THE P
RTAL
Lord of the World by Robert Hugh Benson
A review by Ordinariate member Barry Barnes
January 2017 Page 18
was recently lent the book Lord of the World by a member of the congregation . Pope Francis has ,
I apparently , praised the book as being a prophesy . Fr Benson was the son of Edward Benson , Archbishop of Canterbury , and was ordained in the C of E . In 1903 he was received into the Catholic Church and ordained in 1904 . He died in 1914 . The book was published in 1906 but it is set in the world of the present century . It is said that he wrote the book because he was angered by the works of H . G . Wells , an atheist .
Europe is a single entity , but the separate nations still have their own governments . The Monarchy ( along with all the Europe Monarchies ) has been deposed and in 1917 Labour won the General Election , since when Europe has become Communist and has adopted Secular Humanism . The Catholic Church remains but all other Christian bodies have ceased to exist . The only other religions are the “ Eastern Religions ”. The East is ruled by a united Empire of China and Japan and the Americas ( North and South ) are one nation . The governments are in the hands of Freemasonry . The main characters are : Oliver Brand , who is the Communist M . P . for Croydon and his wife Mabel ; Fr Percy Franklin , who at the start of the book is based at Westminster Cathedral but who eventually becomes Pope Silvester ; and Julian Felsenburgh , an American who becomes President of the World .
Felsenburgh has negotiated peace for the world and an end to all wars but he considers that religion is a superstition which has to be destroyed and that the Catholic Church is Public Enemy Number One . Catholics are persecuted and killed unless they renounce their faith and Rome must be destroyed . In the book Rome has become a separate nation from Italy but encompasses the whole of the Walled City ; Italy ’ s capital is Turin . When the book was written , planes were only just invented so air transport is by airships called Volors . Rome is attacked from the air and completely destroyed . Pope John and all but three Cardinals are killed ; one of whom is Cardinal Franklin . He and the German Cardinal go to Nazareth where , with the Patriarch of Jerusalem , Franklin is elected Pope . Shortly afterwards , the German Cardinal is assassinated and the Patriarch dies . The Pope creates 12 new Cardinals and summons them all to Nazareth . One of the 12 betrays them and Felsenburgh sees the opportunity to wipe out the Church by attacking the very place where the Annunciation occurred .
The nations of the World go by airship to destroy the Church but the world becomes as night . The Pope
says Mass and then processes out of church with the monstrance whilst Tantum Ergo is sung . “ Then the World Passed and the Glory of it ”. So the book ends .
I cannot say that I enjoyed the book and found some parts quite disturbing . He foresaw euthanasia clinics where people could go if they wanted to end their lives . Mabel goes to the clinic in Manchester because she has become disturbed that World Peace involves the killing of Christians . The present day persecution of Christians would probably not have been considered likely at the time the book was written . It is not an easy read , but worth the trouble . It is published by Dodd , Mead and Company in UK 1908 . It is also available on line .
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