Dear readers, this is the sort of thing that Popes do! They fight against the forces of Hell and they work for the salvation of souls.
For example, when the ancient obelisk that was in the Circus of Caligula off to the side of St. Peter’s Basilica was moved to the center of the piazza in 1586, Pope Sixtus V caused to be inscribed on its base words from the Rite of Exorcism. And he exorcized the thing to stand against the approach to the basilica of demons and the possessed Priests were asked to repeat the words from the exorcism as they approached. Pope Sixtus took a pagan thing, exorcized it, and made it a bulwark against the demonic.
That was then.
Now, demon idols are brought into the Basilica and placed on the ALTAR over the bones of the first Vicar of Christ.
Here’s another things Popes do. In 609 Pope Boniface IV took a pagan thing… the pagan thing… exorcised it and made it into a church! This is the pattern, by the way. One might say, “This is the way.” Before things are consecrated, they are exorcized. If you watched the video of the consecration of the new church Kansas that the SSPX built, you see the pattern in all they do. Even in the Traditional Mass the pattern is there before the reading of the Gospel: purification and then the blessing. I digress.
This is something I have posted before.
In keeping with a couple of other recent posts about the supernatural battle going on around us, between the holy angels and apostate demons, here is something to chew on for your Catholic identity.
In 609 the Emperor Phocas gave the magnificent ancient Roman Pantheon, the temple to “all the gods” to the Church. Pope Boniface IV got rid of all the pagan stuff and consecrated it to the Mother of God and the martyrs on this day, 13 May.
Of course before anything is to be consecrated, it first had to be exorcized. This is especially the case with church buildings. And the Pantheon had been a pagan temple dedicated in reality to demons.
We have an account of the exorcism of the Pantheon before it was consecrated this day. In Italian HERE.
“In 608 the Byzantine emperor Phoca gave [the temple] to Pope Boniface IV and there was organized an evocative ceremony to consecrate it to the Christian God. On 13 May 609 a huge crowd gathered near the Pantheon to witness the event. Chronicles recount chaos and chilling screams that were felt from within: the pagan demons were aware of what was about to happen. The doors were thrown open and the Pope, in front of the entrance, began to recite the formulas for the exorcism. The screams from the idols increased in intensity, and the commotion deafened the ears of the onlookers. Fear gripped the crowd and no one was able to stand on their feet, looking and hearing that terrible spectacle. Only Boniface IV resisted and, undaunted, prayed and consecrated the Pantheon to Christ. It is said that the demons left the ancient temple chaotically and with a great din, fleeing from the open “eye” of the dome or from the main doors. Once the ceremony was over, the Pope dedicated the building to the Madonna dei Martiri, in memory, perhaps, of the many Christians killed in honor of those filthy idols … “
Messa in Latino also calls to mind a vision of Catherine Ann Emerich:
One of the visions of Bl. Catherine Emmerich was precisely about the exorcism and consecration of the Pantheon: “… I saw again the whole ceremony of the consecration of the temple: the holy martyrs assisted with Mary at their head. The altar was not placed in the middle, but was was up against the wall. I saw carried into church more than 30 carts of holy bones. Many of these were put into the walls. Others could be seen, where there were round holes in the wall, closed up with something that looked like glass. (p. Schmoeger, ‘Vie d’Anne Catherine Emmerich’, tomo III, pp. da 69 a 71)
Battles with the Enemy are fought on many levels. Let us not forget that demons are territorial and legalistic. Once they claim a toehold, it requires effort to break their hold and get rid of them from places, things and persons.
And Pachamama is a DEMON and use of those demon idols was idolatry.
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This reminds me of the chilling posts by Ann Barnhardt about the Vatican today:
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2021/03/22/my-encounter-with-the-demonic-inside-st-peters-basilica-and-why-the-illegal-suppression-of-the-mass-might-be-providential/
https://www.barnhardt.biz/2021/03/23/mailbag-gay-cruising-in-st-peters-basilica/
St. Peter, ora pro nobis! Our Lady of Fatima and St. Joseph, ora pro nobis!
Thank you for the history of the pantheon, I had wondered when it got made into a church. I’d suggest the history should read that the ROMAN rather than Byzantine emperor gave the building to the Church.
Amazing. Never knew the story of the Pantheon. A scary thought for me is when people defend the Pachamama crap. It’s as if the Pachamama has a hold on them intellectually. Really can’t understand how a believer in Christ could defend the idolatry. I hear it often on the internet. I hope our next Pope is in the mold of Dirty Harry.
There was a time when they would parade a buffon dressed like Dracula out as the head of the church of Satan. Now the evil is in our faces everyday. People are embracing the evil. God, please give us a Holy Father who will combat the evil One in the World and the Church.
See? Concrete is a suitable building material for a Catholic church.
Post: You may be (purposely?) forgetting a few other rather important elements and details. How many can you come up with?
o{]:¬)
Let’s see, Marble, Granite, Heavy Timbers, Slate Roofing or Terracotta, Copper, Stained Glass, Lead, Plaster, (my trade). Various types of Stone.
All true. Don’t forget absorbent mops, it rains through that oculus. Still, the primary building material is opus cæmenticium, the unparalleled-until-modern-times Roman recipe for concrete.
Post: mops… you choose to be jocular. I get that. You don’t have much else. Let’s fix your first part: “No, wait. The Pantheon wasn’t built as a church, but rather as a temple for demons.” There’s that.
As far as mops go, the floor is pitched from the center and water isn’t a problem. Getting demons out wasn’t either.
Also, you forget about bricks. Any snappy comments about bricks?
A pantheon for (fictitious) gods, surely, not dæmonia. Jupiter would outrank a demon.
No snappy comments about bricks; as I said, all true. And all of this was intended to be merely persiflage and not a challenge. Still, the wonderful thing about that building is that it is still the largest unsupported concrete dome in the world. And that dome is very beautiful. If concrete were to be used to this type of potential, it would be a worthy material. Surely we agree?
Have you seen this?
https://news.mit.edu/2023/roman-concrete-durability-lime-casts-0106
The four square (I think they might be rectangular) pillars at the center of St. Peter’s holding up the dome are made with Roman concrete, If I recall correctly. It was a very important moment in the history of architecture, since it was the onlyway to support such a heavy dome in an open transept.
I digress. I suppose as an unapologetic Aristotelian I would say that Form matters more than Matter: you can make a nice things out of very poor materials. Or, in the post-Conciliar world, you can be as rich as Croesus and still make an eyesore. The local seminary has a pair of giant brass doors that are covered with… minnows (?) that look like they were drawn by a small child. It’s like giving a lapis lazuli crayon to a five year old.
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Post: Jupiter would outrank a demon.
Leaving apart the ancient “cosmology”, all false gods are demons.
Jupiter IS a demon. Demons picked up the names of the false gods that were invoked. It is not unusual for an exorcist to recount that he had to do with the demon that went by the name of some Roman or Greek or other ancient or tribal god that we have heard of. Recently an exorcist of my acquaintance tossed “Zeus”. What needs to be understood is that demons desire identity, which is one of the reasons why it is important to force their name.
@PostCatholic
“A pantheon for (fictitious) gods, surely, not dæmonia.”
Fr.Z is quite right about the assumption of the identity of the various dieties on the part of demons… and there is something here if a distinction to be made between the early Christians and their modern counterparts: you call them “fictitious,” the Apostles and Apologists called them “false.” One of the curious features of patristic scholarship is that there is a whole pile of pagan miracles, heavily documented at the time (as thin as our surviving materials in this age of lead are), with which the early Christians have to contend. Oddly (to us anyways), they don’t deny their authenticity, but ascribe them to the wiles of the fallen angels.
Now, “fiction” is what you’re likely to find in many pages of the contemporary… “scholarship” on such subjects.
I remember coming across something in the past 5 months–perhaps from St. Isidore of Seville?–that all the pagan gods were once men who lived in the distant past. After these men died, the devils assumed the names of these men and seduced the living into idolatrously worshiping them.
O, the follies of fallen man.
Thanks, that’s an interesting clarification. I suppose George RR Martin is the most prolific fictional godmaker of recent years, so there are many demons out there attached to his Game of Thrones cosmology? Is it a sin to write a fantasy story with “invented” gods because of this outcome? I am asking in earnest. To me as a non-believer in any of it, it seems silly to worship his “Drowned god” e.g. but I’m sure somewhere out there there’s a hyperfan who does.
Time for a threefold distinction! One must make distinctions in order to possess clarity:
1) Pagan gods insofar as they are worshipped
2) Pagan gods insofar as they are historical
3) Pagan gods insofar as they are contained in mythology as tropological figures
Demon worship falls under the first heading, which we have hammered out at length.
‘Iconophilios’ has brought up the second heading. It’s a very interesting subject: one of the oldest reference we have to this as is Euhemerus in the 3rd century BC. This is also mentioned in the book of Wisdom: “For a father being afflicted with bitter grief, made to himself the image of his son, who was quickly taken away: and him who then had died as a man, he began now to worship as a god, and appointed him rites and sacrifices among his servants.” An obvious reference to Nimrod in the book of Genesis. (Theophilus Pinches makes an interesting case that Nimrod and his son are Marduk and Nabu, respectively)
Now, under the third heading would fall the “cultural” employment of mythological figures. Everyone should be educated, at the least, in the myths of the Greeks and Romans. Their value as stories is unquestionable. This is why Ovid and Vergil were preserved by medieval monks. And, while I wouldn’t call Game of Thrones “culture” in any sense but that of the yogurt in my fridge, fictional/fantasy dieties fall under this heading, since there is a distinct intention between tropological and religious cultivation. The tension in late antiquity that one sees in the histories (like an angry mob torching pagan texts) is a result of the close affinity between the two at that time. This is overcome in the succeeding centuries. There’s not a chance I’m going to start worshipping Saturn after reading the Metamorphoses or looking at Renaissance paintings.
Now, to the moral question, that which is fiction and is obviously so, is meant to be interpreted as such. One is not morally responsible for the misinterpretation of another, for the same reason that a knife manufacturer isn’t responsible if you stab yourself.
Thank you for the very detailed response, TheCavalierHatherly. It exemplifies why I continue to be fascinated by Catholicism while having one more false god on my list than you. The watchmaker’s exquisite attention to detail and nuance, deeply thought through and articulated–it’s a thing of beauty, almost always designed around an extraordinary claim (“Statues of gods contain demons that shriek if they’re disturbed,”) for which the only evidence is a matter of faith.
Love your jab at pop culture with Game of Thrones yoghurt. I wonder if that licensing deal exists. I did see Game of Thrones wines in the local shop when the tv show was still in production.