THE KATECHON – The Power That Holds Back

This Advent, we will not focus on the readings proposed by the liturgy, but rather offer brief explorations related to this season of the liturgical year, which, due to its brevity and richness, can never be exhaustively addressed. Today, our attention is on a text from Paul that features the enigmatic figure of a power, the katechon (cf. 2 Thess 2:1-12). It is not easy to identify who or what it is, but it is certain that it is a force that holds back or slows down the assault of the Antichrist. The katechon, however, must be eliminated so that the Antichrist can reveal himself before the decisive coming of the glorious Christ.

Let no one deceive you in any way. For the apostasy will come first, and the man of lawlessness will be revealed, the son of perdition, the adversary who exalts himself above everything called God or worshipped as God. (…) And now you know what is holding him back (to katechon), so that he will not be revealed until his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, but he who is holding him back (ho kathekon) must be removed. Then the lawless one will be revealed, and the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the sudden splendour of his coming (parousia) (2 Thess 2:3-4, 6-8).

To understand the parousia, the final coming of the Lord, it is necessary to understand the mystery of lawlessness that is at work in history and has not yet reached the pinnacle of its manifestation. When this happens, the Kyrios will annihilate it forever. Paul’s statements seem both tragic and consoling. There will be apostasy, the apostle states, in the religious field. What does it consist of? The rejection of the truth and the delight in lies. But who is the man of lawlessness? The man who is openly wicked. One without masks and fully aware of the evil he wants to commit. He is the man, in some respects Promethean, who not only wants to reach heaven but to become like God. Hence selfishness, pride, and the will to dominate. He is exactly the reverse of Christ, who in his incarnation manifested solidarity, humble service, and gratuitous love. That the coming of the Lord has not yet arrived is due to the fact that it is held back by the kathekon, which blocks the Antichrist. But then quis est kathecon, or who is the kathecon? In various interpretations (from Irenaeus of Lyons to John Calvin up to our own time), he has been identified with the Roman Empire (that which impedes—to kathecon) and with the emperor (he who impedes—ho kathecon). The empire, with its rulers, ensures order and peace and therefore the absence of wars (traditionally seen as a sign of the imminent end of times). Some have also seen the mission of the Church. As is well known, the final coming of the Lord cannot occur before the Gospel has spread throughout the world (cf. Mk 13:10). Beyond the readings, we are faced with mystery. The apocalyptic signs that must precede the end, however, are not yet visible. It is therefore necessary to live in active expectation and hope. The end will not be a catastrophe but will mark the dawn of the new heavens and the new earth. Eliot wrote in the Four Quartets: “What we call the beginning is often the end, and to end is to begin. And the end is where we start.”

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey