We Favour An Orthodox, Militant Catholicism

 One of our readers recently claimed that Saint Gabriel’s Newsroom lacks focus.

One of our readers recently claimed that Saint Gabriel’s Newsroom lacks focus. (I suspect that, in reality, he doesn’t like our focus.) He also seemed to saying that we should become a mouthpiece for mainstream Catholicism. Besides the fact that hundreds of websites already do that, Saint Gabriel’s does not fully endorse the Church’s “party line.” Why?

We believe that “the spirit of Vatican II” is largely an attempt to “go along in order to get along” with the Church’s traditional enemies. Instead of confronting our increasingly godless culture to convert it to Christ, “the spirit of Vatican II” approach has been one of dialogue, cooperation and, often, capitulation. We, at Saint Gabriel’s, believe that this strategy will fail and is failing. Saint Gabriel’s is part of the Church Militant on Earth. We confront the negative aspects of our culture and expose the failure of the Church’s strategy of accommodation. We don’t claim to be infallible. We ask that our readers point out any errors they may find on the site, using the Church’s dogmatic teachings as their guide.

I served two bishops during my 16-year career as a diocesan director of communications. I believe that most bishops are decent men who seek what is best for the Church. However, their attempts to spread the Gospel and grow the Church are failing because most of them seem to believe that liberalism (or modernism) is compatible with true Catholicism. These “isms” cannot harmoniously co-exist. They are at war, and one or the other must win. Since Vatican II, our Church hierarchy has seemed apologetic and somewhat insecure. Accommodation, appeasement, cooperation and fruitless dialogue with “the world” will only end in what Pope Paul VI called the “auto-demolition of the Church.” Saint Gabriel’s seeks the re-establishment of a courageous, militant and orthodox Catholicism.

One of our readers took issue with articles posted on Saint Gabriel’s that criticized World Youth Days. Certainly, there are many good things we can say about these massive youth rallies. However, we believe that they are a desperate attempt by the Church to reach a generation it knows it has nearly lost, especially in the developed world. Spending large sums of money to host a “feel good,” morale-boosting party every couple of years — without really attempting to build an authentic Catholic culture where children are brought up in the true faith — is a doomed strategy. How many WYD alumni attend weekly Mass? How many agree with all of the Church’s teachings? We are not saying that we are categorically opposed to World Youth Days or that they do no good, but before Vatican II no generation of Catholic young people was lost to the Church. WYD does not address the root causes of the loss of faith in this generation. Saint Gabriel’s and other conservative Catholic groups are attempting to do precisely that.

We often run stories that may seem to criticize the words or actions of the Holy Father, the bishops or the clergy. This does not mean that we are disloyal to the Church. The Catholic Church is not a cult that forbids all debate. We do not contradict the teaching of the Magisterium. We submit to it. We only criticize statements or actions of Church officials that we feel cause confusion as to the Church’s true mission, or are scandalous, or represent a doomed strategy.

A good example is when a pope participates in interfaith gatherings and expresses “deep respect” and “admiration” for other religions. When he does this, he leaves the impression that one can be saved apart from Christ and that one religion is as good as another. He does not explicitly teach this because that would be heresy, but he implies it, whether he means to or not. The pope’s intentions are no doubt well meaning, but I can’t imagine any pope prior to Vatican II taking this approach.

The Vatican II popes have helped promote religious pluralism, cooperation and unity. I suppose that they hope that through dialogue and cooperation, non-Catholics will be converted. However, this strategy has not worked and will not work. The Church hierarchy has to make a choice: either go the way of liberal, mainstream Protestantism (which is in steep decline) or revitalize the Church by proclaiming the true faith with no apologies and no compromises. The Vatican II approach has been to try to do both at the same time, but go only half way.

Jesus was crucified because he would not compromise with His enemies. For the first 300 years of the Church, the popes were martyred because they would not compromise with their enemies. We, of course, do not want to see the Church persecuted in any way, shape or form. However, I believe that if the “spirit of Vatican II” continues to dominate the Church, persecution on a massive scale is inevitable. You cannot dialogue with the devil. You can only resist him and get on with the work of the Great Commission.