The persecution of Catholics began in 16th century England and tested the Church for over 250 years. Penal laws labeled Catholic believers as traitors and brought fines, imprisonment, and even execution. Prominent persons such as Thomas More, Edmund Campion, and Margaret Clitherow were martyred, while others quietly endured suspicion or harassment to teach and pass on their faith to others, but died peacefully in their beds.

This critical review of the Roman Catholic Church since the pivotal changes initiated in the 1960s by Vatican II paints a disturbing picture of decline and corruption. Dr. Paul L. Williams, a self-professed Tridentine or traditionalist Catholic, traces the various factors that have caused the Church to suffer cataclysmic losses in all aspects of its life and worship in recent decades. Williams illustrates the decline with telling statistics showing the stark difference between the robust number of clergy members, parishes, schools, and active church-going Catholics in 1965 versus the comparatively paltry number today. The author is highly critical of Popes Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis for steering the church so far away from its traditional teachings and for a lack of oversight that allowed corruption to fester. Symptomatic of this failure of leadership are the recent pedophilia scandals, the ongoing financial corruption, a gay prostitution ring inside the Vatican, and criminal investigations of connections between the Holy See and organized crime. This unflinching critique from a devoted, lifelong Catholic is a wakeup call to all Catholics to restore their church to its former levels of moral leadership and influence.

"Crux Ansata" is a fervent attack on the Roman Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII written by H. G. Wells at the height of the Second World War. Within it, Wells uses his position and popularity to bolster British morale, praising the English spirit whilst simultaneously condemning the "spreading octopus" of the Church and its "Shinto alliance." Contents include: "Why Do We Not Bomb Rome?", "The Development Of The Idea Of Christendom", "The Essential Weakness Of Christendom", "Heresies Are Experiments In Man's Unsatisfied Search For Truth", "The City of God", "The Church Salvages Learning", "Charlemagne", "Black Interlude", "The Launching Of The Crusades By The Church", et cetera. Herbert George Wells (1866 - 1946) was a prolific English writer who wrote in a variety of genres, including the novel, politics, history, and social commentary. Today, he is perhaps best remembered for his contributions to the science fiction genre thanks to such novels as "The Time Machine" (1895), "The Invisible Man" (1897), and "The War of the Worlds" (1898). Although never a winner, Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature a total of four times. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.

History of the Roman Catholic Church and the papacy, discussing how the Church dealt with the tensions between its political power and its spiritual mission and the crisis the Church faces in the late 20th century.