In late October, Catholic social media users began drawing attention to a book published in 2008 by Sophia Institute Press (hereafter Sophia), raising questions about the translation from the original French manuscript.
Integrity Magazine has since reached out to Sophia for comment, the full timeline and details of which will be presented at the end of this essay.
Translated by Susan Conroy and Peter McEnerny in 2008, “The End of the Present World” was written by nineteenth-century French priest Fr. Charles Arminjon (1824-1885). On its official website listing, Sophia advertises the book as approved by St. Thérèse of Lisieux. In the “Endorsements” section, St. Thérèse is quoted as saying: “Reading this book was one of the greatest graces of my life.” 1
With this in mind, the prospective reader is left with the impression that he will be reading the exact book so highly regarded by St. Thérèse, and that it is faithfully and accurately translated into English from the original French manuscript.
On Instagram, user Aeterni Patris — whose fast-growing account styles itself as Catholic “Counter-Revolutionary” and “Traditionalist” — was the first to draw substantial attention to omissions in and apparent sanitization of the text. 2
In a detailed post published on October 20, he recalled that, “one of the problems we face today is that incredible old Catholic books are being reprinted with portions quietly omitted.” He then noted that while he was reading Sophia’s 2008 edition of “The End of the Present World,” he noticed multiple exclusions from the original transcript on “Freemasonry, revolutionary movements, and Catholic policies and teaching regarding the Jews.”
“These were not simply differences in translation,” Aeterni Patris stated. “Significant portions of Father Arminjon’s discussion had disappeared.”
In his post on Instagram, Aeterni Patris helpfully presented numerous slides in the same post which document the changes between the 1985 and 2008 English editions:
“What troubles me is that I believed I was purchasing a translation of his complete work, not an abridged edition,” Aeterni Patris remarked, adding, “I could find no clear disclosure of these omissions, which I find deeply dishonest.”
As for this latter charge about there not being a “clear disclosure,” it is not as cut as dry as it may initially seem. Sophia stated in the copyright page of the book (the screenshot of which is provided above) that, “this edition contains minor editorial revisions.” This will be addressed below.
Anthony Abbate speaks out
As the Instagram post from Aeterni Patris began to gain attention — at present it has over 270 likes — Catholic commentator Anthony Abbate presented it to his considerable audience on YouTube on a October 23 show.
On his bi-weekly Avoiding Babylon program, Abbate read out loud the omitted parts of Fr. Arminjon’s work during a backstage segment of the show. Expressing indignation over the matter, he accused Sophia of editing “out crucial information about the role of the Jews in their reprint of classic book on the End Times.” To his nearly 40,000 followers on X, he broke the news with a single word: “SHOCKING!!”
The Dispatch
One day later, Abbate posted a follow-up to his X post. In a video message, he recounted how “someone in the Catholic world” had privately message him about his remarks and criticizing the video and title he given it on YouTube. “This guy was trying to put pressure on me to change the video,” he said of the unnamed official.
Courageously, Abbate doubled-down and reflected that “This subject [the Jewish Question] has been completely washed over, even by our supposed trad publications. Sophia is not the only one who has done this.”
Indeed, Sophia aside, other ostensibly traditionalist publications have sanitized portions of their works, seemingly to avoid offending Jewish sensibilities and modern taboos. Ignatius Press’s book on Fr. Edgardo Mortara (1851–1940), ironically a convert from Judaism to Catholicism, is an example of this.
Integrity’s correspondence with Sophia
On October 29, Integrity Magazine contacted Sophia asking for comment. Integrity sought clarification on the controversy surrounding the omissions and, most importantly, for an explanation on the rationale behind the original decision.
Director of Publicity Sarah Lemiux responded just hours later. In her email, she provided an official statement from Charlie McKinney, the president of the publisher:
I was not aware of any edits or abridgments made to The End of the Present World. The book was published twenty years ago under my predecessor and an altogether different editorial team. Sophia Press has a bold record of Catholic publishing under my tenure, and we are exploring the viability of publishing a non-abridged version of this book.
McKinney was brought on as Sophia’s chief operating officer in April 2011. In November 2012, he succeeded founder John Barger, who founded the company in 1988, as its president. Sophia currently oversees Crisis Magazine and OnePeterFive.
In mentioning the “viability of publishing a non-abridged version” of the book, McKinney tacitly confirms those who criticized the book for not being completely faithful to the original transcript. True, the copyright page of the book does disclose that “minor editorial revisions” occurred to the transcript, but that disclaimer does not appear on the books’ official listing page on Sophia’s website.
Click here to support Integrity’s independent Catholic journalism!
With this information in hand and with more questions still remaining, Integrity reached out to Lemieux for more details on October 30, seeking a response by 12pm noon on Tuesday, November 3.
The first question Integrity sent was on the existence of an English translation of Fr. Arminjon’s book. That work, released in 1985, was an English translation published by Britons Catholic Library, a U.K.-based publishing house. The manuscript is fully available online at FishEaters.
While Conroy’s acknowledgment praised Mr. N. Martin Gwynne of Britons Catholic Library for his participation in the project, Sophia’s official listing page for the book claims that “we offer you the very first [sic] English translation of this hope-filled, chilling work.” To resolve this, Integrity asked the following:
Is this [earlier translation by Britons] something your team is aware of? Given that this appears to be the first English edition of the book, is Sophia open to amending its claim to have been the ‘very first English translation’ of the same work?
The way in which translator Susan Conroy advertises the book on her website is below, 3and is more appropriate:
As of the publication of this story, Lemieux has yet to respond.
The next set of questions Integrity asked concerned the heart of the controversy, brought to light by Aeterni Patris and later amplified by Abbate. Concerning Jews, Freemasons and the influence of both on Catholic civilization, Integrity asked:
Will Sophia confirm these were parts of this book that were taken out from the original edition?
While noting that the copyright page does include a note about how “this edition contains minor editorial revisions,” Integrity therefore asked Lemieux:
Are you open to putting that disclaimer [of the book being abridged] on [the] webpage listing? Also, ‘minor editorial revisions’ are distinct from the seeming omissions that have taken place here. Would you agree and/or is Sophia open to altering this text to be clearer in the ‘editorial’ process undertaken?
Again, as of publication of this article, neither question has been answered by Lemiuex. Should Sophia provide information or as more details emerge, Integrity will update its reporting accordingly.
- In addition, the website says the book will “show you how to read the signs of the times and prepare you to bear yourself as a Christian (as it did Thérèse) … no matter what the future holds!” ↩︎
- As reported privately to Integrity Magazine, the first person to notice the apparent problem with the text was a gentleman by the name of Matheus in 2023, who later went on to join the SSPX seminary in France. ↩︎
- On page X of the Sophia published book, which can be found in the website preview, Conroy states that “[N]o one had ever translated it into English and published it in America.” This qualification makes sense in light of the earlier version of the work published in the United Kingdom in 1985. ↩︎
