Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès, better known by the pen name Léo Taxil (; March 21, 1854 – March 31, 1907), was a French writer and journalist who became known for his strong anti-Catholic and anti-clerical views. He is also known for the

Taxil hoax The Taxil hoax was an 1890s hoax of exposure by Léo Taxil intended to mock not only Freemasonry but also the Catholic Church's opposition to it. Taxil and Freemasonry Léo Taxil was the pen name of Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès, w ...

, a spurious exposé of

Freemasonry Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

and the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

's opposition to it.

Early life

Marie Joseph Gabriel Antoine Jogand-Pagès was born in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Fra ...

, and at the age of five, he was placed into a Jesuit seminary. After spending his childhood years in the seminary, he became disillusioned with the Catholic faith and began to see the religious ideology as socially harmful. He also wrote some novels under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Prosper Manin.

La Bible amusante

Taxil first became known for writing

anti-Clerical Anti-clericalism is opposition to religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historical anti-clericalism has mainly been opposed to the influence of Roman Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secularism, which seeks to ...

anti-Catholic Anti-Catholicism is hostility towards Catholics or opposition to the Catholic Church, its clergy, and/or its adherents. At various points after the Reformation, some majority Protestant states, including England, Prussia, Scotland, and the Uni ...

books, notably '' La Bible amusante'' (''The Amusing Bible'') and ''La Vie de Jesus'' (''The Life of Jesus''), in which Taxil satirically pointed out inconsistencies, errors, and false beliefs presented in these religious works. In his other books ''Les Débauches d'un confesseur'' (''Debauchery of a Confessor'', with Karl Milo), ''Les Pornographes sacrés: la confession et les confesseurs'' (''Sacred Pornographs: confession and confessors''), and ''Les Maîtresses du Pape'' (''The Pope's Mistresses''), Taxil portrays leaders of the Catholic Church as hedonistic creatures exploring their fetishes in the manner of the Marquis de Sade. In 1879, he was tried at the Seine Assizes for writing a pamphlet ''A Bas la Calotte'' ("Down with the Cloth"), which was accused of insulting a religion recognized by the state, but he was acquitted.

The Taxil hoax

In 1885, he professed conversion to Catholicism, was solemnly received into the church, and renounced his earlier works. In the 1890s, he wrote a series of pamphlets and books denouncing

The History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

, ''Mysteries of the Freemasons: America'', video documentary, August 1, 2006, written by Noah Nicholas and Molly Bedell charging their lodges with worshiping the devil and alleging that Diana Vaughan had written for him her confessions of the Satanic " Palladist" cult. The book had great sales among Catholics, although Diana Vaughan never appeared in public. In 1892, Taxil also began to publish a paper, ''La France chrétienne anti-maçonnique (Christian Antimasonic France)'', with his staunch anti-Masonic publishing friend, Abel Clarin de la Rive.Is It True What They Say About Freemasonry? Authors: de Hoyos, Arturo and Morris, S. Brent, 1988, 2nd edition, p. 27-36, Leo Taxil: The Hoax of Luciferian Masonry In 1887, he had an audience with

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

, who rebuked the bishop of Charleston for denouncing the anti-Masonic confessions as a fraud and, in 1896, sent his blessing to an anti-Masonic Congress of

Trent Trent may refer to: Places Italy * Trento in northern Italy, site of the Council of Trent United Kingdom * Trent, Dorset, England, United Kingdom Germany * Trent, Germany, a municipality on the island of Rügen United States * Trent, California, ...

. Doubts about Vaughan's veracity and even her existence began to grow, and finally, Taxil promised to produce her at a lecture to be delivered by him on 19 April 1897. To the amazement of the audience (which included a number of

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in partic ...

s), he announced that Diana was one of a series of hoaxes. He had begun, he said, by persuading the commandant of Marseille that the harbor was infested with sharks, and a ship was sent to destroy them. Next, he invented an underwater city in

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...

, drawing tourists and archaeologists to the spot. He thanked the bishops and Catholic newspapers for facilitating his crowning hoax, namely his conversion, which had exposed the anti-Masonic fanaticism of many Catholics. Diana Vaughan was revealed to be a simple typist in his employ, who laughingly allowed her name to be used by him. The audience received these revelations with indignation and contempt. Afterwards, Taxil left the hall, where policemen escorted him to a neighboring café. He then moved away from Paris. He died in Sceaux in 1907 of unknown reason.

Selected books

*''La Vie de Jésus (The Life of Jesus)'' (1882) *'' La Bible amusante (The Amusing Bible)'' (1882) *''Les Débauches d'un confesseur (The Debaucheries of a Confessor)'' (1884, with Karl Milo) *''Les Pornographes sacrés: la confession et les confesseurs (The Holy Pornographers: Confession and Confessors)'' (1882) *''Les Maîtresses du Pape (The Pope's Mistresses)'' (1884) *''Le Martyre de Jeanne d'Arc'' ''(The Martyrdom of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

)'' (1890, with Paul Fesch; edition of Pierre Cauchon's manuscripts of Joan of Arc's trial) * Prosper Manin. ''Marchands de chair humaine'' Dijon : E. Bernard, 1904. Petite collection E. Bernard ; n° 20. 128 p.: ll. ; in-16

Notes

References

*''Satan Franc-Maçon: la mystification de Léo Taxil'', 1964.

External links

A.E. Waite, ''Devil-Worship in France''
complete e-text of Waite's 1896 debunking of Taxil. {{DEFAULTSORT:Taxil, Leo 1854 births 1907 deaths Writers from Marseille Anti-Masonry French atheists Critics of the Catholic Church French male non-fiction writers Hoaxers Pseudonymous writers 19th-century atheists 20th-century atheists Former Roman Catholics Anti-clericals