November 10, 2006 (the date of publication in Russian)
Alexander Eliseev
THE HOLY EMPIRE OF THE LATIN-AMERICAN NATION
The geopolitical center of Catholicism has shifted to South America
THE END OF THE MODERN AGE
In the Middle Ages, the Vatican tried to create an international theocratic empire ruled by the Pope. The project for "The Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation", which entailed the spiritual leadership of the Emperor, competed with this initiative. Both were unsuccessful and have now become only facts in textbooks on medieval history. The Reformation, followed by the Renaissance and bourgeois revolutions, struck a powerful blow against any – Papocesarist or Cesaropapist – imperial ambitions of Catholicism. Eventually, Catholicism stopped trying to officially control the affairs of state, though retained a variety of levers of political and economic influence (most spectacular in Christian democracy).
However, it's already obvious that the Modern Age is coming to an end. It signifies that new – which to some extent means old – times are approaching. Not surprisingly, arrival of new "Middle Ages" is being emphatically forecasted. Cycles are really typical in history: history tends to repeat itself, though not exactly, of course. And a revival of the imperial Catholic project is possible.
Moreover, such a revival may become Catholicism's only chance to remain an influential world power, for now it faces dreadful challenges that threaten to destroy the colossal, albeit rather withered and dilapidated, building of Catholic Rome.
FROM EUROPE TO EURABIA
Europe is now undergoing powerful pressure from an immigration wave, and the core of its civilization is being diluted. This by itself contributes to Islamization.
Moreover, many native Europeans are enthralled with Islam as well. For example, according to an AFP report there are over 500 000 French natives who have converted to Islam. They represent all social strata and classes. New Muslims justify their choice with a "return to the spiritual". They seek in Islam a source of certainty, chastity, austerity and religious discipline beyond the Church and its hierarchy. People searching for answers in Islam belong to many different circles: intellectual (philosopher Roger Garaudy, Sufism expert Michel Chodkiewicz), artistic (dancer and choreographer Maurice Bejart), cinematographic (diver and underwater filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau), medical (surgeon Maurice Bucai), religious (former Catholic priest AbdelmajidJean-Marie Duchemin). Still, the peculiarity of today is the drift towards Islam also among from middle class, common employees and workers who find peace in the "consistency of Islam" which they can't any longer find in Catholicism.
Similar process can be seen in Germany. According to the recent article in Der Spiegel magazine the number of Germans who have converted to Islam has increased fourfold within one year. The annual number of converts remained constant – at about 300 – until three years ago. The converts were mainly women "who married a Muslim partner". Now the figure is some 4000 conversions annually. Today, people are increasingly converting "of their own free will", among them there are plenty of university graduates and middle-class citizens.
Therefore, the perspective for Islamization of European countries does not seem fantastic any longer.
Europe has also been swept over by an occult, neo-Pagan wave. The much-discussed movie The Da Vinci Code served just as a trial balloon or as an exploratory attack. And whatever might have been said to the contrary, millions of Europeans have been brainwashed with the idea of a "Dynasty of Christ". With this the way is being paved for the establishment of a "holy" cosmopolitan empire governed by a "Merovingian".
Both Islamization and occultism are deadly threats to Catholicism. Secularism, which gained the leading position after the bourgeois revolutions, once deprived Catholicism of its spiritual dominion. Today, Islam threatens to subdue it to an underground or semi-underground subsistence. But the challenge from occultist movements (like the Priory of Sion, or the New Age) is even more menacing: they would like Vatican to adopt their occult and cosmopolitan projects, and to underpin their pseudo-Christian "monarchy" of bogus Merovingians with its own authority.
In order to withstand both challenges, Catholicism needs a solid backing of state power. It will require the might of a new Catholic Empire..
AMERICA SPEAKS SPANISH
Where can such an Empire be found? In Europe? De-Christianization has gone too far here. Therefore, we should look at the opposite shore of the Atlantic. Certainly, we don't mean the North American fundamentalist Protestantism. Let's look closely at the Latin sector of the New World, saturated with Catholic energy. This region is becoming more and more consolidated along several key lines. In December of last year, the South American Community of Nations (CSN), modeled on the European Union, was born. It unites 12 countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Venezuela, Guyana, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru, Surinam, Uruguay, Chile and Ecuador, with a total area of 17.3 million square kilometers and a population of 361 million people.
This is a solid basis for a new empire. In the north, it may acquire a powerful "fifth column" recruited from the numerous (up to 1 million people) Hispanic population of the US. Right-wing French futurologist Guillaume Faye notes: "More and more Americans are learning Spanish: 50% of those learning a foreign language study it. In several schools in California, Arizona and Massachusetts, teaching of English has been almost completely abandoned. In Las Vegas and Phoenix, police officers who choose Spanish receive a special $100 addition to their salary. Spanish has also entered the business arena. The buying power of the Spanish population is expected to rise by 315% between 1991 and 2007. The situation looks grim for English-speakers: only 4 out of approximately 35 million of the Latin-American population speak fluent English. And they don't need to learn, as the number of Spanish TV channels and advertisements increase almost daily."
As soon as the inevitable political crisis occurs in the US, the Hispanic community will play a great role in its resolution. And if the dollar empire crashes it will have an opportunity to gain control over several North American territories (this process will probably be accompanied by numerous clashes with the Islamist-oriented "black racists"). Eventually, these territories will unite with CSN.
Obviously the crisis in the US will take place parallel to the Islamization of Europe. Under these circumstances, Vatican is likely to support the young Empire. Centuries of Catholic tradition will impart additional strength to the new entity; this entity, in its turn, will breathe new power into political Catholicism.
THE RED AND THE GREEN
The Holy Empire of the Latin-American Nation will rest on two pillars. While the secular pillar (here, we can see an analogy with the German Emperors) will be located in the New World, the clericalpillar will be based in Vatican. A synthesis will occur between the freeing Latin-American Socialism, which is now triumphantly marching across the Americas, and the Vatican's social Catholicism. If we continue with the historical comparisons we can recall the famous theology of liberation, which gained a foothold exactly in Latin America. But the new model will be very distant from Marxism.
The new empire will be joined by several Romanic countries of Europe: most probably, Italy, Spain and Portugal.
The Holy Latin Empire will be in conflict on two key lines with other –Islamized – part of Europe: namely, on religious and social issues.
The reason for the former is obvious, while the latter requires some comments. Capitalism won't disappear from Europe during the process of gradual Islamization; even in today's Turkey – which has been persistently knocking at the EU's doors – we see a good example of thriving Islamic capitalism. The Turkish province of Anatolia is an especially elegant illustration of capitalist entrepreneurship. In 2004, this area even scored for a Guinness Book of World Records, as 139 new companies were founded here on one day! It is noteworthy that Anatolian capitalism is characterized by strict observation of all religious norms. Ahmet Herdem, mayor of Hacilar, a town with over 20 thousand residents, reports: "In European countries, workers take a 15-minute smoking break; here we take a 15-minute break to perform prayers, mandatory for Muslims". The Anatolian phenomenon has even made some sociologists coin the notion of "Calvinist Islam".
It is this Calvinism that the socialist Holy Latin Empire, devoted to the ideas of Che, Castro and theology of liberation, is likely to confront with and fight. We'll see a new "Cold War" which has an obvious perspective of turning "hot".
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