CIT Y OF MAN VS CIT Y OF GOD
Mysterium iniquitatis:
FROM ONE WORLD ORDER TO GLOBAL CHAOS
BY PROF. ROBE RTO D E M AT T EI
The following talk was delivered at the Rome Life Forum, held at the Angelicum, 16-17 May 2019. THE MYSTERIUM INIQUITATIS ACCORDING TO LEO XIII
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n seeking to throw a little light on the Mysterium iniquitatis, it is necessary to look back at the first moments of universal history. In his encyclical Humanum genus of 20 April 1884 against Freemasonry, Leo XIII asserts: “The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the Giver of heavenly gifts, ‘through the envy of the devil’, separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other for those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ; and those who desire from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire will. The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God, and many aims also against God.”1 SUM ME R 2 0 1 9
Pope Leo XIII therefore teaches that humanity is divided into two camps which are in incessant combat: the kingdom of God, consisting of the Church of Christ, and the kingdom of Satan, consisting of followers of the Devil. The combat is not merely an episode in history, but dates from the first moment of the creation of the universe, and will continue until the end of time. Angels were created together with light, but when God separated light from darkness, some angels separated themselves from the light, which is God, and plunged into darkness. This is repeated throughout history and in fact constitutes the mysterium iniquitatis: a mystery impenetrable in itself, because our intelligence is not capable of comprehending either the intimate essence of the Supreme Good, or the profundity of Evil, whose existence is allowed by God, although against His will. This is “an unapproachable light” (1 Tm. 6:16), in which God lives, but there is also an unapproachable darkness which the divine light does not illuminate. This is why we say that Satan works in the mystery. Like every mystery, the mystery of evil is beyond the understanding of reason, yet does not contradict it. Through reason illuminated by faith, we can grasp a reflection of light in this mystery which, as St Paul assures us, will be revealed in time (2 Thess. 2:6-8). Only “God is light, and in Him there can be no darkness.” (1 John 2:5)
PROF. ROBERTO DE MATTEI
To explain this mystery of evil, Leo XIII refers to the two cities, described by St Augustine in his classic work The City of God in these words: “The one is a society of the devout, the other of rebels, each with their angels, in which, on the one hand, the love of God prevails, and on the other, love of self.”2 The forces of attraction and cohesion which generate and maintain these cities is love. “Two forms of love have generated two cities: the earthly city, love of self to the extent of disdain of God; the heavenly city, love of God to the extent of disdain of self.”3 The radical choice is between God, to whom humility of heart is intimately joined, and the devil, to whom pride and self-love binds us. The essence of this encounter is moral and rooted in human liberty: a choice must be made according to the gravitational pull impressed on our life by love.4 THE “MYSTICAL BODY OF SATAN”
The City of God is the Church in its three states: militant, suffering and triumphant. A spiritual bond brings together, in a single Mystical Body, the 13
