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50 Years in the Church of Rome The Conversion of a Roman Catholic Priest.Charles Chiniquy | Paperback | 368 PagesAuthor: Charles ChiniquyISBN: 9780937958216Pages: 368 – PaperbackPrice: $̶1̶5̶.̶9̶5̶ This classic work shows how this priest began to question Catholic teachings until he became saved and led his entire parish to salvation. Conversion Testimony of a Former Catholic Priest As a child, Chiniquy memorized scriptures at his mother’s knee and developed a deep love for God. Becoming a priest, he wanted desperately to place full trust in his “church” but was hit by waves of doubt as his “church” claimed adherence to the Gospel yet violated it at every turn. His jealous superiors falsely accused him, but Abraham Lincoln, a young lawyer from Illinois, defended him and saved his reputation. Chiniquy proves that it was the Jesuits who later killed Lincoln and explains why. Finally, after twenty-five years as a priest in the Roman Catholic Church, his bishop demanded that he give up his precious Bible, and pledge blind obedience to the “church. After a dark night of struggle, he emerged gloriously saved, and led almost the entire Catholic population of St. Anne, Illinois to trust in Christ alone. Here is the finest work ever written to show, from the inside, what Catholicism really is. You will feel Chiniquy’s broken heart for Catholics, even as he clearly refutes Catholicism’s errors. Now, abridged from the 1886 edition, it is even more readable than before! Table of ContentsChapter 1The Bible and the priest of RomeChapter 2My first schooldays at St. ThomasThe monk and celibacyChapter 3The confession of childrenChapter 4The shepherd whipped by his sheepChapter 5The priest, purgatory, and the poor widow’s cowChapter 6Festivities in a parsonageChapter 7Preparation for the First CommunionInitiation to idolatryChapter 8The First CommunionChapter 9Intellectual education in the Roman Catholic collegeChapter 10Moral and religious instruction in the Roman Catholic collegesChapter 11Protestant children in the convents and nunneries of RomeChapter 12Rome and educationWhy the Church of Rome wants to destroy the common schools of the United StatesWhy she objects to the reading of the Bible in the schoolsChapter 13Theology of the Church of Rome: its anti-social and anti-Christian characterChapter 14The vow of celibacyChapter 15The impurities of the theology of RomeChapter 16The priests of Rome and the Holy Fathers; or, how I swore to give up the Word of God to follow the word of menChapter 17The Roman Catholic priesthood, or ancient and modern idolatryChapter 18The dogma of transubstantiationThe old paganism under a Christian nameChapter 19Vicarage and life at St. Charles, how the Church survives the immorality and debauchery of its priestsChapter 20Blue devils at the grand dinner of the priestsThe maniac sister of Rev. Mr. PerrasChapter 21I am appointed vicar of the curate of Charles BourghThe piety, lives and deaths of Fathers Bedard and PerrasChapter 22SimonyStrange and sacrilegious traffic in the so-called body and blood of ChristEnormous sums of money made by the sale of Masses to retrieve souls from purgatoryThe Society of Three Masses abolished, and the Society of One Mass establishedChapter 23Canadian masses sold in Paris for a discountChapter 24Quebec Marine HospitalThe first time I carried the “Bon Dieu” (the wafer god) secretly in my vest pocketChapter 25Dr. DouglasMy first lesson on temperanceStudy of anatomyWorking of alcohol in the human frameThe murderess of her own childI forever give up the use of intoxicating drinksChapter 26Conversions of Protestants to RomanismRev. Parent’s peculiar way of finding and converting ProtestantsHow he spies on the Protestants through the ConfessionalI persuade ninety-three families to become CatholicsChapter 27The murders and thefts in Quebec from 1835 to 1836The night excursion with two thievesThe restitutionThe dawn of lightChapter 28Chambers and his accomplices condemned to deathAsked me to prepare them for their terrible fateA week in their dungeonTheir sentence of death changed into deportation to Botany BayTheir departure for exileI meet one of them a sincere convert, very rich, in a high and honorable position in Australia in 1878Chapter 29MiraclesAttack of typhoid feverApparition of St. Anne and St. PhilomeneMy sudden cureThe curate of St. Anne du Nord almost a disguised ProtestantChapter 30My nomination as curate of BeauportDegradation and ruin of that place through drunkennessMy opposition to my nomination uselessPreparation to establish a Temperance SocietyI write to Father Mathew for adviceChapter 31The hand of God in the establishment of a Temperance Society in Beauport and vicinityChapter 32Foundation of temperance societies in the neighboring parishesI am ordered to drink wine by my bishopMonsignor De Forbin Janson, Bishop of Nancy publicly defends me against the Bishop of Quebec and forever breaks the opposition of the clergyChapter 33The god of Rome eaten by ratsChapter 34Visit of a Protestant strangerHe throws an arrow into my priestly soul never to be taken outChapter 35Sent to succeed Rev. Mr. Varin, Curate of KamouraskaStern opposition of that curate and the surrounding priests and peopleHours of desolation in KamouraskaThe Good Master allays the tempest and bids the waves by stillChapter 36Organization of temperance societies in Kamouraska and surrounding countryThe girl in the garb of a man in the service of the curates of Quebec and EboulementsFrightened by the scandals seen everywhere, I give up my parish of Kamouraska to join the “Oblates of Mary Immaculate of Longueuil”Chapter 37Novitiate in the monastery of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate of LongueuilSome of the thousand acts of folly and idolatry in the life of a monkThe spy systemThe deplorable fall of one of the fathers and the Grand Vicar QuiblierSick in the Hotel Dieu of MontrealSister Urtubise: confirms Maria MonkThe two missionaries to the lumber menWhat one of the best Father Oblates thinks of the monks and the monasteryChapter 38I accept the hospitality of the Rev. Mr. Brassard of LongueuilI give my reasons for leaving the Oblates to Bishop BourgetHe presents me with a splendid crucifix blessed by His Holiness for me, and accepts my services in the cause of temperance in the diocese of MontrealChapter 39Preparations for the last conflictLongueuil the first to accept the great reform of temperanceIn 200 Parishes 200,000 people take the pledgeGold medalOfficially named Apostle of Temperance in CanadaChapter 40My sermon on the Virgin MaryCompliments of Bishop PrinceStormy nightFirst serious doubts about the Church of RomeFaithful discussion with the bishopThe Holy Fathers opposed to the modern worship of the VirginThe branches of the vineChapter 41The Holy FathersNew mental troubles at not finding the doctrines of my Church in their writingsPurgatory and the sucking pig of the poor man of VarennesChapter 42Letter from the Rev. Bishop Vandeveld, of ChicagoVast project of the Bishop of the United States to take possession of the rich valley of the Mississippi and the prairies of the West to rule that great republicThey want to put me at the heart of the workMy lectures on temperance at DetroitIntemperance of the bishops and priests of that cityChapter 43My visit to Chicago in 1857Bishop VandeveldHis predecessor poisonedMagnificent prairies of the WestReturn to CanadaLetter encouraging emigrationBad feelings of Bishop BourgetI decline sending a rich woman to the nunnery to enrich the bishopChapter 44The plot to destroy my reputationThe interdictThe retreat at the Jesuit’s collegeThe lost girl, employed by the bishop, retractsThe bishop confounded, sees his injustice, makes amendsChapter 45I arrive at ChicagoI select the spot for my colonyI build the first chapelGreat success of the colonyChapter 46Intrigues, impostures, and criminal life of the priests in BourbonnaisIndignation of the bishopThe people ignominiously turn out the criminal priest from their parishFrightful scandalFaith in the Church of Rome seriously shakenChapter 47Colony growsNew chapel burned by arsonistsBishop Vandeveld replaced by O’ReganThe bishop demands my house and gardenChapter 48Pope Pious IX declares new dogma of the Immaculate Conception of MaryMy parishioner asks some hard questionsChapter 49My beautiful penitent teaches me the abominations of auricular confessionChapter 50Misconduct of the priests at the ecclesiastical retreatThe bishop forbids me to distribute the BibleChapter 51Public acts of simonyThefts and brigandage of Bishop O’ReganGeneral cry of indignationI determine to resist him to his faceHe employs Mr. Spink again to send me to jailAbraham Lincoln defends meMy dear Bible becomes more than ever my light and my counselorChapter 52Bishop O’Regan’s tyranny of the French Canadians of ChicagoHe determines to turn me out of my colony and send me to KahokiaHe publishes that he has interdicted meMy people send a deputation to the bishopHis answersThe sham excommunication by three drunken priestsChapter 53My people ask me to remainI am tried in Urbana for immoralityAbraham Lincoln’s anxietyMy distressMiss Philomene Moffat sent by God to save meLebel’s confession and distressMy innocence acknowledgedNoble words and conduct of Abraham LincolnChapter 54The bishop’s plot to dominate the citiesRome the implacable enemy of the United StatesChapter 55My first visit to Abraham Lincoln to warn him of the plots I knew against his lifeThe priests circulate the news that Lincoln was born in the Church of RomeLetter of the pope to Jeff DavisMy last visit to the presidentHis willingness to die for his nation’s sakeChapter 56Abraham Lincoln a true man of GodThe assassination by Booth, the tool of the priestsMary Surratt’s house the rendezvous of the priestsJohn Surratt secreted away by the priestsNews of the assassination known in St. Joseph, Minnesota, three hours before it occurredChapter 57Two priests, Brassard and Desaulnier, sent by the bishops of Canada to persuade us to submit to Bishop O’ReganThey acknowledge publicly that the bishop is wrong and that we are rightI consent to withdraw from the contest on certain conditionsDesaulnier turns false and betrays us, to be put at the head of my colonyMy last interview with themChapter 58Mr. Desaulnier is named Vicar-General of Chicago to crush usOur People more united than ever to defend their rightsLetters of the bishops of Montreal against me, and my answerMr. Brassard forced, against his conscience, to condemn usMy answer to Mr. BrassardHe writes to beg my pardonChapter 59I send Pope Pius IX and Napoleon, Emperor of France, the legal and public documents proving the bad conduct of Bishop O’ReganGrand-Vicar Dunn sent to tell me of my victory at RomeI go to Dubuque to offer my submission to the bishopThe peace sealed and publicly proclaimed by Grand-Vicar Dunn the 26th of March 1858Chapter 60Excellent testimonial from my bishopMy retreatGrand-Vicar Dunn writes me about the new storm prepared by the JesuitsI refuse to remove the “Word of God” from my pledgeI am freed from the priesthoodVision: Christ offers Himself as a giftBack to my peopleMore than one thousand enter the Promised LandChapter 61I gently lead my people out of their superstitionsWe give up the name of Roman CatholicDismay of the BishopsDuggan, coadjutor of St. Louis, comes to St. Anne to persuade the people to submit to his authorityHe is ignominiously turned out and runs away in fear for his lifeChapter 62Bird’s eye view of the principal events after my conversionMy narrow escapesThe end of the voyage through the desert to the Promised Land ABOUT AUTHOR Charles Chiniquy(1809 – 1899) was a Canadian Catholic priest who left the Roman Catholic Church and became a Presbyterian minister. He was born in Quebec into a middle-class French Canadian Catholic family. His father died when he was young, and he lived with a relative and studied for the priesthood. Highly intelligent, young Charles learned both French and English and filled several positions including parish priest. As a child, his parents demonstrated a great respect for the Bible and as he advanced in the priesthood, became increasingly disturbed between his knowledge of God’s requirements in the Bible and what he saw in the day-to-day functions of his “church.” After seeing the effects of alcoholism on both the priesthood and parishioners, he mounted a successful nation-wide temperance campaign. Through many adventures described in his most famous book, 50 Years in the Church of Rome, Chiniquy eventually left the priesthood and led his congregation to salvation within one of the Protestant movements. In this beautifully written autobiography, his detailed descriptions of the pivotal events of his life make a captivating read. Along the way he leaves the reader with a clear choice whether Roman Catholicism is, indeed, Christian.