Piers Compton: "The book will never be published"
G. Patrick Battell – excatholicsforchrist.com October 7, 2006
Piers Compton – 1901-1986
In 1983, a devastating non-fiction book authored by Catholic writer, Piers Compton, entitled The Broken Cross -The hidden hand in the Vatican, hit the bookshops.
With its expose of secret forces in the Vatican and its allegations concerning Freemasonry, Satanism, as well as a substitution pope and a sinister agenda by senior Curia prelates to murder another pope, it only fuelled future speculation about the Catholic Church, before the book was ever published. It also demolished the myth about another "good" pope due for sainthood in that church in the near future.
Piers Compton was himself a distinguished author of over a dozen published books and in my opinion, a brave and courageous author to denounce such a formidable organization. As a young man he had tested his own vocation both in England and France before forsaking such a venture and entering into journalism.
Later as literary editor of the Catholic weekly newspaper The Universe for over 15 years, his professional research for his future book would allow him great freedom to travel and talk with priests, and I suspect bishops and cardinals, in and out of the Vatican, who like himself confirmed the results of Vatican II as disturbing and sinister.
That the finished book was ever published is indeed incredible in itself. Yet almost immediately the book was, "withdrawn from circulation almost as soon as it was published, with the announcement that it would not again be printed", so wrote the author with some honesty concerning his final book.
Pressure from the start it seems was heaped upon the publishers to prevent its publication. Today I could find no trace of them in my research.
His wife also graphically remembers the menacing and offensive telephone calls that always arrived late at night with the words spoken in a muffled tone, warning:
"The book will never be published", "The book will never be published", "The book will never be published." Brave lady that she was, she took no notice of such bullying tactics.
I have to suggest that these threats were by the English Catholic hierarchy who knew of the books shocking sources. Perhaps the nuncio was involved as well in the plot.
Certainly the popular cardinal at that time would have been no friend to what Piers Compton was revealing in his manuscript.
When finally published the book would find few reporters willing to write a fair review. One has to ask, were they muzzled by obliging editors?
Three years after the books publication Piers Compton died after a long illness. (Interestingly not only would he remain a practising Catholic until the day he died, but also favoured cremation over burial, something his wife long opposed.)
But his damming book in my opinion remains his lasting legacy concerning the machinations of the Roman Catholic church.
After his death he left instructions to his widow that there be no prepared obituaries or photos used about him for publication. Perhaps he feared some future repercussions against his family. But his widow firmly assured me that he had no lasting regrets at all about researching and finishing his monograph. For that I salute him.
But as she reminded me, selecting her words very carefully about who tried to prevent her late husbands book ever being printed and seeing the light of day, she said:
"They are stronger than you are; they have got all the big guns." In that I would agree with her absolutely. But there is One who is coming Who is mightier than even they and His name is - Jesus Christ!
G. Patrick Battell,
7th October 2006
PS. On a personal note I had great difficulty in purchasing my own copy of Piers Compton's book, with its marvellous art work on the front cover. So do please let me know if you had the same difficulty, and did it change your attitude concerning the Catholic Church after you read it? I would be interested.
www.excatholicsforchrist.com/articles.php?PageURL=Compton.htm