

Is the reader beginning to see a pattern? Vows of chastity be damned, these clergymen need their fleshly desires to be met and gratified, no matter the gravity of the sin. Since marriage is illegal, the next best thing is fornication, a much lesser sin in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church.

            Canon 21. We absolutely forbid priests, deacons, subdeacons and monks to have concubines or to contract marriage.

Fornication, then, as now, was the rule, not the exception.

 

The Second Lateran Council, (Rome), A. D. 1139

 

            Canon 1. Anyone simoniacally ordained shall be disposed.

Apparently all the previous Council decrees were not enough to change the clergy's evil ways, so this interdict is enacted once more, in hopes that it will be the last.

            Canon 2. If anyone has obtained promotion simoniacally….the buyer and seller shall be condemned.

Same old, same old.

            Canon 6. Clerics living with women shall be deprived of their office and benefice.

With all the priestly fornication committed century after century, it makes one amazed that there were any untainted men left to administer the sacraments.

            Canon 7. Masses celebrated by members of the clergy who have wives or concubines are not to be attended by anyone.

            Canon 8. This applies also to nuns.

Four out of the first 8 canons deal with the sexual sins of the religious.

            Canon 10. Church tithes may not be appropriated by laymen.

Holy Mother Church needs her tithes and offerings. How else can she build St. Peter's Basilica?

            Canon 13. Usurers are deprived of all ecclesiastical consolation and stigmatized with the mark of infamy and deprived of Christian burial.

The mark of infamy is that Mark of the Beast which deprived the so-called 'heretics' of Christian burial [see Rev.11:9]. Eight hundred years after Nicæa I, there is no abating the greed of the priesthood.

            Canon 21. Sons of priests must be debarred from the ministry of the altar.

Yes, you read right. Priests who fornicate tend to have children, as do the fornicators in secular society. A dispensation is extended to those illegitimate children who become monks or canons regular. I now understand how the Church of Rome was able to staff its many vacant priestly positions - the children of the priests filled the void!

            Canon 23. Those who reject the sacraments are condemned, and the civil power is invoked to restrain their mischief.

This is rich. The pious laity who use their common sense, who despise the overt sins of the priesthood, refusing to partake of the rituals and ceremonies of these wicked religious, are themselves condemned and handed over to the magistrates for punishment. The sinning priests, however, endure no such treatment.

            Canon 24. Sacramentals shall be gratis.

Yet more evidence of simony by the priests, by whatever means are at their disposal.

            Canon 26. Women who pretend to be nuns are forbidden to live in private houses and receive strangers and persons of little faith.

Herein lies a classic. Whore houses were being erected under the nose of the Papacy, posing as nunneries. Although priests were forbidden to live with nuns and other women, would it not be more prudent to visit these holy 'nuns' to give them opportunity for an occasional 'confession'?  Schroeder, in an aside, muses, "from the character of the guests they entertained, left themselves open to well-grounded suspicion regarding their morals."

            Canon 27. Nuns may not sing the divine office with the canons or monks.

"The reason for the prohibition it contained arose from abuses that had found their way into certain monasteries. It does not seem to have had the desired effect," says Schroeder. The nuns and monks were not stupid. Any excuse for these sex-starved religious to meet and make a 'love connection' was good enough for them…choir practice, confession, dining together, basket weaving, idol engraving…..

 

The Third Lateran Council, (Rome), A. D. 1179

           

Canon 7. It is simoniacal to exact fees for the installation of bishops, abbots, etc.; also for burials, nuptial blessings, and for the administration of the other sacraments.

Religion was big business in the Church of Rome. Today it is still big business, the evangelical community at-large notwithstanding.

            Canon 10. Money may not be demanded from monks on their entrance into the monastery. They may not have private property and must live the common life…..

Exchanging cash for grace has been commonplace in the Catholic Church for centuries as is evidenced by these repeatedly published disciplinary canons - canons which have done absolutely no good in curtailing the evil practice.

            Canon 11. Clerics in sacred orders who keep in their houses any women for unchaste purposes, must either dismiss them and live continently or be deposed from office and deprived of their ecclesiastical benefice. Anyone found guilty of that incontinence, which is against nature, on account of which came the anger of God upon the children of unbelief and destroyed by fire five cities, if he be a cleric, let him be deposed from the clerical state or sentenced to a monastery to do penance; if a layman, let him be excommunicated and completely cut off from the communion of the faithful. Moreover, if any cleric shall presume to frequent the monasteries of nuns without necessity, let him be warned of the bishop……….

The sexual sins of the Church of Rome know no bounds. Charges that clerics keep women for sex, commit sodomy and pedophilia is now openly reported for the first time in an ecumenical council. Visits by clergy to nunneries for the purpose of fornication has not abated. Today, 925 years later, these same sex crimes of the Catholic Church occur on such a regular basis, it is nothing less than incredulous that there are any 'faithful' left in subjection to the Church.

            Canon 13. Several churches are not to be conferred on one person……

Imagine playing Monopoly with churches. This is what the bishops did. They collected churches like Monopoly pieces, extracting much revenue from rents, tithes, indulgences and Masses for the dead. Lateran III said, "That's a no, no." Does the reader believe for a moment the bishops obeyed?

 

The Fourth Lateran Council, (Rome), A. D. 1215

 

            Canon 6. [T]he metropolitans….should be actuated with a genuine fear of God in correcting abuses and reforming morals, especially the morals of the clergy……

            Canon 7. No custom or appeal shall hinder prelates from correcting abuses and morals of their subjects, especially of the clergy, lest their blood be demanded at their hands……

            Canon 8. Reports of serious irregularities by prelates and inferior clerics must be investigated by the superior…..

One can only wince at the depraved nature of the mysterious 'serious irregularities.'

            Canon 14. That the morals and general conduct of clerics may be better reformed, let all strive to live chastely and virtuously, particularly those in sacred orders, guarding against every vice of desire, especially that on account of which the anger of God came from heaven upon the children of unbelief….Anyone suspended for incontinency who presumes to celebrate the divine mysteries, shall be forever deposed.

Fifty years and two generations after the Third Lateran Council, sodomy and pedophilia is still problematic in the holy apostolic Catholic Church. Priests who commit sexual sins are prohibited from "creating" Jesus Christ in the celebration of the Eucharist. This canon has been forgotten by the modern-day Catholic Church. They are infamous for simply shuffling the pedophile/fornicating/sodomite priest from parish to parish, where he still "creates" the Real Presence of the Body and Blood of the Lord.

            Canon 15. Clerics who do not abstain from drunkenness after being warned shall be suspended from their office and benefice. Nor shall anyone be encouraged to drink, for drunkenness banishes reason and incites to lust…..

Mind you, these rebukes come from friendly quarters, not from Protestants.

            Canon 18. Clerics may neither pronounce nor execute a sentence of death.

Like the Pharisees before them, the Roman Catholic hierarchy determined that the their hands would be innocent of shedding blood by handing the 'heretics' over to the secular Catholic authorities for execution.

            Canon 27. Incompetent persons must not be promoted to the priesthood or given the direction of souls.

If only the Church of Rome had followed her own advice before electing Innocent IV, Boniface VIII, Leo X, Alexander VI, John XXIII, and the numerous other wicked Antichristian popes.

            Canon 31. Illegitimate sons of canons may not be appointed to churches in which their fathers serve.

Need we say more of the sins of the fathers?

            Canon 54. The payment of tithes takes precedence over the payment of taxes and other expenses and those who invert this order are to be punished.

Kenneth Copeland and Fred Price would be proud of this canon.

            Canon 62. Relics are not to be sold or put on exhibition, lest the people be deceived in regard to them.

In our community just recently, the alleged bones of 'St.' Therese of Lisieux were displayed, to the rapture of thousands of almsgiving believers.

            Canons 63-66. More disciplinary measures for simoniacal clergy, who demand money for religious services rendered.

            Canons 67-70. Religious intolerance directed at the Jews.