Inception

According to his biographer Fr. Cyril Martindale, the idea of a novel about the Antichrist was first suggested to Fr. Benson by his friend and literary mentor Frederick Rolfe in December 1905. It was Rolfe who also introduced Mgr. Benson to the writings of the French Utopian Socialist Claude Henri de Rouvroy, comte de Saint-Simon.

According to Fr. Martindale, as Benson read Saint-Simon's writings, "A vision of a dechristianised civilisation, sprung from the wrecking of the old régime, arose before him and he listened to Mr. Rolfe's suggestion that he should write a book on Antichrist."^[5]

Writing during the pontificate of Pope Pius X and before the First World War, Monsignor Benson accurately predicted interstate highways, weapons of mass destruction, the use of aircraft to drop bombs on both military and civilian targets, and passenger air travel in advanced Zeppelins called "Volors". Writing in 1916, Fr. Martindale compared Mgr. Benson's ideas for future technology with those of legendary French science fiction novelist Jules Verne.^[6]

However, Mgr. Benson also presumed the survival of European colonialism in Africa, the continued expansion of Imperial Japan, and that predominant travel would continue to be by railway. Like many other Catholics of the era in which he wrote^{[citation needed]}, Monsignor Benson believed in Masonic conspiracy theories and shared the political and economic views of G. K. Chesterton and Hilaire Belloc.

Prologue

In early 21st century London, Father Percy Franklin and Father John Francis visit the elderly Mr. Templeton. A Catholic and former Conservative Member of Parliament who witnessed the marginalisation of his religion and the destruction of his party, Mr. Templeton describes to the two priests the last century of British and world history.

The British Empire is now a single party state. The British Royal Family has been deposed, the House of Lords abolished, and Oxford and Cambridge universities closed down. Marxism, atheism, and secular humanism dominate culture and politics. The Anglican Communion has been disestablished and, like all forms of Protestantism, is almost extinct. The world now has only three main religious forces: Catholicism, secular humanism, and "the Eastern religions".

The world has been divided into three power-blocs: a European Confederation of Marxist one-party states and their colonies in Africa; the "Eastern Empire", whose Emperor descends from the Japanese and Chinese Imperial Families; and the "American Republic", consisting of North and South America. The European Confederation and Eastern Empire are now on the brink of war.

Book I: The Advent

Oliver Brand, an influential MP from Croydon, listens as his secretary, Mr. Phillips, describes the seemingly inevitable rush toward war between Europe and the Eastern Empire. A mysterious Senator Felsenburgh has unexpectedly taken charge of the American Republic's peace delegation and is travelling the Empire, delivering speeches to rapt audiences in their own languages.

Oliver ponders that the real problem is the survival of religious belief in the Eastern Empire. In Great Britain, only Catholicism remains in "a few darkened churches" and "with hysterical sentimentality" in Westminster Cathedral. Ireland was granted Home Rule and become fully Catholic, and Rome was given entirely to the Pope.

Oliver's wife Mabel witnesses a volor (flying machine) crash. As the government's Ministers of Euthanasia arrive and begin to finish off the wounded, she sees Father Franklin give Last Rites to a dying Catholic. Traumatised by what she witnessed, Mabel tells Oliver that both the priest and the dying man seemed to believe in what they were doing. Oliver explains the Catholic belief in the afterlife in a dismissive way, and Mabel is mollified.

Due to Felsenburgh's efforts, all chances of war have evaporated. Oliver urges Mabel to accompany him to the announcement, where Felsenburgh will be. As they depart, Mr. Phillips arrives at Franklin's flat. He explains that Oliver's elderly mother used to be Catholic and wishes to return to the Church before her imminent death. Franklin knows it might be a setup, but feels he cannot refuse. He meets Mrs. Brand and receives her back into the Church.

The Brands return home earlier than expected and find Franklin still there. Oliver is infuriated, but Franklin refuses to reveal who arranged his visit. To Oliver's shock, Mabel urges Franklin to leave in peace. She explains that he will see Felsenburgh and the overflowing joy that his arrival has occasioned in England, which is why she does not fear Franklin. On his way home, Father Franklin encounters a rally being addressed by Felsenburgh. For a brief moment, the priest is tempted to believe in him.

Book II: The Encounter

While Oliver is away, Mrs. Brand takes a sudden turn for the worse. Ignoring Mabel's sermons against Christianity, Mrs. Brand pleads for Father Franklin to be summoned. Oliver returns home to find that his mother died an hour before. Mrs. Brand had continued to scream for a priest as long as she was able to speak, but Mabel had her involuntarily euthanised, knowing that her husband would desire it. Although saddened by her death, Oliver tells Mabel that she did the right thing.

In Rome, Father Franklin meets with the pope and explains his ideas for the Church's survival under Felsenburgh's rule. He cautions that violence must never be used – the Mass and the rosary must be the primary weapon against the coming persecution – and recommends forming a new religious order, with no habit or badge, "freer than the Jesuits, poorer than the Franciscans, more mortified than the Carthusians: men and women alike – the three vows for their Church; each Bishop responsible for their sustenance; a lieutenant in each country.... And Christ Crucified for their patron".

After the audience, Franklin is assigned to assist the ailing Cardinal Protector of England in reading reports from England. One day, news arrives that Felsenburgh is now President of Europe. There is great rejoicing throughout the continent; some Catholics are attacked and killed, while others apostasise. The Cardinal-Protector soon dies, and Franklin is chosen to succeed him. The next day, the pope announces that he is creating an Order of Christ Crucified to spread the Faith in the face of persecution. Many join the new order and are martyred throughout the world.

Meanwhile, Felsenburgh instructs the Parliaments of Europe to institute weekly Humanist ceremonies. Attendance is optional except for the four annual festivals of Maternity, Life, Sustenance, and Paternity. Oliver becomes Minister of Public Worship in England, planning the ceremonies with now ex-priest John Francis. The new religion outrages Catholics, leading Cardinal Franklin to urge the pope to forbid Catholics to commit violence and encourage them to patiently endure persecution.

Mr. Phillips arrives in Rome with news that English and German Catholics are plotting a suicide bombing of the abbey where Felsenburgh's inner circle meets. Franklin and Cardinal Steinmann of Germany leave for their respective homelands to try to prevent the bombing. As they fly over the Alps, they encounter a squadron of volors heading the opposite direction. Having also learned of the plot, Felsenburgh has ordered the destruction of Rome in retaliation.

In London, Mabel witnesses mobs crucifying Christians and lynching priests, shaking her faith in Felsenburgh. Oliver attempts to console her, explaining that England needs to be purged from the residue of Christianity, and admits that the police have been ordered to stand down. Mabel confesses that she has been contemplating suicide, but relaxes when informed that Felsenburgh will soon arrive. Oliver informs her that Rome has already been destroyed and that he co-signed the orders. Devastated, Mabel dissolves in tears.

That afternoon, at the Feast of Maternity, Felsenburgh enters the Cathedral dressed in the red and black robes of a British High Court judge and speaks of the destruction of Rome and the recent pogroms against Christians, explaining that future generations of men must flush with shame to remember that mankind had once turned its back on the risen light. He reveals a statue of a naked mother and child then leads the assembled worshipers in prayer to the "Mother of us all". Those present acclaim Felsenburgh as God.

Book III: The Victory

After the destruction of Rome, Cardinals Franklin and Steinmann travelled to the deathbed of the only other living cardinal. They held a Papal Conclave, and Franklin was elected Pope, taking the name Sylvester III. The cardinals both died soon after. Pope Sylvester has since reorganised the Church so that it will survive the persecution under Felsenburgh's government. He has secretly rebuilt the College of Cardinals, and his name and location (Nazareth) are known only to them.

Meanwhile, Felsenburgh has ordered everyone to either formally disavow the existence of God or be executed without trial. While some refuse and are slaughtered, others agree without qualm. Phillips is granted a week to make up his mind.

Her faith shattered, Mabel secretly leaves her husband and checks into a euthanasia clinic, while Oliver tries in vain to find her. After the mandatory eight-day waiting period, Mabel writes a suicide letter to her husband and kills herself. As her life fades away, Mabel finds, "something resembling sound or light, something she knew in an instant to be unique, tear across her vision. Then she saw, and understood..."

One cardinal betrays Franklin, and Felsenburgh plans to wipe out Nazareth, where the remaining cardinals are gathered with the pope, to put a final end to the Church. Pope Sylvester realises this and warns the city's residents to flee, but remains with the cardinals and offers Mass followed by Eucharistic Adoration. As firebombs begin to rain down on Nazareth, Pope Sylvester and the cardinals calmly continue to chant the Pange Lingua before a Host exposed in a monstrance on the altar. The novel ends: "Then this world passed, and the glory of it".

Literature

Frederick Rolfe's anti-Modernist satirical novel Hadrian VII inspired numerous aspects of Lord of the World, including the introductory first chapter.^[7]

According to his biographer, Fr. Cyril Martindale, Mgr. Benson's depiction of the future was in many ways an inversion of the science fiction novels of H. G. Wells.^[8] Like many other Christians of the era, Benson was sickened by Wells' belief that Atheism, Marxism, World Government, and Eugenics would lead to an earthly utopia. Due to his depiction of a Wellsian future as a murderous global police state, Benson's novel has been called one of the first modern works of dystopian science fiction.

History

A further source of inspiration was Mgr. Benson's interest in history.

Fr. Percy Franklin's constant fear of arrest while carrying out his priestly ministry in London is inspired by Mgr. Benson's research into the aftermath of the English Reformation—indeed, Benson would later write a historical novel, Come Rack! Come Rope! (1912), set during that time. Fr. Franklin's suspicion that Fr. Francis may have become a police informant and his belief that Mrs. Brand's request for a priest is a trap to ensnare him are reminiscent of the tactics used by Elizabethan Era priest hunters like Sir Richard Topcliffe.

Julian Felsenburgh's leadership style was modelled after that of Napoleon Bonaparte, whose mistakes he was intended to correct. In one of the three notebooks he kept while writing Lord of the World, Mgr. Benson wrote that while Napoleon's weakness was "his soft heart: he forgave," Felsenburgh, "never forgives: for political crime he strips of position, making the man incapable of holding office; for treachery to himself he drops them out of his councils." He further described the Anti-Christ as "complete hardness, and kindness".^[7]

The number of former priests and bishops who reject Catholicism are inspired by the priests who took an oath rejecting the authority of the Holy See following the French Revolution. All were excommunicated by the Pope and became employees of the First French Republic following the Civil Constitution of the Clergy.

The word, "Recusants", which Fr. Franklin uses to describe Catholics who absent themselves from compulsory Humanist worship, dates from the reign of Queen Elizabeth I of England. The word was originally used to describe both Catholics and Puritans who, despite heavy fines and imprisonment, refused to attend weekly Anglican services.

The conspiracy to suicide bomb President Felsenburgh and its grisly aftermath are inspired by the Gunpowder Plot of 1605, in which a small group of English Catholic noblemen led by Robert Catesby planned to blow up King James I of England during an address before Parliament. Like its fictional counterpart, the Gunpowder Plot was exploited for propaganda and used to justify a campaign to completely and permanently destroy Catholicism.

The scene in which President Julian Felsenburgh leads an enormous congregation in the worship of a mother goddess inside St. Paul's Cathedral is inspired by the worship of the Goddess of Reason inside Notre Dame Cathedral during the Reign of Terror.

As acknowledged in the text, the character of Cardinal Dolgorovski of Moscow is inspired by Judas Iscariot.^[9][10]

The word Test Act for Felsenburgh's legislative means to root out Catholicism is no invention of his or of his author, but there were actually Test Acts passed in England intended for that purpose.

Current events

Further inspiration was gleaned from Mgr. Benson's following of current events.

The fear among Europeans of the Eastern Empire and its ruler, the Son of Heaven, is inspired by the shock that greeted the territorial expansion of the Japanese Empire before, during, and after the Russo-Japanese War.

The dystopian Marxist Government of Britain is inspired by the events of the British general election of 1906. Prior to the election, a large number of small Marxist political parties consolidated to form a unified bloc called the Labour Party, which won 29 seats in the House of Commons. The first chapter, which describes the overthrow of the British royal family, the abolition of the House of Lords, the disestablishment of the Church of England, and the closing of the universities is inspired by the Labour Party's platform at the time the novel was written.

The Marxist uprising that topples the Son of Heaven is inspired by the Russian Revolution of 1905, which Mgr. Benson was following in the newspapers.

Julian Felsenburgh's sermon at St. Paul's and the emotional reaction of his listeners are inspired by press reports of the Reverend Evan Roberts and the 1904-1905 Welsh Revival. Rev. Roberts was similarly able to provoke public displays of emotion in his listeners and is regarded as the inventor of Pentecostalism. He was also the focus of a cult of personality which scandalised more traditional churches. At the height of his ministry, Rev. Roberts' denunciations of literary and cultural societies, competitive sports, and alcohol consumption temporarily caused a sea change in Welsh culture. Countless rugby teams and literary societies were voluntarily disbanded. In Welsh coal mining towns, pubs closed down for lack of business and the National Eisteddfod of Wales was almost deserted. Rev. Roberts, however, eventually came to believe that his ministry was not of God, voluntarily left the public eye, and spent the remaining years of his life resisting efforts to draw him back to the revival circuit. He died, a virtual recluse, in 1951.

The Anti-Catholic riots that follow the discovery of the planned suicide bombing are inspired by Anti-Jewish Pogroms in the Russian Empire, which also took place with the collusion of senior Government officials and policemen.

Textual error in modern editions

Most modern editions of Lord of the World contain an error in Book III, Chapter Five, Section III, carried forward from a printer's error in the American edition of the book. A sentence in the second paragraph of Section III began as follows, in the British first edition:

“In short, it seemed that he could do no good by remaining in England, and the temptation to be present at the final act of justice in the East by which those who had indirectly been the cause of his tragedy were to be wiped out…”

In the corrupted text found in most modern editions, the passage reads (erroneous portion in italics):

"In short, it seemed that he could do no good by remaining in England, and the temptation to be present at the final act of justice in the East by which land, and, in fact, it was more than likely that if she were to be wiped out…”

Catholic intellectuals

Although it is not as well known as the dystopian writings of Evgeny Zamyatin, George Orwell, Ray Bradbury and Aldous Huxley, Lord of the World continues to have many admirers—especially among Conservative and Traditionalist Catholics.

Reviewer Mary Whitebrough noted:^[27] "It is commonly believed than Benson wrote Lord of the World at least partly in response to the writings of H.G.Wells with their vision of a technologically-advanced secularized future in store for humanity. But it is also possible that Wells, a veteran of numerous debates with Catholics, may have returned the favor. Wells' own The Shape of Things to Come takes up the basic plot element of Lord of the World and turns it upside down. In Things to Come, too, a secularized World Government embarks on a head-on confrontation with the Catholic Church and eventually destroys it - but for Wells, the World Secularists are the Good Guys and destroying the Church is a necessary, positive act. (...) To be sure, Wells' World Government is far less brutal than the one predicted by Benson. In Wells' version The Pope and Cardinals are simply dosed with sleeping gas, rather than being firebombed, and Catholics are mainly educated out of their reactionary ways rather than persecuted into martyrdom.(...) It is amusing to note that the Catholic Benson and the Secularist Wells were at one in dismissing the Protestants' power of resistance and seeing only the Catholic Church as a worthy opponent for Secularism."

In a 2005 essay, Joseph Pearce wrote that, while Orwell and Huxley's novels are "great literature", they "are clearly inferior works of prophecy." Pearce explains that while "the political dictatorships" that inspired Huxley and Orwell "have had their day", "Benson's novel-nightmare... is coming true before our very eyes."^[28]

Pearce elaborates,

The world depicted in Lord of the World is one where creeping secularism and godless humanism have triumphed over traditional morality. It is a world where philosophical relativism has triumphed over objectivity; a world where, in the name of tolerance, religious doctrine is not tolerated. It is a world where euthanasia is practiced widely and religion hardly practiced at all. The lord of this nightmare world is a benign-looking politician intent on power in the name of "peace", and intent on the destruction of religion in the name of "truth". In such a world, only a small and shrinking Church stands resolutely against the demonic "Lord of the World".^[29]

EWTN talk show host and American Chesterton Society President Dale Ahlquist has also praised Monsignor Benson's novel and said that it deserves a wider audience.^[30]

Michael D. O'Brien's has cited it as an influence on his Apocalyptic series Children of the Last Days.^{[citation needed]}

Papal statements

On February 8, 1992, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger criticised U. S. President George H. W. Bush's recent speech calling for "a New World Order" in a speech of his own at the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore. In his discourse, the future Pope explained that Monsignor Benson's novel described "a similar unified civilization and its power to destroy the spirit. The anti-Christ is represented as the great carrier of peace in a similar new world order."^[31]

Cardinal Ratzinger proceeded to quote from Pope Benedict XV's 1920 encyclical Bonum sane: "The coming of a world state is longed for, by all the worst and most distorted elements. This state, based on the principles of absolute equality of men and a community of possessions, would banish all national loyalties. In it no acknowledgement would be made of the authority of a father over his children, or of God over human society. If these ideas are put into practice, there will inevitably follow a reign of unheard-of terror."^[31]

In a sermon in November, 2013, Pope Francis praised Lord of the World as depicting "the spirit of the world which leads to apostasy almost as if it were a prophecy."^[1]

In early 2015, Pope Francis further revealed Benson's influence upon his thinking, speaking to a plane load of reporters. At first apologising for making "a commercial", Pope Francis further praised Lord of the World, despite its being "a bit heavy at the beginning". Pope Francis elaborated, "It is a book that, at that time, the writer had seen this drama of ideological colonization and wrote that book... I advise you to read it. Reading it, you'll understand well what I mean by ideological colonization."^[32]

In March 2023, Pope Francis again mentioned that he "always recommends" Lord of the World during an interview with the Argentinian newspaper La Nación.^[33] He referenced the book within the context of "ideological colonization" and in response to a question about non-binary gender options appearing on government forms, saying that such a phenomenon reminded him of the Benson's "futuristic" world, “in which differences are disappearing and everything is the same, everything is uniform, a single leader of the whole world.”^[34]