A hallmark of irrational ideologies is the fear of a bogeyman: some inexplicable evil hiding just out of view. For leftism, the bogeyman is and always has been the Catholic Church: an institution swarming with the evils of oppression, ritual, and moral objectivism. A prime example of this bogeyman phenomenon may be observed in Canada. In 2021, leftists claimed to have found “evidence” of unmarked mass graves at predominantly Catholic-run boarding schools across Canada. It was alleged that over 200 children had been dumped into a pit at just one school; some schools were alleged to be the burial site of nearly 300 children. For leftists, this was confirmation that the Catholic Church is the bogeyman haunting society.
These slanders and lies are repeated incessantly, and as soon as one is debunked, a new one is invented.
In the wake of the “mass graves” claims, “memorials” were set up, flags were flown at half mast, protests were staged, statues of monarchs were toppled, and churches across the country were burned to the ground. As of the beginning of this year, at least 85 churches have been torched in Canada since May, 2021, some of them a hundred years old or older. The head of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association gleefully called for Canadians to “burn it all down.” Even Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who calls himself a Catholic despite his rampant abortion and LGBT advocacy, said that rage directed at the Catholic Church was “fully understandable.”
The allegations of “mass graves” were founded on the use of “ground-penetrating radar.” Since then, the Canadian government has spent nearly $8 million in attempting to recover the supposed remains of children. As of last week, no “mass graves” have been found.
Three years ago, the unfounded allegations of “mass graves” were covered extensively in Canadian and international news. Politicians and tribal leaders talked of the ordeal incessantly — some even compared Catholic priests and nuns at the schools to Nazis. Now, not a word of apology, not a single admission, “We were wrong.” Of course, that’s not surprising. The “mass graves” episode was never about seeking truth, it was never about redressing wrongs, it was always about the bogeyman.
Catholicism is the leftist’s bogeyman because it represents all that the leftist finds horrifying: hierarchy and order, ritual and tradition, self-sacrifice and duty to others, and the existence of eternity. The leftist strives for an erroneous egalitarianism, wrought by chaos and mayhem. (Think of the incendiary Black Lives Matter riots of 2020.) The leftist abhors ritual because it is prescribed and tradition because it is inherited: both prescription and inheritance denote the wisdom and authority of the past, and the leftist always looks to the nebulous future. Self-sacrifice is alien to the leftist, as his only desire is self-satisfaction. Duty is a form of oppression to him, since it may impose itself on his self-pleasuring. And, of course, the existence of eternity is a distraction from the pleasures of the present and the hubristic hopes of the unfettered future.
But it is not enough for the leftist to simply fear and despise the bogeyman of Catholicism — for leftism is itself a diabolical inversion of Catholicism, it is a religion, and as such it must proselytize. Thus, tales of “mass graves” at Catholic-run boarding schools. Thus, lies of St. Teresa of Calcutta mistreating the poor and the sick. Thus, fever dreams of Catholic politicians forcing pregnancy tests on women trying to cross state lines. Thus, horror stories of the Inquisition. Thus, all manner of slander and fanciful fearmongering leveled against Catholics and the Catholic Church.
These are not merely vitriolic expressions of opposition, they are proselytizing myths — they are, in a sense, the leftist’s gospel. These slanders and lies are repeated incessantly, and as soon as one is debunked, a new one is invented, or an even older one regurgitated. This is not solely for the benefit of the leftist, it is rather chiefly the leftist’s means of evangelizing, of bringing others into the church of self, into Hell. For as C.S. Lewis once so wisely observed, “There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, ‘Thy will be done,’ and those to whom God says, in the end, ‘Thy will be done.’”
Christ ordered His Apostles, the first bishops of the Catholic Church, to “go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). So also does Hell command its acolytes to go and make slaves of all nations. Lies and slander against the Church are merely the evangelization of Hell.
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