Denis Fahey
Encyclopedia
Father Denis Fahey, C.S.Sp. (July 3, 1883 – January 21, 1954) was an Irish Catholic priest. Fahey promoted the Catholic social doctrine of Christ the King
Christ the King
Christ the King is a title of Jesus based on several passages of Scripture. It is used by most Christians. The Roman Catholic Church, together with many Protestant denominations, including the Anglican Churches, Presbyterians, Lutherans and Methodists, celebrate the Feast of Christ the King on the...

, and was involved in Irish politics through his organisation Maria Duce
Maria Duce
Maria Duce was a small ultra-conservative Catholic group in Ireland, founded in 1945 by Fr Denis Fahey, a priest associated with antisemitic opinions....

. Fahey firmly believed that "the world must conform to Our Divine Lord, not He to it", defending the Mystical Body of Christ without compromise. This often saw Fahey in conflict with systems which he viewed as promoting "naturalism
Naturalism (philosophy)
Naturalism commonly refers to the philosophical viewpoint that the natural universe and its natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and that nothing exists beyond the natural universe or, if it does, it does not affect the natural universe that we know...

" against Catholic order—particularly communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

, freemasonry
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

 and rabbinic Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

. A controversial figure who had an ambivalent relationship with the Church authorities, he is reported to have accepted the authenticity of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion and to have had anti-Jewish tendencies.

Early life and studies

Born in Golden, County Tipperary
Golden, County Tipperary
Golden is a village in South Tipperary in Ireland. The village is situated on the River Suir. It is located between the towns of Cashel and Tipperary on the N74 road. In older times the village was known as Goldenbridge...

 he was educated at Rockwell College
Rockwell College
Rockwell College, founded in 1864, is a private Catholic secondary school near Cashel, South Tipperary in Ireland. It offers day as well as full boarding. Rockwell is run by the Holy Ghost Fathers.-Politics:...

 and at 17 entered the Holy Ghost Congregation to train to become one of the Holy Ghost Fathers
Holy Ghost Fathers
The Congregation of the Holy Spirit is a Roman Catholic congregation of priests, lay brothers, and since Vatican II, lay associates...

. He was sent by the order to Orly
Orly
Orly is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.The name of Orly came from Latin Aureliacum, "the villa of Aurelius"....

 in 1900 as a novice, not long after the government of René Waldeck-Rousseau
René Waldeck-Rousseau
this gy was coolPierre Marie René Ernest Waldeck-Rousseau was a French Republican statesman.-Early life:Pierre Waldeck-Rousseau was born in Nantes, Loire-Atlantique...

 had begun an anti-clerical
Anti-clericalism
Anti-clericalism is a historical movement that opposes religious institutional power and influence, real or alleged, in all aspects of public and political life, and the involvement of religion in the everyday life of the citizen...

 drive in the aftermath of the Dreyfus Affair
Dreyfus Affair
The Dreyfus affair was a political scandal that divided France in the 1890s and the early 1900s. It involved the conviction for treason in November 1894 of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent...

. Although illness prevented him from completing his time in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, the episode was to influence his later ideas on relations between Church and State.

After working at St. Mary's College, Dublin
St. Mary's College, Dublin
Saint Mary's College C.S.Sp. is an all-boys' primary & secondary school run by the Congregation of the Holy Spirit and located in Rathmines, County Dublin, Ireland. The school was founded in 1890 and was closed between 1916 and 1926.Rugby is the major sport and the school colours are blue and...

, Fahey returned to studies at the Royal University of Ireland
Royal University of Ireland
The Royal University of Ireland was founded in accordance with the University Education Act 1879 as an examining and degree-awarding university based on the model of the University of London. A Royal Charter was issued on April 27, 1880 and examinations were opened to candidates irrespective of...

 in 1904, achieving a first class honours degree, later studying at the Pontifical Gregorian University
Pontifical Gregorian University
The Pontifical Gregorian University is a pontifical university located in Rome, Italy.Heir of the Roman College founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola over 460 years ago, the Gregorian University was the first university founded by the Jesuits...

 in Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 before finally being ordained a priest in 1910. Returning to Ireland, he was appointed Senior Scholasticate of the Irish Province of the Holy Ghost Fathers at Kimmage
Kimmage
Kimmage is a small suburb on the Southside of Dublin near Crumlin, Greenhills, Harold's Cross, Rathfarnham, Templeogue, and Terenure. The name "Kimmage" comes from the Irish cam uisce, which means "winding" river. The River Poddle flows through Kimmage, and flows on to join the River Liffey...

 in 1912.

Early writings

Fahey began to turn his attention to writing in the early 1920s, submitting articles for a number of Catholic journals including the prestigious Irish Ecclesiastical Record, most of which were philosophical
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 in nature. It was in his books, most notably The Kingship of Christ and Organised Naturalism (1943) and The Mystical Body of Christ and the Reorganisation of Society (1945), that Fahey began to turn his attention to more political matters. Much of Fahey's anti-Judaic stance influenced other members of the church, such as Father Charles Coughlin
Charles Coughlin
Father Charles Edward Coughlin was a controversial Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as more than thirty million tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the...

, an American priest who regularly used references on his radio programs from Fahey's work. Antisemitic activist L. Fry also promoted much of fahey's work on the decay of Christianity. People in Irish Political circles also tried to set up movements adopting some Faheys strong beliefs on catholicism coupled with a more extreme form nationalism such as Gerry McGeough
Gerry McGeough
Gerry McGeough is a prominent Irish republican who was a volunteer in the Provisional Irish Republican Army , a former Sinn Féin activist and editor of the defunct The Hibernian magazine. McGeough broke with Sinn Féin in 2007 and he is now an independent republican activist...

 who founded the The Hibernian
The Hibernian
The Hibernian was a monthly Irish magazine with the subtitle “Faith, Family and Country”. Twenty-nine issues were published between May 2006 and September 2008....

 magazine and Irish conservative nationalist Justin Barrett
Justin Barrett
Justin Barrett is an Irish conservative nationalist, pro-life and anti-immigration activist.Barrett was involved in the Constitutional Rights Campaign, which unsuccessfully campaigned to prevent the ratification of the Single European Act in 1986...

.

View of history

At the heart of much of Fahey's work was his belief in the existence of a divine programme which he understood to have been proclaimed by Jesus
Jesus
Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

 but rejected by the Jews
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...

. History was to be understood as the 'account for the acceptance or rejection of Our Lord's programme for order'. He argued that the medieval guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...

 system had come closest to reaching the programme and that since then society had gone into decay as it moved away from the ideal. The three main events in this process of decay had been the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

, the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...

 and the October Revolution
October Revolution
The October Revolution , also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution , Red October, the October Uprising or the Bolshevik Revolution, was a political revolution and a part of the Russian Revolution of 1917...

, the last being initiated by Satan
Satan
Satan , "the opposer", is the title of various entities, both human and divine, who challenge the faith of humans in the Hebrew Bible...

. Fahey believed that the gradual Sovietization
Sovietization
Sovietization is term that may be used with two distinct meanings:*the adoption of a political system based on the model of soviets .*the adoption of a way of life and mentality modelled after the Soviet Union....

 of the British Empire and the United States had begun through the founding of the Fabianism movement.
Fahey felt that the contemporary Catholic Church faced its greatest challenge from the forces of naturalism
Naturalism (philosophy)
Naturalism commonly refers to the philosophical viewpoint that the natural universe and its natural laws and forces operate in the universe, and that nothing exists beyond the natural universe or, if it does, it does not affect the natural universe that we know...

, be they invisible (Satan and other demon
Demon
call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

s) or visible (Jews and Freemasons
Freemasonry
Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

). Tapping into contemporary campaigns by parties such as Cumann na nGaedheal, Fahey wrote a series of articles for John J. O'Kelly
John J. O'Kelly
John Joseph O'Kelly was an Irish politician, author and publisher. He was a former president of the Gaelic League and of Sinn Féin. He was born on Valentia Island off the County Kerry coast.-Political career:He joined Sinn Féin at its inaugural meeting on November 5, 1905...

's Catholic Bulletin attacking Freemasonry in particular and secret societies in general, referring frequently to the work of Edward Cahill
Edward Cahill
Rev. Fr Edward J. Cahill, S.J. was an Irish Jesuit priest and academic, born in Ballyvocogue, County Limerick. He was educated in Theology at Maynooth, and ordained a priest in 1897...

. His works appeared in the French language
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, having been translated by Adrien Arcand
Adrien Arcand
Adrien Arcand was a Montreal journalist who led a series of fascist political movements between 1929 and his death in 1967...

.

He felt that there was a Judeo-Masonic conspiracy against the programme of Christ, including the assertion that Jews had a hand in the propagation of communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...

. As a result, Fahey was strongly opposed to the Irish Republican Army
Irish Republican Army
The Irish Republican Army was an Irish republican revolutionary military organisation. It was descended from the Irish Volunteers, an organisation established on 25 November 1913 that staged the Easter Rising in April 1916...

, which he claimed was a communist organisation.

Monetary reform

In his 1944 book Money, Manipulation and Social Order, Fahey turned towards the subject of economic reform. In this book he attacked gold standard
Gold standard
The gold standard is a monetary system in which the standard economic unit of account is a fixed mass of gold. There are distinct kinds of gold standard...

 economies, which he felt were debt-driven. Drawing on the ideas of Frederick Soddy
Frederick Soddy
Frederick Soddy was an English radiochemist who explained, with Ernest Rutherford, that radioactivity is due to the transmutation of elements, now known to involve nuclear reactions. He also proved the existence of isotopes of certain radioactive elements...

, with whom he was in regular correspondence, Fahey wanted banks to be forced to balance all loans with holding of currency. Although he was not directly linked to such contemporary movements as Social Credit
Social Credit
Social Credit is an economic philosophy developed by C. H. Douglas , a British engineer, who wrote a book by that name in 1924. Social Credit is described by Douglas as "the policy of a philosophy"; he called his philosophy "practical Christianity"...

 or Guild socialism
Guild socialism
Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds. It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influential in the first quarter of the 20th century. It was strongly associated with G. D. H...

, Fahey certainly shared elements of their economic ideas.

Maria Duce

Fahey had been closely involved with Edward Cahill's An Ríoghacht study group, although following Cahill's death in 1941 this organisation became more mainstream and less concerned with conspiracy theories. As a result, Fahey began to organise his own group, Maria Duce
Maria Duce
Maria Duce was a small ultra-conservative Catholic group in Ireland, founded in 1945 by Fr Denis Fahey, a priest associated with antisemitic opinions....

, the following year to continue this work. With a membership drawn from various facets of society and with a programme largely the same as Fahey's, Maria Duce came to prominence in 1949 by launching a campaign to amend Article 44 of the Constitution of Ireland
Constitution of Ireland
The Constitution of Ireland is the fundamental law of the Irish state. The constitution falls broadly within the liberal democratic tradition. It establishes an independent state based on a system of representative democracy and guarantees certain fundamental rights, along with a popularly elected...

. This article had recognised the "special position" of the Catholic Church in Ireland although it also recognized various Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...

 creeds, as well as Judaism
Judaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...

. Ireland became the first country to recognise the rights of minority faiths such as the Jewish religion as equal with the majority faith in its constitution.
Fahey argued that this was insufficient and that the Constitution should recognize the Catholic Church as being divinely ordained and separate from 'man-made' religions. Fahey called into question the loyalty of Irish Jews to the Irish State. The campaign succeeded in securing a resolution of support from Westmeath county council
County Westmeath
-Economy:Westmeath has a strong agricultural economy. Initially, development occurred around the major market centres of Mullingar, Moate, and Kinnegad. Athlone developed due to its military significance, and its strategic location on the main Dublin–Galway route across the River Shannon. Mullingar...

 in 1950, but no further progress towards the goal of a constitutional amendment was made.

Although the group was initially left to its own devices, Archbishop John Charles McQuaid
John Charles McQuaid
John Charles McQuaid, C.S.Sp. was the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin and Primate of Ireland between December 1940 and February 1972.- Early life 1895-1914:...

 of Dublin grew less sympathetic to Maria Duce as the 1950s continued. He condemned the group for their heavy-handed reaction to requests for an interview from the anti-Catholic American writer Paul Blanshard
Paul Blanshard
Paul Beecher Blanshard was a controversial American author, assistant editor of The Nation magazine, lawyer, socialist, secular humanist, and from 1949 an outspoken critic of Catholicism....

 (whom Bishop McQuaid felt should have been treated courteously despite disagreeing strongly with him). McQuaid went as far as to write to Fahey in 1954 stating that he opposed the latter's association of the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary with his organisation. Fahey died before any response could be made and the group was disbanded the following year with McQuaid, who had been close to Fahey and recommended his writings in the 1930s, more prepared to take on the group following Fahey's death. Fahey left behind a large written body of work that he did not protect by copyright
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time...

, instead leaving it in the public domain
Public domain
Works are in the public domain if the intellectual property rights have expired, if the intellectual property rights are forfeited, or if they are not covered by intellectual property rights at all...

. Some of his publications remain in print in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, where he continues to have a following.

Character

Fahey was known to be hypersensitive to criticism of his work and was even driven to physical illness by anti-Christian arguments. He avoided social gatherings and was uncomfortable meeting people, which was in part caused by his consistent bouts of migraine
Migraine
Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by moderate to severe headaches, and nausea...

.

Books

  • Fahey, Denis. Mental Prayer According to the Teaching of Saint Thomas Aquinas. Dublin: M.H. Gill, 1927.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Kingship of Christ, According to the Principles of St. Thomas Aquinas. Dublin, London: Browne and Nolan, Ltd, 1931.
  • Phillippe, A., and Denis Fahey. The Social Rights of Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ, the King. Dublin: Browne and Nolan, 1932.
  • Philippe, Auguste, and Denis Fahey. The Social Rights of Our Divine Lord, Jesus Christ, the King; Adapted from the French of the Rev. A. Philippe, C. SS. R. Dublin [etc.]: Browne and Nolan, 1932.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World. Dublin: Browne and Nolan, 1935.
  • Le Rohellec, Joseph, Denis Fahey, and Stephen Rigby. Mary, Mother of Divine Grace. Palmdale, Calif: Christian Book Club of America, 1937.
  • Joannès, G., and Denis Fahey. O Women! What You Could Be. [Dublin]: Browne and Nolan, 1937.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Mystical Body of Christ and the Reorganization of Society. Waterford, Ireland: Browne and Nolan, 1939.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Rulers of Russia. 3rd American edition, revised and enlarged. Detroit: Condon Print. Co., 1940.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Kingdom of Christ and Organized Naturalism. Wexford, Ireland: Forum Press, 1943.
  • Fahey, Denis. Money Manipulation and Social Order. Cork: Browne and Nolan Ltd, 1944.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Tragedy of James Connolly. Cork: Forum Press, 1947.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Rulers of Russia and the Russian Farmers. Maria Regina series, no. 7. Thurles: Co. Tipperary, 1948.
  • Fahey, Denis. Grand Orient Freemasonry Unmasked as the Secret Power Behind Communism
    War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian Civilization
    The War of Anti-Christ with the Church and Christian Civilization is a book written in 1885 by an Irishman, Msgr George F. Dillon, DD. It was republished by Fr Denis Fahey in 1950 as Grand Orient Freemasonry Unmasked as the Secret Power Behind Communism...

    . 1950.
    republication of George F. Dillon
    George F. Dillon
    George F. Dillon was a 19th century Catholic missionary and writer from Ireland. He became well known in 1884 for having given conferences in Edinburgh about what he claimed to be a Masonic war against Christian civilization...

    's work.
  • Fahey, Denis. Humanum Genus: Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII on Freemasonry. London: Britons Publishing Society
    Britons Publishing Society
    Britons Publishing Society, founded in 1923, was an offshoot of The Britons. According to scholar Gisela C. Lebzelter, The Britons split because:...

    , 1953.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Church and Farming. Cork: The Forum Press, 1953.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Kingship of Christ and the Conversion of the Jewish Nation. Dublin: Holy Ghost Missionary College, 1953.
  • Fahey, Denis. The Rulers of Russia. 3d. Ed., Rev. and Enl. Hawthorne, Calif: Christian Book Club of America, 1969.
  • Fahey, Denis. Money Manipulation and the Social Order. Dublin: Regina Publications, 1974.
  • Fahey, Denis. Secret Societies and the Kingship of Christ. Palmdale, Calif: Christian Book Club of America, 1994.
  • Fry, L., and Denis Fahey. Waters Flowing Eastward; The War against the Kingship of Christ.. London: Britons Pub. Co
    The Britons
    The Britons was an anti-Semitic and anti-immigration organization founded in July 1919 by Henry Hamilton Beamish. The organization published pamphlets and propaganda under the imprint names of the Judaic Publishing Co. and subsequently the Britons Publishing Society...

    , 1965.

See also

  • Joseph McCarthy
    Joseph McCarthy
    Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...

  • Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory
  • Catholicism and Freemasonry
  • Catholic social teaching
    Catholic social teaching
    Catholic social teaching is a body of doctrine developed by the Catholic Church on matters of poverty and wealth, economics, social organization and the role of the state...

  • Christianity and anti-Semitism
    Christianity and anti-Semitism
    Christian attitudes to Judaism and to the Jewish people developed from the early years of Christianity, the persecution of Christians in the New Testament, and persisted over the ensuing centuries, driven by numerous factors including theological differences, competition between Church and...

  • Charles Coughlin
    Charles Coughlin
    Father Charles Edward Coughlin was a controversial Roman Catholic priest at Royal Oak, Michigan's National Shrine of the Little Flower church. He was one of the first political leaders to use radio to reach a mass audience, as more than thirty million tuned to his weekly broadcasts during the...

  • L. Fry
  • Protocols of the Elders of Zion
  • Third Position
    Third Position
    Third Position is a revolutionary nationalist political ideology that emphasizes its opposition to both communism and capitalism. Advocates of Third Position politics typically present themselves as "beyond left and right", instead claiming to syncretize radical ideas from both ends of the...


External links

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