Much of what is wrong with the Catholic Church can be deduced from last Sunday’s Gospel, Matthew 16:13-20, describing the divine foundation of the Church. Jesus asks his Apostles whom they say He is. Simon Peter correctly answers, “You are the Messiah, the son of the living God.” Whereupon Jesus says, “Blessed are thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Christ’s words in the gospel are firm and decisive — enough to initiate a glorious religion — at least in the King James Version. But what we Catholics in Mass heard was, “And the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.” You may think this is an insignificant distinction, yet it defines the critical debilitation of the Church. (READ MORE: What Do Young Catholics Need?: Controversy at World Youth Day)
The “netherworld” is a nebulous term for a supernatural realm where the dead dwell, including non-evil spirits. While Hell is Scripturally the seat of Satan, the Devil himself, and his demons, dedicated to achieving the corruption then ultimate downfall of man, whom Christ died to save. Popes from Saint Peter to Saint John Paul have stood against the gates of Hell, not some ethereal netherworld.
Peter was crucified, famously upside down, during the reign of bloodthirsty Roman emperor Nero. John Paul III confronted the scourge of communism and helped collapse the Soviet Union. Lamentably, the current pope, Francis, although still a force for good, is accommodating the darkness. Francis speaks the language of the Left — climate change, wealth redistribution, racial equity, a kinder, gentler Christianity. As the first Jesuit, and Latin-American pontiff, he personifies the order’s destructive liberation theology. And Marxists celebrate him as they take over Catholic institutions built to stop them.
Maybe more Church leaders should heed the old slogan, “What would Jesus do?”
Last week, a major Catholic college, the University of San Diego, banned conservative influencer Matt Walsh from speaking on campus. Walsh is perhaps the preeminent opponent of transgender insanity. His documentary, What Is a Woman?, garnered at least 300 million viewers, and his advocacy has inspired multiple state laws against child mutilation, which the left perversely calls “gender-affirming care.”
Walsh is not only a devout Catholic (his sister is a nun), his stand against such anti-human madness is entirely in line with Church doctrine, which states that identifying outside the gender binary is “nothing more than a confused concept of freedom in the realm of feelings and wants.” This did not deter proponents of the Walsh ban from assuming a Catholic cover.
“I do think that it is one of the most important things that we hold our Catholic faith first,” said USD student senator Isabella Sevilla. “And if he (Walsh) does not align with the values of the Catholic Church, then that is something we should consider.” USD’s Assistant Vice-President for Student Life Byron Howlett went further, calling Walsh’s beliefs “grossly offensive.” So far, no Church official has criticized his cancellation, let alone taken corrective action against the school.
Nor will they if the sermon at the last Mass I attended is any indication. The priest spoke heartfully about the virtue of humility. I’m all for humility, but not when the Christian faithful are being persecuted by the state. Not when government tyrants shut down Churches at the hint of a pandemic while freeing liquor and pot stores, with the compliance of the clergy. And not when the FBI targets traditional Catholics as domestic terrorists — as revealed in a leaked document last February — to minimal response from hierarchy.
“The USCCB (United States Conference of Catholic Bishops) roundly condemns such extremism and fully supports the work of law enforcement officials to keep our communities safe,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan. Safe from whom, one might ask Dolan — pro-life Christians praying outside abortion clinics like Mark Houck? Last year, over 20 armed FBI agents swarmed his home and arrested Houck at gunpoint. They weren’t impressed with his humility. (READ MORE: Conservative Catholic Mark Houck Goes to Washington)
Maybe more Church leaders should heed the old slogan, “What would Jesus do?” The Lord was never humble when confronting evil. He violently drove out moneylenders and merchants from the Temple in Jerusalem, as recorded by all four Gospel writers, with his accusatory language in Matthew 21:13 the most visceral: “My house shall be called the house of prayer, but ye have made it a den of thieves.” Which could explain why we now get the humbler John 2:16 version, “Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace.” Only the modern Church would portray the Son of God as an anti-capitalist hippie.
And real commies won’t appreciate the favor — in fact, quite the opposite. Nicaraguan dictator Daniel Ortega has declared the Jesuit order illegal and is confiscating all its assets. So much for liberation theology and playing nice with evil. And yet Christ’s sheep are treading where the shepherds dare not go. Last week, the United States Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit unanimously ended a block on an Alabama law banning body-mutilating “sex-change” surgery. Circuit Judge Barbara Lagoa, a Republican favorite for the Supreme Court and my fellow Cuban-American, authored the opinion. “The plaintiffs have not presented any authority that supports the existence of a constitutional right to ‘treat [one’s] children with transitioning medications subject to medically accepted standards,’” Lagoa wrote.
Lagoa credits her parents’ sending her to Catholic school for reinforcing “an abiding faith in God that has grounded and sustained me through the highs and lows of life.” Pity the same won’t apply to students at the University of San Diego. Hopefully, it will soon at the Vatican.
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