As a Catholic, I found Dr. Martin's book to be bracing, and yet it never denies that the Catholic Church is truly the institution founded by Christ. Indeed, the first pope(St.Peter) denied Christ three times, and one of the first bishops betrayed his Master and committed suicide!Ultimately, the Church needs to return to the ideal of it's founder, and reject temporal power in exchange for the power of the Spirit.

I can clearly see that the Vatican was not happy to have it's dirty laundry of past evils exposed and by a fellow Catholic of the Society of Jesus. Although I have great respect for the S.J. As religions have come and gone,maybe it is becoming time for the sweet and loving story of Christianity (Child philosophy) to be reviewed as unscientific and to be replaced by true mysticism and science.That knowledge which was once possessed by the ancient priest of Egypt. I have been trying to purchase this book ever since somebody loaned it to me but to no avail. Can anyone find it for me?

As a nonCatholic, I found this book fascinating and extremely readable, which is a wonder in itself. If I were Catholic, I think this book would disturb me with how much corruption has pervaded the Catholic church for centuries. There have been truly truly evil Popes...and they commited their sins in the name of Christ. Hypocrisy oozes from page after page. A Fascinating book

David is a man, tortured and tested, blessed and reviled, diabolical and divine. You will take every step with him and, right or wrong, you will understand the reasons an outlaw becomes King, and why a King falls from grace. Martin enriches the time-worn story with historical social details. Extra-biblical elements add a swash-buckling excitement to the life of a King you thought you already knew.

M. Scott Peck recommends this book in People of the Lie, which is darn good in terms of examining the concept of evil via psychological terms. Peck wasn't able to judge the book's veracity but it gave him a lot to chew on, and did support some of his experiences with evil. I highly anticipated reading it.

On first read, the book seems very authentic. It's detailed, extensive, and offers five strong case studies that offer EXTREMELY likely ways that demonic influence could take hold of a person. (Usually, as with any evil, the victim is partially a willing one, trading his spiritual freedom for some form of emotional security.) Instead of choosing the hard and true road of healing, victims are enticed to go for the "quick fix." This truth and others lend a great deal of credibility to Martin's accounts.

However, on second read, many of the resulting conclusions seem to possess mystical catholic elements (such as the transsexual's case study, where the priest expounds on God's view of gender). These concepts, promoted as spiritual truth, seem too neatly packaged and shed doubt on the authenticity of the events. For example, Martin even treats psychic phenomena apart from demonic influence (even to the point of casting one's spirit back in time) as spiritually feasible according to the Christian faith (see The Tortoise case), yet scripture has little to say of such things. It's purely speculative, yet cast as truth and common knowledge. (Has psychic phenomena TRULY been documented, anywhere?) Martin's psychic philosophy is so highly developed that it makes other similarly fleshed-out theologies in this book sound like the result of Catholic guesswork and mysticism. They're almost parables in function, rather than actual events.

I do strongly recommend this book. I read it at night, and to be honest, it scared the cr*p out of me. If you've got the guts, read it at night; otherwise, you'd do better reading at noon.

The case studies are a great read, and there's a lot of valuable conceptual truth that could easily conform to how possession occurs. But I would remain skeptical of the concrete truth of these accounts, or at least the Catholic mysticism attached to them.

I first came across Malachi Martin's "Hostage to the Devil" at the annual book sale at Milton H. Latter Memorial Library on St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans, Louisiana. I am a Catholic from birth and I have always taken a deep interest in my faith, even in those areas that are considered "old fashioned" or no longer believable. But after reading Martin's book I started saying my prayers much more fervently because he presents the presence of evil as an everyday occurrence in our world. I grew up with the idea that diabolic posession was as shown in the movie "The Exorcist" - namely that the possessed sprout boils on their faces and their heads turn 360 degrees while they fly through the air and spit green pea soup. But through Martin's research I learned that, although unusual effects and occurrences are possible, many cases of partial or complete posession manifest themselves more through the appearance of spiritual confusion, malice, and outright evil deeds. The signs of possession are more in the spirit than in the flesh.
The book is a sober and thought provoking. He avoids sensationalism even when describing events which would seem strange and unusual. But most importantly, Martin gives us clear evidence that evil is not gone, that Satan is not dead- but that he lives now, calling himself, as described by the possessed, the Claimant, the Leader, the Daring One, the Prince, and the Angel of Light. And that he hunts human spirits weak in faith to bind them to his will, and that such a person can be freed only by a great effort of skilled prayer and understanding by a qualified priest of the Catholic Church who retain the powers given to the Apostles to cast out evil spirits in the Holy Name of Jesus the Christ. In each case described in the book, the demons yield, though after a battle, to the power of the Holy Name which they can rarely say, more often calling Him- That Person.
The mechanism and evidence of posession are laid out clearly. "Hostage to the Devil" is necessary reading for all who understand that evil lives in the world and must be fought by faith and goodness.

I picked this book up because Scott Peck recommended it in his book, "People of the Lie." Martin describes the stories after having extensively interviewed everyone involved, even those who have been out of the victims' lives for years. The result is a book of unusual insight, scope, and drama. It paints a frightening picture of the seduction, subtlety, and danger of evil spirits. I have no background in possession. Haven't ever even seen "The Exorcist," but this book has provided me with a new awareness of the force of evil in the world and respect and thankfulness for those who fight it. As Peck said, I am left with more questions than answers. But the book is worth being read by anyone with interest and an open mind. The basic point seems to be that evil will use anything, our minds, egos, intellect, and even our desire for connection with God to get a foothold inside us. Beware of anything that asks you to deny the God of Love and Compassion. Judgment, denial of our dependence on a benevolent God, individualism, atheism, hatred, and most disturbingly, Satanism, are all expressions of evil in the world. Beware of intellectualism that denies the soul. Most importantly, deny a sense of a spirit or voice that asks you to invite it in, "marry" it, or surrender. The power and protection in these situations seems to be Jesus. I'm not a practicing Christian, myself, but this book has made me take a hard look at my spiritual path over the last eighteen years. Finally, never take on evil or a possessed person yourself. It will destroy you. Seek out a Catholic exorcist who will use the power of God and Jesus to banish the spirit. Another reason to read this book is the beautiful prose. Martin's writing reaches a level few authors even aspire to attain. His eloquent prose touches and inspires.

I must admit that I approached this novel with a great deal of skepticism. As a Catholic priest trained in the rather liberal mid-west, I picked it up to read only out of boredom. What I read changed my life. I found Martin's content and style thought provoking to the point that I was often angry--with him! But my anger turned to self-reflection. While I disagree with many of the author's preconceptions, I was nonetheless moved by his story and his conclusions--to the point that I was forced to re-examine my own understanding of the Church and priesthood. I pay this novel the highest compliment in saying that it truly changed my life and moved me to further conversion of heart. I believe that I am a better Catholic and a better priest because I have read it.

As an ecclesiastical insider and official exorcist, the credentials of Father Malachi Martin to write this book are impeccable. Here at last is a credible rationale for the Church's heretofore incomprehensible implosion and which forces and why compelled Roman Catholic prelates and priests ordained before 1967 who support the aftermath of Vatican II to forget the universal vow put in place by St. Pius X that they ALL made preconditional to their ordinations to combat Modernism which, as St. Pius wrote, is the greatest heresy. It answers why warnings one could ordinarily expect of the new 'ism", globalism, the new irreligion, have not been sounded by what remains of the Church, truly a "windswept house", or by any media, secular or otherwise, and left to young people in Seattle, way ahead of most, to finally sound the tocsin.

I have avidly read the Windswept House with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he writes wonderfully well and enables one to open one's eyes to what is going on in the Church. He obviously was a Vatican insider, a man who was familiar with Vatican politics. Although the things that he tells are horrendous, we we should we aware of what's going on. The author did not, as many have suggested, give the impression that he wa against the Pope, but merely wondered whether the present Pope has received "orders" from above to remain passive in the face of certain aspects of the present apostasy within the Church or whether he just wants to vigorously correct these errors (i.e. get rid of some cardinals), but cannot. This last option in itself would be most painful for the Holy Father. I personally do not know the answer is and I do not think I need to know. I trust Peter in whatever he does or says. What is upsetting about Malachi Martin is his rejection of the II Vatican Council, as if it did not happen and as it was all evil. There is even a character in his book who, besides being a hard-headed traditionalists who demands the Pope to change his policies according to what she tells him, is treated as a saint by the author. Nevertheless, having this in mind, Fr. Martin provides wonderful insight into the internal matters of the Vatican and a light into the present situation of the Church. I especially found his explanation of the difference between Catholic doctrine and Masonry very enlightening.

At least in the West we don't tell people how to think, unlike Catholicism and Communism. Besides what has religion ever done for anyone on this planet anyhow? NOTHING! Fear of going to hell is the only thing which compels people to "believe" in Him. Also what kind of omnipotent God would create Satan? Wouldn't a perfect God know that Lucifer would turn evil before he created him, and shouldn't God be able to destroy him then? It doesn't seem like God is very omnipotent. Why did God have to instruct Noah to build an ark to save everyone, couldn't God have just snapped his fingers and made it happen? And how could Noah fit two of every insect, bird, clam, sperm whale, grizzly bear, polar bear, arctic fox, penguin, and whatnot on this planet into his boat? And how did all these animals find their way to Noah's Ark? And where did all these different races of people come from? Did Noah take a black man, white man, yellow man, red man, or whatever on his boat too? Lastly, what kind of fool would believe the Bible is actually God's word? The bible was written by people, and it's been hacked-up, edited, re-printed, and re-translated countless number of times throughout the ages. Bibles are printed in dirty factories and then later sold for profit at KMart, they didn't come from God.

To quote a certain philospher: "There was a time when religion ruled the world, it was called The Dark Ages."

As a lapsed fundementalist, I read this book with some detatchment yet not without interest. I 100% agree with martin's analyis of Marxism/Leninism which is not dead but has for some time now been operating on a cultural front. Martin's take on the reforms of Vatican II, likewise was enlightening --I had only heard about them through the media. I find nothing controversial about this book. If the Christian faith is true, it is to be expected that duplicity and falsehood and worse come with the territory; was not Judas one of the twelve? If on the other hand there is no God then the Roman Catholic church (heirarchy) is the prize, for as Martin suggests it is the sole organization capable of uniting the world. Consider the example of Auguste Comte, one of the founders of sociology and professed atheist, he promoted 'science' and hated the christian religion yet at the same time, he venerated catholicism. (Dostoyevsky's Grand Inquisitor (the Brother's Karamazov)also comes to mind regarding the Roman Catholicism's unique position in the world. Reading this book has not only, increased my admiration for Pope John Paul II, but I also am thankful for the author.

Malachi Martin's work is a veritable "tour de force." With authority (he was one of the world's foremost Vatican Scholars), skill and erudtion he meticulously traces the geopolitical ambitions of Rome from beginning, i.e. Christ's alleged comments to Peter that upon him the church would be built, to end where the Vatican winds up in charge of the One World Government. Martin posits that anyone who was under the age of 70 at the time this book was written would be alive to see the day when the nation-state, as we know it, would cease to exist.

What will be most surprising to most readers is how intimately involved the Papacy is in world politics, all for the purpose of establishing the Catholic Church as the One World Government. (See Revelation 13, 17).

Whether or not Pope John Paul II turns out to be the eventual ruler of the One World Order is irrelevant. Dr. Martin's book goes into exhaustive detail how this Pope, more than any of his predecessors in this century, has worked feverishly to keep the Vatican on the world stage as a major player. Karol Woytila has had a clear-eyed view of what the church's role should be in world affairs dating back to the time when he was a priest during the Second World War working undercover for the US Government. He learned well at the feet of the master in this regard; Stephen Cardinal Wysinzski took the young cleric under his wing during the formative years of his priesthood, and the account of his tutelage of Woytila is spellbinding.

Readers will be fascinated to learn just how much the Vatican was behind the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, and just how closely the US and Vatican work on foreign policy issues.

This book could very well be subtitled "Prophecy Made Clear by Modern Events." John Paul II is the "Servant of the Grand Design;" papal hegemonist ambitions are in plain view. A blockbuster!!

....

The late Dr. Malachi Martin has written, in "Vatican", a lengthy, well-sustained "novel" about the intrigues of the Holy See from 1945 until the mid 1980's. However, in many respects, this is not a work of fiction, legal disclaimers notwithstanding. These are real characters, given false names, but functioning much as they actually did in real life. Around this, is a cleverly woven plot of conspiricy, heresy and murder which is fictional (or at least conjectural in the mind of the author!)

It is clear where Martin's sympathies lay -- and they were not with the modern Church. However, as the book was written in the mid 80's, and Martin very obviously expected Pope John Paul II to die in that time frame, (and considering that Martin himself is now dead), it is impossible to conjecture whether or not he had a real person in mind for his novel's ending.

As a public service, here is a brief comparison between Martin's "fictional" characters, and their real-life counterparts:

Papa Eugenio Profumi -- Pope Pius XII (Eugenio Pacelli)

Papa Angelica -- Pope John XXIII (Roncalli)

Papa DaBrescia -- Pope Paul VI (Montini)

Papa Serena -- Pope John Paul I (Albino Luciani)

Papa Bogdan Valeska -- Pope John Paul II

Paolo Lercano -- Michele Sindona

Roberto Gonella -- Roberto Calvi

Cardinal Buff of Westminster -- Cardinal Hume of Westminster

Metropolitan Nikodim -- Metropolitan Nikodim

Brother Reginald of Zaite -- Brother Roger of Tazie

Benjamin National Bank -- Franklin National Bank

"Problem Two" aka P2 -- Italian Masonic Lodge P2

And the list goes on. . .

All the "fictional" popes in the novel lived exactly as long as their counterparts in real life, died at just the right times (although Martin is colorful about who tried to kill whom when), and did many of the same things. Many of the "fictional" criminals did what their counterparts in real life were accused of doing, etc.

So yes, this is a good novel by itself -- but remember that Martin had an agenda in writing it -- and the agenda was not at all hidden.

This is one of those books that you either get very bored with or which you are totally captivated by. Being a book of over approximately a thousand pages, there may be those that say Malachai Martin has gone into too much detail in many areas, however I feel that with that detail comes a very full reading experience. Mr Martin has written a book that - like no other - captures the intricacies of Vatican politics at the highest levels in a way that is fully interesting. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a full, interesting and informative read. Is a shame that this book is out of print!

DV

Malachi Martin often gets a bad rap from some Catholics for writing conspiratorial novels that are set in the Church, however I found this book incredibly informative and I actually felt that it made my faith even stronger. It's hard to know where the 'fiction' ends and reality begins, but this book is incredibly interesting and I'd recommend it. The little details about life in Rome and the way things work in the Vatican are fascinating. To continue a previous reviewer's work, I'll post a comparison of a few more real-life counterparts that relate to Martin's 'fictional' characters:

Fictional name = Real name:

Cardinal Rollinger = Cardinal Ratzinger

Archbishop LaSuisse = Abp. Lefebvre

Msgr. Sugnini = Msgr. Bugnini

Cardinal Levesque = Cardinal Lercaro

When I ordered these tapes, they were backordered and I waited several months to receive them. They were worth the wait, however, and I have enjoyed playing them. It is good to hear about Father Malachi Martin from the people who knew him.

I was disappointed, however, that this turned out to be 2-1/2 cassettes instead of three. There should have been enough material to fill the second side of the third cassette.

Brian Doran's tribute MALACHI MARTIN: GOD'S MESSENGER, is a worthy ending to the fruitful life of this captivating man, and a splendid beginning to his prodigious legacy. For those who have just discovered the good father, here are the 'footprints' he left behind as he carried his cross along 'the road less traveled,' answering God's call wherever it led him. And what a journey it was:

As a Vatican spy and man of action during the Cold War, he risked his life to smuggle bibles into forbidden, East Block territory. As a US Air Force Chaplain in Turkey, he brought the solace of Christianity to airmen serving far from home. As an exorcist and spiritual warrior for Christ, he endured the soul-scorching onslaughts of preternatural violence--even suffering a heart attack during one particularly difficult exorcism--to free captive souls from the spiritual death-grip of demonic possession.

Father Martin's accomplishments are legion: archaeologist, professor at the Vatican's Pontifical Biblical Institute, successor to the Apostles, historian, best-selling author, Jesuit priest, Christian futurist, translator of the Dead Sea Scrolls, multi-linguist, Vatican diplomat, confidant and aid to three popes, and exorcist. His depth of understanding on many subjects--geopolitics included--was astonishing, as was his uncanny ability to forecast important, world events at a considerable distance out. I once heard an on-air radio interview he conducted with Southwest Radio Church predicting the death--by bullet--of Israel's Prime Minister, Yitsak Rabin--well over a year before it happened!

Like the writings of St. Augustine--which kept the light of the Gospels alive through the Dark Ages that ensued after the collapse of Rome--so too, Fr. Martin's works have kindled the remant flickers of Traditional Catholicism--keeping the trinitarian flames of faith, hope, and love burning in the hearts of many, during the New World Order's 'New Age' of paganism, atheism, and the occult.

'The nightmare of the world-wide collapse of Christianity'--as Fr. Vincent Miceli so aptly described it--is upon us, complete with the spiritual abyss of our very own high-tech 'Dark Age,' moral 'Ice Age,' and mass media 'Tower of Babel.' Fr. Martin believed that we were entering the Great Apostasy, as foretold by the Sacred Scriptures, and it is against this bleak backdrop that he courageously acted--while lesser mortals dared not--towering over the zeitgeist like an Old Testament prophet.

If you know or you are interested in the Vatican world, this is your book. It is a thriller about the Pope and all the people he has around. Of course, it's a novel, but possibly some things in this book are more real than we think.

While I have doubts about the reasons behind Martin's leaving the Order, or his dispensation from Poverty granted him by Paul VI, I have no doubts about his Marxist-Jesuit analogies, his rendition of the liberal French dynasty of theologians, together with the unrest and foment of Central America, which gave rise to Liberation Theology, the downfall of the Holy Roman Catholic Church. When I sit through a Novus Ordo Mass on Sundays, it is much more uplifting for me to think of it as a Supreme Sacrifice of the Mass (as it should be) rather than a "Meal at a Table." The bulk of the reviewers here at Amazon.com are obviously Novus Ordo "Catholics" who despise the truth...that truth that Martin was not afraid to relate in this fairly accurate account of the "downfall" of the Jesuits, the expansion of Marxism (camoflaged as Liberation Theology) through most of Europe and the USA and it's devastating effect of John Paul II's Church. The legacy that Paul VI left John Paul II with has left this current aging Pope quite confused..just look at how many Saints have been canonized in this papacy alone(he doesn't know when to stop!)which leads many to believe that we have no "real" pope currently. Martin paid homage to John Paul II and did die at peace with his God. He gave an accurate account of the damage done by Vatican II, the loss to the Papacy that the Jesuit Order really is, and the dichotomous situation all Catholics now face in the split between Novus Ordo and Traditional Roman Catholicism. And the Jesuits are not Traditional no matter how loud they yell it!. An excellent review but bad reading for the faint of heart...who may not want to read about the truth, but would rather keep their heads in the sands of the Novus Ordo.

In a perfect world, this type of book on the Jesuits would have never been written. But unfortunately, man has a fallen nature and the world is not a perfect place. This also points toward the religious orders. Malachi Martin, a close advisor to Pope John XXIII takes the Jesuit order and exposes this order of men. From the time of the foundation of the Society of Jesus, this order has been scrutinized. But for the first 400 years of their existence, the devil attacked the order from the outside. But in this book, we find that the devil has been able to penetrate the Jesuits and corrupt this order from the inside. Fr. Martin has gone to great pains to give us a fair account of what has occurred throughout the age of Jesuitism. Through his friendship and close relationship to the Vatican hierarchy, Fr. Martin has been able to give very detailed and initmate accounts that no other man could have given us. For many people who are loyal to the Papacy, this book would come to a shock and sadness to their hearts. This book portrays the ugly, but accurate, side of the last 30 years of Jesuitism. From open refusals by the General Superior to submit to the Pope to public tirades by Jesuit priests against the Pope, this order has gone from loyal protectors of the Pope to open dissidents against the Pope. This book may have been written 10 years ago, but to this day, we see the Jesuits continue in their betrayal to the Papacy, from which they derived their existence.

An engrossing account of the history of the Society of Jesus, with two Basques, for a time, the bookends to the story: Inigo (not Ignatius, nor Ignacio, for that matter), who expired in 1556, and Father General Pedro Arrupe, who was removed by Pope John Paul II in October, 1981. Martin is masterful in delineating the conflicts which have beset the order and the papacy (though Martin would no doubt say "The Church") over the centuries, but his book is really concerned with the succumbing of the Society to Modernism - particularly in the guise of Liberation Theology, and the desperate efforts of the last two popes to return the Society to its initial and rightful place as "the Pope's men." Highly recommendable as a basic account by an author of great understanding and erudition, of Jesuitism, "Modernism" as the term is understood in Catholic circles, and Liberation Theology.