Roma Locuta Est

June 4, 2023 (Edward J. Barr) – A reversion to the faith is a startling wake-up call for most who are graced with such an experience.  You see the world from an entirely new perspective.  It may not be as dramatic as St. Paul experienced, but scales do fall from your eyes.  It happened to me in my third decade as a professional intelligence officer.  After the initial exuberance of conversion, I delved deep into the faith.  A spiritual self-assessment revealed that I had fallen into numerous traps set by the devil and his demons over the course of my life.  

Spiritual warfare can be a one-sided affair.  The devil knows what his mission is, to separate the soul from God. Many Christians aren’t aware that they are in a battle, so they don’t fight.  If you live with your focus on the material world you can be blinded to most anything spiritual.  Even spiritually aware people can find it challenging to understand the all-encompassing nature of the battlefield.  The demonic is either sensationalized or glorified in society, and spiritual warfare isn’t talked about much from the pulpit.  

We are fortunate that many exorcists are going public about the dangers of demonic activity in the world, though the reason (increased activity by the demons) may be unfortunate.  I was impressed with the theological and practical guidance offered in the books and podcasts that augmented my study of the topic.  For some reason the demonic standard operating procedures made sense to me. I was initially concerned. Why did something seemingly so complicated seem quite basic to me? The answer came quite quickly. The demons use the same type of recruitment cycle that is used in the human intelligence discipline (HUMINT).

I am not equating HUMINT operations with demonic activity, though I understand some may be eager to jump to that conclusion given some of the past and recent revelations about senior members of the intelligence community.  What I am stipulating is that the same methodologies that intelligence officers use to recruit spies are used by demons attempting to undermine God’s children.   HUMINT operations are designed to recruit individuals who can provide valuable information in support of the goals of their nation. The individual that is targeted is working for an adversary, or at least is providing support to an adversary, or can provide support that can be used against an adversary.  Although almost always incorrectly depicted in the popular culture, HUMINT operation officers (or case officers) are not spies. They recruit spies to join their team (wittingly or unwittingly).  The demons do the same thing.  

The devil’s adversary is God; therefore, anyone who is doing the will of God will be a target. The demons have a much easier time recruiting spies than does the average operations officer. Most nations have a counterintelligence capability that seeks to defend, deter, or detect any adversary seeking to acquire critical intelligence. The Catholic Church has robust tools to defend against the demonic, yet there are no dedicated counterintelligence professionals tasked to educate the laity.  When an exorcist is called it means we are in the damage control phase.

The main advantage the demons have is their intelligence. All angelic beings by nature possess vastly superior intellects compared to man.  They were created as spirits in God’s image. They were created before man. The demons’ rejection of their divinely assigned mission does not lessen their abilities. Scripture tells us the devil is the prince of this world. His power, and that of his demons, is formidable. 

The demons have a target rich environment. By every indicator society is moving more away from God and his teachings (see “Is the Culture of Death creating the Remnant,” Part 1 and Part II).  Still, the demons’ superior intellect would demand they follow the most advantageous process in determining their preferred targets.  They appear to follow the same recruitment cycle that is employed by HUMINT officers. 

The recruitment cycle begins with a specific requirement for the type of intelligence that is to be acquired. This tasking comes from higher headquarters and provides focus to the operation.  The key for the operations officer is to select a target who will be able to provide the information contained in the requirement. The officer will use all the tools at his disposal to get the target to abandon their loyalty to their country.  In short, to commit treason against their governing authority.  God is the ultimate governing authority, and the demons seek to convince mankind to commit treason against Him.

One of the most damaging cases an intelligence agency can run against an adversary is a penetration of the government.  In this type of case the intelligence officer recruits a senior leader who can not only provide information on the adversary but destroy it from within (see Chinese Spying on the Vatican – A McCarrick connection, Part I and Part II).  The most notorious spies in history were those that were working inside a government or intelligence agency.  Those from recent US history include CIA officer Aldrich Ames and FBI Special Agent Robert Hanssen.  From a demonic perspective, recruitment of a priest or religious is quite a coup, and would probably earn them some type of promotion or reward, just as recruiting ‘hard targets’ (targets from countries who are incredibly challenging to recruit) earns CIA officers awards and promotions.  This is why we must make time weekly if not daily to pray for our priests.  

Once the order comes from above, the operations officer follows a well-defined process that generally includes the following several steps. First, there is the spotting and assessing phase. Second is the developmental phase.  Third is the recruitment phase.  Next comes management of the operation.  In the next several weeks we will explore in greater detail how the demons use each step of the HUMINT cycle to ruin souls.

Edward J Barr is a career intelligence officer and commercial counterintelligence consultant.  He teaches in a master’s level intelligence studies program at a major US university. He earned a Master of Theology degree from the Augustine Institute. He is the author of, The Gray Apostle: Mission of the Messiah. Mr. Barr is a contributing writer for the Roma Locuta Est blog (www.RomaLocutaEst.com)

Resources:

Father Chad Ripperger, “Deliverance Prayers for the Laity.”  Also available online thru the St. Michael Center app (see below).

Monsignor Stephen J. Rosetti, St. Michael Center for Spiritual Renewal.  Sign up for monthly deliverance prayer sessions.

Opus Sanctorum Angelorum, Crusade for Priests