Avoiding Babylon

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Cardinal Manning warned that before the Antichrist arrives, Rome would be surrounded — and the Pope, even a weak one, would be the last thing standing between the Church and the secular powers gathering against her. Tonight we read that prophecy through what's unfolding right now between Trump and Pope Leo.

Drawing from Cardinal Manning's The Present Crisis of the Holy See and Tychonius's Commentary on the Apocalypse, we walk through why the Catholic Church is hated not as a belief system but as a rival government — an "empire within an empire" — and why the Sedevacantist read of this moment is dangerously premature.

We cover:
• Why the Pope is the "Restrainer" of 2 Thessalonians
• The "anti-church" that grows inside the true Church before the end
• What Benedict XVI's resignation looks like through Tychonius's lens
• Why Catholic unity terrifies the secular forces — and how the left/right dialectic is engineered to prevent it
• Where Trump, Pope Leo, and the current Vatican drama actually fit in salvation history

This isn't reaction content. It's a sober reading of the present crisis through the saints, the Doctors, and the prophetic tradition the modern Church has tried to forget.

📖 Referenced in this episode:
– Cardinal Manning, The Present Crisis of the Holy See
– Cardinal Manning, The Eternal Priesthood
– Fr. Charles Arminjon, The End of the Present World
– Tychonius, Commentary on the Apocalypse
– St. Augustine, City of God

🕊️ Avoiding Babylon exists to give serious Catholics a higher, aspirational vantage point on current events, spiritual warfare, and the times we've actually been given. Subscribe, share, and pray for one another.

⏱️ Chapters
00:00 – Cold open
07:39 – The Antichrist comes — but it's not the end of the world
09:40 – Manning's case: the Pope as the Restrainer
11:06 – Why the Church is hated: a government, not just a religion
14:58 – "The Catholic Church has government over your will"
20:00 – Rome will apostatize before the Antichrist
25:47 – The bishops who serve the devil under the gift of the Church
26:56 – The true Church will have to withdraw
33:04 – The greatest evil is hidden inside her
34:57 – Why we're addicted to imagining triumph
37:51 – Trump vs Pope Leo: even a weak Pope restrains
39:40 – Benedict XVI, Tychonius, and the laying down of authority
50:39 – "I never want to be on the sid
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A city that called itself Rome is surrounded, outnumbered, and running out of time. We bring on Ryan Grant to walk us through the fall of Constantinople in 1453, from the long fuse of Byzantine decline to the moment Mehmed II finally gets his prize. You’ll hear why Constantinople mattered so much to the Ottoman Empire, why Europe can’t get its act together, and how the Council of Florence and the attempted union with Rome becomes a pressure point inside the city when every decision is political and personal.

Then we get into the siege warfare that makes this story feel modern: the Theodosian Walls under artillery fire, Orban’s massive cannon, trenching and mining, desperate sorties, and the naval chess match around the Golden Horn. We talk about the chain across the harbor, the relief ships that slip through when the wind shifts, and the move that still sounds unreal the Ottoman fleet getting hauled over land to bypass the blockade. At the center is Giovanni Giustiniani holding the defense together and Constantine XI choosing to die with his people instead of becoming a refugee emperor.

After the walls fall, the aftermath matters as much as the battle. We follow how Ottoman rule reshapes church politics, why “better the turban than the tiara” becomes a tragic slogan, and how the shockwaves roll straight into the Battle of Belgrade with John Hunyadi and St John Capistrano. We even detour into Vlad the Impaler, medieval weapons, Greek fire, and the uncomfortable reality that history is often held together by men willing to do hard things when institutions fail.

If you’re into Byzantine history, Ottoman military strategy, medieval warfare, and the religious politics that shaped Europe, this one is for you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who loves history, and leave us a review with your take: what actually doomed Constantinople, the cannons or the divisions?
Support the show

Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout!
Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!
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Pope Leo XIV has responded — and the battle lines between MAGA and faithful Catholics have never been clearer. In this episode, we break down Trump's escalating rhetoric, the coordinated effort to cast Catholics as enemies of America, and why the election of an American Pope may be the most providential event of our time.

We discuss the rise of "kosher Catholicism" promoted through outlets like the Daily Wire, why figures like Eric Metaxas, James Lindsay, and Jeremy Boring are suddenly targeting Catholic integralism, and how Protestant Zionist voices are working to redefine what it means to be a faithful Catholic in America.

We also dive into the deeper spiritual questions — Nostra Aetate, the failures of the American bishops on immigration, divine judgment, and whether real persecution is now at the doorstep of the American Church. Is Pope Leo the heel the Church needs to stand against the spirit of the age?

📌 Topics covered:
Pope Leo XIV's response to Trump and the MAGA movement
The "war on Catholics" from the Protestant Zionist sector
Catholic integralism and why it's suddenly under attack
"Kosher Catholicism" and the Daily Wire pipeline
Nostra Aetate, Vatican II, and the end of the Great Commission
Immigration as divine judgment
Eschatology and the coming persecution of the Church

🔔 Subscribe for more: Standing against Babylon, one episode at a time.#PopeLeoXIV #Catholic #Trump #MAGA #CatholicChurch #VaticanII #NostraAetate #CatholicIntegralism #AvoidingBabylon

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Support the show

Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout!
Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!
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Your feed can turn any political figure into a saint and any pope into a villain in about five minutes, and that’s exactly the trap we’re trying to name out loud. A livestream failure knocks us off YouTube, but the bigger breakdown is what we’re watching online: Catholics trading the unity of the Church for factional loyalty, outrage, and “my side can do no wrong” thinking. We talk candidly about trad infighting, MAGA Catholic culture, and the temptation to treat the papacy like an obstacle instead of a gift Christ gives His Church. 

We dig into the blowback to Pope Leo’s plain call for peace, plus the unsettling question behind a viral rumor about U.S. officials pressuring the Vatican. Even if a specific story is sloppy, the issue is real: Catholics should never celebrate state meddling in Church life, no matter how angry they feel at bishops, Rome, or the last few decades of scandal. We connect that to the COVID era, sacrament shutdown memories, and how quickly “emergency powers” can become tools of coercion. 

Then we engage Tucker Carlson’s argument that the deeper conflict isn’t merely geopolitical, but spiritual, a sustained assault on Christianity and especially Catholicism. From there we address end times speculation, “man of lawlessness” talk, and why political messianism spreads so easily when faith is thin. The takeaway we keep coming back to is demanding but practical: if we want renewal, we prepare through penance, fasting, and detachment, because Christian victory so often comes through the cross before it looks like triumph. 

Subscribe for more honest Catholic commentary, share this with a friend who feels stuck in political doomscrolling, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway: what helps you stay faithful when the world pressures you to pick a tribe?
Support the show

Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout!
Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!
Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1
https://www.avoidingbabylon.com
Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com
Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com
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Want to reach out to us? Want to leave a comment or review? Want to give us a suggestion or berate Anthony? Send us a text by clicking this link!
Becoming Catholic can feel like a spiritual adrenaline rush, until you hit the first real Monday morning and realize you still have to live it. We sit down with Keith Nestor, author of The Convert’s Guide to Roman Catholicism, to talk about what new Catholics actually face after OCIA: culture shock at Mass, awkward parish dynamics, and the surprisingly hard moment of telling family and friends you’ve entered the Catholic Church. 

We also get honest about “Catholic lingo” and why it matters. Words like offer it up, prayer intentions, confession, sacramental life, and liturgical year are not just insider phrases, they point to a totally different way of seeing the world. Keith shares what helped him avoid burnout and what he wishes every convert knew: celebrate your entry into the Church, go slow, set realistic goals, and stop trying to do every devotion at once. If you’re tempted to jump straight into online debates or liturgy wars, we explain why that can wreck your peace fast. 

The heart of the conversation is Keith’s family story: years of division after his conversion, followed by a shocking chain of events that brought his daughter, son-in-law, and daughter-in-law into the Church. It turns into a powerful lesson in surrender, prayer, fasting, and letting God do what arguments cannot. We also talk about suffering and why Catholic spirituality doesn’t dodge it, it puts the Cross and the Eucharist at the center, giving real meaning when life hurts. 

If you’re new to Catholicism, returning to the faith, sponsoring someone in RCIA/OCIA, or trying to bring your spouse or kids back to the sacraments, this one is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who’s discerning Catholic conversion, and leave a review with the one habit you’re committing to next.
Support the show

Get 10% off an amazing Black Monk Rosary by going to https://www.blackmonkrosaries.com/?ref=AVOIDINGBABYLON and using code AVOIDINGBABYLON at checkout!
Check out our sponsor, Nic Nac, at www.nicnac.com and use code "AB25%" for 25% off of your first order!
Please subscribe! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKsxnv80ByFV4OGvt_kImjQ?sub_confirmation=1
https://www.avoidingbabylon.com
Merchandise: https://avoiding-babylon-shop.fourthwall.com
Locals Community: https://avoidingbabylon.locals.com
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