Pope Pius V once said that “All the evils of the world are due to lukewarm Catholics”—this could not be truer. Now more than ever, our onetime Christian culture resembles a modern Sodom and Gomorrah. We see this today in the godlessly abhorrent secular movie release Bros (2022)—a Universal Pictures film touting sexual deviance between men—and in the rumors of the Vatican funding the Paramount Pictures film Rocket Man (2019) with donations from the Catholic faithful.
The recent news of Belgian bishops attempting to rewrite Catholic doctrine on marriage underscores the situation, and my concern. I am often told that I should not engage publicly with these topics, but as a practicing Catholic, I cannot remain silent. More importantly, we must broach these issues because the hyper-sexualization of our culture is killing our youth, while we hear crickets from the bishops.
In education, faculty have adopted gender ideology without question. Political pressures from LGBTQ+ advocates, whose purpose is unclear outside of their obvious cries for some sort of false unity, have bolstered these initiatives. This began in 1955 when John Money worked to loosen the definition of “gender” in academic circles, while simultaneously pushing sexual liberation. Shortly after this came the sexual revolution of the 1960s and the Second Vatican Council. Money’s work came under heavy criticism in the 1990s when David Reimer committed suicide at age 38 after undergoing involuntary gender reassignment surgery.
Nevertheless, the Catholic Church now appears to promote queer culture and indirectly impose gender ideology, which is perhaps more insidious, on its schools, churches, and flocks. In doing so, it is ignoring the reasons for Reimer’s tragic death. What is more perturbing is that neither the Pope nor the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops can reach a moral conclusion consistent with historic Catholic teaching on these issues. The phrase “Institutionalized (insert ‘ism’ here)” has become the prevailing way academics describe their workplaces. Gender pronouns are how they describe their personhood. No longer are they created in the image and likeness of God. The truth is that as long as bad men run these shows, these theatrics will continue, and good people will be exiled.
[Related: “Defund Gender Studies”]
I was recently made aware of just how evil these ideologies are when I defended church doctrine, and my faith against the decision of a local Catholic Priest. I was banished from Catholic ministries throughout the whole of Tucson, Arizona by the Bishop. Even the more conservative sects of the community stood silently in fear, though they pride themselves on the defense of tradition. Because of this unfortunate lapse in the moral fortitude of diocesan leaders, I asked myself: why are these men so apathetic toward their own moral code, which should be at the core of their faith?
LGBTQ+ issues were not heavily pushed in society, nor in the church, until June 26th, 2015, when gay marriage was precariously codified. This codification gave the green light to society, and the next phases of the Pope’s “Synod on Synodality,” to deceptively institutionalize sexual liberty in the workplace and the church. If this is true, what is to stop schools, even Catholic schools, from jumping off the deep end hand in hand with gender pronouns? Many have already succumbed, and the ramifications of these decisions are catastrophic. Where do claims of molestation by seminarians start, or claims by anyone for that matter? And how badly are these dangerous ideas infecting mainstream Catholic school systems around the country and the world? I was shocked by what a quick Google search yielded.
For example, as secular society bangs the drum in favor of leftism, so do many Catholic bishops. The National Catholic Reporter posted this anecdote from “God Is on Your Side: A Statement from Catholic Bishops on Protecting LGBT Youth,” which states:
The Catholic Church values the God-given dignity of all human life, and we take this opportunity to say to our LGBT friends, especially young people, that we stand with you and oppose any form of violence, bullying or harassment directed at you … Most of all, know that God created you, God loves you and God is on your side.
Though we can all agree with these bishops when they call for peace, one would be hard-pressed to find a faithful Catholic engaged in these actions outside of fervently defending the faith in words, as our faith teaches us to do. After all, the conversion of heart, and the saving of souls, is at the root of the Catholic Faith. Many bishops forget these teachings. Truly, members of LGBT communities should not be harmed in any way, but they should be evangelized. On the other hand, is it not detrimental to a person’s growth, especially a child’s, when moral authorities allow them to remain confused about their natural biology?
[Related: “The Perils of Challenging Trans Activism at Mount Royal University”]
Furthermore, the Catechism of the Catholic Church deems that “homosexual acts [are] acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law.” For believers, it is hard to dispute the fact that scripture supports these doctrinal positions. Still, the bishops infuse Catholic education with agenda-based politics, from grade-school to college. For instance, when the Diocese of Tucson accepts new elementary-school students, it includes in many of the policy manuals a clause that allows for young children, at the discretion of their parents, to express freely any gender they please at school. This is criminal negligence.
In Catholic higher education, meanwhile, this hyper-sexualized gender ideology is ubiquitous. Take, for example, Villanova University, a Catholic institution. As of September 2022, Villanova will: “[introduce] Villanova faculty and staff to best practices for being gender inclusive in our workspaces, laboratories, and classrooms …” Similarly, the Jesuit-based Fairfield University is promoting this ideology to its students: “Fairfield University houses students consistent with their gender identity rather than perceived sex as required by applicable law.” Fairfield continues to discourage heterosexual couples from rooming together, yet it still encourages the comingling of gender-fluid students—neither of these is prudent. When did these ideas become culturally acceptable?
In 1962, the Second Vatican Council (Vatican II) ushered in a new kind of liberalism, the “modern Catholic Church.” Vatican II was supposed to outline how Catholics would respond morally and spiritually to modern times. When interpreted correctly, its documents support its vision. Yet today, ideologues who interpret Vatican II documents to include gender-based dictates have fractured the churches’ very backbone.
Virtue is not a new concept. Even great pagan minds like Plato recognized deviance’s dangerous consequences. Plato spoke against these disorders, deeming sexual deviances “unnatural.” He added, “…who would ever think of establishing such a practice by law? Certainly no one who had in his mind the image of true law.” I do not believe this is cause to leave the church. We must defend her, for the world’s sake! But where do heinous crimes against young men, women, and children around the world begin? They begin when the men of the church lose sight of virtue. They begin with lukewarm Catholics.
Image: Adobe Stock
Zach: Your article brings to mind the literal mutilation of society today and the sordid, contemptuous infection within the Church. Pater, libera nos a malo!
Yes! When the Pope knows Vatican II, and the current state of the Novus Ordo, are both dying, he’s holding on to everything that is intrinsically evil about modernism because he knows that the Novus Ordo, and other fabrications of the faith are lacking in the fullness of grace, and do not hold a candle to the ancient tradition set forth by the founder of Christianity – God, the Christ: true Catholicism. Why he thinks this is appealing is beyond most true Catholics. And, this should not include the LGBTQ+ agenda. It’s not Catholic, let alone Christian for everyone who is not Catholic. Catholics left the church in droves because of Vatican II, and now they are coming back in droves to tradition that is pre-1960 because it’s authentic and grace-giving. The only two answers as to why the Pope hates real Catholicism are: true ignorance on his part, or he is actually evil. I think the latter. The Bishops too, are sadly following blindly.
In response to Dr. Ed,
I think these questions are good ones. Faithful Catholics do not discount Martin Luther, because as the truth goes, Luther was a Catholic, a truth many Protestants ignore willfully, or ignorantly. We often assess Martin Luther as a troubled person, but we cannot forget, as a creation of God, he is also very important to the history of the Church, and more importantly, to God. Sadly, he did not see his role as a Catholic monk in this way. This is truly heart-breaking for the faithful because it fractured the church into one “lesser” part, like the great Schism (which was heretical enough). This is also one of the reasons I think the Vatican moves to recognize certain baptisms as valid outside of the Catholic faith in hopes that we can dispel the falsehoods Luther and the great Schism perpetuated. It is sad that many have to be born into Protestant half-truths ignorantly, and because of nothing more than Luther’s missteps. Nevertheless the Mercy of the Catholic Church prevails even though many criticize its intentions – and it has yet to waiver on doctrinal issues though Pope’s say what they may. In doing this, we give those “former Catholics,” or rather those “soon-to-be-Catholics,” (I hope) a chance for reunion with the faith in it’s fullness. Any good Catholic see every Christian as essentially “Catholic” because the word itself translates to “universal.” Furthermore, I dislike the term Protestant because everyone’s family IS essentially Catholic, or was at one time, since also at one time we were all one faithful body according to St. Ignatius who used the term “Catholic” in around 100-110 A.D. It is a troubling scenario because it is almost like “this was never supposed to happen.” And, if it is true that Christ established the Church, it is not true that Martin Luther established the Church. After all, he was only a man as you and I are, but not God. I think many of use believe that Protestantism, by Matin Luther’s fault alone (not attributed to Protestants born into this tragedy today) began what is now the horrendous “woke-ism” that is perhaps, Revelation. Many Protestant denomination are happy with an a la carte menu regarding doctrine, but do not understand that these allowances would not be present had Martin Luther persevered in his faith rather than dwelling upon evil men of the Church (all sects now have these men because of his flawed outlook). Though the church is in her passion, its doctrine is scripturally based, and therefore cannot be changed if it is true that God is, was, and ever shall be as the Bible states. Still, I understand, this does not justify apathetic Clergy. Education, by its very nature, is coercive. I think the approach is what is important. Do we as a society move to teach what is actually true, or do we teach what makes us feel better about things that “never should have happened,” even if this means the destruction of souls? I think the former is most prudent. It is true that Catholics pray fervently (and with great sorrow for Catholicism herself) for all faith denomination, though some are dangerously instated. Education suffers since the Catholic Church has, for many years, had a huge impact on the learned. In modern times some ‘lukewarm Catholics” try to subvert the truth, though they do know what they are doing. Most often it is rooted in the evil of original sin, but not in Christ’s Church. This is all worthy of a discussion if you are a believer. It is ok if you are not (I will pray for you), though I happen to like to be. (Excuse my typos, I had a lot to say here).
I would argue that the Roman Catholic Church has already lost much of its virtue. The main reason you sense a real lack of support for your position is that no one wants to denigrate their own. A person who claims to be celibate cannot truly understand a sexual experience. Attraction is all they know, which is actually born of lust. We are told that attraction does not define one’s sexuality. Therefore, I do not believe for a moment that homosexual priests who claim celibacy have never had homosexual relationships. Without having validational sex, hoe else would a person know he is gay? When men are struggling with their sexuality and are lumped together in all-male seminaries, what then can anyone expect? The numbers of gay priests in the RC Church is staggering. This is why they are not willing to defend the church, or speak up. Their silence is support and assent for the advancement of their closeted sexuality vicariously through LGBT advocacy. This issue of sexuality is tearing apart all person’s of faith. Be assured that God is not the author of this confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/12/four-in-five-vatican-priests-are-gay-book-claims
Hey Dr. Ernie!
Yes, God is not the author of these tragedies. It is evil men who are. All men of faith must resist, and must not be afraid to resist, because they first attack our youth through education. This is why so many young men (people) believe falsehoods about their own sexuality.
Great points!
Zach
I keep saying that we are on the cusp of another great awakening.
Without going too deeply into the weeds of theology, Protestants have a different problem that largely started with divinity school being a way to avoid the Vietnam Draft. While we’re free to defy our religious leadership the way Catholics aren’t, we still have the problem of religious leaders who purport to support the values of our religion.
Churches founded by Puritans in the 1600s (in Massachusetts, where churches go back that far) now display the gay pride flag.
I only wish I was making this up…
I have often wondered what serious Catholics think about Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.
Was it a similar time?