Malachi Martin QUESTION from Brien Boru August 12, 2001 Dear Brother,
I am very interested in reading your expose on Malachi Martin. While I do not count myself as one of his groupies I have read many of his books and corresponded with him before he passed away. While I did not agree with all his viewpoints and have come to realize as of late he may have been in schism, I still give him a partial credit in bringing me closer to my faith. One of his books made me realize the need for good priests and brothers in todays world. The larger part of the credit goes to the Blessed Virgin and the Holy Spirit though.
I am in the process of entering into Roman Catholic religious life, and would appreciate any insights you could give me on this man. I have written to you before and value your opinion as you are up on the church and a consecrated person,where as I am not even a postulant yet, and clearly not as well read.
Yours in Jesus Christ, Brien Boru
ANSWER by John-Paul Ignatius, OLSM on August 19, 2001 Dear Mr. Boru:
God can work wonders through anyone -- even through a reprobate like me. God can also work through Mr. Martin even though he apparently lost a portion his Catholic Faith and scandalized the Faithful.
Mr. Martin was, in my view, mostly a entrepreneur, not a spiritual leader or legitimate authority on the Church. Most of his actions, speeches, interviews, etc. were well scripted not to reflect the truth, but to reflect the selling of books through the exploitation of the fears and insecurities of the public. One could read a textbook of all the tricks of the trade to sell books, and read Martin's exploits, claims, and writings and you would find him to be a posterboy for how to get people to read your books and make a million. Most of his writings dealing with the conspiracies and whatnot of the Vatican belong in the National Inquirer, not in annals of respectable writers and journalists.
While I praise God that through the huckster gauntlet of the Martin mystique you found something valuable that lead you to be closer to God, overall, I am afraid, Mr. Martin did GREAT damage to the Church and scandalized millions of souls.
May God have mercy on his soul.
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