Many Catholic saints throughout the ages have spoken of the importance of spiritual reading and how good books can benefit the soul in its progress towards God but they also warned that bad books can do the opposite, and lead the soul to perdition. Has Veritas Ireland forgotten their warning?
There are a growing number of Catholics who are raising their voices in opposition to Veritas for that very reason. They claim that Veritas are leading souls away from God’s Church through the bad books they are selling. More than a few lay Catholics have made numerous complaints to the bookstore over the past couple of years about the increasing amount of books which they say are in direct opposition to the Catholic faith. One of those who made a complaint, John from Dublin, stated “it appears that those on the shop floor don’t pass the complaints to management, or possibly those in management do not care. Either way, I have gotten no response to my complaint.” Another customer, Claire, explained how she suspects, and hopes, that it is the case that the Bishops are not being made aware of the complaints by the shop management.
Given that Veritas was founded to defend the Catholic faith, the customers are justified in expecting much better actions from the store. As Veritas’s own website says; Veritas’ origins lie with the Catholic Truth Society of Ireland, which was founded in 1899 to publish and distribute a range of religious material to the Irish people. In 1928, Veritas branched out into retail and opened a store on Lower Abbey Street, Dublin, where it sold religious artefacts and pamphlets published by the Catholic Truth Society. Therefore, it is reasonable for Catholics to expect that what they purchase in Veritas should be in line with Catholic teaching. Moreover, they also state that their mission: Is to support the Bishops’ Conference in its work of communicating the Christian message through our education, parish and direct-to-consumer channels, in a sustainable way that is relevant to people today.
So if they are selling books which contradict the Catholic faith, are they not then guilty of undermining the very work the Bishops are undertaking? Are they not guilty of deceiving faithful Catholics who are unknowingly damaging their faith by reading books which contain heresies and blasphemies? Are Veritas not guilty of attacking Jesus Christ and His One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church?
To answer these questions, we should consider the books in question and examine the gravity of the lies which they contain. Some of the books appear good on the surface and are subtle in their deceptions, such as Eckhart Tolle, Karen Ward, etc, and many Catholics see no harm in reading them. When it comes to books like these, Saint and Doctor of The Church Saint Alphonsus Liguori says – “Do you ask what harm? Behold the harm: the reading of such works kindles the concupiscence of the senses, and awakens the passions; these easily gain the consent of the will, or at least render it so weak that when the occasion of any dangerous affection occurs the devil finds the soul already prepared to allow itself to be conquered. A wise author has said that by the reading of such pernicious books heresy has made, and makes every day, great progress; because such reading has given and gives increased strength to libertinism. The poison of these books enters gradually into the soul; it first makes itself master of the understanding, then infects the will, and in the end kills the soul. The devil finds no means more efficacious and secure of sending a young person to perdition than the reading of such poisoned works.”
One of the books is from an Author named Neale Donald Walsch, titled “Conversations with God”. In Neale Donald Walsch’s books there are indeed a number of outrageous quotes which directly attack the truth of Jesus Christ. Without delving too much into the Author and His writings, it suffices to say that the god Walsch refers to is not The One True God revealed to us as is evident in some of his quotes. Here are just a few of his quotes –
“Your First Cultural Myth is that human beings are inherently evil. This is the myth of original sin. The myth holds that not only is your basic nature evil, you were born that way”
“If you think that you were born in sin, are a sinner now, and will be a sinner always, how are you most likely to act? Yet if you believe that you are One with God, that you walk in step with the Divine, how, then, will you behave? I tell you this: You are an angel”
“There is no such thing as Right and Wrong. There is only What Works and What Does Not Work, depending upon what it is that you seek to be, do, or have”
“When at last you see that there is no separation in God’s World – that is, nothing which is not God – then, at last, will you let go of this invention of man which you have called Satan…Men invented the devil to scare people into doing what they wanted, under the threat of separation from God if they did not”
From these quotes it is clear that Walsch does in fact seek to lead people away from the saving truth of Jesus Christ. It is therefore right to conclude that Catholics should indeed inform their Bishops, priests and fellow lay Catholics about the dangers of shopping in Veritas bookstore which appears to be more interested in profit than truth.
Given that Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori says “One bad book is enough to destroy an entire convent of holy nuns.” , Catholics dread to think of the untold damage Veritas bookstore has done to the faith of Catholics in Ireland. Ireland at present is fighting to recover the Catholic faith from numerous scandals, divisions and heresies. One of the first steps to recovering Ireland for the Glory of God could and should be the removal of bad books from, at the very least, its own Catholic bookstores. If not, then those bookstores can not rightfully claim to be Catholic.
In response to Veritas abandoning its founding mission, lay Catholics have started a petition to appeal to Veritas to return to the purpose of its foundation. You can sign the petition online here - https://www.change.org/p/boycott-veritas-ireland.
Article taken from - Is Veritas deceiving its Customers? (irishnuntii.com)
Thank you for sharing this. Although I live in the states, I'm praying things get straightened out ASAP!