Archdiocese of Brisbane – Ecclesiastical Freemasonry

republished from The Remnant.

It is by now common knowledge that Pope Leo XIV has made another highly inappropriate episcopal appointment in the person of Shane Mackinlay, currently Bishop of Sandhurst. To rub salt into the wounds of faithful Catholics, this new appointment will include Mackinlay’s promotion to the rank of Archbishop, as he takes over the Archdiocese of Brisbane, Queensland.

Bishop Mackinlay has become prominent in recent months over his unrepentant installation of a demonic idol inside Sacred Heart Cathedral. Despite repeated calls for the removal of the infamous idol, and a petition singed by more than a thousand people, Bishop Mackinlay refused to back down. The idol had been part of a local art exhibition, and was openly linked by its creator with the occult, specifically with the condemned practices of Tarot card reading and witchcraft. Its placement in the Cathedral, as part of an esoteric ‘pilgrimage’ made a mockery of true Catholic pilgrimages and of Catholic belief itself.

Eventually, the laity stepped in and the idol was ‘relocated‘ by three anonymous men in broad daylight. No apology was ever provided by Bishop Mackinlay to deeply offended Catholics nor was a statement made by the diocese about the statue’s removal from the Cathedral.

The pagan idol display was only one of a series of incidents that point to Bishop Mackinlay’s failure to enforce the Catholic religion in his diocese, as ongoing scandals have been quite a feature of his tenure there.

The pagan idol display was only one of a series of incidents that point to Bishop Mackinlay’s failure to enforce the Catholic religion in his diocese, as ongoing scandals have been quite a feature of his tenure there. One recent incident highlights the diocese’s commitment to extreme ecumenism with its accompanying liturgical laxity.

On that occasion, an Anglican priestess gave the appearance of concelebrating Mass. The woman, a known lesbian, remained near the altar during a Novus Ordo Mass and was administered Holy Communion. She even helped herself to a chalice containing the Precious Blood until it was retrieved by the hapless Catholic priest who has apparently suffered no consequences for his actions from the Bishop. While some good, orthodox priests do exist in Sandhurst diocese, these are few and far between, and they have been living with a constant fear of being targeted by their Bishop.

It is being argued that, along with other recent episcopal appointments made by Pope Leo, this one was in the pipeline long before he became Pope. That rings hollow, however, when one considers his position prior to becoming Pope, for the former Cardinal Robert Prevost was, in fact, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. Having been in that position since January 2023, Cardinal Prevost was one of the churchmen best placed to evaluate the suitability or otherwise of our bishops.

According to the local Catholic grape-vine, Bishop Mackinlay had been earmarked for the Archdiocese of Brisbane for some time. This means that his name was already pencilled in for the position while Cardinal Prevost was still at the Dicastery for Bishops.

According to the local Catholic grape-vine, Bishop Mackinlay had been earmarked for the Archdiocese of Brisbane for some time. This means that his name was already pencilled in for the position while Cardinal Prevost was still at the Dicastery for Bishops. Thus there is little doubt that, due to his former position, Pope Leo is well aware that Bishop Mackinlay is in favour of ordained women deacons as well as Fiducia Supplicans, which the latter believes to be a “significant step forward.”

Bishop Mackinlay is also known internationally for his adherence to the Bergoglian theme of synodality and, just months ago, he released what can only be called a propaganda video extolling the virtues of this Modernist innovation. Note that in the video, pro-life activists are portrayed as antagonists who fail to ‘dialogue’ while, perhaps unsurprisingly, those of other faiths are portrayed as being respectful and therefore able to ‘enrich’ Catholics.

The inappropriateness of Bishop Mackinlay’s new appointment has not been lost on many in the Church. Bishop Strickland criticised the move on social media, drawing attention to Bishop Mackinlay’s stance on female deacons. Bishop Strickland stated that the appointment “raises serious pastoral and doctrinal questions”, saying that “appointing a bishop who holds such views to shepherd a major archdiocese is a source of scandal and division. The faithful deserve clarity, not ambiguity; fidelity, not experimentation.”

Yet, in one sense, the appointment of Archbishop-elect Shane Mackinlay could be seen as being entirely appropriate, as his future Archdiocese is even more notorious than his current one. The Archdiocese of Brisbane has been led by Mark Coleridge since 2012 and he is a man who is possibly even more dedicated to squashing tradition and promoting heterodoxy than is Bishop Mackinlay.

Drawing together all these threads, one can only wonder what criteria is being used by the Dicastery for Bishops when selecting our prelates. For it would be no surprise to learn that those with more than a passing interest in the occult are deliberately being sent to dioceses with a history of tolerating and even promoting New Age practices.

While Bishop Mackinlay has allowed Latin Masses to continue in the Sandhurst Diocese – albeit with caveats – since the introduction of Traditiones Custodes, Archbishop Coleridge has been far less understanding. In 2023, he banished the well-attended Latin Masses offered by the Brisbane Oratory to the nearby parish hall. The Masses had formerly been held in a stunning heritage church which had been sympathetically renovated.

It was Archbishop Coleridge who, during the COVID hysteria, enforced government mandates to an extreme degree – even threatening his priests with removal of faculties if they did not comply with vaccination mandates. Prior to that, Archbishop Coleridge allowed a sacrilegious and indecent performance in one of his churches and possibly enlisted Cardinal Blase Cupich to cover up for him over sex abuse allegations. It was also on Coleridge’s watch as President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference that Freemasons were given permission to remain Catholics in good standing.

Archbishop Coleridge pictured with Fr. Marko Rupnik.

The Archdiocese of Brisbane has a history of heterodoxy and scandal, going all the way back to the 1980’s with then-Bishop Cuskelly and Archbishop Rush. Those two clerics, along with a bevy of priests, introduced into the Archdiocese of Brisbane revolutionary ideas such as a democratised Church and the potential for ordination of women. The wider acceptance of sodomy among Catholics can be traced back to this era.

After that came Archbishop Bathersby who infamously allowed a host of New Age practices to flourish within the Brisbane Archdiocese during the 1990’s. That included everything from nuns worshipping Gaia to alchemists lecturing seminarians.

There could only be one goal in such a grim scenario: that of further entrenching anti-Christianity in areas which are catechetical wastelands. Let us hope and pray for God to draw good from these disastrous appointments.

One highlight (or lowlight) during these decades, with particular relevance to Bishop Mackinlay, was a notorious shrine that appeared in Brisbane’s St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The shrine, entitled, The Human Search for God, was an anti-Christic collection of indigenous totems, fertility symbols and motifs related to pagan spirits and tribal ancestor worship. Some Catholics even discerned references to the magick rituals of Aleister Crowley in the designs. Outrageously, the collection was in place for seven years.

Although the exhibition has now been removed, other disturbing artworks remain at St. Stephen’s including a bizarre crucifix over the main altar.

St. Stephen’s Cathedral’s Resurrected Christ crucifix

Read the rest at The Remnant Newspaper.

Although some us have only recently come to see the influence of the occult underlying the Church’s most serious problems, there are others who saw the dangers years ago and tried to alert fellow Catholics to the danger. One of those faithful pioneers was Tim Pemble-Smith. Through his publication, News From the Pews, he and his colleagues set out to expose Freemasonry and other occult forces with the Archdiocese of Brisbane, in Queensland, Australia.

The following is from Issue 24 of News from the Pews, dated 28 April, 2000. It explains the occult meanings behind an art installation which was once placed inside a chapel at St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Brisbane. At the time, the chapel was dedicated to “The Human Search for God”, but has since been redesigned and dedicated to St. Mary McKillop.

After much public outcry, and largely due to pressure from Mr. Pemble-Smith and his colleagues, the installation was removed. Strangely, no records of this artwork exist online, neither from the indigenous artist, Fiona Foley nor the Cathedral. For copyright reasons, this article contains no photographs from the shrine.

Article begins:

‘Devil’ Shrine in St. Stephen’s

Over the past two years, this newsletter has exposed many hidden demonic messages contained in The Human Search for God shrine in St. Stephen’s Cathedral. Yet, the shrine has not been closed down and requests for an enquiry have been ignored….The Church admits that the shrine contains “systems of meaning”, but neither the artist nor the Church has explained those meanings. In this issue, we re-examine the artwork and see how it corresponds with the writings of the ‘devil-worshipper’ Aleister Crowley.

Influence of Crowley

Although he died in 1947, Aleister Crowley was the most influential occultist of the twentieth century. He was a self-proclaimed devil worshipper and sex and drug fiend. His book, 777 and Other Qabalist Writings of Aleister Crowley, sets out a system of elaborate codes to disguise the meanings of references to the occult. For example, the use of numbers is prevalent in much the same way as a codebook shows the disguised meaning of a message. Crowley created his own cult to worship the devil and wrote books setting out the way to practice his religion. Today there are many believers who follow his methods.

Artwork in Shrine

To a person unfamiliar with Crowley’s methods, the artwork presents a series of abstract images. There are seven panels of artwork in all, with four, square, central panels. The panels are all dark. You see a blood moon, a dog, a black luminous disc, and dark blue moon, leaves, pipi shells, fish etc. Certain images are repeated. Perhaps the first thing you notice is panel 1.

The dog in panel 1 stands out. Crowley used the dog as a reference to the Christian God. In Crowley’s system, “dog” is simply “God” spelled backwards. Crowley revelled in the use of wordplay, ie, a play on words. It should be noted that in the Courier-Mail (newspaper) article, Ms Foley is reported to have admitted to using reverse spelling in her art.

A Crowley follower who is familiar with Ms Foley’s other art, will recognise the dog in Panel 1 as the one in Ms Foley’s other work, “The Three-legged dog day.” They would also notice the 7 stars in the left corner in the pattern of a crescent. Cycles of the moon are commonly references to witchcraft. It is a classic Crowleyan reference. As Crowley said, “The best blood is of the moon monthly: then the fresh blood of a child…”

Multiple uses of Images and Shapes

A follower of Crowley will also be looking in the shrine for any repeated images or shapes. Multiple uses of images or shapes could point to Crowley’s codes. The Crowley follower would quickly note the central group of 4 square panels arranged into a larger square – panels 3, 4, 5, & 6.

Functions of Four: Alchemy

The Crowley fan knows that any ‘functions of 4’ are likely to point to alchemy, the ‘black art’ of attaining spiritual union with the devil. In the shrine there are many: the 4, square, central panels arranged to form a larger square, the 4 fish swimming, a group of 4 shells, a 4-part skeletal fish image.

The Crowley follower will know that if these panels relate to alchemy, the four central panels should represent the four elements of alchemy – earth, air, fire and water.

It is clear that panel 4 represents the red earth and that panel 5 represents water. The circular, black disk in panel 3 has a distinctive luminescent quality. It does not reflect light as the moon does, it’s black light comes from within. The Crowley fan will recognise this as Crowley’s vision of a ‘black sun’ – a reference to the abyss (hell) and to the dark angel of the abyss, Lucifer – the light bringer. Panel 3 is the fire panel.

Panel 6 presents the blue moon in the night air. This is the air panel. Air and earth panels are thus, as required, located diagonally opposite each other, as are fire and water. So the four square panels represent the four elements of alchemy, in a way, which – via the black sun – can be referenced to Crowley, the ‘abyss’ and to Lucifer.

Further, panels 3 and 6 present the sun and the moon opposite each other, “in balance”: symbolic of alchemy, as Crowley says.

Fish: Alchemy

Ms Foley presents four fish swimming in panel 5. The number 4 here is symbolic of alchemy. In 777 Crowley also links fish to alchemy. The fish are presented swimming in iridescent water. In 777, Crowley connects iridescence of water and alchemy.

Shells & Leaves

In Crowley’s system, the number ‘777’ itself represents his “world of the shells”, “demon-world” or “abode of the evil spirits” which are called the “shells”. Note that there are 17 shells in panel 4 and 4 more (4: alchemy again) in panel 5 – in total, 21 shells. 21 shells is a way of presenting 7, 7, 7 shells – a reference to Crowley’s codebook 777.

Ms Foley also presents five ‘V’ or heart-shaped, yellow brown leaf images, 3 in panel 4 and 2 more immediately above in panel 3. Reading downwards, this is ‘VVVVV’, Crowley’s signature contraction of the Latin used in reference to himself as ‘Master of the Temple.’ In Crowley’s system, the number 5 corresponds with the heart. Five is also Crowley’s number for sulphur, the yellow brown substance said to be used in alchemy. Crowley linked yellow brown with the ‘earth nature’ of his imaginary ‘camel’, which he says is the ‘means of travelling through the wilderness of the abyss’. As to the heart, Crowley states in 777 in reference to the invocation of his ‘Holy Guardian Angel’ (the devil) that “the human heart is the foundation of the work”.

Foley’s combination of 3 leaves and 17 shells in panel 4 (Remember there were exactly 17 shells in panel 4, for yet another reason; it was not simply coincidence) and 2 leaves in panel 3 immediately above is also significant. In 777, Crowley uses the numbers 2, 3 and 17 to derive a reference to the ‘Angel of Venus’, who is Lucifer.

Is it a shrine to the devil?

This otherwise unexplained shrine speaks for itself. The images and codes it contains correspond all too perfectly with Aleister Crowley’s writings. The parallels are too many and detailed to be mere coincidence. So, is it likely that the reluctant-to-comment Foley “Had never even heard of Crowley”?

HutheMeow, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Wikicommons, author unknown: Aleister Crowley in the garments of the Ordo Templi orientis (OTO)

Tag: Archdiocese of Brisbane

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