What do you think?
Rate this book
AA-1025: The Memoirs of an Anti-Apostle
Absorbing and compelling reading from beginning to end, AA -1025: Memoirs of the Communist Infiltration Into the Church is a must read for every Catholic today and for all who would understand just what has happened to the Catholic Church since the 1960s. In the 1960s, a French nurse, Marie Carré, attended an auto-crash victim who was brought into her hospital in a city she purposely does not name. The man lingered there near death for a few hours and then died. He had no identification on him, but he had a briefcase in which there was a set of quasi-autobiographical notes. She kept these notes and read them, and because of their extraordinary content, decided to publish them.
The result is this little book, AA-1025 Memoirs of the Communist Infiltration Into the Church, a strange and fascinating account of a Communist who purposely entered the Catholic priesthood along with many others, with the intent to subvert and destroy the Church from within.
The result is this little book, AA-1025 Memoirs of the Communist Infiltration Into the Church, a strange and fascinating account of a Communist who purposely entered the Catholic priesthood along with many others, with the intent to subvert and destroy the Church from within.
135 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 1972
138 people are currently reading
359 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews
March 13, 2013
Wow. Finding words for this gem is difficult. If you want to understand what happened to the Catholic Church in the years before the Second Vatican Council and after...this book is a must-read.
The book begins with words from the original author (not Marie Caree), whose name is never revealed. She tells that she is/was a nurse somewhere in France, who happened upon some documents in a briefcase of a priest who was in a vegetative state after a car accident. No one ever came to claim him, or his briefcase. After the man passed, she read the contents of his briefcase.
In it, she finds an autobiography of sorts, detailing the priest's life from a young boy. I will skip the details. The man himself is a self-described atheist, with a particular disdain (that's an under statement) for the Catholic Church. The priest was a Marxist, working for Moscow belonging to a network of Communists who were inserted into the Catholic priesthood to destroy the Church from within.
He details how he is determined to destroy the liturgy, traditions, and nomenclature used to explain Catholic theology. He describes changing the understanding of the Mass from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to a communal worship service. In essence, he introduces proposals to "Protestantize" the Faith.
The altar is replaced by a table. Reverence for the Bodily presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is replaced by a mere communal congregational participation in a stressed symbolic ceremonial act... aka the Protestant theological interpretation of John Chapter 6. He de-emphasizes the role of the priesthood by encouraging the removal of the cassock and habit. His aim is to lower the importance of the clergy to the role of the layman; effectively destroying the priesthood. Not only to "lower" the position of the priesthood, but to elevate the layman to role of the priest. Does "Extraordinary Minsters of Holy Communion" come to mind?
Whether or not the story is factual; one cannot deny that the "changes" discussed in The Memoirs have for the most part all taken place.
The book begins with words from the original author (not Marie Caree), whose name is never revealed. She tells that she is/was a nurse somewhere in France, who happened upon some documents in a briefcase of a priest who was in a vegetative state after a car accident. No one ever came to claim him, or his briefcase. After the man passed, she read the contents of his briefcase.
In it, she finds an autobiography of sorts, detailing the priest's life from a young boy. I will skip the details. The man himself is a self-described atheist, with a particular disdain (that's an under statement) for the Catholic Church. The priest was a Marxist, working for Moscow belonging to a network of Communists who were inserted into the Catholic priesthood to destroy the Church from within.
He details how he is determined to destroy the liturgy, traditions, and nomenclature used to explain Catholic theology. He describes changing the understanding of the Mass from the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass to a communal worship service. In essence, he introduces proposals to "Protestantize" the Faith.
The altar is replaced by a table. Reverence for the Bodily presence of Jesus in the Eucharist is replaced by a mere communal congregational participation in a stressed symbolic ceremonial act... aka the Protestant theological interpretation of John Chapter 6. He de-emphasizes the role of the priesthood by encouraging the removal of the cassock and habit. His aim is to lower the importance of the clergy to the role of the layman; effectively destroying the priesthood. Not only to "lower" the position of the priesthood, but to elevate the layman to role of the priest. Does "Extraordinary Minsters of Holy Communion" come to mind?
Whether or not the story is factual; one cannot deny that the "changes" discussed in The Memoirs have for the most part all taken place.
October 15, 2008
A chilling expose of a first hand account of the communist infiltration into The Catholic Church. Some question the veracity of the story. However, the predictions it makes and the agenda it exposes I have personally seen manifest and promoted.
September 25, 2020
73/100 (= 3.6/6) ≈ 3 Stars
-----------------------------------------
Good and interesting, but falls short as a follow up to Msgr. Dillon's "War of Antichrist " or John Vennari's "Alta Vendita". The later two works are much more concrete, explaining and proving, providing examples and stories -- the whys and wherefores are presented. Here in AA-1025, there's not much explanation of why this infiltration is being set-up, or who's behind it, or any historical development of this plan. Yes, it's more than plausible, since we see the very fruits in the Church today corresponding with the "seeds" of infiltration revealed here. But again, by whom and how and why? So it's not bad -- just incomplete I found.
As an aside, I found it interesting that all of the plans and prophecies came true to the letter except for the the Anti-Apostle's plan to get fathers of families to celebrate Mass in their homes. Just today, 09.06.2020, in the "Coronavirus" times, I saw a LifeSiteNews article about a German priest encouraging his flock to pronounce the words of Consecration along with him from the security of their homes. Wow. So even that point doesn't seem so far away anymore.
-----------------------------------------
Good and interesting, but falls short as a follow up to Msgr. Dillon's "War of Antichrist " or John Vennari's "Alta Vendita". The later two works are much more concrete, explaining and proving, providing examples and stories -- the whys and wherefores are presented. Here in AA-1025, there's not much explanation of why this infiltration is being set-up, or who's behind it, or any historical development of this plan. Yes, it's more than plausible, since we see the very fruits in the Church today corresponding with the "seeds" of infiltration revealed here. But again, by whom and how and why? So it's not bad -- just incomplete I found.
As an aside, I found it interesting that all of the plans and prophecies came true to the letter except for the the Anti-Apostle's plan to get fathers of families to celebrate Mass in their homes. Just today, 09.06.2020, in the "Coronavirus" times, I saw a LifeSiteNews article about a German priest encouraging his flock to pronounce the words of Consecration along with him from the security of their homes. Wow. So even that point doesn't seem so far away anymore.
October 16, 2013
Very much an eye opener. You can completely see how all these ideas have been put into practice. This books can help to fortify us and recognize our path as Catholics :)
April 10, 2020
like the title suggests, this book is a non-fiction dramatic retelling of the life of an anti-priest. The Man with No Name, "a Communist attached to the secret service section of militant atheism", who before dying in an automobile accident left a curious nurse a typewritten account of his lifes work: the destruction of the Catholic Church from within.
a few things struck me while reading the words of a dead man who had an overwhelming, all-encompassing hatred of God, and which left me in awe throughout in the proper sense of the word:
1.that the man who dedicated his life as a personal enemy of God had such zeal and conviction.
- It reminded me of the quote by Ven. Bishop Sheen:
="The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction."
- I could almost describe it as having preternatural "virtue", in the sense that his natural faculties and talents were refined steadily towards hatred, pride, and deception.
- It was almost admirable, the sacrifices he made and focus he practiced to achieve his ends. "[they] believe that only Christians make sacrifices" unfortunately the shame i felt in reading his shameless lies, self-exultation, and rage made me sad and confused.
- It is hard to understand that there are people who willingly use everything in their power to destroy and subvert what is good out of spite and pain
2. that in the 1920s-60s in general people were more on the ball
- It may just be the authors intelligence and talent for dry and pointed storytelling, but mostly everyone has a brevity and depth of speech, even within normal conversation
- I have a feeling that in general people weren't as sapped for strength then as we are today, what with the overwhelming saturation of immorality, corruption, and general distractions
- notably the Church is also quite admirable in character as found in her members, with a stronger sense of spirit of Faith breathing off the page, an integrity which is used against them by the infiltrator
3. the extreme accuracy in which the Communist agenda, which has spread its errors from within the Church and the world at large, is "prophesied" (autocorrect correctly suggested propagandized) by this marxist-leninist infiltrator.
- there is a diabolical intuition as to the core tenets of what gives strength to the Church, an inverse of the blessed acuity of the theologians and Doctors of the Church, which is used to dismantle the foundations brick by brick
= he is of course in seminary learning all this while he crafts his anti-religion orders to send back to the "service", so his knowledge is understandable
- this includes, but is not limited to: compromising doctrine for "charity"s sake, removal of altars, undermining catechism of children, new translations to obscure truth of the faith, the profanation of the liturgy, communion in the hand, married and female clerics, humanizing and demystifying worship, exploiting the virtue of obedience, inciting criticism of the pope, dethroning the Blessed Virgin Mary, suppressing the cult of the Saints, the list goes on...
4. that in spite of the positive possession of this man by the devil, wherewith satan wages war mercilessly against the Church that God established, there is glory and wisdom revealed in every page
- the hatred "Michael" has for the cassock and the Miraculous Medal, and his inability to overcome the supernatural graces of holy men and a 20yo faithful woman is amazing to witness from the other side of belief
= in the hardness of his heart and all his conceit he can try his best to explain away his defeat and confusion, yet he betrays a secret recognition of the "magic" that empowers the faithful
- that even in his passionate hatred of Christ, the Blessed Mother reaches out to his poor and pitiful state, primarily through his love of "Raven-hair", and her love for him (licit btw, this is in an era before coom was the leading religion of the world)
I have spent way longer than I intended on this review. In conclusion, I have to admit that reading this was an engaging experience on multiple levels. It was witnessing a type of the Anti-Christ embodied by this poor soul with no name, with all his charm, intelligence, and ambition twisted into secret perversity. We always imagine as Catholics the devil as some spoopy and obvious red imp in a cape, and rarely suspect an active and willing human actor in lockstep with the diabolical will. Keep in mind, this book is titled AA-1025 in reference to the agents codename identifying him as the 1025th anti-priest in commission. As alarming and enlightening it is to realize the scope of the battle on the side of the enemy, in the same book I witnessed a strong and beautiful faith in both the calm and graceful response of the true clergy, as well as especially the counter-response by "Raven-hair", whos love was revealed in all its beauty in Chapter 15. The publisher too, the nurse who first revealed this unbelievable testimony, has her own moment of tempered roasting against the pitiful rebellion of the enemies of God. With all this given to me, and already within me my love for the Church that God so graciously welcomed me into as a repentant son, I feel a sorrow in my heart for the damage done by the suffering enemies of God. The Mystery of the Passion of Our Lord is renewed in our era, and even in the face of such contradiction the joy of the Christian combat is renewed. Like any other good story of God, it is a story of love and war.
I guess to end this psuedo-review on this early morning of Good Friday, text from Chapter 15:
"Do you know that hatred is often the cry of a deceived love?
As for me, I am sure that God loves you with
a special love and that He is waiting for you with
His customary patience. And since, at the present
time, you do not want to pray to this God of Good-
ness, I am taking your place, and it is in your name
that a thousand times a day I offer to the All-
powerful Lord the merits of His Son, those of the
very holy Virgin Mary, of all the Saints known and
unknown ... I offer them with joy and confidence
all day long and even during my sleep."
"Do you believe that I alone am fighting against
you? No, my prayers are heard and transmitted by
the immense assembly of those who have already
reached Heaven.
"Do not smile, because the immortality of the
soul is the only thing in yourself which you will
never be able to destroy. The immortality of the
soul . . . mark well these words, because they pre-
cisely mean that death does not exist. Every house
should have these words engraved in golden letters
on the walls of the sitting room. Instead of fearing
death or of simply hating its notion, it should be
known that death does not exist, and this is some-
thing infinitely more serious.
"Darling, I would prefer that you never loved
me on this earth rather than to know that you are,
for all Eternity, in that place where tears never dry.
For I love you."
a few things struck me while reading the words of a dead man who had an overwhelming, all-encompassing hatred of God, and which left me in awe throughout in the proper sense of the word:
1.that the man who dedicated his life as a personal enemy of God had such zeal and conviction.
- It reminded me of the quote by Ven. Bishop Sheen:
="The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction."
- I could almost describe it as having preternatural "virtue", in the sense that his natural faculties and talents were refined steadily towards hatred, pride, and deception.
- It was almost admirable, the sacrifices he made and focus he practiced to achieve his ends. "[they] believe that only Christians make sacrifices" unfortunately the shame i felt in reading his shameless lies, self-exultation, and rage made me sad and confused.
- It is hard to understand that there are people who willingly use everything in their power to destroy and subvert what is good out of spite and pain
2. that in the 1920s-60s in general people were more on the ball
- It may just be the authors intelligence and talent for dry and pointed storytelling, but mostly everyone has a brevity and depth of speech, even within normal conversation
- I have a feeling that in general people weren't as sapped for strength then as we are today, what with the overwhelming saturation of immorality, corruption, and general distractions
- notably the Church is also quite admirable in character as found in her members, with a stronger sense of spirit of Faith breathing off the page, an integrity which is used against them by the infiltrator
3. the extreme accuracy in which the Communist agenda, which has spread its errors from within the Church and the world at large, is "prophesied" (autocorrect correctly suggested propagandized) by this marxist-leninist infiltrator.
- there is a diabolical intuition as to the core tenets of what gives strength to the Church, an inverse of the blessed acuity of the theologians and Doctors of the Church, which is used to dismantle the foundations brick by brick
= he is of course in seminary learning all this while he crafts his anti-religion orders to send back to the "service", so his knowledge is understandable
- this includes, but is not limited to: compromising doctrine for "charity"s sake, removal of altars, undermining catechism of children, new translations to obscure truth of the faith, the profanation of the liturgy, communion in the hand, married and female clerics, humanizing and demystifying worship, exploiting the virtue of obedience, inciting criticism of the pope, dethroning the Blessed Virgin Mary, suppressing the cult of the Saints, the list goes on...
4. that in spite of the positive possession of this man by the devil, wherewith satan wages war mercilessly against the Church that God established, there is glory and wisdom revealed in every page
- the hatred "Michael" has for the cassock and the Miraculous Medal, and his inability to overcome the supernatural graces of holy men and a 20yo faithful woman is amazing to witness from the other side of belief
= in the hardness of his heart and all his conceit he can try his best to explain away his defeat and confusion, yet he betrays a secret recognition of the "magic" that empowers the faithful
- that even in his passionate hatred of Christ, the Blessed Mother reaches out to his poor and pitiful state, primarily through his love of "Raven-hair", and her love for him (licit btw, this is in an era before coom was the leading religion of the world)
I have spent way longer than I intended on this review. In conclusion, I have to admit that reading this was an engaging experience on multiple levels. It was witnessing a type of the Anti-Christ embodied by this poor soul with no name, with all his charm, intelligence, and ambition twisted into secret perversity. We always imagine as Catholics the devil as some spoopy and obvious red imp in a cape, and rarely suspect an active and willing human actor in lockstep with the diabolical will. Keep in mind, this book is titled AA-1025 in reference to the agents codename identifying him as the 1025th anti-priest in commission. As alarming and enlightening it is to realize the scope of the battle on the side of the enemy, in the same book I witnessed a strong and beautiful faith in both the calm and graceful response of the true clergy, as well as especially the counter-response by "Raven-hair", whos love was revealed in all its beauty in Chapter 15. The publisher too, the nurse who first revealed this unbelievable testimony, has her own moment of tempered roasting against the pitiful rebellion of the enemies of God. With all this given to me, and already within me my love for the Church that God so graciously welcomed me into as a repentant son, I feel a sorrow in my heart for the damage done by the suffering enemies of God. The Mystery of the Passion of Our Lord is renewed in our era, and even in the face of such contradiction the joy of the Christian combat is renewed. Like any other good story of God, it is a story of love and war.
I guess to end this psuedo-review on this early morning of Good Friday, text from Chapter 15:
"Do you know that hatred is often the cry of a deceived love?
As for me, I am sure that God loves you with
a special love and that He is waiting for you with
His customary patience. And since, at the present
time, you do not want to pray to this God of Good-
ness, I am taking your place, and it is in your name
that a thousand times a day I offer to the All-
powerful Lord the merits of His Son, those of the
very holy Virgin Mary, of all the Saints known and
unknown ... I offer them with joy and confidence
all day long and even during my sleep."
"Do you believe that I alone am fighting against
you? No, my prayers are heard and transmitted by
the immense assembly of those who have already
reached Heaven.
"Do not smile, because the immortality of the
soul is the only thing in yourself which you will
never be able to destroy. The immortality of the
soul . . . mark well these words, because they pre-
cisely mean that death does not exist. Every house
should have these words engraved in golden letters
on the walls of the sitting room. Instead of fearing
death or of simply hating its notion, it should be
known that death does not exist, and this is some-
thing infinitely more serious.
"Darling, I would prefer that you never loved
me on this earth rather than to know that you are,
for all Eternity, in that place where tears never dry.
For I love you."
December 30, 2015
I don't believe a word of this book. It seems to have been written by a traditionalist Catholic upset with Vatican II. Published in 1972, I do not think Ms. Carré found these memoirs. I think she wrote it all herself. Blaming communists is her conspiracy theory to explain changes in the Church. The supposed letter from Raven Hair indicates how much the author does love God. Her writing also shows her high respect for the Pope and dedication to Mary.
January 13, 2022
Okay. Now THIS was creepy. How someone can hate God so much, and dedicate his life to destruction of Him and The Church is beyond my understanding. Reading this though helped me see what someone like that can feel, and the lengths gone to overthrow the Catholic Church.
October 16, 2008
eye opening book.....
February 21, 2011
Another eye-opener that explains corruption and Church scandals.
June 2, 2019
An absorbing read because it speaks so much of what the Church has been witnessing for the past couple of decades.
Reading this has elicited in me a greater love for the Catholic Church.
Reading this has elicited in me a greater love for the Catholic Church.
April 6, 2024
Cool concept: a nurse finds the journal manuscript on a dying man whose sole life intention was to destroy the Catholic Church from within, by becoming a Catholic priest. This is a work of fiction but the framing device is a disclaimer by a devout and trustworthy woman, and gives it an aura of authenticity.
The dying man is the unnamed narrator of the memoir; he cackles and rages with a frown seared into his brow as he writes his plans to undermine the Church. We learn that he was adopted and raised by loving Catholic parents, but their love doesn't take with him, and he hates God because he doesn't believe in God, because he wants the world to be without hope, because he wants Communism i.e mankind, to be the hope of the world instead. (Mankind seeks to control mankind; God does not.) Swallowed by hatred and groomed by elder communists, he enters the seminary, where his gifts of intellect and cunning are used to eventually "protestantize" the Mass, and turn it into a common meal so that the prayer before meals becomes the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
In one chapter, he tests the sacrament of confession by telling the priest his plans. They discourage him, warning him that he is wasting his life, but they worry that there are more like him.
He falls in love with a beautiful girl who loves God as much as he hates God. She also loves the nameless narrator. He shares his dissertation with her, and she remains loving him, but enters a Carmelite convent to better pray for him, and counteract his hatred. That'll show him!
Faithless trads will read this (thinking it is legitimate) and the unofficial sequel Catholics by Brian Moore as evidence for the systematic plan to undermine the Church reaching fruition. But Jesus said it could and would never happen when he renamed Peter and gave him the keys. The Church has always been lead by sinners. Communists are the worst type of sinner, but I will use my small brain by saying the Holy Spirit cannot appoint leaders to the Church that would change ever doctrine, and and overthink it no more.
The dying man is the unnamed narrator of the memoir; he cackles and rages with a frown seared into his brow as he writes his plans to undermine the Church. We learn that he was adopted and raised by loving Catholic parents, but their love doesn't take with him, and he hates God because he doesn't believe in God, because he wants the world to be without hope, because he wants Communism i.e mankind, to be the hope of the world instead. (Mankind seeks to control mankind; God does not.) Swallowed by hatred and groomed by elder communists, he enters the seminary, where his gifts of intellect and cunning are used to eventually "protestantize" the Mass, and turn it into a common meal so that the prayer before meals becomes the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
In one chapter, he tests the sacrament of confession by telling the priest his plans. They discourage him, warning him that he is wasting his life, but they worry that there are more like him.
He falls in love with a beautiful girl who loves God as much as he hates God. She also loves the nameless narrator. He shares his dissertation with her, and she remains loving him, but enters a Carmelite convent to better pray for him, and counteract his hatred. That'll show him!
Faithless trads will read this (thinking it is legitimate) and the unofficial sequel Catholics by Brian Moore as evidence for the systematic plan to undermine the Church reaching fruition. But Jesus said it could and would never happen when he renamed Peter and gave him the keys. The Church has always been lead by sinners. Communists are the worst type of sinner, but I will use my small brain by saying the Holy Spirit cannot appoint leaders to the Church that would change ever doctrine, and and overthink it no more.
September 4, 2021
A hoax, just like all the other so-called ‘found’ confessions, memoirs, novels etc. And a cruel and cowardly hoax at that, in that it accuses others of wrong doing simply to promote the agenda of the author (she is against modernisation in the Roman Catholic church, in particular the modernisation of language used in mass). Through her fantasies, Marie Carre accuses the communist party of Russia of promoting modernisation by infiltrating the church (her spy becomes a priest with the intention of driving the church first towards Protestantism and then towards atheism). I would say ‘you couldn’t make it up’, but she did...
Carrie’s hope was that people would be more likely to resist modernisation if they thought it was a plot by Russian communist spies. She ignores the fact that modernisation is inevitable in any organisation and will always be uncomfortable for many. It is changes to the external environment that drive the need for change, not spies.
For me, the most offensive aspect of the book is its anti-semitism. Why oh why did this French nun have to make her spy a Jew? I guess she just couldn’t resist that one. What a horrible person she was. As a practising Roman Catholic, I find the underlying hate implied by this choice to be highly offensive. With the history of Roman Catholics persecuting Jews in Europe, and the history of pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, she could at least have spared us that one.
I will be destroying my copy (only the second time I have done that). The world will be a better place without it.
Carrie’s hope was that people would be more likely to resist modernisation if they thought it was a plot by Russian communist spies. She ignores the fact that modernisation is inevitable in any organisation and will always be uncomfortable for many. It is changes to the external environment that drive the need for change, not spies.
For me, the most offensive aspect of the book is its anti-semitism. Why oh why did this French nun have to make her spy a Jew? I guess she just couldn’t resist that one. What a horrible person she was. As a practising Roman Catholic, I find the underlying hate implied by this choice to be highly offensive. With the history of Roman Catholics persecuting Jews in Europe, and the history of pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe, she could at least have spared us that one.
I will be destroying my copy (only the second time I have done that). The world will be a better place without it.
Read
March 30, 2023Who are these humans who believe that they are bigger than God? It baffles me that this book could be true, yet I have seen, as other reviewers have noted, many of the changes discussed in this book already take place. People think they can destroy the church? Fine. Destroy it, but you will never destroy God. And as "Raven Hair" said, "you will never win all souls; on the contrary, you will fortify the Saints." The truly faithful will only become more faithful. After our churches closed in 2020 I was nudged by the Holy Spirit to seek out the Traditional Latin Mass, and I'm thankful that I did, because it was there that I felt the presence of God stronger than ever before. Our churches closing brought me closer to Our Lord. So these people can try to destroy the church, but we'll just build it back up in the end. God always wins.
February 21, 2025
I’m surprised I hadn’t heard of this book sooner. I had to tear myself away to go to sleep, thought of it for an hour before I could fall asleep, dreamed of it, and grabbed it first thing after waking up to finish it.
This is a really important book, every Catholic should read this. It’s only 115 pages, you’ll finish it super soon, I know you can find the time. Please read it and pray for the church 🤍
This is a really important book, every Catholic should read this. It’s only 115 pages, you’ll finish it super soon, I know you can find the time. Please read it and pray for the church 🤍
August 11, 2023
No matter the opinion, it cannot be denied that the plans in this book have come true and stand today. I myself am guilty of some of the feelings that the communist wanted us to have and it breaks my heart. This book, especially from the perspective of hate for the Catholic church and God, has deepened my faith and love for God and for the mass. It has shown me and reiterated how important and special it is and for that I'm happy and thankful to Marie for releasing the manuscript.
October 1, 2019
Read Marie Carré’s novel as you would George Orwell’s 1984.
The primary similarity between Carré’s novel and the more famous 1984 by Orwell is that both works are prophetic, the one a dystopia of a secular world, and the other a dystopia affecting the Catholic Church.
While Carré’s novel was published in 1972 when reaction to the misguided “reforms” of some people after Vatican Council II would have justified her conservative critique, the scandals affecting the Catholic Church since then and much more obvious now in 2019, nearly a half century later, qualify Carré to be as much a prophet as her more famous British counterpart.
Plot details are simple and can be read quickly on any other Internet site. What I found important are the following.
The scene where the “man without a name”, the ostensible author of the memoirs which the narrator “found”, learns that he was adopted is pivotal as a psychological study for his eventual hatred of the Catholic Church and promotion within Communist circles (4). His love-turned-hate baffles the reader throughout the rest of the novel. Why should he necessarily hate his loving adoptive parents, even to the point of promoting a political philosophy hostile to his parents’ well-meaning faith? Contemporary parents who have children who have fallen away from the Faith can find this part of the fictional study most compelling.
While the author focuses on the consequences of a new Mass devoid of sacred components, much more interesting is the anonymous priest’s/Communist agent’s effort to argue for contraception and abortion (60). Every Catholic, whether he or she supports Church teaching on the dual purposes of sex or not, knows how effective secular (demonic?) forces have been in leading people to think that sex is merely for pleasure. These forces have succeeded in having people think that the Church’s support for sex within marriage as a means by which the couple can engage in pleasure and be open to the possibility of children is false. From the early twentieth century to now, we are still grappling with the consequences of the distortion of sexuality that the contraception and abortion business Planned Parenthood has forced on the culture.
All is not lost, though, as the publishing fact of Carré’s novel indicates. Written in 1972, the Catholic Church still exists in 2019 and will so in 2020, 2030, 2100, etc. How could the Church survive if it were infiltrated by Communist agents as the novel’s plot suggests?
Simple. As many Catholics today have argued, especially when faced with yet another demeaning message from Pope Francis about the “rigidity” of faithful, orthodox priests and lay people, Carré points to one means by which such demonic forces in the Church can be overcome: the rosary. I would add, also, that we who are ordinary Catholic lay people must never leave the Church—headed by bishops, cardinals, and a pope who just don’t seem to have our interests at heart. Moreover, we must have the courage that St. John Paul II wrote about when he asked us to defend our faith in the public square. As Carré's prophetic novel indicates, sometimes such courage needs to be in the religious square as well.
George Orwell, thank you for the dire prophecy of a dystopian secular world which helped readers understand how to counter totalitarianism in the twentieth century. From your spot in whatever literary Heaven there may be, please help spread the religious dystopia that Marie Carré has depicted, if only to help us in the fight to lead an orthodox Catholic Church in this new century.
The primary similarity between Carré’s novel and the more famous 1984 by Orwell is that both works are prophetic, the one a dystopia of a secular world, and the other a dystopia affecting the Catholic Church.
While Carré’s novel was published in 1972 when reaction to the misguided “reforms” of some people after Vatican Council II would have justified her conservative critique, the scandals affecting the Catholic Church since then and much more obvious now in 2019, nearly a half century later, qualify Carré to be as much a prophet as her more famous British counterpart.
Plot details are simple and can be read quickly on any other Internet site. What I found important are the following.
The scene where the “man without a name”, the ostensible author of the memoirs which the narrator “found”, learns that he was adopted is pivotal as a psychological study for his eventual hatred of the Catholic Church and promotion within Communist circles (4). His love-turned-hate baffles the reader throughout the rest of the novel. Why should he necessarily hate his loving adoptive parents, even to the point of promoting a political philosophy hostile to his parents’ well-meaning faith? Contemporary parents who have children who have fallen away from the Faith can find this part of the fictional study most compelling.
While the author focuses on the consequences of a new Mass devoid of sacred components, much more interesting is the anonymous priest’s/Communist agent’s effort to argue for contraception and abortion (60). Every Catholic, whether he or she supports Church teaching on the dual purposes of sex or not, knows how effective secular (demonic?) forces have been in leading people to think that sex is merely for pleasure. These forces have succeeded in having people think that the Church’s support for sex within marriage as a means by which the couple can engage in pleasure and be open to the possibility of children is false. From the early twentieth century to now, we are still grappling with the consequences of the distortion of sexuality that the contraception and abortion business Planned Parenthood has forced on the culture.
All is not lost, though, as the publishing fact of Carré’s novel indicates. Written in 1972, the Catholic Church still exists in 2019 and will so in 2020, 2030, 2100, etc. How could the Church survive if it were infiltrated by Communist agents as the novel’s plot suggests?
Simple. As many Catholics today have argued, especially when faced with yet another demeaning message from Pope Francis about the “rigidity” of faithful, orthodox priests and lay people, Carré points to one means by which such demonic forces in the Church can be overcome: the rosary. I would add, also, that we who are ordinary Catholic lay people must never leave the Church—headed by bishops, cardinals, and a pope who just don’t seem to have our interests at heart. Moreover, we must have the courage that St. John Paul II wrote about when he asked us to defend our faith in the public square. As Carré's prophetic novel indicates, sometimes such courage needs to be in the religious square as well.
George Orwell, thank you for the dire prophecy of a dystopian secular world which helped readers understand how to counter totalitarianism in the twentieth century. From your spot in whatever literary Heaven there may be, please help spread the religious dystopia that Marie Carré has depicted, if only to help us in the fight to lead an orthodox Catholic Church in this new century.
December 3, 2021
“What do you expect to gain by entering Holy Orders? To destroy the Church from within.” The book AA-1025 I found was interesting mainly because of how this person who code was AA-1025 meaning he is the 1025 person to enter into the Holy Orders as someone who does not believe and is a communist to destroy the inter workings of the Church and its ideologies. I have never read a book like this one and it reminded me a lot of how sometime in the future the ordained will turn on other ordained and there will be many scandals pertaining to the faith, ( I am not sure if this is in the book of Revelations or if it was a message by Mary or another Saint) and all I could think of was that when it is to happen it might very well be accomplished through this method. Overall I think it was a very good book but at times I felt lost with what was being told because I am not well versed in the liturgical and theological aspects of the Catholic Faith, but that does not take away from the book.
February 12, 2021
I'm not sure how to rate this book.... Deeply disturbing and yet unfortunately pretty believable from some of the things I've experienced within the Catholic Church growing up and all the scandal that has wreaked havoc from within. I couldn't stop reading it! So much of what this guy suggests in his memoirs has become true, though not all of it. And it does make you wonder just how many would be able to pull off a double agent role like this guy in reality. I was having a difficult time keeping track of how much time was passing between chapters. It starts out in the 1930s... and it seems to move over the course of six or so years, but some of the references at the end make me think it's much later on because he discusses Vatican II briefly as if its already happening... unless it was an add-on later. Not sure.
What's really weird is the story behind the story-- how the editor of the book happened to stumble across these writings which were apparently meant to be burned by AA-1025's own admission. I'm more interested in the circumstances surrounding finding these... like when exactly in the 1960s they were discovered.
Eye-opening read.
What's really weird is the story behind the story-- how the editor of the book happened to stumble across these writings which were apparently meant to be burned by AA-1025's own admission. I'm more interested in the circumstances surrounding finding these... like when exactly in the 1960s they were discovered.
Eye-opening read.
September 13, 2019
I would give it a higher rating if it were marketed as fiction, which I think it is. In that case, it is like The Screwtape Letters, a kind of cautionary story showing the true spiritual nature of changes in the Catholic Church since the mid-20th century. However, it's presented as the true memoirs of a Communist agent who became a Catholic priest in order to destroy the Catholic Church.
For all I know, there really was such a plot, and such priests as the one purportedly writing this book. Much of the leadership of the Catholic Church does seem intent on destroying it. The "memoir" itself, though, seems unlikely in many ways -- both its existence, and what it says.
If you want a real story of how the Communist party infiltrates and works to destroy, Whitaker Chambers' memoir "Witness" is excellent.
For all I know, there really was such a plot, and such priests as the one purportedly writing this book. Much of the leadership of the Catholic Church does seem intent on destroying it. The "memoir" itself, though, seems unlikely in many ways -- both its existence, and what it says.
If you want a real story of how the Communist party infiltrates and works to destroy, Whitaker Chambers' memoir "Witness" is excellent.
March 23, 2020
I’ve read this book at least 3x and I enjoy it more each time and seem to learn something new each time... something I somehow missed before. This book is a first hand account of documents found by a nurse of a sick man... a priest... a communist... whose sole purpose in life was to infiltrate the Catholic Church from within. AA = Anti-Apostle and 1025 = his chronological number. That means there were one-thousand-twenty-four infiltrators before him and who knows how many after! It is eye-opening. It is evident by the state of the Novus Ordo today that many of this anti-apostle’s wishes have come to fruition! Proof that the devil will stop at nothing to deceive the Faithful. And a blatant reminder that we must hold fast to the Faith & Traditions of the Church!
January 28, 2017
"What is the point of entering the priesthood?"
"To destroy the church from within."
This horrifying book will prove to everyone that that there is evil even in the holiest of places. This evil man is an enemy of God and wants to be a world leader of Atheism. Find out all of the evil things he does. His name is AA-1025, (Anti-Apostle, one out of the other 1025 entering the priesthood just to destroy it.)
"To destroy the church from within."
This horrifying book will prove to everyone that that there is evil even in the holiest of places. This evil man is an enemy of God and wants to be a world leader of Atheism. Find out all of the evil things he does. His name is AA-1025, (Anti-Apostle, one out of the other 1025 entering the priesthood just to destroy it.)
July 5, 2016
Goodness am I the only one who did not like this book. My friend enthusiastically gave it to me to read. Just seemed to be so contrived. Yes I do believe there is truth here but book is so poorly put together. Perhaps it is the translation that is bad. I did like that the truths of Catholicism were brought out in places. Oh well.
August 22, 2016
A book for conspiracy theorists...with so many holes that it leaves even this conspiracy enthusiast unsatisfied. Nice try, I guess.
September 3, 2018
I’m not sure this is really authentic.
February 10, 2020
Waste of time
Very poor book
Dont waste your time for this worthless book
ഇതിൽ നിന്നും ഒന്നും പഠിക്കാൻ ഇല്ല
വെറുതെ സമയവും പൈസയും കളയാം
Very poor book
Dont waste your time for this worthless book
ഇതിൽ നിന്നും ഒന്നും പഠിക്കാൻ ഇല്ല
വെറുതെ സമയവും പൈസയും കളയാം
September 19, 2024
This may have been one of the most painfully bad books, or pieces of media, I've ever had the displeasure of reading. I'm considering burning the copy I wasted good money on just to have one less copy of this trash in the world.
AA-1025 masquerades itself as being the memoirs of a Communist agent who infiltrated the seminary to undermine the Church. This alone is questionable, because the foreword itself says it can neither confirm or deny its authenticity but claims it doesn't matter because "it came true." It is a known fact that there was communist infiltration in the Church during the Cold War, but to make up a pseudo-history about it is ridiculous. Either overtly state that it is a historical fiction, or don't introduce the doubt to begin with.
The greatest offense of this book is that it is so poorly written I found myself stunned at how bad it was. Every entry by the "nurse" who "found" the memoirs read like the ramblings of a traditionalist woman on Twitter. The false modesty, the dramatic laments about the "modernizations" to the Mass, every imaginable stereotype seemed to creep into the work. The character of "Raven Hair" seemed very similar, and almost felt like a self-insert of the author into the story. The Communist himself was less annoying, more because he was a comically bad villain. He didn't present himself as a threat or monster to Christianity; everything he "wrote" felt like the narcissistic essays of a Redditor on r/atheism. He was profoundly childish, went on tangents, and his story lacked consistency in many areas. Overall, the writing style felt distracted, and used a nauseating amount of big, fancy words to make it seem a smarter work than it actually is.
To summarize my criticisms, it is a poorly conceived, and poorly executed, fantasy of the communist infiltration of the Church that many traditionalists think, or wish, explains why the Church has "changed" since Vatican II. It is a sad fantasy, and I hope that those who find this book "enlightening" in any way are able to stop watching Taylor Marshall and actually read the documents of Vatican II.
AA-1025 masquerades itself as being the memoirs of a Communist agent who infiltrated the seminary to undermine the Church. This alone is questionable, because the foreword itself says it can neither confirm or deny its authenticity but claims it doesn't matter because "it came true." It is a known fact that there was communist infiltration in the Church during the Cold War, but to make up a pseudo-history about it is ridiculous. Either overtly state that it is a historical fiction, or don't introduce the doubt to begin with.
The greatest offense of this book is that it is so poorly written I found myself stunned at how bad it was. Every entry by the "nurse" who "found" the memoirs read like the ramblings of a traditionalist woman on Twitter. The false modesty, the dramatic laments about the "modernizations" to the Mass, every imaginable stereotype seemed to creep into the work. The character of "Raven Hair" seemed very similar, and almost felt like a self-insert of the author into the story. The Communist himself was less annoying, more because he was a comically bad villain. He didn't present himself as a threat or monster to Christianity; everything he "wrote" felt like the narcissistic essays of a Redditor on r/atheism. He was profoundly childish, went on tangents, and his story lacked consistency in many areas. Overall, the writing style felt distracted, and used a nauseating amount of big, fancy words to make it seem a smarter work than it actually is.
To summarize my criticisms, it is a poorly conceived, and poorly executed, fantasy of the communist infiltration of the Church that many traditionalists think, or wish, explains why the Church has "changed" since Vatican II. It is a sad fantasy, and I hope that those who find this book "enlightening" in any way are able to stop watching Taylor Marshall and actually read the documents of Vatican II.
April 6, 2024
AA-1025 was a fairly short and interesting read with a splash of twisted, egotistical romance mixed in. Whether or not this is a true account of the Communist party's efforts to infíltrate and destroy the Catholic Church from within, I am willing to believe that this degree of infiltration can and has happened throughout history. I think the errors, partial-truths, ambiguities, suppressions, modernizations, and other demonic tactics mentioned by Agent AA-1025 have been widespread, especially leading up to, during and after the Vatican II Council. I think this book is good to read primarily to better understand the tactics of the enemy, so as to be better prepared against them as soldiers for Christ. This is a basic principle of war and of of spiritual warfare, which we humans find ourselves in.
Honestly, this book left me feeling somewhat skeptical, suspicious, and unsettled about my the various experiences I have had as a Catholic, because they accurately match the description of what AA-1025 tried to accomplish. When I reached out to priests, seminarians and friends who had read it, they reassured me of what is true. Even if it is true that communist agents are trying to take down the church from within, it is not possible to corrupt doctrine and discipline by any human agent, even if they are themselves allied to the Devil. This is part of the dogma of indefectibility. And further, Jesus promised the Church that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church. The victory is already won by Jesus! We are an Easter people! Praise the Lord!
Honestly, this book left me feeling somewhat skeptical, suspicious, and unsettled about my the various experiences I have had as a Catholic, because they accurately match the description of what AA-1025 tried to accomplish. When I reached out to priests, seminarians and friends who had read it, they reassured me of what is true. Even if it is true that communist agents are trying to take down the church from within, it is not possible to corrupt doctrine and discipline by any human agent, even if they are themselves allied to the Devil. This is part of the dogma of indefectibility. And further, Jesus promised the Church that the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church. The victory is already won by Jesus! We are an Easter people! Praise the Lord!
March 13, 2024
“I detest propaganda that is based on lies.” - Marie Carré’s unnamed antagonist.
A nurse who is a Protestant turned Catholic (and future nun) finds a mysterious dying man’s memoir which he inexplicably wrote out with the intention to later destroy. The man has no name and the memoir has only the nurse’s word for its existence. In it, the dying man talks about how he, a devout atheist communist and secret agent for the regime, joined seminary to destroy Catholicism by turning it into a type of Protestantism. Ironic that this man, who has no name, and this text, whose existence is unverifiable, exposes all of the nurse’s concerns about her own religious conversion. His plan to destroy the Catholic Church miraculously just so happens to be her religious path in reverse. The world’s worst and most careless secret agent leaves the blueprints for his war on Catholicism in the hands of one of Catholicism’s most zealous defenders. The odds are astronomical.
Either that or this is all the fanciful doom mongering of someone who can’t reconcile the Catholicism she loves with Vatican 2 and so invents an evil agent to justify what she sees as the church’s new moral failings.
I’m not going to call a nun a liar, but I will say that this book strained my credibility beyond its breaking point. I believe in miracles, in the virgin birth, and the resurrection. But even by those standards, this narrative was too unlikely and improbable for me.
A nurse who is a Protestant turned Catholic (and future nun) finds a mysterious dying man’s memoir which he inexplicably wrote out with the intention to later destroy. The man has no name and the memoir has only the nurse’s word for its existence. In it, the dying man talks about how he, a devout atheist communist and secret agent for the regime, joined seminary to destroy Catholicism by turning it into a type of Protestantism. Ironic that this man, who has no name, and this text, whose existence is unverifiable, exposes all of the nurse’s concerns about her own religious conversion. His plan to destroy the Catholic Church miraculously just so happens to be her religious path in reverse. The world’s worst and most careless secret agent leaves the blueprints for his war on Catholicism in the hands of one of Catholicism’s most zealous defenders. The odds are astronomical.
Either that or this is all the fanciful doom mongering of someone who can’t reconcile the Catholicism she loves with Vatican 2 and so invents an evil agent to justify what she sees as the church’s new moral failings.
I’m not going to call a nun a liar, but I will say that this book strained my credibility beyond its breaking point. I believe in miracles, in the virgin birth, and the resurrection. But even by those standards, this narrative was too unlikely and improbable for me.
July 23, 2018
I read this book in the original French version entitled "ES 1025", published by Editions LIESI. Other reviewers have already stated that this is a "Must-Read" book for Roman Catholics, which it is and it's a quick read. If you're a traditional Catholic, and you've been correctly catechized and you hold the Catholic faith, you should have sufficient powers of discernment to judge whether or not the book's premise is believable.
I'll add two other observations : 1st, the protagonist falls in love in the story. I've been an avid reader for many decades; I adore 19th C. romantic writers such as Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. Within this context, AA-1025 contains one of the most deeply romantic, moving, and ultimately tragic love stories I have ever read in my life. I just hope the English translation of this story does it justice.
My 2nd observation is that I find it quite interesting that the Communist Party did not consider the Protestant churches threatening enough to their agenda for it to be necessary to infiltrate these institutions. Quod erat demonstrandum.
I'll add two other observations : 1st, the protagonist falls in love in the story. I've been an avid reader for many decades; I adore 19th C. romantic writers such as Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters. Within this context, AA-1025 contains one of the most deeply romantic, moving, and ultimately tragic love stories I have ever read in my life. I just hope the English translation of this story does it justice.
My 2nd observation is that I find it quite interesting that the Communist Party did not consider the Protestant churches threatening enough to their agenda for it to be necessary to infiltrate these institutions. Quod erat demonstrandum.
June 11, 2021
This little book was difficult to read, and even more difficult to put down. I would have classified it as fictional conspiracy theory if I were not daily witnessing the results of such a diabolical plan.
One quote that caught my attention, in hopes that others will also take it to heart…
“The immortality of the soul is the only thing in yourself which you will never be able to destroy. The immortality of the soul…mark well these words, because they precisely mean that death does not exist. Every house should have these words engraved in golden letters on the walls of the sitting room. Instead of fearing death or of simply hating its notion, it should be known that death does not exist, and this is something infinitely more serious.”
This book is a must-read for all Catholics who are wondering what has happened to our beloved Church, to understand what evil is capable of in order to fight against it.
The gates of hell will not prevail.
Of this we can be certain.
One quote that caught my attention, in hopes that others will also take it to heart…
“The immortality of the soul is the only thing in yourself which you will never be able to destroy. The immortality of the soul…mark well these words, because they precisely mean that death does not exist. Every house should have these words engraved in golden letters on the walls of the sitting room. Instead of fearing death or of simply hating its notion, it should be known that death does not exist, and this is something infinitely more serious.”
This book is a must-read for all Catholics who are wondering what has happened to our beloved Church, to understand what evil is capable of in order to fight against it.
The gates of hell will not prevail.
Of this we can be certain.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 79 reviews