Posted on 02/15/2025 7:43:49 AM PST by SeekAndFind
One of the great tragedies of the Enlightenment and its aftermath was that Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular lost faith in their legitimacy and in the legitimacy of their mission. As a result, they surrendered that mission’s otherworldliness and agreed to fight only on temporal grounds. In other words, when the Church responded to its attackers, it did so not on its own terms but on the terms—and in the terms—of those attackers. Rather than focus on its mission and the eternal truths for which it had become the earthly vessel, the Church became distracted.
The problem wasn’t that the Church failed to defend itself, but that it did so on the foreign turf of the rationalist philosophers, economists, sociologists, and politicians. And it continues to do so.
Among the more pernicious consequences of this “blunder” is the occasional (but all too frequent) forays by Church leaders into the realm of temporal politics. Some outwardly “political” matters are, in reality, spiritual matters, matters of faith.
Abortion is one such issue. If one believes the words of the Book of Jeremiah, for example—“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you”—then one should also, as a matter of faith, believe that abortion is a heinous matter that takes the life of one of God’s beloved.
Such matters are, however, few and far between. Most of the time that the Church ventures into the political realm, it steps beyond the bounds of its authority; it compounds the blunder of fighting on the field of reason and human affairs and exacerbates its capitulation to the modern anti-revelation spirit.
When the Church engages in purely political matters and thereby departs from its mission, the effects are both manifold and potentially severe.
The first thing that the Church does when it plays politics is that it erodes its own authority. This is, in part, what Mann was getting at above. Moral absolutes cannot and should not be proved by worldly measures, and attempting to do so only makes the former look foolish by comparison to the latter.
Recently, Pope Francis sent a letter to the American bishops, more or less telling them that they must resist President Trump’s immigration policy. “I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” the Pope wrote, and “the act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”>/B>
This is an exceptionally political statement. It takes an exceptionally ideological position. It is also exceptionally foolish and potentially exceptionally destructive. As R.R. Reno noted at First Things, the Pope’s stance is a “recipe for ecclesiastical suicide,” meaning it forces Americans to choose between loving their country and doing what the Pope insists is the only truly acceptable thing to do in this situation.
In short, the Pope is pitting the Church against the very idea of “America,” against the “shining city upon a hill” that has captured the spirit of freedom and the imagination of people worldwide for nearly a quarter of a millennium. The end result of this can only be that some people—many people, most people—will choose to ignore that which the Pope and his bishops insist is a moral necessity. That is a disastrous outcome and sets a disastrous precedent.
A second consequence of the Church’s involvement in politics is its distraction from its true mission. If the Church and its leaders are preoccupied with earthly matters, then it is quite probable that they will be diverted from their focus on spiritual matters, the matters of faith and morals that determine salvation.
Earlier this week, Pope Francis appointed Edward Weisenburger, the Bishop of Tucson, Arizona, to replace the retiring Allen Vigneron as the Archbishop of Detroit. Weisenburger—a favorite of the Pontiff’s—is a severe critic of President Trump’s, especially his immigration policies. Seven years ago, during the first Trump presidency, Weisenburger suggested that people who “are involved” in those policies should, perhaps, be subjected to “canonical penalties,” up to and including excommunication.
Needless to say, it is difficult for one to imagine how such actions would accomplish the mission of the Church to save souls. In advocating for the excommunication of political opponents, Weisenburger—soon to be an archbishop—both undermines the seriousness of the Church and confuses the faithful about their actual moral responsibilities.
Finally, by getting involved in politics, the Church risks tipping the political scales to one side or the other. It is clear that Pope Francis reviles Donald Trump’s immigration policies. It is also clear that he is frustrated and annoyed by Vice President Vance for not stating Catholic theology in exactly the same terms as he would. But does he necessarily prefer the partisan alternative?
Pope Francis should understand that American politics is, for all practical purposes, a binary calculation. He may think that he is simply stating what is right and just and encouraging all parties to accept his conclusions and practice his recommendation. In reality, however, he is picking sides. He may not intend to do so, but that is the practical effect of involving himself and the Church in American politics.
By attacking Trump and Vance on political matters, he is effectively encouraging American Catholics to embrace the alternative—the party that aggressively supports abortion and the sexualization of children, funds atheism and transgender ideology in foreign countries, and has no serious answer to the immigration problem, only platitudes and falsehoods.
Certainly, the Pope is free to disagree with Donald Trump’s immigration policies—or any of his policies, for that matter. But when he takes that objection and tries to make it the official position of the Church, to turn it into an inarguable matter of conscience, then he is overstepping his authority and, in the process, diminishing his genuine authority. That’s not merely a mistake; it’s also a shame. In this era, when the Church’s authority has already been eroded by the misdeeds of its clergy, adding to the distrust will only make its true mission that much harder.
Stephen R. Soukup is the Director of The Political Forum Institute and the author of The Dictatorship of Woke Capital (Encounter, 2021, 2023)
Government is the god worshiped by many people. In the church and outside of it.
Francis knows exactly what he is doing; he doesn’t mind pushing people into the abortionist camp if it advances marxism.
He’s done more damage to the Catholic name than the tranny did to Bud Lite.
“Government is the god worshiped by many people. In the church and outside of it.”
Scientists say humans a “worship gene” in our DNA and we WILL worship. If we don’t worship “God” per se, we will substitute something else to fulfill our “worship imperative”. Politics is the most common substitute today, though other things may be used as well.
Romans 2:24 ►
As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
America beginning with 13 Colonies, as Christ began with Him and His 12 wasn’t a coincidence.
America growing to 50 states, as the New Covenant Church grew at 50, is also not a coincidence.
The Antichrist Vatican in Daniel’s 4th Beast should tread lightly around a nation that is so foundational in its founding to His govt.
Something the Antichrist Vatican claims as their own
Law and order coming to America after lawlessness and disorder is a biblical prophecy unfolding.
Rome loses in the end as Daniel predicts
I’d sit down and shut up if I was the Antichrist Vatican
But hey, they don’t have it in them to do that
Why anyone listens to an atheist Marxist is a mystery to me.
It’s a feature not a flaw.
Maybe he will be the last Pope according to the “Prophecy of the Popes.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophecy_of_the_Popes
Stay in your lane, Frankie. The emergency vehicles are coming through, sirens blaring and lights flashing, to face the perhaps unimaginable chaos and crisis coming up ahead. Secular humanism will not be enough.
Try Christianity, Francis. It has worked for a couple of millennia already, for countless billions.
Pope Francis should decide to either worship Jesus as the Lord and Savior eternal over the Earth
Or instead choose foul Marxist Klaus Schwab and his WEF anti-Christ spirit seeking to rise up for the last days.
He cannot have two Masters.
Another question: P. Francis is such a a decrepit clown, why aren’t the bishops all around the world, and other diocese leaders just renouncing Francis and start their own church organization? There must be many in the Roman Catholic churches who support him who will pretend to be faithful to the church traditions.
Every man to his tents!
“The church” is not the Roman Catholic church, nor does Pope Francis represent it. The church = true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Those outside of the church = “the world” = unbelievers in Christ. The church is known by their testimony and their deeds of righteousness, which includes thoughts (known only by God), words, and actions.
- from the Word of God
14But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
17And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
None, with any credibility can claim what has come out of mouth on this fraud, resembles anything from the Holy Spirit.
Come out of her my people ...
18And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
19And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
20The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
21And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Anyone being taught the prophecy of Joel???? Can anyone find Joel's prophecy ... we are living it right now... and pappy Francis is charging US to do his dirty work ... We the people are like scorpion stung creatures, unable to recover..
The Vatican has so insulated itself against this kind of thing there is no mechanism in Roman Catholicism that allows for the removal of a pope.
They did not “wade into politics”.
They waded into leftist politics.
Big difference.
The rot goes a lot deeper than just this one Pope.
This is like people complaining about Putin thinking the next guy in line is going to be any better.
Dope Francis is the Great Blunder. I refuse to refer to him as the Pope, for he is not a believer in Christianity.
If your mission is to save souls, why would it matter where salvation occurs. The unintended consequences of mass migration are that the salt and light of a poor country leave and things get worse. Extreme poverty and crime for those left behind are the result. See: Mexico.
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