War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian Civilization

Hypothesis on the French Revolution authored a similar book in 1797, entitled Proofs of a Conspiracy Following the French Revolution society and politics across Europe began to change in a very radical way by the end of the 18th century. In an attempt to explain and understand this, several prominent authors and theorists released books on the topic. For instance Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France (1790) and Joseph de Maistre's Considerations on France (1796). Some asserted vividly that the French Revolution was the result of a deliberate conspiracy or plot to overthrow the monarchy, the Church and aristocratic society in Europe, allegedly hatched by a coalition of philosophes, Freemasons and the Order of the Illuminati. The conspirators created a system that was inherited by the Jacobins who operated it to its greatest potential. The two best-known authors of the latter "New World Order" theory are French Jesuit priest Augustin Barruel, who authored the Memoirs Illustrating the History of Jacobinism in 1799. Robison's book released in 1797 was called Proofs of a Conspiracy against All the Religions and Governments of Europe, carried on in the Secret Meetings of the Free Masons, Illuminati, and Reading Societies. In recent memory, the Papal States had been invaded and annexed by the new Kingdom of Italy, which left the Pope a prisoner in the Vatican. The Church had become aware of the secret societies such as the Carbonari and warned the public against them in encyclicals for their strongly anticlerical and antisocial nature. A document was unveiled named the Alta Vendita, purportedly produced by the highest lodge of the Carbonari. It detailed a plan for long-term subversion of the Catholic Church by political liberalism, with the goal of promoting religious indifferentism, gradually eating away at Catholic dogma from within, to leave the Church a mere shell. Both Pope Pius IX and Pope Leo XIII requested for the document to be published to the general public. Indeed, Leo XIII called for the faithful to "tear away the mask from Freemasonry" in his encyclical Humanum genus published in 1884. ==Chapter titles in 1885 print==

Following the main text are sixteen pages of advertisements and newspaper reviews. ==Differences in versions==

There are several differences between the original and republished work such as the latter omitting the last four chapters and renaming and reworking the first chapter. The original contains a foreword by an unnoted author, a letter of endorsement from Pope Leo XIII dated 6 September 1885 and one signed 'JOHN CARDINAL SIMEONI, Prefect.' then below marked with a cross pattée 'D. Archbishop of Tyre, Secretary.' and dated 25 August 1885; they were omitted when reprinted in 1950. Instead, the work starts with a short publisher's foreword then a foreword signed 'Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp., Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, June 15, 1950.' The first chapter has been lightly edited to remove spurious greetings and comments on the hall in which the speaker delivers his lecture as well as remarks on the establishment of local Catholic organisations. The final four chapters are instead replaced by a 'conclusion' dealing largely with the subject of Ireland. Chapter XXIII, 'The sad fate of the conspirators', makes the claim that most Irish peasants refused to take aid from charities that demanded apostasy from the Catholic church, as part of its main theme that a righteous death is better than an unholy life. Chapter XXIV, 'triumph of the Irish faith', talks about the long and proud history of Catholic Ireland and predicts Ireland will be instrumental in the coming battle between Catholicism and Masonry. Chapter XXV includes praise for contemporary Catholics who are working to expose and eradicate heresy, including Leo XIII and the Society of Jesus. The final chapter talks again about Irish piety, especially of Irish immigrants, but also claims poverty among Irish Catholics is from drunkenness and argues an abstinent Ireland would be free from the influence of secret societies. ==Synopsis==

Rise of atheism into Illuminism . French Revolution and Bonaparte Nubius, Palmerston and Mazzini ==Reception and legacy==

The work was granted nihil obstat status on 3 May 1885 by W. Fortune of the Censor Theologus Deputatus and a licence to be printed, an Imprimatur, the following day by Gulielmus J. Canon Walsh, Vic. Cap. Dublin. In a letter dated 5 September 1885 and printed in the preface to the book, Leo XIII expresses his belief in the importance of the work and grants an Apostolic Benediction to its author. The letter is followed by one from Cardinal Simeoni, Prefect Of The Sacred Congregation Of Propaganda, now called the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, expressing his gratitude for the advantage this work will provide in his task of spreading Catholicism. ==See also==