I've translated this text from Spanish (my native language) without using Google so please forgive any misspellings, grammatical errors,etc. The style one uses to write a text in Spanish is not the same as in English. So if you find phrases that don't make sense or seem odd please let me know so I correct these. Also I'd like to know what you think about its content.

The folowing text is a chapter of Father Castellani’s book “Cristo y los Fariseos” (Christ and the Pharisees) which in turn is an extract of his novel “Los Papeles de Benjamín Benavídez” (Benjamin Benavidez’s Papers). The story takes place in Post World War II Italy. An Argentine journalist (the person who tells the story) meets by chance Benjamin Benavidez, who is a Spanish Catholic Sephardi Jєω imprisoned in a camp. In his youth Benjamin was studying to become a priest when his father told him that he was a Jєω. Because of a rule that prohibited Jєωs to the third generation to become priests in his Order he is expelled and he has to earn his life working in different jobs and travelling to different countries. The war surprises him in Germany and after the Allied victory he ends up stuck in Italy under American occupation because he had lost his papers (docuмents). Benjamin is somehow obsessed with the Apocalypse and through the story he gives his exegesis of it in many meetings/interviews with the journalist.

Characters:
Jerónimo Delrey: An Argentine journalist.
Benjamín Benavidez, aka Benya, aka the Jєω, aka the rabbi, aka the old man.
Mungué aka the Teologian: An Argentine priest studying Sacred Scripture in Rome.
Priscila Aguirre aka the Lady, the Argentine ambassador’s wife
Friar Fulgencio aka linen flower aka Little flower : a lazy monk, not very bright.
 
The Withdrawal of the Church

Do you think that before the end a great apostasy will come? [-asked Benya]

That is of faith – intervened Mungué- Saint Paul says it and even Our Lord himself affirmed it “When I return ¿Do you think i will find faith on earth?”

Do you think that a general apostasy would be posible if the Church were in force, full of purity,  of justice, of charity and light? That’s impossible. The Great Apostasy makes the great persecution conceivable, but the great apostasy isn’t conceivable without a contamination.

There has always been contamination – said the lady – and there will always be, acording to the parable of the cockle: “until the time of the harvest”

Precisely – said the old man – and approaching (towards) the time of the  harvest is when the cockle and the wheat are more alike.

Beware! –said Mungué- the Church will always be distinct from the sects. By her four notes: One, Holy ,Catholic and Apostolic.

Not even the lighthouses are well seen in a foggy weather – the rabbi sibbilingly said

That’s protestant heresy! – Fulgencio accused – The error of the Invisible Church.

The old man stared at him for a moment and continued.

When Christ returns the condition of the world will be analogous to that which it had when He left it. In order to see the future, from that mound in Jerusalem from which The King of the Prophets, could see  the Temple and, alas, the Calvary, he only had to consider His own present situation, weight it, and extend it in all directions.

So Phariseeism is going to rule in the Church as ruled before in the ѕуηαgσgυє? – I said alarmed. Christ’s promise of perennial assistance to His Church and her guidance by the Paraclite…this seems to destroy it from its roots.

And it destroys it – said the Monk

Why? –said the rabbi- The same or similar promises were made to the ѕуηαgσgυє by the prophets and at the moment that those promises were about to fail, God sent His Son to keep them. He who said “the Scribes and the Pharisees sat in Moses’ Cathedra; then do everything they say to you, but not according to their Works(deeds).” Since the doctrine was never lacking; but the examples were.

But that is extremely dangerous to preach- said Mungue- because the people will lose confidence in the hierarchy.

I don’t preach it; i’m only afraid of it. – meekly said the Jєω.

But the thing is that you shouldn’t say it, nor think of it, nor even dream about it-said Fulgencio

Not in my name – he said – But; to dream about it? Who can put doors to dreaming? This was already dreamed by John in the Apocalypse.

Where? – defied Mungué.

In four places: The Church of Laodicea, the Second Beast, the measurement of the Temple and the Great Whore(Harlot)

Moonshine! –said Fulgencio – “Clara non sunt explicanda cuм oscuris”. Those places are obscure, Christ’ s promise is clear.

The Jєω let his arms fall in discouragement(dismay) and with a tired air he began to turn the pages of his Bible.
What the hell is phariseism properly? – I said.

Well don’t you know it? – said the Jєω tired – It’s in the Gospels

It’s in the Elenchus contra Pharisees, Matthew, chapter 23 – said the theologian

It’s in the whole Gospel – roared the old man – Christ did nothing else but to fight against phariseism. “Non sum missus nisi ad oves quae perierunt domus Israel”. I was sent to the sheeps of Israel that perished.

What an exaggeration! – said the linen flower – What about the miracles? What about the doctrine? Those are the main things in Christ’s life!

What was Christ’s personal undertaking as a man, his feat and his work, that which unifies all his action? What was the heart of Christ, if He was a man of heart? [It was] not certainly a soft sweetness, a melancholic sentimentalism, squishy and weeping towards men, and even towards animals, as today is portrayed even in the statues of our temples d’apres Renan, d’apres Tolstoy –said the old man- That was not Christ’s personality, it was not his heart

We’re devouts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – said the monk

What was then His personality? - said Mungué the theologian

The fight against phariseism, that “sin against the Holy Spirit” that prevented His mesianic manifestation and terribly hurted his love for men and for the poor and for the weak… without taking into account his love for the Father – and for the Truth. That’s the key of His character, perhaps the main one, the one that comprehends all the traits of his splendid human personality – declared Benya. I know what phariseism is, although I don’t know how to define it – he added. I have experimented it in my flesh.

Moonshine! Phariseism is over.

Never –cried Benya-   Nor will it end. What else can result in the Great Tribulation, the worst trial, but the Great Sin, the peccatum “ad mortem”, that which in effect derived in the Death and Resurrection of Him who is Life.

“If you’re really the Son of God, step down from the cross and we’ll believe in You” – I said with a slight trembling.

In effect that’s the essence of phariseism – Benya turned to me with an approving smile – Cruelty, religious pride y resistance to the faith. But Christ could answer them from the cross: “Believe in Me and I will step down the cross”. In effect, when the Jєωs believe in Him, and the Gentiles have fallen into the sin of death, Christ will step down from His long cross, which is the whole history of the Church.

I’m not interested in this conversation

Phariseism is like… The Pharisees are like professional religious, like experts in religion – I said- recalling a phrase of Gustave Thibon.

That’s only the first grade of phariseism – reflected the old man- Let’s see if we can describe it by its grades.

The first one: Religion becomes merely an exterior thing.

The second one: Religion becomes a profession, métier, gagne pan.

The third one: Religion becomes an instrument for profit, for honors, power or money.

That’s like an schlerotization of what is religious, a hardening or progresive decay! – jumped the theologian

And then a falsification, hypocrisy, hardening to the cruelty – I said

In the Gospels Jesus Christ condemned the Pharisees – insisted friar Little Flower – and that is enough.

The Jєω had become absorbed. Then he carried on with a hollow and hoarse voice.

I’m trembling of saying what I barely  dare to think… My heart trembles as a leaf in a tree when I think in the mistery of phariseism. I can’t be outraged as the Divine Teacher was; I, miserable worm, I’m affraid of it- and in fact he shuddered abruptly and two tears peeked out his eyes.

The other grades – he carried on – are already diabolical

The heart of the Pharisee turns into cork, then into stone, then it empties itself by the inside, then the demon occupies it. “And the demon entered into him” said John speaking of Judas.

The fourth: Religion becomes passively hard, insensitive, disembodied

The fifth one: Religion becomes hypocrisy: the “Holy” hypocrite begins to despise and abhor those who have the true religión

The Sixth one:The heart turned into a stone becomes cruel, actively hard.

The Seventh one: The false believer persecutes the true believers to death, with blind fury, with relentless fanaticism… and he doesn’t calm down even before (in front of) the cross nor after the cross…  “This impostor said that he would resurrect in the third day; so O Great Procurator of Judea… [Send] Guards to the sepulcre”.

Well, that happened once and it won’t happen again – said Fulgencio - . Hypocrisy doesn’t thrive in the Church of Christ nowadays. There exist God’s Grace!

[I hope] God wills it – said Benya – But this isn’t common hypocrisy, it’s diabolical, deep, almost unconscious.”Corruptio optimi pessima”, it’s the corruption of the best, of religiosity, a thing that has no cure, as the salt that loses it saltiness. The shallow hypocrisy portraited by Molière, for example, is almost harmless. Tartuffe is a vulgar stupid. The other kind is deadly. Whenever a branch of Phariseism has arisen(sprout) in the Church, God cured it, but someone had to paid for it with his blood, from Christ to Joan of Arc, and even to our days. The trial of Bartolome Carranza! And the case of Jacinto Verdaguer. I’m not saying that this two were without faults and defects, they had both of them and even in great quantities, as Savonarola; but they gave their lives in a deep sense because of Phariseism. A tragic fight between the living morals and the dead morals is set, between the real mystic and “the mystic turned into politics”, that the German Hebrew Max Scheler studied pretty well in a quite good monograph… the title of which I’ve forgotten…Right! The Tragic Conflict in Morals. Precisely Max Scheler studies it in the case of Christ. The living morals triumphs -  until now and always; but the one who carries it as a life and a passion perishes.

I've translated this text from Spanish (my native language) without using Google so please forgive any misspellings, grammatical errors,etc. The style one uses to write a text in Spanish is not the same as in English. So if you find phrases that don't make sense or seem odd please let me know so I correct these. Also I'd like to know what you think about its content.

The folowing text is a chapter of Father Castellani’s book “Cristo y los Fariseos” (Christ and the Pharisees) which in turn is an extract of his novel “Los Papeles de Benjamín Benavídez” (Benjamin Benavidez’s Papers). The story takes place in Post World War II Italy. An Argentine journalist (the person who tells the story) meets by chance Benjamin Benavidez, who is a Spanish Catholic Sephardi Jєω imprisoned in a camp. In his youth Benjamin was studying to become a priest when his father told him that he was a Jєω. Because of a rule that prohibited Jєωs to the third generation to become priests in his Order he is expelled and he has to earn his life working in different jobs and travelling to different countries. The war surprises him in Germany and after the Allied victory he ends up stuck in Italy under American occupation because he had lost his papers (docuмents). Benjamin is somehow obsessed with the Apocalypse and through the story he gives his exegesis of it in many meetings/interviews with the journalist.

Characters:
Jerónimo Delrey: An Argentine journalist.
Benjamín Benavidez, aka Benya, aka the Jєω, aka the rabbi, aka the old man.
Mungué aka the Teologian: An Argentine priest studying Sacred Scripture in Rome.
Priscila Aguirre aka the Lady, the Argentine ambassador’s wife
Friar Fulgencio aka linen flower aka Little flower : a lazy monk, not very bright.
 
The Withdrawal of the Church

Do you think that before the end a great apostasy will come? [-asked Benya]

That is of faith – intervened Mungué- Saint Paul says it and even Our Lord himself affirmed it “When I return ¿Do you think i will find faith on earth?”

Do you think that a general apostasy would be posible if the Church were in force, full of purity,  of justice, of charity and light? That’s impossible. The Great Apostasy makes the great persecution conceivable, but the great apostasy isn’t conceivable without a contamination.

There has always been contamination – said the lady – and there will always be, acording to the parable of the cockle: “until the time of the harvest”

Precisely – said the old man – and approaching (towards) the time of the  harvest is when the cockle and the wheat are more alike.

Beware! –said Mungué- the Church will always be distinct from the sects. By her four notes: One, Holy ,Catholic and Apostolic.

Not even the lighthouses are well seen in a foggy weather – the rabbi sibbilingly said

That’s protestant heresy! – Fulgencio accused – The error of the Invisible Church.

The old man stared at him for a moment and continued.

When Christ returns the condition of the world will be analogous to that which it had when He left it. In order to see the future, from that mound in Jerusalem from which The King of the Prophets, could see  the Temple and, alas, the Calvary, he only had to consider His own present situation, weight it, and extend it in all directions.

So Phariseeism is going to rule in the Church as ruled before in the ѕуηαgσgυє? – I said alarmed. Christ’s promise of perennial assistance to His Church and her guidance by the Paraclite…this seems to destroy it from its roots.

And it destroys it – said the Monk

Why? –said the rabbi- The same or similar promises were made to the ѕуηαgσgυє by the prophets and at the moment that those promises were about to fail, God sent His Son to keep them. He who said “the Scribes and the Pharisees sat in Moses’ Cathedra; then do everything they say to you, but not according to their Works(deeds).” Since the doctrine was never lacking; but the examples were.

But that is extremely dangerous to preach- said Mungue- because the people will lose confidence in the hierarchy.

I don’t preach it; i’m only afraid of it. – meekly said the Jєω.

But the thing is that you shouldn’t say it, nor think of it, nor even dream about it-said Fulgencio

Not in my name – he said – But; to dream about it? Who can put doors to dreaming? This was already dreamed by John in the Apocalypse.

Where? – defied Mungué.

In four places: The Church of Laodicea, the Second Beast, the measurement of the Temple and the Great Whore(Harlot)

Moonshine! –said Fulgencio – “Clara non sunt explicanda cuм oscuris”. Those places are obscure, Christ’ s promise is clear.

The Jєω let his arms fall in discouragement(dismay) and with a tired air he began to turn the pages of his Bible.
What the hell is phariseism properly? – I said.

Well don’t you know it? – said the Jєω tired – It’s in the Gospels

It’s in the Elenchus contra Pharisees, Matthew, chapter 23 – said the theologian

It’s in the whole Gospel – roared the old man – Christ did nothing else but to fight against phariseism. “Non sum missus nisi ad oves quae perierunt domus Israel”. I was sent to the sheeps of Israel that perished.

What an exaggeration! – said the linen flower – What about the miracles? What about the doctrine? Those are the main things in Christ’s life!

What was Christ’s personal undertaking as a man, his feat and his work, that which unifies all his action? What was the heart of Christ, if He was a man of heart? [It was] not certainly a soft sweetness, a melancholic sentimentalism, squishy and weeping towards men, and even towards animals, as today is portrayed even in the statues of our temples d’apres Renan, d’apres Tolstoy –said the old man- That was not Christ’s personality, it was not his heart

We’re devouts of the Sacred Heart of Jesus – said the monk

What was then His personality? - said Mungué the theologian

The fight against phariseism, that “sin against the Holy Spirit” that prevented His mesianic manifestation and terribly hurted his love for men and for the poor and for the weak… without taking into account his love for the Father – and for the Truth. That’s the key of His character, perhaps the main one, the one that comprehends all the traits of his splendid human personality – declared Benya. I know what phariseism is, although I don’t know how to define it – he added. I have experimented it in my flesh.

Moonshine! Phariseism is over.

Never –cried Benya-   Nor will it end. What else can result in the Great Tribulation, the worst trial, but the Great Sin, the peccatum “ad mortem”, that which in effect derived in the Death and Resurrection of Him who is Life.

“If you’re really the Son of God, step down from the cross and we’ll believe in You” – I said with a slight trembling.

In effect that’s the essence of phariseism – Benya turned to me with an approving smile – Cruelty, religious pride y resistance to the faith. But Christ could answer them from the cross: “Believe in Me and I will step down the cross”. In effect, when the Jєωs believe in Him, and the Gentiles have fallen into the sin of death, Christ will step down from His long cross, which is the whole history of the Church.

I’m not interested in this conversation

Phariseism is like… The Pharisees are like professional religious, like experts in religion – I said- recalling a phrase of Gustave Thibon.

That’s only the first grade of phariseism – reflected the old man- Let’s see if we can describe it by its grades.

The first one: Religion becomes merely an exterior thing.

The second one: Religion becomes a profession, métier, gagne pan.

The third one: Religion becomes an instrument for profit, for honors, power or money.

That’s like an schlerotization of what is religious, a hardening or progresive decay! – jumped the theologian

And then a falsification, hypocrisy, hardening to the cruelty – I said

In the Gospels Jesus Christ condemned the Pharisees – insisted friar Little Flower – and that is enough.

The Jєω had become absorbed. Then he carried on with a hollow and hoarse voice.

I’m trembling of saying what I barely  dare to think… My heart trembles as a leaf in a tree when I think in the mistery of phariseism. I can’t be outraged as the Divine Teacher was; I, miserable worm, I’m affraid of it- and in fact he shuddered abruptly and two tears peeked out his eyes.

The other grades – he carried on – are already diabolical

The heart of the Pharisee turns into cork, then into stone, then it empties itself by the inside, then the demon occupies it. “And the demon entered into him” said John speaking of Judas.

The fourth: Religion becomes passively hard, insensitive, disembodied

The fifth one: Religion becomes hypocrisy: the “Holy” hypocrite begins to despise and abhor those who have the true religión

The Sixth one:The heart turned into a stone becomes cruel, actively hard.

The Seventh one: The false believer persecutes the true believers to death, with blind fury, with relentless fanaticism… and he doesn’t calm down even before (in front of) the cross nor after the cross…  “This impostor said that he would resurrect in the third day; so O Great Procurator of Judea… [Send] Guards to the sepulcre”.

Well, that happened once and it won’t happen again – said Fulgencio - . Hypocrisy doesn’t thrive in the Church of Christ nowadays. There exist God’s Grace!

[I hope] God wills it – said Benya – But this isn’t common hypocrisy, it’s diabolical, deep, almost unconscious.”Corruptio optimi pessima”, it’s the corruption of the best, of religiosity, a thing that has no cure, as the salt that loses it saltiness. The shallow hypocrisy portraited by Molière, for example, is almost harmless. Tartuffe is a vulgar stupid. The other kind is deadly. Whenever a branch of Phariseism has arisen(sprout) in the Church, God cured it, but someone had to paid for it with his blood, from Christ to Joan of Arc, and even to our days. The trial of Bartolome Carranza! And the case of Jacinto Verdaguer. I’m not saying that this two were without faults and defects, they had both of them and even in great quantities, as Savonarola; but they gave their lives in a deep sense because of Phariseism. A tragic fight between the living morals and the dead morals is set, between the real mystic and “the mystic turned into politics”, that the German Hebrew Max Scheler studied pretty well in a quite good monograph… the title of which I’ve forgotten…Right! The Tragic Conflict in Morals. Precisely Max Scheler studies it in the case of Christ. The living morals triumphs -  until now and always; but the one who carries it as a life and a passion perishes.

I could meditate and "prophecy" for the rest of my life, just reflecting on this single statement:

"When Christ returns the condition of the world will be analogous to that which it had when He left it. In order to see the future, from that mound in Jerusalem from which The King of the Prophets, could see  the Temple and, alas, the Calvary, he only had to consider His own present situation, weight it, and extend it in all directions."

Hello Sean. 

What's your opinion about Fr. Castellani? Do you think he was an heretic? I can't tell if you are being ironic about the meditation of that phrase.

His works are well spread among traditionalists and nationalists in Argentina. In my opinion he was one of the best "intelectual" priest we had in this country. 

There are four books by him in which he talks about the Apocalypse. Two novels "Su Majestad Dulcinea" (His Majesty Dulcinea) and Benjamin Benavidez's Papers. One exegetical work called "St John's Apocalypse"(with Imprimatur) and "Will Christ ever come back?" The last one is the only fully translated into English.

I would say this, I've read many of his books (not the novel John XXIII(XXIV). He constantly warns us against modernism, religious naturalism. He preaches against blind obedience, there are limits to it and apparently the Jesuits are very much into it. The next chapter of the book I translated contains four letters he wrote to His superiors and brothers. One is about Obedience, the second one about Chastity, a third one about Poverty and the last one on the Government, I will translate those when I have time. He is not an all a modernist. He responds well to many objections the modern world does to the Church. Also he probably irritated many of the hierarchy with his critics.

The only time I read his opinion about CVII was before it occurred and was of hope in that perhaps it would lead to the conversion of Protestants.

I don't know the details of his troubles with his superiors, but something that he wrote caused some political troubles aparently with the Federal Government and many times the hierarchy doesn't want that.