The Reverend Malachi Brendan Martin | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1921-07-23)23 July 1921 Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland |
| Died | 27 July 1999(1999-07-27) (aged 78) New York City, U.S. |
| Pen name | Michael Serafian |
| Occupation | Biblical archaeologist Catholic priest Exorcist Novelist Professor Theologian |
| Nationality | Irish,American |
| Relatives | F. X. Martin (brother) |
Malachi Brendan Martin (23 July 1921 – 27 July 1999), also known under the pseudonym ofMichael Serafian, was anIrish-born AmericanTraditionalist Catholic priest,biblical archaeologist,exorcist,palaeographer,professor, andwriter on theCatholic Church.
Ordained as aJesuit, Martin became Professor ofPalaeography at thePontifical Biblical Institute in Rome. From 1958, he served as secretary to CardinalAugustin Bea during preparations for theSecond Vatican Council. Disillusioned by the council, Martin asked to be released from certain aspects of his Jesuit vows in 1964 and moved toNew York City.
Martin's 17 novels and non-fiction books were frequentlycritical of theCatholic hierarchy, who he believed had failed to act on what he called "the Third Prophecy" revealed by theVirgin Mary atFátima.[1] His works includedThe Scribal Character of theDead Sea Scrolls (1958) andHostage to the Devil (1976), which dealt withSatanism,demonic possession, andexorcism.The Final Conclave (1978) was a warning againstSoviet espionage in the Vatican.
Martin was born inBallylongford,County Kerry,Ireland, to a middle-class family[2] in which the children were raised speakingIrish 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 attendedBelvedere College in Dublin, then studiedphilosophy for three years atUniversity College Dublin.[4] On 6 September 1939, he became anovice with the Society of Jesus.[5] Martin taught for three years, spending four years at Milltown Park, Dublin, and wasordained in August 1954.[6]
Upon completion of his degree course in Dublin, Martin was sent to theCatholic University of Louvain in Belgium, where he took a doctorate inarchaeology,Oriental history, andSemitic languages.[4] He started postgraduate studies at both theHebrew University of Jerusalem and at theUniversity of Oxford. Martin specialized inintertestamentary studies,Jesus inJewish andIslamic sources,Ancient Hebrew andArabic manuscripts.[4] He undertook additional study inrational psychology,experimental psychology,physics, andanthropology.[1]
Martin participated in the research on theDead Sea Scrolls and published 24 articles onSemiticpalaeography.[7][8] He did archaeological research and worked extensively on theByblos syllabary in Byblos,[9][page needed] inTyre, and in theSinai Peninsula. Martin assisted in his firstexorcism while working inEgypt for archaeological research.[10] In 1958, he published a work in two volumes,The Scribal Character of the Dead Sea Scrolls.[11]
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 withMonsignor George Gilmary Higgins andFather John Courtney Murray.[2]
In Rome, Martin became a professor at thePontifical Biblical Institute, where he taughtAramaic, Hebrew, palaeography, andSacred Scripture. He also taughttheology, part-time, at Loyola University Chicago'sJohn Felice Rome Center. Martin worked as a translator for theEastern Orthodox Churches and Ancient Oriental Churches Division of theSecretariat for Promoting Christian Unity under Bea. Martin became acquainted with Jewish leaders, such asRabbiAbraham Joshua Heschel, in 1961 and 1962.[12] Martin accompaniedPope Paul VI on a trip toJordan in January 1964. He resigned his position at the Pontifical Institute in June 1964.[2]
In 1964, Martin requested a release from hisvows and from theJesuit Order.[4] He received a provisional release in May 1965[2] and adispensation from his vows of poverty and obedience on 30 June 1965[2] (cf.qualified exclaustration). Even if dispensed from his religious vow ofchastity, 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 toNew York City in 1966, working as adishwasher, a waiter, andtaxi 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]
In 1967, Martin received his firstGuggenheim Fellowship. In 1970, he published the bookThe Encounter: Religion in Crisis,[4] winning theChoice Book Award of theAmerican Library Association.[13] He then publishedThree Popes and the Cardinal: The Church of Pius, John and Paul in its Encounter with Human History (1972) andJesus Now (1973). In 1970, Martin became anaturalizedU.S. citizen.[14]
In 1969, Martin received a second Guggenheim Fellowship, allowing him to write his first of fourbestsellers,[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 theNational Review[16][17] from 1972 to 1978. He was interviewed twice byWilliam F. Buckley, Jr. forFiring Line on PBS.[18] He was an editor for theEncyclopædia Britannica.[19]
Martin published several works of fiction and non-fiction in the following years:
His other works included:
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]
Martin was a periodic guest onArt 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'sThe 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 byWindswept 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 someTraditionalist Catholic sources and severely criticized by other sources, such as theNational Catholic Reporter.[22][23][24] Martin served as a guest commentator forCNN during the live coverage of the visit ofPope John Paul II to the United States in October 1995.
In 1999, Malachi Martin died inManhattan of anintracerebral haemorrhage, four days after his 78th birthday. It was caused by a fall in his apartment in Manhattan.[citation needed] The documentaryHostage to the Devil claimed that Martin said he was pushed from a stool by a demonic force.[citation needed]
Martin's funeral took place inSt. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church inWest Orange, New Jersey, before burial atGate of Heaven Cemetery, in Hawthorne, New York.[citation needed]
In 1964, under the pseudonym of "Michael Serafian", Martin wroteThe Pilgrim: Pope Paul VI, the Council, & the Church in a Time of Decision. The book contained Martin's views onthe Jewish question in Europe and on theSecond Vatican Council. Martin's fictional works purported to give detailed insider accounts ofChurch history during the reigns of PopesPius XII, John XXIII, Paul VI (The Pilgrim, Three Popes and the Cardinal, Vatican: A Novel[15]),John Paul I (The Final Conclave[15]) andJohn Paul II (The Keys of This Blood,Windswept House).
Martin often spoke and wrote about theThree Secrets of Fátima and was an ardent supporter of FatherNicholas 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 imperilled world. Father Gruner is absolutely correct that the consecration ofRussia as Our Lady desired, has not been executed".[25] According to Martin, the unreleased third secret of Fatima was that theSoviet Union would beconverted 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]
Martin did not believe in the alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary atMeđugorje in what is todayBosnia and Herzegovina. He said that false pretenses were used in obtaining earlier his recommendation.[27] Concerning theGarabandal apparitions, he remained open minded.[28]
In March 1997, Martin claimed onRadio Liberty'sSteel on Steel, that two popes were murdered during the 20th century:
Martin stated that, along withdiabolic possession,angelic possession also exists and that angels could have use ofpreternatural powers in certain circumstances.[29][unreliable source?][30]
Martin partially gave credence to theSiri thesis, saying that CardinalGiuseppe Siri was twice elected pope inpapal conclaves, but declined his election after being pressured by so-called worldly forces acting through cardinals present at the conclaves. Martin called thisthe 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]
Martin claimed that John XXIII and Paul VI wereFreemasons during a certain period and that photographs and other detailed documents proving this were in the possession of theVatican State Secretariat.[31] Heallegorically mentioned these supposed facts in his 1986 novelVatican: A Novel, where he related the Masonic adherence of Pope Giovanni Angelica and Giovanni De Brescia.[13] Martin also claimed that ArchbishopAnnibale Bugnini was a Freemason and thatAgostino Casaroli, long-time Cardinal Secretary of State, was anatheist.[31]
In his 1987 bookThe Jesuits, Martin describes negotiations and a diplomatic agreement betweenthe Vatican and theUSSR named the "Moscow Vatican Pact of 1962" or the "Metz Pact". In this "little-known" agreement, the Vatican allegedly promised non-condemnation ofSoviet Communism orMarxism in exchange for the participation ofRussian-Orthodox prelates as observers at the Second Vatican Council.[34] Description of this incident was embedded as background within a larger discussion of a meeting at the Vatican in the middle of spring 1981 betweenPope John Paul II and his six most powerful cardinals.[35] In his bookThe Final Conclave, published on 1 August 1978,[36] the month of the1978 conclave that resulted in the 26 August election of Albino Luciani, Martin wrote of the unexpected election of aCardinal Angelico, a figure that has been interpreted as corresponding to Luciani.
There are several allegations made against Martin of having affairs with women:
TheTraditionalist Catholic websiteDaily Catholic said in 2004 that FatherVincent O'Keefe, formerVicar General of the Society of Jesus and a past President ofFordham University, stated that Martin had never beenlaicized. According to this report, O'Keefe stated that Martin had been released from his Jesuit vows except forchastity.[41]
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]
TheDaily 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 bookThe Jesuits, which accused the Jesuits of deviating from their original character and mission by embracingliberation theology.[43][failed verification]
During a videotaped memorial titledMalachi 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 ofEastern Europe and the Soviet Union. Coomaraswamy died in 2006.[44][45][46]
Journalist Joseph Roddy alleged — in a 1966Look Magazine article about the debate about Jews during the Second Vatican Council[51] — that one and the same person under three different pseudonyms had written or acted on behalf of Jewish interest groups, such as theAmerican Jewish Committee, to influence the outcome of the debates. Roddy wrote that two timely and remunerated 1965 articles were penned under the pseudonymF.E. Cartus, one forHarper's Magazine[52] and one for the American Jewish Committee's magazineCommentary.[53]
In his 2007 bookSpiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, Edward K. Kaplan confirmed that Martin cooperated with theAmerican Jewish Committee during the Council "for a mixture of motives, both lofty and ignoble...[He] primarily advised the committee on theological issues, but he also provided logistical intelligence and copies of restricted documents." It is confirmed in the book that Martin used the pseudonymsForest andPushkin.[12] Kaplan acknowledges thatThe Pilgrim by Michael Serafian, was requested from Martin by Abraham J. Heschel, who arranged for the book to be published byRoger W. Straus, Jr.'sFarrar, 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 the author was revealed, it led to protests "and the book had to be removed from circulation at a 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 forLook Magazine, and thatO'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]
Elsewhere, Martin admitted some of his work involved intelligence gathering behind theIron Curtain and throughout theMiddle 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]
Rumours appearing on various Catholic orsedevacantist websites[55] and magazines[56] alleged that Martin hadJewish ancestry that descended fromIberian Jews who migrated toMedieval Ireland and theKingdom of England in the 15th century, and also alleged him being anIsraeli spy[29][unreliable source?] because of his first name,Malachi, after a Hebrew prophet and his extensive travels in theLevant. 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 anEnglishman who moved to Ireland and that Martin's mother wasIrish on both sides. Fr. Rama Coomasrawamy confirmed this independently.[44] TheIrish language nameMaélsheachlainn is usually anglicized as "Malachy", andSaint Malachy was a 12th-century Irish Catholic saint.
Claims that Martin features as a curial monsignor in fullregalia on a prominent photograph next to John Paul I and his assistantDiego Lorenzi appeared on the Internet.[58] The photograph, published in David Yallop'sIn God's Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I as number 28 between pages 120 and 121, shows a "Monsignor Martin", visibly different from Malachi Martin.[59] This is a case ofmistaken identity: the cleric in the photograph wasJacques-Paul Martin,Prefect of the Casa Pontificia from 1969 to 1986.[60][61]
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