Published in 1886, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome is the astonishing autobiography of the French-Canadian Roman Catholic priest, Father Charles Chiniquy.
With eloquent prose and poignant testimony, Chiniquy details the many conflicted, disturbing, and soul-stirring experiences he encountered first as a child, then as a student in a Roman Catholic college, and later as a devout priest who served for twenty-five years in the parishes of Quebec and Illinois before being born again in Jesus Christ and finally leaving the church he loved to become one of its most dreaded—and demonized—apostates.
Charles Chiniquy was a remarkable man. He was a stunning intellectual, a devoted scholar, a compassionate charity-worker and caregiver. He was also a champion in Canada’s nineteenth century Temperance movement, and was recognized in the Canadian Parliament for his contribution to the cause. Chiniquy also had an indirect influence on American politics, having been intimately connected with the young railsplitter-turned-lawyer of Springfield, Abraham Lincoln, whose brilliant defence of Chiniquy in the court battle of 1856 dealt the Church of Rome an unforgivable blow.
Pick up this extensive, first-hand narrative of Fifty Years in the Church of Rome and you will embark on a compelling and unforgettable journey. You will discover that the roots of some of Catholicism’s most revered and signature dogmas and traditions—such as auricular confession, the Immaculate Conception, transubstantiation, and the priestly vows of celibacy—are inventions that blatantly oppose the teaching of the Gospel and the dictates of plain reason. You will also learn of the shocking undercurrents that linked the secret political agenda of the Pope of Rome and his Jesuits with the plot to destroy the most fundamental ideals of the Republic, spur on the bloodiest war fought on American soil, and commit the tragic assassination of one of the United State’s most beloved presidents—Abraham Lincoln.
This book is not for the faint of heart. It is an incredible literary feat that will leave you questioning what we have been fed through the stagnant current of mainstream history, and it will raise the curtain of nearly two centuries to reveal a religious and political stage upon which a French-Canadian priest, a United States President, and the Vatican are flung together in a startling and unexpected drama.
As Chiniquy himself tells us in the dedication of his book:
“TO THE HONEST AND LIBERTY-LOVING PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES, I also dedicate this book. Americans! You are sleeping on a volcano, and you do not suspect it. You are pressing on your bosom a viper which will bite you to death, and you do not know it. Read this book, and you will see that Rome is the sworn, the most implacable, the absolutely irreconcilable and deadly enemy of your schools, your institutions, your so dearly bought rights and liberties. Read this book, and you will not only understand that it is to Rome you owe the rivers of blood and the unspeakable horrors of the last civil war: but you will learn that Romanism and Liberty cannot live on the same ground. This has been declared by the Popes, hundreds of times.
Read this book: And you will not only see that Abraham Lincoln was murdered by Rome, but you will learn that Romanism, under the mask of religion, is nothing but a permanent political conspiracy against all the most sacred rights of man and the most holy laws of God.”
*You can purchase your own unabridged copy of Fifty Years in the Church of Rome from Chapters Indigo or Amazon. Other works by Charles Chiniquy include “The Priest, the Woman, and the Confessional,” “Papal Idolatry,” and “The Manual of Temperance.“
HAVE YOU HEARD OF CHARLES CHINIQUY OR READ HIS WORKS?
PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS IN THE COMMENT SECTION BELOW!
At the Brook's Bend 
Excellent book review Brooklyn! Wow, sounds like a book I need to read. I had never heard of Father Charles Chiniquy until I read your post; he sounds like quite an amazing man! I was also intrigued to learn about his connection to Abraham Lincoln, and also what he stated about Romanism and Liberty-just fascinating!
Thank you so much for sharing!!
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Glad to hear it, Sydney! I’m sure you will find the book most interesting, and Yes, the connection is very intriguing.
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This is a great review! I just ordered myself a copy, when I read the words “blatantly oppose the teaching of the Gospel” I was sold. I had never heard of Charles Chiniquy before today but I’m very keen on finding out more about him and his views on Catholicism. When I was younger, I attended a catholic school until my dad pulled me out. Suffice to say I’m glad he did, there seems to be a brazen pattern of going against biblical teachings when the Vatican gets involved.
Thank you for another great post!
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Interesting, thanks for sharing. Indeed, we don’t have to swim against the current of mainstream indoctrination for too long before we discover that what we saw there was only the tip of the iceberg…
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Great review! I have read this book, and once you “see” you cannot “unsee.”
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So true.
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A+ on a most excellent book report! This book sounds exactly like the reading my husband enjoys. I put it on my “books to aquire” list for him. Thanks so much!
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That’s great! “Fifty Years” is right up my Dad’s alley, too. In fact, he’s currently reading through it now.
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I’m not sure how you were able to compose a report so brief on such a long and full book? It’d certainly suffice to tantalize me to reading it, except I did so several years ago. My dad directed me to appreciate the “fringe” literature when I was a boy. I was lent a beat up unabridged version of this book probably printed in the 1920s. It’s not difficult to see the parallels (unintended it seems) the author wrote about his childhood: a red flag about anything and anyone when they deny personal study of foundational literature except filtered through an approved body. But when the priest stole Chiniquy’s bible when he was a boy and vociferously reading it alone and to others, reveals the integrity, rather lack thereof of an organization. Not sure I would go so far as to argue that even considering the debauchery, sloth, greed and deceit that oft happened, if depriving the people of their bible might hover at the top of the list of vice.
Not that it is of any consequence but I contemplate how much the Church of Rome deteriorated since Luther’s first attempt at working within it before his exit and the Reformation: Chiniquy made such an attempt but his exit seemed much faster. I do have questions about the last chapters of his book, perhaps that can never be answered. I can’t remember entirely what they were but about the time he moved to Illinois the book shifted from history to the present: The prevailing question from that is would he have written those last chapters differently if he lived longer? In comparison, in Luther’s later years as health issues plagued him (and seeming to be somewhat cut from the cloth as the apostle Peter… being a bit impulsive) would have affected the publications he produced during those times? Not to imply that they are poor quality.
And while your dad may not appreciate being tied in with men of such re-known as Luther and Chiniquy, the part I heard from his testimony of all things he was delivered from which made me smile most was his refusal to be Judas for that decrepit god “mammon”. Luther and Chiniquy both suffered for their refusal to bow, money meaning little to them… sadly most succumb. How right you are about the “stagnant current of mainstream history”: the snake oil salesmen of that disingenuous rot seem to suggest it was Jonah who swallowed the fish, then dare marvel how he chokes. “… shall they with feigned words…” Oh, well written btw. though I’m not sure his book constitutes an “unforgivable (blow)” as that could imply he was wrong. 😉 Certainly an effective sap/mine to the foundations.
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Luther and Chiniquy do have much in common. Both well-spoken, passionate, intelligent, conscientious, independent men… and hated by certain of their Superiors because they dared to ask questions and WRITE. The “unforgivable blow”? I reason that the Church of Rome considered Lincoln’s action on behalf of the innocent Chiniquy as being unforgivable – which is why she had Lincoln assassinated. Good to hear from someone else who has read this piece of “fringe” literature, as you call it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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