Sometimes the only way to say something is direct when you are dealing with someone who simply isn't willing to do the right thing.
As I embark on this new venture, I have no alternative but to tell the truth about what has happened to "Deeper Truth", the Apostolate I founded 13 years ago. It brings me no joy to relay this to you.
Donald Hartley had once suggested that I debate John Carpenter but there is no debate. You can look at the two unaltered photos above and see this for yourself. The first is an article from the Catholic News Agency informing us that the Vatican is prohibiting Catholics from promoting the condemned apparitions of Our Lady of all Nations. The second picture is John Carpenter doing exactly what has been forbidden.
You can click on the pictures. They take you to exactly what they represent.
Are there any questions? So, the debate would be over, with me winning, in about 10 seconds..
This Catholic Apostolate that I founded is being used to openly promote formal heresy, lies, calumny and open disobedience against the Catholic faith. Those charges are serious, I know, but they are true and I'm about to prove it. So, this isn't about a debate. This is about John Carpenter's immoral and dishonest behavior, enabled by Don Hartley, forcing me to leave my own apostolate.
This case is going to be made in 3 parts.
Part 1 will go right after the Deeper Truth's "Journey with Mary" and I will prove that John Carpenter has a total disregard for the truth and Catholic Teaching. His entire show has turned into a veritable volcano of misinformation.
In Part 2, we will tackle the Ruini report. This was a commission report of recommendations about the alleged events in Medjugorje. We will go into what this report actually is and what it actually says and how John Carpenter is openly lying about the report to support his selfish agenda.
In Part 3, we will specifically take on the false and condemned alleged visions that are Medjugorje and Garabandal and prove that practicing Catholics are absolutely forbidden from promoting these diabolical frauds. We will prove that both are false based on the plain factual record.
PART 1- A "Journey with Mary"
The idea of a "Journey with Mary" sounds good enough. The problem is that the mission is subverted by the man running it. John Carpenter lies repeatedly, boldly and constantly even when there doesn't seem to be a logical reason to. He also promotes multiple events publicly and officially condemned by the Church
We need to start there. When I say John Carpenter is a habitual liar, I am speaking fact, not opinion.
A liar is someone who speaks falsely and does so deliberately. Sadly, John Carpenter is just such a person.
On May 2nd, 2021, the 12th anniversary of my founding of Deeper Truth, Donald Hartley explains to John Carpenter, in no uncertain terms, that I am the one who founded this Apostolate and then asked Donald to join me. Listen for yourself.
Up to that point, John Carpenter (who joined in 2014) had repeatedly called Donald Hartley "the founder" of Deeper Truth. He did so in his books and countless times on his shows. All of this despite the fact that...well...it just isn't so. Donald Hartley did not appear on Deeper Truth until the 9th episode. I founded the blog as well.
Carpenter could have determined this quite easily before he published wrong information in his books and said it on his shows but, fine. We'll say he was sloppy and mistaken and we will let it go. Right?
Here is the problem. He is still making the claim! Repeatedly...too often to ignore....too often to be accidental. Here is one example from several weeks ago.
Does this claim hurt my ego in some way? Far from it. It is, in the scheme of things, a small matter. That's what makes it so creepy. Why is this man so insecure that he feels the need to create opportunities to repeat this lie with such enthusiasm? You heard the set-up Listen, again... "Mr. Donald Hartley...Deeper Truth Founder!"
Why does it bother me, so much? It's in the name, folks. "Deeper Truth". The Bible says that one who can't be trusted in small things, cannot be trusted in large things. Likewise, one who habitually tells little lies, habitually tells big ones too.
Carpenter just can't help himself. He lies constantly. That is what is sullying "Deeper Truth" and forced me to leave.
Each Sunday- with few exceptions- John Carpenter opens his show on Deeper Truth radio with an objectively false claim that any listener can refute with a one minute google search. The claim made by Carpenter , and repeated literally hundreds of times over the last 8 or so years, is that there are "over 2600 documented appearances of Mary in over 2,000 years of the Catholic church" No serious Catholic of any repute has ever made such a ludicrous claim.
Donald Hartley, a rock solid Catholic in all other respects, simply checks his objectivity at the door and blindly accepts anything Carpenter says, regardless of how inaccurate.... and wow, does it get inaccurate.
Let's start with the 2600+ claim. It is utter rubbish and it opens up the entire Catholic church to ridicule and scorn as if the Vatican blindly endorses every person who claims they spoke to Mary in their backyard. Either Carpenter cannot understand the difference between a documented appearance of Mary (his precise words) and an alleged appearance of Mary or he is deliberately trying to obfuscate the two.
Let's start with the what the dictionary says about something being documented.
In other words, Documented means proven not merely claimed.
In case he latches on the definition "supported by documents", let's be clear. In the overwhelming majority of cases the available documentation only supports that fact that a claim has been made not that the alleged event actually occurred.
No, he says 2600 documented appearances. That means it happened 2600 times. We all know that that dog just don't hunt.
Am I being too critical? Hardly! This is not some occasional slip-of-the-tongue, poor-choice-of-words kind of a thing. It is a constant and emphatically repeated assertion. Carpenter asserts that it is established that Our Blessed Mother has appeared over 2600 times. It is not. Listen for yourself. This clip from a January show from this year is a vintage example of this preposterous nonsense. Here is another from about 5 months ago, just for good measure.
So, what does the actual record show?
Let's start with those officially approved by the Vatican. There are 16. Then, let's add 9 more that are approved and recognized by Bishops. That's it. 25 that are documented, not 2600. He is literally wrong more than 100 fold!
Carpenter considers himself an expert who provides the best information available. If that was true, we wouldn't have a problem here. It is essential for a Catholic Apostolate to be accurate. The sad thing is that he almost never provides the accurate information that is readily available in this age of unlimited access.
Here is the second of many examples. Please listen to this clip from about the 6 or 7 minute mark of the show he did on 2/20/2022.
The problem with this clip is that it is riddled with clear factual errors. It is not that we "disagree:, it's that we know his statements are objectively false! When he says "some people don't agree with the information", he is blaming us for his inability to get the facts right!
Betania, Venezuela was never officially approved by the Vatican, as he clearly states. It is on the list of Bishop approved apparitions (6th from the top). Lest anyone accuse me of splitting hairs, I am not. It is this kind of thing that repeats itself over and over and gets worse and worse.
First, Betania clearly shows that the Bishop has the authority to approve or condemn.
Carpenter doesn't occasionally get the facts wrong, he constantly gets them wrong and often, very very wrong. This brings great harm to this once great apostolate and opens our faith up to scorn from detractors. His response is always the same. He is absolutely impervious to fraternal correction and Donald Hartley, for reasons I cannot comprehend, has simply become an apologist for him.
Let's go back to the show of January 30th. After making the claim that Mary is documented to have appeared 2600+ times, he continues that he has researched 101 of the best-of-the-best. He claims that most Catholics only know 5 or 6. (He gives no source for this assertion).
He then proceeds to go into a description of Mary's "appearance" in Damascus, Syria.
The Vatican has not recognized Mary as having appeared in Damascus, Syria and neither has any Roman Rite Bishop. In fact, even this list of 19 that are considered to be "traditionally approved" makes no mention of it. However, it is approved by the Syrian Catholic church which is- by extension- faithful to Rome. That's close enough for Carpenter, I guess but doesn't get it on any of the official lists of Catholic approved apparitions. So the Catholic church has not officially stated that Mary's appearance in Syria is worthy of belief. That doesn't stop Carpenter.
On his website, Carpenter says this:
Notice there is no equivocation, no hesitation, no doubt. Carpenter simply does not have the standing in the church to assert this as being fact. For him to assert plainly that Mary spoke, Mary raised Her right hand is to assert a level of authority he doesn't have. Period. It is reckless, presumptuous and absolutely irresponsible. Use the terms alleged or claimed or reported to unless the Vatican or the Roman Rite Bishops tell you otherwise. This isn't hard stuff, folks.
The only official declaration in the above case was made by the Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox church, which is not in full communion with Rome and so, lacks the standing to make an official approval. The Syrian Catholic church recognized it but it does not make the list of Roman Catholic Bishop's approvals. There are Syrian Catholics who are in communion with Rome and those who are not. The approval here is unclear, at best.
Full disclosure, I have not been able to find the name and jurisdiction of the member/members of the Syrian Catholic church who signed off on the Orthodox Bishop's declaration. This I do know- This apparition makes no list of officially approved apparitions in the Roman Catholic church. Full stop. It is unapproved. The end.
Why am I making such a big deal about Syria? I'm making a very important larger point about John Carpenter's absolute duplicity. Here, he goes to great lengths to claim this apparition valid due to a second-hand approval by an unknown Bishop whose ties to the church are tenuous at best.
On the other hand, as I will show, he is not at all consistent in his deference to the Bishops. He is for them when he agrees with them and drums up all manner of calumny and accusations against them when they don't. Like in the case of 2 Bishops in the Diocese of Mostar that he viciously slanders for simply doing their jobs.
What is most sad is that Don Hartley is four-square behind him in his insolence and disobedience to the church, repeating every one of Carpenter's lies and slanders as if they were his own.
Take this gem from Hartley:
John, your "truth" is not the TRUTH. Just taking a look at what we have done in the Journey with Mary series, in over 8 years, well over 90% of all the shows were based on Church approved events. We did zero of any event that has been formally condemned by the Catholic Church.
This one is a whopper here. This is like the fish that swallowed Jonah.
Let's tackle the first assertion, then the second.
Obviously, I cannot survey the last 8 years.
Let's look at a nice round number shall we? Let's look at the last 50 Journey with Mary shows up to the writing of this article. In these 50 shows, there are many condemned apparitions and not many approved ones.
Proof is provided for each condemned apparition. (underlined bold red are links).
Betania, Venezuela- Approved by the Bishop. 1 Approved- 0 unapproved- 0 Condemned
San Nicolas, Argentina. Approved by the Bishop. 2-0-0
Damascus, Syria- Approved by Syrian Catholic Church- We will count it to be fair. 3-0-0
Rwanda- Approved 4-0-1
Rwanda- Approved 5-0-1
El Escorial, Spain. Condemned in 1985 by Archbishop of Madrid, Angel Suquía 5-0-10
El Escorial, Spain. Condemned in 1985 by Archbishop of Madrid, Angel Suquía 5-0-11
Cuapa, Nicaragua Approved 6-0-11
Australia 4-2-11 Unapproved 6-1-11
Australia 4-3-11 Unapproved 6-2-11
Australia 4-4-11 Unapproved 6-3-11
Akita, Japan Approved 7-3-11
Zeitoun, Egypt Approved by Coptic church. We'll count it. 9-3-11
Zeitoun, Egypt Approved by Coptic church. We'll count it. 10-3-11
Zeitoun, Egypt Approved by Coptic church. We'll count it. 11-3-11
Janonis, Lithuania Devotion encouraged by Juozas Preiksas, bishop of Panevezys We'll count it even though unofficial. 12-3-11
Rome City, Indiana Approved by Bishop for "faith expression" We'll count it 13-3-15
Rome City, Indiana Approved by Bishop for "faith expression" We'll count it 13-3-15
Ngome, South Africa. Approved for "faith expression". Again, out of an abundance of fairness, we will count it. 14-4-15
Seredne, Ukraine Unapproved 14-5-15
Seredne, Ukraine Unapproved 14-6-15
L'lle Bouchard, France Approved for "faith expression". Giving it to you. 15-6-17
L'lle Bouchard, France Approved for "faith expression". Giving it to you. 16-6-17
Tre Fontaine, Rome. Title of Mary as Mother of revelation accepted, Apparitions unapproved. 16-7-17
Germany Unapproved. Carpenter actually says "allegedly!" 16-8-17
La Codesera, Spain. Bishop allowed a chapel to be built. Pretty tepid approval but let's allow it. 17-8-20
Heede, Germany Unapproved" 17-9-23
Banneux, Belgium- Approved 18-9-23
Beauraing, Belgium- Approved 19-9-23
I scored this incredibly generous in Carpenter's favor. Whenever there was any question, he got the benefit of the doubt. So how did he do? Were 90% Church approved events? No. Even with my ridiculously generous scoring, the percentage of Church approved events over roughly the last year was a paltry 38%. However, what is really shocking is that almost half of the shows- 46% were of events that have been condemned and Catholics are actually forbidden from promoting. An additional 18% were unapproved .
How can anyone seriously argue the point when I so often provided you the links to the actual condemnations? Sadly, this is just a partial list of officially condemned apparitions openly promoted by John Carpenter. There are many more.
Where does this leave brother Donald Hartley after he tried so forcefully to claim Carpenter has never promoted a condemned apparition? After he claimed John Carpenter was an expert who would mop the floor with the likes of Patrick Coffin or Donal Foley?
You can figure it out.
Suffice it to say, either one of those men would make Carpenter look ridiculous in about 4 minutes.
The one I'm really disappointed in is Don Hartley. We collaborated on some pretty good stuff over the years but the way he acted in this situation was- frankly- pretty childish. After 12 years, you would think he would have given me the courtesy of at least acknowledging that my concerns deserved to be heard. In the end, he trusted the man with no credibility at all, no apparent concern at even trying to get his facts right.
The reason for this is because for Donald, it was only ever about Medjugorje, the false fraud he clings to with cult-like devotion. It's not all about Medjugorje, it never was. It's about Carpenter.
I want to close this article where it started by talking about the city of Amsterdam and an alleged appearance of Mary under the title "Mother of all nations".
Here are the facts, and they are indisputable.
On the 7th of May,1956 the Diocesan Bishop rendered a negative judgement (condemnation) of these apparitions. On March 2nd of the following year, the condemnation was renewed. On March 13th, the Holy See sent a letter of approval of these actions. On March 29th of 1972, the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith denied an appeal and upheld the previous condemnations. They did so again May of 1972 and yet again, in May of 1974. Article.
Astoundingly, in 2020, the Vatican again condemned these apparitions.
The language was stunning in it's force.
In 1956, the diocesan bishop of Haarlem, after careful study of the case, concluded that he “found no evidence of the supernatural nature of the apparitions” and, therefore, he “prohibited public veneration of the picture of ‘Our Lady of All Nations’ and the spreading of writings which attributed a supernatural origin to these apparitions and revelations.” This decision was confirmed in 1957, when it was endorsed by the Vatican. This endorsement was repeated in 1972 by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
In case there were any doubts, in 1974, having studied the subject in depth in repeated investigations, the dicastery in charge of the integrity of the Catholic faith published the definitive communiqué, stating that it “confirms by the present notification the judgment already expressed by the competent ecclesiastical authority,” referring to the decisions made by the Dutch bishop. And, consequently, it invited “priests and laity to discontinue all forms of propaganda with regard to the alleged apparitions and revelations of ‘Our Lady of All Nations.’”
So the church, repeatedly condemned these apparitions stating that there is to be no stating that Mary appeared there and specifically to not promote the title Our Lady of All Nations.
In 2002, the Bishop of Amsterdam Holland, Josef Punt attempted to declare the Amsterdam Apparitions Supernatural. The Vatican stepped in and overruled him and the CDF officially reiterated the multiple previous condemnations. It took this action in 2020.
Just incredibly, John Carpenter- just 5 months later kicks off a 3 episode series doing exactly what Catholics were specifically forbidden to do.
Just look at the two images again. He commits an act of either brazen disobedience or shocking ignorance for an "expert".
So........
