My brethren, as to the Bible, be advised by me. For
our greater good let us avoid—let us carefully avoid this
ground. If I may tell you, openly, what I think of this
book, it is not at all for us; it is against us. I do not at
all wonder at the invincible obstinacy it engenders in all
those who regard its verses as inspired.
You are aware that, when once entered upon theological studies, we must of necessity make some acquaintance
with the Bible. [...]
In the simplicity of youth I fully expected, on opening the
New Testament, to find there laid down, totidem literis (in lettere cubitali), the authority of a superior chief in the
church, and the worship of the Virgin, the source of all
grace for mankind. I sought with the same eagerness for
the mass, for purgatory, for relics, &c. But in every page
I found my expectations disappointed; from every reflection that I made resulted doubt. At last, after having
read, at least six times over, that little book which set all
my calculations at nought, I was forced to acknowledge
to myself that it actually sets forth a system of religion
altogether different from that taught in the schools, and
thus all my ideas were thrown into confusion (ne rimasi al sommo scompaginato).
Leone, Jacopo, The Jesuit Conspiracy: The Secret Plan of the Order, London: Chapman and Hall, 1848, pp. 98-99.
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