In 2 Thessalonians, St. Paul speaks of a force that restrains the man of lawlessness, better known as Antichrist, and the subsequent Apocalypse which follows a great revolt.

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Let no man deceive you by any means, for unless there come a revolt first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, Who opposeth, and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself as if he were God. Remember you not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things?

And now you know what withholdeth, that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity already worketh; only that he who now holdeth, do hold, until he be taken out of the way. [2 Thessalonians 3-7, Douay-Rheims]

According to St. Paul, the revolt must come first before the restraining force will be removed at a time and place that will allow the man of sin to emerge, seemingly out of nowhere, onto the world stage to begin the greatest persecution ever known against the Body of Christ. In his 2023 article, Eric Bermingham says that “This revolt is generally understood to be the final, general apostasy – the falling away from the Catholic Faith and even the general order of things – which sets the stage for the three-and-a-half year reign of the Antichist.” (Bermingham, E. (2023, April, 25) Who or What is the Katechon, The Fatima Center)

What Is Happening Now

Without a doubt, the world is now experiencing this great apostasy. As Bermingham states, “You know that revolution is in the air when long-established traditions are being rejected by significant portions of the population.”

We see this everywhere in the attack on the family, wholesale abortion up to and even including post-birth; same-sex marriage; the feigned confusion by the media and politicians on what a woman is; the radical Transgenderism movement, which has culminated in extreme violence such as the shootings at The Covenant School in 2023 and more recently Annunciation Catholic School; in the mindless, violent protests of the Left; the assassination attempt on Donald Trump in July 2024 and the recent assassination of Charlie Kirk; in the brutal killing of innocent persons such as the murder of an unsuspecting Iryna Zarutska by her homeless, schizophrenic attacker, DeCarlos Brown. In a twisted, unfathomable logic, the media treats the violent perpetrators as the victim garnering more sympathy and concern than for those who have been murdered. Anyone whose opinions do not align with the collective narrative risk unprovoked attacks and endangerment to their lives, families and possessions. Not to mention the great falling away, not only of Catholics, but of all religions and creeds alike. Churches are desecrated by the determined acceptance of paganism and perversion (i.e., Pachamama, the LGBTQ+ expedition that assaulted St. Peter’s basilica in Rome with the permission and approval of Pope Leo XIV) and/or burned to the ground by lunatics who want to eradicate the Name of God.

He Who Holdeth

But who or what is this restraining force keeping the mystery of iniquity at bay? And is he or it still with us?

Also known as the Katechon, Greek for restrainer, St. Paul refers to this force as “he who now holdeth” until “he be taken out of the way.” Since St. Paul speaks of this force as “he,” this would indicate that the Katechon is a person – a who – and not merely a thing.

Who is the Katechon?

The early Church Fathers believed the Katechon to be the Holy Spirit or the Church, itself. Others thought it was the Roman Empire; but as Bermingham points out in his article, the Roman Empire was destroyed in 476 A.D., therefore eliminating that possibility. Still others believed St. Joseph to be the Katechon as he was designated the Patron of the Church. More recently, many believe that Benedict XVI was the restraining force that kept the avalanche of evil from completely inundating the Church. T.S. Flanders cites Benedict XVI’s biographer, Peter Seewall, in his article for OnePeter5 that “Pope Benedict as Emeritus saw himself as some sort of katechon holding some flood of evil back, which is implying the Antichrist by the very use of the term.” (Flanders, T.S. (2023). Was Pope Benedict the Katechon for the Antichrist? OnePeter5.) He also quotes Sandro Magister, “The death of his predecessor Benedict XVI, at the end of 2022, was for Pope Francis like the passing of the “katéchon,” of the restraint that held him back from fully revealing himself.”

The Abomination of Desolation

I believe the Katechon – “he who holdeth” – is none other than the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of the living Christ, the Lamb Who sacrificed Himself for us so that we might live eternally. When this living, constant Sacrifice is removed from the Church, we will see the rise of the man of lawlessness, along with his announcer, the False Prophet, believed by many to be a bishop, some say a pope.

And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall defile the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the continual sacrifice, and they shall place there the abomination unto desolation. [Daniel 11:31, Douay-Rheims]

Already we have witnessed the Holy Eucharist reduced to merely a fraternal meal, the deemphasizing of the doctrine of Transubstantiation by the ever-growing indifference and irreverence of the Body and Blood of Christ. When the protection of this “force” – that is, the Holy Eucharist – is removed, at that time all hell – literally – will break loose.