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Fr Patrick Peyton Esras Films

'The Rosary is a weapon': New documentary reveals how a CIA-funded Irish priest fought Communism

Fr Patrick Peyton taught Americans to recite the Rosary from the 1940s onwards.

A MAYO PRIEST whose promotion of the Rosary was secretly funded by the CIA to fight against Communism is the subject of a documentary to be shown on RTÉ One this week.

Fr Patrick Peyton, who was born in Attymass near Ballina, built a huge media presence in the US during the 1940s with his famous slogan “the family that prays together stays together”.

His story will be told in a new documentary narrated by Martin Sheen, ‘Guns and Rosaries’, which claims that the South American leg of his ‘Recite the Rosary’ crusade in the 1950s was funded by the Central Intelligence Agency.

Peyton, who emigrated to the US at the age of 19, contracted tuberculosis while studying for the priesthood in the 1930s, but made a full, unexpected recovery after turning to prayer on his sickbed.

After being ordained in 1941, he began the Family Rosary Crusade, a movement which aimed to get 10 million families to commit to praying the Rosary.

Peyton built up a huge following during the 1940s after popularising the slogan “the family that prays together stays together”, and grew his presence on radio, TV and in Hollywood.

His growing influence soon inspired him to bring the Family Rosary Crusade on the road, and he created an international stadium tour that attracted millions of people across the world.

His efforts eventually came to the attention of the CIA, which the documentary claims secretly funded his crusade as a weapon of devotion to fight Communism during the Cold War.

“The Rosary is the offensive weapon that will destroy Communism — the great evil that seeks to destroy the faith,” Peyton once said in a radio broadcast, conscious of the political nature of his crusade.

In 1959, the CIA started to secretly fund Fr Peyton’s Crusade, paying for advertising, promotion and events, with Brazil a particular focus of the strategy.

“I consider the Crusades in Latin America throughout the decade of the sixties as the most significant and the most effective,” Peyton said.

However, his superiors were not pleased by the secret funding, and the matter was brought to the attention of the Vatican before Pope Paul VI ordered Peyton to stop.

As time went on, Peyton’s message became less powerful, and his influence declined before his death in 1992 at the age of 83, but in 2017, Pope Francis moved him closer to sainthood by naming him as ‘Venerable’.

Among those to pay tribute to him in the documentary are former MEP Dana Rosemary Scallon, actor Bob Newhard, and author James O’Toole.

Newhart, one of the last Hollywood actors to work with Peyton, succinctly summed up the Mayo-born priest’s character.

He said: “Everybody knew who he was… and what he was selling.”

  • Guns and Rosaries airs on RTÉ One on Thursday at 10.15 pm

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    Mute Chelsea Berry
    Favourite Chelsea Berry
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    Mar 30th 2013, 8:09 AM

    Decided since I was 8 i wanted to donate all organs. I rarely drink , don’t smoke or do drugs , I’m very healthy, never been gravely ill, excellent sight , good heart, lifeguard so lungs are swimmers lungs etc. I would be delighted to give all them away. Card signed and in my purse by myself and my mother. No if buts or ands if I pass away , god for bid.

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    Mute Ted Power
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    Mar 30th 2013, 9:27 AM

    I wasn’t a Chelsea fan before reading this article but I’ve had a change of heart ;)

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    Mute johnbeckett
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    Mar 30th 2013, 9:18 AM

    A friend of mine died tragically about 8 years ago and 5 people were saved with her organs. I needed and received a kidney in 2010 and while most of us don’t put too much thought into the whole thing, it’s incredible how life changing the selfless act of carrying a donor card can be for some desperately ill people. If the worst happens, I can’t think of a better legacy to leave behind!

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    Mute Tracey Coughlan
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    Mar 30th 2013, 8:33 AM

    Don’t forget to donate blood too. It can save a life. I’m giving blood since I was 18 …… You never know you could be on the receiving end I too want to donate my organs. Why waste them in the earth.

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    Mute Aoife Dooley
    Favourite Aoife Dooley
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    Mar 30th 2013, 9:44 AM

    IMO Organ donation should be an opt-out process.
    Some people just don’t carry cards, etc. So if someone felt strongly about not donating they can carry an opt-out card instead. That way more lives could be saved.

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    Mute dubdon
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    Mar 30th 2013, 8:56 AM

    Chelsea do u go out every night dressed like that???

    Seriously though I think the opt out rather than the opt in donor system should be used. How many people would refuse a donated organ to keep them alive while at the same time not offering the donation themselves should the worst happen???

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    Mute Damian O'Brien
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    Mar 30th 2013, 9:30 AM

    They can take all or any of me if its of any use, and can help someone.

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    Mute Ben Fede
    Favourite Ben Fede
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    Mar 30th 2013, 11:48 AM

    I’d be happy to donate organs, or even blood for that matter but the gay blood ban is still going strong. Sorry to say that someone who desparately needs the blood or organs will be denied.

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    Mute Cliodhna O'Sullivan
    Favourite Cliodhna O'Sullivan
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    Mar 30th 2013, 12:29 PM

    That is one of the biggest problems with donation in this country, that and people who lived in the UK in the 90′s not being able to donate blood or bone products.
    They do such stringent tests on blood ect anyway no one should be ruled out anymore, and especially not because of their sexual orientation.

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    Mute Paul Shanahan
    Favourite Paul Shanahan
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    Mar 30th 2013, 9:57 AM

    The lottery and public funded organ donor awareness week is more a fundraising exercise for the kidney assoc than improving organ donation.
    If the ika believe that improving organ donation retrieval will improve by hiring coordination staff in our hospitals then here’s an idea, identify a large hospital with low organ retrieval and install a member of staff whose sole purpose it is to increase organ donation. This can be done on a trial basis and can be used to prove that it can be rolled out in other hospitals.
    Every year we listen to murphy waffling on about organ donation with his opinion changing with each threat to the lucrative amounts of money the ika pull in from donation week.
    A donation card is a useful as used toilet paper.
    If people are serious about organ donation they would be better off lobbying the government to correct failed policy in our hospitals rather than giving money to the ika. The ika have repeatedly failed in this area.
    How much do the ika receive each year to promote awareness?
    How much do the ika spend on donor awareness each year?
    I think you will find a rather large gap between the 2!
    Of course the other charities who claim to have an interest are no better, leaving the “campaign” to the tired and failed ika.

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    Mute Declan Donnelly
    Favourite Declan Donnelly
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    Mar 30th 2013, 8:48 AM

    Why is there a low turn out on organ donations Is that because of trust !

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    Mute Cliodhna O'Sullivan
    Favourite Cliodhna O'Sullivan
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    Mar 30th 2013, 12:36 PM

    It’s because it’s very difficult to ask a family who see their loved one on life support to give up hope on them coming out of icu alive to make a decision that will see that little bit of hope gone forever.
    An organ transplant coordinator and the intensive care anaesthetics teams in this country have very difficult jobs at times like this, they walk tightropes where one wrong word or gesture is enough for family members not to consent.

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    Mute Mag Rinne
    Favourite Mag Rinne
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    Mar 31st 2013, 3:08 PM

    I believe that more educational programs for promoting organ donation should be in school systemespeciallyaimed at new teen drivers.

    Also I think that the idea of a hospital not accepting some perfectly good organs due to person commiting suicide is absurd. I can understand them not taking organs from person that died from a disease or something like that. However, if the body is received immediately (24hrs) following death and the organs have not been compromised then why can the organs not be accepted?Yes organs need to be perfused (meaning filled with blood and vital fluids) at time of transplant. So if this is possible I believe family members should be advised and asked for donation.

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