Thus Far, No Farther

The most effective form of censorship, bar none, is self-censorship. When a critical mass of people have surrendered themselves and their convictions to the tyranny of silence, to the authoritarian gag, one of the first prerogatives of a free and vital people has begun to wither and putrefy. Ancient regimes, jealous of their own prerogatives, used to blind and dismember perceived threats to their rule. On a symbolic level, the punishments of exile, of blinding and of cutting out the tongue are psychologically and socially debilitating. As a tool of terror, it is far more effective to create a walking corpse than a living martyr. Those who lose their voice, who are made to lose their hope, have died the last death. Physical life is trivial in comparison. As Shakespeare wrote in Julius Caesar, “Cowards die many times before their deaths; The valiant never taste of death but once.”

We would like to think in modern society that we have evolved beyond these barbaric punishments, by which we mutilate perceived enemies of the state or of human society. It does not take much effort at all to understand that it seems to be part of the aboriginal, social, unredeemed fabric of our humanity to ostracize/ban (exile), rob of truth/deceive (to blind), and to muzzle/silence (to make mute) those we would destroy. I intend to visit these subjects in the coming days, but at present, I want to utter a true cri-de-coeur, which encompasses all these themes.

Many of us have been truly aghast, horrified, as we have witnessed the near complete degradation of the physical, earthly institution of the Church as we know it over the past ten years. This is something which we can no longer deny, and it would be dishonest to dissimulate. This is happening ever faster, not slower. The outrages are more egregious, not less egregious. The inversions and perversions of some of the most fundamental concepts of Christian belief; justice, mercy, sin, grace, human nature, the nature of Divine and Human Love – all these have been abused and twisted, leading to increasing confusion.

Yet what perhaps bothers me the most about all these things is not that they are happening. I am a constant student of history. Heresy and moral failure are part of our story, and will be until the end of history. What bothers me is how it seems the Church is in the grip of a psychospiritual autoimmune disease. The natural ‘white blood cells’, those individuals endowed with qualities naturally and supernaturally by the Holy Spirit to deal with hostile pathogens in the Body of Christ, are being neutralized. Of course, one can point at the exiles of Saint Athanasius and Saint John Chrysostom as an example of how such is the lot of the prophets in every era. Yet, even in the time of the Prophet Elijah, the ones who had not bent their knee to Baal still found a way to congregate; they gathered together and resisted. Lest we forget, when Elijah triumphed over Baal’s partisans on Mount Carmel, he had all 450 prophets of Baal slain in the Valley of Kishon. Of course I am not advocating physical violence, but the examples of all the Prophets and the Saints rebuke us, from Elijah and the Maccabees to St. Joan of Arc and St. Boniface at Donar’s Oak: all of Christ’s soldiers, if they want to triumph, must take up spiritual arms. They must also know how actually to put skin in the game.

This may sound ironic coming from a man, a Priest, writing using a pseudonym. But this is only one tool among many. The primary purpose of the pseudonym is not my protection, but to elevate the message. I fear celebrity Priesthood, and I avoid all social media, since I view it as a fast-acting solvent of all rational thought. Yet I strongly feel that after the conclusion of the trial of Cardinal Becciu, and after the publication of Fiducia Supplicans (which sometimes I ruefully call Perfidiam Supplicans), there has been a noticeable change in the wind. It never ceases to amaze me how so many contemporary Bishops, who are experts at deflection and making others take the blame for their own mistakes, allow themselves to be used, abused, and discarded by Pope Francis. Cardinal Walter Kasper was one of the first, once allowed free rein to float his pernicious ideas on Holy Communion in a State of Mortal Sin. The camel put his nose in the tent, and then pulled back. Pope Francis has historically expressed his ideas in terms of dualities, by which he tries to thread a media via, as if he were a new St. John Henry Newman, or King Solomon. Yet this is a mirage. At every turn, he has promoted one faction to propose a Hegelian ‘thesis’ which is almost always liberal in nature. Predictably, a ‘antithesis’ emerges, such as the still unanswered Dubia of 2016. Then, a ‘synthesis’ emerges, which usually carries the seeds of further discord, such as are found in the infamous footnotes 329 and 351 of Amoris Laetitia, with their misrepresentations, well documented, of the thought of St. John Paul II and St. Thomas Aquinas.

We have seen this over and over again these past ten years, and I do not want to exhaust readers or myself recounting each and every instance. What I would like to highlight, however, is how the ‘immunological defense’ of the Church seems to be systemically blunted. In 2016, we had the heartening contribution of the Dubia. In 2019, we saw a zealous young Austrian throw the idol Pachamama into the Tiber River. At the same time, though, there has been no deficit of men and women who I have previously called “The Institutionalists“, people who believe that fidelity to the Catholic Faith or to Christ Himself requires absolute fidelity to the institutional apparatus of the Church on earth, and to the fallible decisions of her hierarchs. I know the levels of Magisteria and the faith and obedience which is owed to each one. But I also know what I do not owe to each one, which is arguably even more important in days like these. If Our Provident God has bestowed anyone a truly Prophetic Charism, it is very important for that person to know this. The Scriptures and the witness of God’s Saints are unanimous in regard to what validates the true charism of prophecy: the persecution of the institution, with few exceptions. Being a Prophet today is often like David waging war against King Saul. In a sense, the battlefield is uneven, because our enemy is largely unburdened by the same moral and theological commitments as we are. Both men were anointed, but only one remembered fully the significance of that anointing.

Having arrived now in the Year of Our Lord 2024, Fiducia Supplicans is a text representative of a theology which, like it or not, will cause many local Churches, Priests and Bishops to make a choice. Cardinal Fernández may disingenuously say that this represents nothing new, but once again, he is a fall guy, and this document is a trial balloon. It will further draw out those remaining voices who speak for Christ and the laws and morals of the Catholic Church, so that, having been identified, they may be silenced. The people I want to highlight are not the ones who speak pro or contra, but rather those who, like those in Dante’s antechamber to hell, spend their lives chasing whatever banner waves in front of them. I also want to address those who are afraid, and perhaps have true reason to be afraid. Bishops and Priests have been sacked because they have not towed the party line in Rome, which has little to do with the faith and morals of the Catholic Church. It is simply risible to assert that reservations about the COVID vaccine or one’s civil political convictions merit removal from office, when overt communists and heresiarchs, let alone pimps and perverts, have remained in office for decades.

But remember: they need us more than we need them. There are more of us, than there are of them. We are now at the point where we must say, “Thus far, no farther”. Cowardice is the vice that makes us recoil from the attainment of difficult goods. But these goods, like that of our faith, like that of the ability to live as free men and women, the ability to stand for the truth: these goods are more precious than that of life itself. As the Book of Hebrews chides us, many of us have “not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood” (Hebrews 12:4). In fact, many of us have hardly emerged from behind our keyboards and smartphones. It is time, far beyond time, for men and women everywhere, Priests and lay faithful, to join forces and to declare: “Thus Far, No Farther”. We will no longer suffer the abuse of our faith, of our human dignity, and of our intelligence. We know what Holy Patience is: to endure for the sake of the Name, and to bear wrongs patiently and with grace. Note carefully, then, how pusillanimity masquerades as humility, inertia masks as obedience, and cowardice as good-natured agreeableness. Let those who preach, preach. Let those who write, write. Let those who teach, teach. Let those who know the law, defend it, rather than subvert it. Let those who have financial resources, subsidize initiatives to empower advocacy for faithful Priests and Bishops, and most especially education for clergy regarding their own civil and canonical rights. The beautiful grace of the Holy Spirit will inspire us with his bounteous creativity for new initiatives. Let this be our cry before the advancing enemy: “Thus far, no farther!”