Did we 'get' to them? Perhaps. What was truecatholic.org is now truecatholic.us. Wonder what prompted THAT change, eh?

We'll admit it: sometimes the objectors to Freemasonry are just SO eccentric and/or eclectic that it really makes us chuckle. What's even more remarkable to us is that such people are entirely convinced what they do and say is absolutely normal while the rest of society which is wrong.

Such is the case with a small group that has declared themselves to be the real Catholic Church and, like that 'other' one in the Vatican, they take their swipes against Freemasonry. 

Gordon "Cardinal" Bateman came to our attention when we were directed to an anti-Masonic screed which claimed that all of the Popes and tons of the Catholic hierarchy were, in fact, Masons ("Rosicrucian Masons" - whatever that might be). The 'footnotes' that the "Cardinal" had written to the laughable paper displayed either the most extraordinarily poor transposition of text to web or an inability to write simple English. This aroused our curiosity and we decided to browse around their website a bit more. We were very intrigued to find that the "Cardinal" was ordained to the priesthood and consecrated a Bishop in the same day. Pretty amazing and something we'd never heard happen before. 

What's more, this ordination (and granting of a bishopric) was done by Pope Pius XIII.  Yes, you read that correctly: Pope Pius the 13th! Those who're not Catholic might be scratching their heads a bit and even Catholics will likely look at this with furrowed brow. Never heard of that pope, have you? You'll find it even more interesting to know that he became Pope in 1998. Yes, 1998 - with Pope John Paul II still alive in the Vatican, albeit aging! Of course, there hadn't been a Pope for some 40 years prior to that time - apparently despite what you may have been lead to believe by those imposters in the Vatican!

If you think this is pretty wacky, you should then appreciate the fact that the website at "True Catholic" isn't "True Catholic" in the normal sense of the word at all and is, in fact, the fantasy of someone who's convinced he's more Catholic than the Pope. In fact, he IS the Pope! The site wants you to believe that everyone in the Catholic church who supports any piece of theology different from what they espouse are/were Masons. Why? Because they're convinced that the current Church leadership isn't Catholic like they think they are.

Their website is listed as being owned by a Robert Lyons from Texas. "Father" Lyons, we find from their website, is apparently the second "priest" ordained by Pope Pius XIII - with his wife and daughter looking on. Wife? Child? Ordination as a Catholic Priest? Well, it's always handy when one can shape reality to fit a preconceived outcome so "Father Lyons" is now a "Melchite" as well as a Latin priest. Square peg; round hole - just like their condemnations of Freemasonry. 

Does this feel like we're tumbling down the rabbit hole, Alice? If these folks didn't truly believe what they were writing, this might all be really humorous but....  Check out their website here and get a look at the "Cardinal" (or Bishop or whatever he is) in his full clerical garb here. Then you might want to read his unintelligible footnotes to that anti-Masonic screed here.

Now surely we'll be criticized for our sarcasm in this instance but when somebody goes so far as to claim that the Pope isn't the Pope and that their own group has a person who became a priest and a Bishop simultaneously - well, it is to laugh! Do enjoy.... Oh, and don't forget to take a peek at the consecration of the "Cardinal" by the Pope who, from his biography, supposedly left the real Catholic Church, is quite enamored with the anti-Masonic newspaper "The Wanderer" and appears to live in in Kalispell, Montana - the location of quite a goodly number of racist and 'fringe' groups. There's a picture of the two of them right here. I doubt the 'Pope Mobile' is parked in Kalispell tonight - but then again, I'm not really sure....

(Oh, and if you're upset with the scandals in the US Catholic Church, don't write to them. They'll just point you to the 'phonies' in Rome!)

In all sincerity, however, it should be CLEARLY noted that this group is certainly NOT unlike many of Freemasonry's detractors - particularly those found on the world wide web. They're 'different' people whose ideas of reality are so confused as to discredit essentially anything they might say. Could they be right about all the Popes being Masons but wrong about the current Pope actually being in Montana? Guess you'll have to decide!