Indeed, the purpose is not merely defensive, but rather to arm Catholic youth against the seductions of secret associations which, under guises of light and benevolence, lead souls to perdition (Dillon, 1885). The necessity of such an exposition is pressing, for the adversary employs secrecy, fraud, and deceit, initially presenting himself as an angel of light in order to gradually draw man away from God and the Church. The work, therefore, fulfills the pastoral duty of unmasking the artifices of these societies and revealing the depravity of their opinions and the wickedness of their acts, as exhorted by the Supreme Pontiff.
🔥The Seed of Evil: Voltaire and Militant Atheism
The book's central thesis is audacious and comprehensive. The work argues that modern atheism, far from being a mere philosophical development, is an organized and malevolent force at war with civilization. The author identifies its point of origin in the skepticism that followed the Protestant Reformation, finding its first great apostle in the figure of Voltaire. This man, described as the most perfect incarnation of Satan the world ever saw, dedicated his life and his prodigious literary talent to a single end: the destruction of Christendom (Dillon, 1885). For the author, Voltaire's famous battle cry, "Écrasez l'infâme!" ("Crush the wretch!"), was not just a literary expression, but the strategic objective of a deliberate campaign to destroy Christ and His Church. This determination was so profound that he went so far as to declare: "I am tired of hearing it said that twelve men sufficed to establish Christianity, and I desire to show that it requires but one man to pull it down" (Dillon, 1885, p. 9). His methodology knew no scruples, adopting lying as a virtue when it served his ends and hypocrisy as a tool, even receiving communion to secure a royal pension.
🏛️The Instrument of Subversion: Freemasonry as a Vehicle
The vehicle for this campaign, according to the narrative of the work, is Freemasonry. The book postulates that Voltaire and his disciples saw in the Masonic lodges, with their oaths of secrecy, their hierarchical structure, and their international reach, the perfect tool to disseminate their anti-Christian ideas. Freemasonry, with its facade of philanthropy and vague deism, embodied the same hypocrisy and deceit that characterized its great apostle (Dillon, 1885). It served as an "antechamber" (Dillon, 1885, p. 75), attracting men with promises of brotherhood and mutual aid, only to then, in the higher degrees and inner circles, reveal its true purpose: the subversion of faith and social order. The work delves into the origins of Freemasonry, linking it to figures such as the Socinians and their conspiracy in Vicenza to destroy Christianity, Oliver Cromwell, and even the Knights Templar, suggesting a long history of hidden opposition to the established order. The allegory of rebuilding Solomon's Temple is interpreted as the restoration of a pre-Christian state of nature, where a leveling equality and a vague deism would replace the divine order revealed by Christ (Dillon, 1885).
👁️The Perfection of the Conspiracy: The Illuminism of Weishaupt
The turning point in the conspiracy, according to the author, occurs with the rise of Adam Weishaupt and the creation of "Illuminism." Weishaupt is portrayed as the organizing genius who unified the diverse factions of Freemasonry under a single command and purpose. He created a secret order within Freemasonry, designed to control the entire fraternity from its "inner circle." His method was of a diabolical cunning: initiates were gradually desensitized from their faith, passing through degrees like the "Minerval," where religion was subtly ridiculed, until they reached the higher degrees, such as "Epopte" or "Priest," in which the final secret was revealed. At that point, the initiate was informed that the religion of Christ was "nothing else than the work of priests, of imposture, and of tyranny," and that the true goal of the order was to deliver humanity from "all religion" (Dillon, 1885, p. 33-34). The book points to the "Convent of Wilhelmsbad" (1781, not 1782) as the crucial moment where this illuminated masonry formalized its plan, culminating in the orchestration of the French Revolution.
👑The Fruits of Revolution: From Napoleon to the Alta Vendita
From there, the work traces a direct line of succession and influence. The French Revolution and the rise of Napoleon are not seen as isolated historical events, but as the first bloody fruits of the conspiracy. Napoleon, far from being a restorer of order, is presented as a child of the Revolution and an instrument of Freemasonry, which used him to redraw the map of Europe and weaken the Catholic monarchies. Proof of his loyalty to the sect is his proclamation in Egypt, where he professed love for the Koran and for Mohammed, demonstrating the same hypocritical indifference to all religion that the sect inculcates in its adepts (Dillon, 1885). However, when his power became a threat to the sect's universal republican goals, he was betrayed and abandoned to his fate on St. Helena.
After the fall of Napoleon, the command of the conspiracy, according to the author, passes to an even more secret and powerful supreme directory: the Alta Vendita, the ruling circle of the Italian Carbonari. The work dedicates a substantial part of the book to exposing the documents and strategies of this organization, which advocated not only for violent revolution, but for a slow infiltration and moral corruption of society, of the youth, and, above all, of the clergy, with the ultimate goal of electing "a Pope according to our needs." The "Permanent Instruction of the Alta Vendita" details this plan, advising its members to "lay your nets like Simon Barjona... in the depths of sacristies, seminaries, and convents" to fish for a "Revolution in Tiara and Cope" (Dillon, 1885, p. 71). The strategy of corruption en masse, in preference to individual assassination, is made explicit in the letter from "Vindex" to "Nubius": "Make vicious hearts, and you will have no more Catholics... The best poniard with which to strike the Church is corruption" (Dillon, 1885, p. 81-82).
🇬🇧The Hidden Grand Patriarch: Lord Palmerston and Global Dominion
Perhaps the book's most surprising claim is the identification of the British statesman Lord Palmerston as the successor to "Nubius," the mysterious head of the Alta Vendita. The work reinterprets Palmerston's entire foreign policy (his support for Italian unification, the weakening of Austria and the Pope's temporal power) not as actions for British interests, but as calculated moves to advance the global Masonic agenda. His policy, which left Great Britain isolated and without allies, is seen as inexplicable and suicidal from the perspective of national interests, but perfectly logical when understood as the work of the supreme chief of the European revolution, who sacrificed his country to the projects of the sect he governed (Dillon, 1885).
☘️Infiltration of the Faithful Nations: The Case of Fenianism
Finally, the work turns its gaze to the English-speaking world, arguing that even British Freemasonry, apparently more benign, is a dangerous gateway and is, consciously or unconsciously, in the service of the same ends. Its blasphemous oaths, its secret structure, and its inherent hostility to the authority of the Church make it intrinsically evil and a danger to the soul (Dillon, 1885). Fenianism in Ireland is presented as another Masonic attempt to corrupt the Catholic faith of the Irish people under the guise of patriotism. It is described as "Black Masonry" in its essence, a movement that, while seeming to fight for Ireland's freedom, actually worked to sow discord between the people and their clergy, the main pillar of the faith, thereby weakening the nation in its spiritual fortress (Dillon, 1885).
⚔️Conclusion: The Reality of the Spiritual War
"The War of Antichrist" is a polemical work, written with the urgency of one who believes he is revealing a vital and hidden truth. To dismiss its warnings as mere "theory" would be a perilous mistake. The documents presented and the coherence of the events that followed demonstrate a unity of purpose and a continuity of action that cannot be attributed to mere chance. To ignore the existence of a hidden, organized directory is precisely what allows the conspiracy to advance unopposed (Dillon, 1885). The author does not write with the distance of an academic, but with the fervor of a missionary who sees the world divided into two clear battlefronts: the forces of Christ and the Church against the multifaceted and secret organization of the Antichrist. It is a dense and provocative read, offering a window into a worldview where history is not a succession of accidents, but the unfolding of a spiritual war of cosmic proportions. It is, above all, a call to vigilance, so that God's elect may not be deceived by the artifices of an enemy who hides in plain sight.
📚References
Dillon, George F. The War of Antichrist with the Church and Christian Civilization. Dublin: M. H. Gill & Son, 1885.