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Did Bobby Fischer Convert to Catholicism Before He Died?

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coram_deo 28-Jul-21, 11:06	Did Bobby Fischer Convert to Catholicism Before He Died? This is a very long article that suggests Bobby Fischer converted to Catholicism before his death. And while it’s heartening (to me) that he may have become a Christian prior to his death, I was sorry that he left Protestantism based on the behavior of men. In my view, many of the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church are not Biblical (I’ll post why in a separate post below this one at a later date; I don’t want mix apples and oranges right now,) but Catholics believe in the fundamentals of Christianity - that Jesus Christ died to atone for the sins of mankind and was Resurrected, and that salvation is by faith in Him (though Catholics also seem to believe works are needed.) Anyway, much of this article is on Fischer’s upbringing and career as a professional chess player. I’m just posting excerpts that pertain to his potential conversion to Catholicism before he died. “After living an arduous and austere life in an ‘almost monastic pursuit of the world championship’ (to quote Fischer biographer Frank Brady), Bobby wanted to pursue his religious studies — he was a member of a fundamentalist church, the Worldwide Church of God, which he had given $60,000 of his world championship purse — and to meet a girl and fall in love (Frank Brady, Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall — From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness (New York: Crown Publishing, 2011), 205).” “Fischer made good on his inclination to pursue faith and romance. Living up to Life Magazine's tongue-in-cheek claim that he's ‘almost as serious about religion as he is about chess,’ Fischer made good use of his time away from the board and enrolled in a rigorous course on the Bible, studied the teachings of his denomination, offered up a continuing tithe and dedicated at least an hour a day to prayer. He also went on a series of dates with eligible bachelorettes — although nothing serious came of these dalliances. While he began his chess sabbatical with the high-minded ideals of growing in faith and seeking vocation, such noble intentions were soon derailed by the harsh realities of life in a post-edenic world. Bobby had long proudly carried the banner of the Worldwide Church of God, observing its tenets, bankrolling its coffers, even speaking frequently of the impending ‘Rapture’ per its queer doctrines. But his faith in his church was irreparably damaged when ‘prophecies’ about a 1972 second coming of Christ made by the church's founder, Herbert W. Armstrong, proved to be false. Fischer, realizing that he had been hoodwinked, delivered a searing invective: The real proof for me were those prophecies ... that show to me that [Armstrong] is an outright huckster. ... I thought, ‘This doesn't seem right. I gave all my money. Everybody has been telling me this [about apocalyptic events that were to unfold in 1972] for years. And now, he's half-denying he ever said it, even when I remember him saying it a hundred times.’… If you talk about fulfillment of prophecy, he is a fulfillment of Elmer Gantry. If Elmer Gantry was the Elijah, Armstrong's the Christ of religious hucksters. There is no way he could truly be God's prophet. Either God is a masochist and likes to be made a fool of, or else Herbert Armstrong is a false prophet. So Fischer, disenchanted with the version of Christianity he long supposed to be true, began groping for meaning elsewhere, eventually straying into irreligion altogether. Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum. A jilted believer, Bobby devolved into anti-Christianity, going so far as to remark that the notion of the Incarnation, the idea that God took on human flesh within the confines of space-time, was ‘incredible and illogical.’ The quickening of Fischer's atheism also coincided with his descent into antisemitism and racism. At some point, Fischer stumbled upon and read the notoriously malignant archpropaganda The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fraudulent text that purports to identify a Jewish conspiracy to achieve world domination. He also became smitten with Count Cherep-Spiridovich's The Secret World Government, a book connecting Jews with satanism and, again, devices for global power. These screeds and others of the same ilk proved formative for Fischer's invidious new worldview. G.K. Chesterton once observed, ‘Imagination does not breed insanity. Exactly what does breed insanity is reason. Poets do not go mad; but chess players do.’ And this quip has proven true on many occasions, with early world champion Paul Morphy famously lapsing into paranoia and reputedly dying in a bathtub surrounded by women's shoes. Chesterton's words certainly had applicability to Fischer.” “In these later expatriate days (perhaps moved by a more acute awareness of his own mortality and frailty), by the grace of God, Fischer began outgrowing his irreligion. A burgeoning friendship with Icelandic political scientist Gardar Sverrisson became the forum for many a talk about politics, philosophy and religion. When Fischer pressed Gardar on his religious background, Gardar told him he was Catholic. Ever an inquisitive soul, Fischer continued to probe, asking Gardar about the finer points of Catholic theology (Brady, Endgame, 290). It turns out that Fischer was entering into similar dialogues about Catholicism with other members of his coterie around the same time. His attorney, Richard Vattuone, gifted Fischer a copy of G.K. Chesterton survey The Apostle of Common Sense, which he read, at least partially (ibid.). This appears to have stoked the flame of Fischer's interest in Catholicism, giving rise to further conversations with Vattuone about the religion. In the days to come, Fischer would persist in his exploration of Catholicism. Engaging once more with his friend Gardar, Bobby ‘began to ask him questions about the Liturgy, the adoration of saints, the theological mysteries and other aspects of the religion’ (ibid., 315). When it seemed to Fischer that he had exhausted Gardar's wellspring of knowledge about the Faith, Fischer took the liberty of buying his chum-turned-spiritual-advisor a copy of the Basic Catechism: Creed, Sacraments, Morality, Prayer by the Daughters of St. Paul so that Gardar could explain the doctrines of the Church better in their discussions (ibid.). Later, ‘delving through books, [Fischer] discovered the writings of Catholic theologians, and he became intrigued with the religion’ (ibid.). Eventually, Bobby confessed to Gardar, ‘The only hope for the world is through Catholicism’ (ibid.). In October, 2007, the twilight of Fischer's life gave way to nighttide. He fell critically ill with kidney disease and a blocked urinary tract and was admitted to Landspítali Hospital in Reykjavík. Over the next few months, Fischer's condition deteriorated. On Jan. 17, 2008, Fischer's mortal sojourn came to a halcyon end — in what was perhaps a godwink, he was 64 years old when he died, a year for every square on the chessboard. However, in his final days, Fischer played one last gambit, a curious move that seems to suggest that — maybe, just maybe — he found his way back home to the Barque of Peter: Fischer requested, according to officials from the Catholic Church of Iceland, that he be ‘buried as a Catholic.’ On Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, under the unrelenting blackness of the northern winter sky, Bobby Fischer's broken body was lowered into the frozen earth, in a funeral attended by five people. In accord with his last wishes, a French Catholic priest, Fr. Jakob Rolland, presided over the humble ceremony, commending Fischer's soul to its Maker and, hopefully, to the eternal light of the beatific vision. While we may never definitively know if Fischer officially became Catholic, he, at the very least, fit the bill for a baptism of desire. While God binds Himself to His sacraments, He is not bound by the sacraments, and He can confer salvation — by means understood by the Divine Mind alone — on those who, by no fault of their own, die without formal incorporation into the Church. The illustrious St. Thomas Aquinas himself tells us that ‘when a man wishes to be baptized but by some ill chance he is forestalled by death before receiving baptism,’ he ‘can obtain salvation without being actually baptized, on account of his desire.’ If I were a betting man (and I am), I'd wager that Fischer found his way, at long last, into the one true Church. And, if that's the case, the patroness of chess, St. Teresa of Avila, better watch out: There's a pretty daunting new act in town.“ www.churchmilitant.com

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coram_deo
28-Jul-21, 11:06

Did Bobby Fischer Convert to Catholicism Before He Died?

This is a very long article that suggests Bobby Fischer converted to Catholicism before his death. And while it’s heartening (to me) that he may have become a Christian prior to his death, I was sorry that he left Protestantism based on the behavior of men.

In my view, many of the beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church are not Biblical (I’ll post why in a separate post below this one at a later date; I don’t want mix apples and oranges right now,) but Catholics believe in the fundamentals of Christianity - that Jesus Christ died to atone for the sins of mankind and was Resurrected, and that salvation is by faith in Him (though Catholics also seem to believe works are needed.)

Anyway, much of this article is on Fischer’s upbringing and career as a professional chess player. I’m just posting excerpts that pertain to his potential conversion to Catholicism before he died.

“After living an arduous and austere life in an ‘almost monastic pursuit of the world championship’ (to quote Fischer biographer Frank Brady), Bobby wanted to pursue his religious studies — he was a member of a fundamentalist church, the Worldwide Church of God, which he had given $60,000 of his world championship purse — and to meet a girl and fall in love (Frank Brady, Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall — From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness (New York: Crown Publishing, 2011), 205).”

“Fischer made good on his inclination to pursue faith and romance. Living up to Life Magazine's tongue-in-cheek claim that he's ‘almost as serious about religion as he is about chess,’ Fischer made good use of his time away from the board and enrolled in a rigorous course on the Bible, studied the teachings of his denomination, offered up a continuing tithe and dedicated at least an hour a day to prayer. He also went on a series of dates with eligible bachelorettes — although nothing serious came of these dalliances.

While he began his chess sabbatical with the high-minded ideals of growing in faith and seeking vocation, such noble intentions were soon derailed by the harsh realities of life in a post-edenic world. Bobby had long proudly carried the banner of the Worldwide Church of God, observing its tenets, bankrolling its coffers, even speaking frequently of the impending ‘Rapture’ per its queer doctrines. But his faith in his church was irreparably damaged when ‘prophecies’ about a 1972 second coming of Christ made by the church's founder, Herbert W. Armstrong, proved to be false. Fischer, realizing that he had been hoodwinked, delivered a searing invective:

The real proof for me were those prophecies ... that show to me that [Armstrong] is an outright huckster. ... I thought, ‘This doesn't seem right. I gave all my money. Everybody has been telling me this [about apocalyptic events that were to unfold in 1972] for years. And now, he's half-denying he ever said it, even when I remember him saying it a hundred times.’… If you talk about fulfillment of prophecy, he is a fulfillment of Elmer Gantry. If Elmer Gantry was the Elijah, Armstrong's the Christ of religious hucksters. There is no way he could truly be God's prophet. Either God is a masochist and likes to be made a fool of, or else Herbert Armstrong is a false prophet.

So Fischer, disenchanted with the version of Christianity he long supposed to be true, began groping for meaning elsewhere, eventually straying into irreligion altogether. Nature, it is said, abhors a vacuum.

A jilted believer, Bobby devolved into anti-Christianity, going so far as to remark that the notion of the Incarnation, the idea that God took on human flesh within the confines of space-time, was ‘incredible and illogical.’ The quickening of Fischer's atheism also coincided with his descent into antisemitism and racism. At some point, Fischer stumbled upon and read the notoriously malignant archpropaganda The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fraudulent text that purports to identify a Jewish conspiracy to achieve world domination. He also became smitten with Count Cherep-Spiridovich's The Secret World Government, a book connecting Jews with satanism and, again, devices for global power. These screeds and others of the same ilk proved formative for Fischer's invidious new worldview.

G.K. Chesterton once observed, ‘Imagination does not breed insanity. Exactly what does breed insanity is reason. Poets do not go mad; but chess players do.’ And this quip has proven true on many occasions, with early world champion Paul Morphy famously lapsing into paranoia and reputedly dying in a bathtub surrounded by women's shoes. Chesterton's words certainly had applicability to Fischer.”

“In these later expatriate days (perhaps moved by a more acute awareness of his own mortality and frailty), by the grace of God, Fischer began outgrowing his irreligion. A burgeoning friendship with Icelandic political scientist Gardar Sverrisson became the forum for many a talk about politics, philosophy and religion. When Fischer pressed Gardar on his religious background, Gardar told him he was Catholic. Ever an inquisitive soul, Fischer continued to probe, asking Gardar about the finer points of Catholic theology (Brady, Endgame, 290).

It turns out that Fischer was entering into similar dialogues about Catholicism with other members of his coterie around the same time. His attorney, Richard Vattuone, gifted Fischer a copy of G.K. Chesterton survey The Apostle of Common Sense, which he read, at least partially (ibid.). This appears to have stoked the flame of Fischer's interest in Catholicism, giving rise to further conversations with Vattuone about the religion.

In the days to come, Fischer would persist in his exploration of Catholicism. Engaging once more with his friend Gardar, Bobby ‘began to ask him questions about the Liturgy, the adoration of saints, the theological mysteries and other aspects of the religion’ (ibid., 315). When it seemed to Fischer that he had exhausted Gardar's wellspring of knowledge about the Faith, Fischer took the liberty of buying his chum-turned-spiritual-advisor a copy of the Basic Catechism: Creed, Sacraments, Morality, Prayer by the Daughters of St. Paul so that Gardar could explain the doctrines of the Church better in their discussions (ibid.). Later, ‘delving through books, [Fischer] discovered the writings of Catholic theologians, and he became intrigued with the religion’ (ibid.). Eventually, Bobby confessed to Gardar, ‘The only hope for the world is through Catholicism’ (ibid.).

In October, 2007, the twilight of Fischer's life gave way to nighttide. He fell critically ill with kidney disease and a blocked urinary tract and was admitted to Landspítali Hospital in Reykjavík. Over the next few months, Fischer's condition deteriorated. On Jan. 17, 2008, Fischer's mortal sojourn came to a halcyon end — in what was perhaps a godwink, he was 64 years old when he died, a year for every square on the chessboard.

However, in his final days, Fischer played one last gambit, a curious move that seems to suggest that — maybe, just maybe — he found his way back home to the Barque of Peter: Fischer requested, according to officials from the Catholic Church of Iceland, that he be ‘buried as a Catholic.’ On Monday, Jan. 21, 2008, under the unrelenting blackness of the northern winter sky, Bobby Fischer's broken body was lowered into the frozen earth, in a funeral attended by five people. In accord with his last wishes, a French Catholic priest, Fr. Jakob Rolland, presided over the humble ceremony, commending Fischer's soul to its Maker and, hopefully, to the eternal light of the beatific vision.

While we may never definitively know if Fischer officially became Catholic, he, at the very least, fit the bill for a baptism of desire. While God binds Himself to His sacraments, He is not bound by the sacraments, and He can confer salvation — by means understood by the Divine Mind alone — on those who, by no fault of their own, die without formal incorporation into the Church. The illustrious St. Thomas Aquinas himself tells us that ‘when a man wishes to be baptized but by some ill chance he is forestalled by death before receiving baptism,’ he ‘can obtain salvation without being actually baptized, on account of his desire.’

If I were a betting man (and I am), I'd wager that Fischer found his way, at long last, into the one true Church. And, if that's the case, the patroness of chess, St. Teresa of Avila, better watch out: There's a pretty daunting new act in town.“

www.churchmilitant.com

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