36 FT389priests controlled by Satanhimself.The
Christogram ‘IHS’wasn’tacontraction
derived from the GreekforJesus,as most
Christiansbelieved: itwasablatanthomage
to the EgyptianGods, Isis, Horusand Seb.
When hewasn’tcalling Catholictradition
plainevil,Chicklabelleditu seless,asin
TheLast Rites,inwhich John, asupposedly
Godly man,isdyingafter beinghit by acar.
He’sgiven his last rites, which he assumes
is his tickettoHeaven... until page21,
whereastraight-talkingGod tellshim he’s
heading straightforHell!Theimplication
is thatCatholicrituals areawaste of time.
Crucially, John hadfoolishlytornupthe
ChickTract giventohim onpage18and
calle dit“baloney”.Bad move.
Consideringthe scale of Chick’soutput,
suchdivisiveviews hadasigni ficant impact.
Protestants alreadyhad sometimes uneasy
relations with their Catholic neighbours,
and yet, particularly in th e1970sand 1980s,
Chick wasnow telling them that theyshould
beterrifiedof the ChurchofRome.Not least
because theVatican heldasupercomputer
that liste dthe name ofeverysingle
Protestantin theworld.Thesefiles would
be usedfor an organised persecution in
the coming days,whichmight even include
murder.InMyName... in theVatican?Chick
claimedthatthe CatholicChurchhad
alrea dy murdered 68 million people between
1200and 1800.
Unsurprisingly, Catholicsweren’t
impressed,especiallywhentheykept finding
theseinflammatory bookletsleftont he
steps of theirchurches or tucked into new
booksby the Pope at Catholicstores.Yetjust
as controversialast he claimsthemselves
wasthe sourceofall thisinformation.Alberto MagnoRomero Rivera (1935-1997)
insisted hewasaformerJesuit priest and
bishopwho,bythe time he metChick,was
wearyofall th ecorruption. Hebecame a
whistleblowerand, alongwithChick, tried
to expose whathebelie vedwas the most
evil or ganisation on the planet. Entire tracts
were designed aroundRivera’ sclaims,and
most notably acomic-book sized spin off
series calledTheCrusaderswascreatedby
Chic kPublicationsand showedRome at its
most depraved.
Rivera saidhis insider knowledgewas
legi tand that he’dbeen givenaccessto thesecretundergroundlibrariesatt heVatican.
Critics(Catholic and Protestant alike)asked
forproof of hishysterical accusations.Chick
respondedby publishing Rivera ’s 1967
ID ca rd,along with lettersofc ertification
andothersupposedproofs, insistingthey
weren’tforgeries.Yetfew outside theChick
worldviewwereconvinced.In 1980,the
widely-read Catholic newspaperOurSunday
Visitoreven offereda$10,000rewardto any
readerwho could produce solidevidence
to backupsuchanti-Catholic accusations.
Nobodyclaimed it–not even Chick himself.
Otherevidencesurfacedinstead,suggesting
thatRiverahad facedvariousfraud charges
and hadeven fathered twochildren during
his supposedperiod of celibacy. No official
record of Ri vera ’s ordinationwaseverfound.
No certificates. No undergroundlibrary
tickets.This wasenoughtot urnevenChick
fans away, butJackhimself(and many of his
followers )remainedloyal to Rivera .Afterall,
anyevidencethat painted Rivera in abad
light wasjust aCatholic plot tosilence him!
Today, ChickPublications continue to
scatter publicspaces withits warningsabout
theWhoreofBabylon, based on Ri vera ’s
claims.This samerelian ce on controversial
‘advisors’would helpshape Chick’s approach
to another of hisfavourite targets:the
organised legions of demonic cults.AGIGANTIC WITCHES’COVEN
Satan and hisminions leer from the pagesof
manyChickTracts, buttheyaren’tsome wild
gang ofunru ly renegades.ForChick, the
demonicworldwas ameticulouslystrategic
movement,focusedonthe destructionof
all that’sgood. InTheAssignment,Chick
shows highlyorganis ed demons, assignedHTTPS:/
/CHICK.COM/PRODUCTS/TRACT?STK=3
ABOVE:Aparticularly terrifyingpanel from thetractSomebody Goofed.BELOW:Alberto Rivera,Chick’sCatholic whistleblower.Demons areassignedtocorruptpeople onabespokebasis