Everyone is expecting the Democrats to use their tired, old playbook against Amy Coney Barrett. You know the playbook I’m talking about: some old flame or old acquaintance will work up the “courage” to sit before the Senate Judiciary Committee and tell his story of something horrible the nominee did during Reagan’s first term.
But Democrats could use a very different tactic this time with the help of the Catholic Church. Let’s just call this a thought experiment.
Expect the most vigorous attacks against Amy Coney Barrett to come from prominent Catholics, possibly even a bishop or two.
Rich Raho, who identifies as a theologian, has already declared that faithful Catholics must reject Amy Coney Barrett. Why? Because “orange man bad.”
Rich Raho’s first mindless attack on Amy Coney Barrett. Expect more to follow.
These Catholic accusers will mournfully tell Congress that Judge Barrett’s “rigid” view of Catholicism makes her nomination “questionable” and “troubling.”
They will drop apocryphal quotes from St. Francis of Assisi and St. Padre Pio, along with heterodoxical quotes from Pope Francis, demonstrating how “out of touch” Barrett is. They will look and sound miserable for having to deliver such a statement.
The media will praise these clerical accusers for the courage and honesty. They will become, for a very short time, heroes of the left. Don Lemon will conclude that the bishops have verified Bill Maher’s vulgar assessment: “She’s a f—-ng nut.”
Why would a Catholic bishop oppose a Catholic Supreme Court nominee? Because Amy Coney Barrett’s Catholicism is visible.
Meet the Modernists #
Pope Pius X defined Modernism as “the synthesis of all heresies.”
Modernist Catholics wring their hands in fury at President Trump. They hate Trump for many reasons, but mostly because he’s a conservative who puts America (and God) first. Nominating a devout Catholic to the nation’s highest court gives Modernists a new complaint: public scrutiny of the Church’s teachings.
(To learn about Modernism, read this.)
Modernists hate Catholicism that looks, sounds, and smells Catholic. They hate talk of miracles. They hate the idea of fallen angels (demons), good angels, martyrs for the faith, the Virgin Birth, vestiges of Christianity’s Jewish roots, piety, eternal damnation, solemn rituals, solemn liturgies, beautiful churches, iconography, etc.
Modernists pervert Christ’s teaching in Matthew 22:37-40. Modernists have erased the First and Greatest Commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” leaving the second, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” naked and afraid. Modernism, in short, has made Man his own god.
Judge Barrett Is a Threat to the Modernists #
Imagine, then, the Modernist’s dismay upon learning that President Trump will replace Ruth Bader Ginsberg with Amy Coney Barrett!
Democrats, not Judge Barrett, have called attention to her Catholicism and made her faith, and the way she lives it, the epicenter of the confirmation battle. Senator Diane Feinstein told Barrett at the latter’s circuit court confirmation hearing, “The dogma lives loudly within you.”
Feinstein didn’t realize her intended insult was likely to Judge Barrett (and to every other faithful Catholic) an unqualified endorsement.
“Let the dogma live loudly in me, Lord.” It sounds like a verse from one of the Psalms.
The Modernists, no doubt, cringed upon hearing Feinstein’s jab. “See!” they shouted. “See! This is what happens. We’re all look like religious fanatics, now.”
The Modernists weren’t mad at Feinstein. They were made Amy Coney Barrett.
And that’s what bothers the Modernists most about Catholicism: Catholics who live their faith are different. Faithful Catholics stand out. Catholics live indifferently to the prevailing culture, which makes us weird, like observant Jews who won’t drive cars on Saturdays.
Modernists cringe at traditional Catholic “oddities”:
- We pray the Rosary.
- We go to Mass every Sunday.
- We confess our sins.
- We don’t eat meat on Fridays.
- We fast a lot.
- We drive out demons.
- We make the sign of the cross in public!
- We give thanks to God for our accomplishments.
- We say things in Latin.
- We send our kids to Catholic schools.
- Or, worse, we home-school our kids.
All of these things make us different and weird to the world at large. Or, as Christ Himself warned His disciples:
If you had been of the world, the world would love its own: but because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. (John 13:19)
Modernists want a faith whose outward expressions are approved by the world. Modernists want to be indistinguishable from everyone else, including atheists and agnostics. To the Modernist, it should be impossible to spot a Catholic in a crowd. Or, for that matter, in Catholic Church.
Modernists want to be loved by the world, and people like Amy Coney Barrett vying for a seat on the Supreme Court put their relationship with the world at risk.
Democrats' Secret Weapon #
Which brings us back to the Democrats' secret weapon: a prominent bishop or cardinal, or a prominent Modernist priest, will sit before the august Senate Judiciary Committee and read a prepared text. The statement will include certain buzzwords:
- Rigid
- Anachronistic
- Out of Touch
- Compassion
- Welcoming
- Unity
- Ecumenical
- Strict
- Fraternal
- Pluralistic
The prelate or priest will conclude, “While I am not qualified to determine a person’s fitness for a place on a court—I am just a simple priest, not a lawyer—I, regrettably, cannot recommend Judge Barrett. Her rigid views do not reflect the Church’s current teachings and seem out of touch with the realities of life in a pluralistic society.”
The Counter Argument #
We pray that Republicans on the Judiciary Committee know there are many traditional-minded, orthodox Catholic priests and bishops who can offer an effective, even devastating, counter to a Modernist witness. Archbishop Salvatore Corleone of San Francisco and Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, come to mind.
These bishops have consistently affirmed the continuous teachings of the Church. They have been unafraid of being of out of step with the culture. Unlike many bishops and priests, Corleone and Strickland seem proud of the sights, sounds, and smells that shout “Catholic!”
Archbishop Corleone recently performed a public exorcism of the grounds surrounding a statue of Saint Junipero Serra in San Francisco. (Read about the exorcism here.)
Two weeks ago, Bishop Tyler jumped to the defense of a great Catholic priest, Father James Altman, who came under fire from his own bishop for stating the obvious: Catholics cannot vote for Democrats.
As the Bishop of Tyler I endorse Fr Altman’s statement in this video. My shame is that it has taken me so long. Thank you Fr Altman for your COURAGE. If you love Jesus & His Church & this nation...pleases HEED THIS MESSAGE https://t.co/D413G0lfQV
— Bishop J. Strickland (@Bishopoftyler) September 5, 2020
Father James Altman would be an awesome and inspiring witness, but he might draw too much opposition. Even his own bishop would criticize him for this powerful sermon:
But, the best voice for the true Church, the man who has become Donald Trump’s most visible Catholic apologist, could be the former Papal Nuncio to the US, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganó.
Abp. Viganó recently penned a letter that describes how elements of the Church, particularly Pope Francis (Jorge Bergoglio) and the Jesuits, use their power and influence to advance leftist causes both inside and outside the Church.
The United States is witnessing the highest levels and centers of cultural influence of the American Catholic Church shamelessly siding in favor of the Democratic candidate and more generally in favor of the entire apparatus that has been consolidating in recent decades within the public administration.
None of this is news to traditional Catholics, the ones Francis calls “rigid.” The Vatican’s total embrace of globalism, including the abolition or dilution of religion, however, might come as a shock to mainstream Catholics and Protestants. So let’s say it like it is: The Catholic hierarchy no longer teaches what Christ taught his disciples except for those teachings acceptable to the secular world. Pope Francis has seemingly given the UN a veto on Gospel passages.
As Archbishop Viganó puts it:
The Deep State, Trump’s sworn enemy, is joined by a Deep Church that spares no criticisms and accusations against the incumbent President while winking indecorously with Biden and BLM, slavishly following the narration imposed by the mainstream. It matters little that Trump is openly pro-life and defends the non-negotiable principles that the Democrats have renounced – the important thing is to transform the Catholic Church into the spiritual arm of the New World Order, so as to have an imprimatur from the highest moral authority in the world, something that was impossible with Benedict XVI.
Yes, America, the Catholic Church is currently in the hands of globalists whose words and actions indicate a preferance for Marxist dictatorship over free market democracy.
Archbishop Viganó would be the most powerful voice to counter Catholic opposition to Amy Coney Barrett.
This Will Be A Battle #
I don’t know with certainty that the Democrats will invite a Catholic bishop to attack Amy Coney Barrett’s faith. If I were strategizing their offensive, though, I would do it. A prominent bishop denouncing Amy Coney Barrett’s expression of faith would undermine what should be her greatest strength.
Additionally, turning the Church against Barrett would allow Democrats to look cordial and fair. They could treat Judge Barrett with outward respect and let the Deep Church stab her in the back.
Pope Francis would almost certainly encourage Catholic clergy to subtly damage Judge Barrett’s confirmation prospects and undermine her legitimacy if confirmed. Bergoglio is, in the first place, a secular globalist. He fully endorses everything the United Nations advances, even instructing Catholics in 2018 that “Our duty is to obey the UN.” Not God, but the UN.
If Abp. Viganó is right about the Deep State colluding with the Deep Church (and we believe he is based on the evidence), Catholics can expect to see one of their favorite bishops or self-proclaimed “theologians” undermining history’s most pro-life president and most visibly Catholic Supreme Court nominee.
Catholics are about to face the decision they’ve managed to avoid for decades. That choice is between obedience to Church hierarchy or obedience to the Word of God as promulgated for 2,000 years through the constant teaching of the Church. Sadly, Amy Coney Barrett could be caught in the crossfire of that battle.
Please pray that I am wrong. That no bishop, priest, or “theologian” will serve as a tool for the godless Democrats in their quest to destroy a faithful Catholic and prolong the era of naked perversion in US law.