The Modernist heresy is the most important factor shaping today’s American political landscape. The word “heresy” enjoys scant popularity today because it is generally associated with ancient religious disputes seemingly unrelated to current events. Ironically, modern-day heresies are the most causal variables driving today’s attacks that occur not only on religion—but also on democracy, capitalism and religious liberty. Many who complain about the extent to which faith and theology have been cast from the public square are the same people who fail to recognize the causal role that Modernist heresy plays in this process.
The emergence of the Modernist heresy, which is a term encompassing a number of heresies starting in the late 1800s, has altered the body and persona of the Catholic Church in today’s world. Equally as important, the Modernist Heresy has shaped the most important elements of America’s political narrative during the past century-and-a-half. And it has done this in the same way successive heresies defined the story of Europe and the Middle East during the previous 16 centuries.
Rather than existing as a phenomenon within the culture of this era, these major heresies have shaped our culture during this time. And because any heresy’s impact extends beyond the church and into the public square, the heresies of our era now define the political context of our time. This makes it essential that we understand how this redefined political dynamic affects society at large.
Heresy—not social justice or civil rights—forms the spine of the current American narrative. Like it or not, the story of America’s entry into the 21st Century has been driven primarily by heresy. Until we fully grasp the impact and pivotal role of the Modernist heresy, we’ll be unable to restore both the wholeness of the Church as a pillar of America’s greatness, and the integrity of our governance.
Saint Pope Pius X recognized the heresy and its devastating potential
In 1907 Pope St. Pius X alerted us to this Modernist assault on the Church in Pascendi Dominici Gregis. He also created an Oath Against Modernism in 1910, which was required to be taken by all religious until it was abolished in 1967.
While Pope St. Pius X spoke primarily of the impact of heresy on the Church, subsequent writers have raised concerns about the impact of heresy on the culture at large.
The pope wasn’t alone in his warnings
In his recent book, “BAD RELIGION: A Nation of Heretics” (Free Press 2012), Ross Douthat asserts that “at its deepest level, every culture is religious—defined by what its inhabitants believe about some ultimate reality and what they think that reality demands of them.”
Our own thoughts align more with those of Alexis de Toqueville who suggested that although American democracy should be considered secular, it has always relied on religion to provide a moral framework. Therefore, the removal of religion from America effectively destroys its moral framework, diminishing both public morality and private virtue.
One of the most honest and direct analyses of the Modernist Heresy can be found in “The Great Heresies,” a book by the Anglo-French writer and historian Hilaire Belloc, first published in 1938 (Stellar Editions, 2016). Belloc made several startling declarations about the Modernist heresy that remain relevant today.
Hilaire Belloc puts it in perspective
To put heresy in perspective, Belloc drew a distinction between the Catholic Church and what many people refer to today as Christianity. Many of the attacks on Catholic teaching are disguised as attacks on, or debates about Christianity. Belloc claims there is no such thing as a religion called Christianity and never has been. But there is and always has been the Church, accompanied by people who retain some of her teachings and morals and reject others through heresy.
Belloc says that to properly consider the Modernist heresy we must accept the clear division that exists between those who want to retain Catholic morals, tradition and authority and those who seek to destroy them.
He even took it one step further by saying that if paganism means denying the Incarnation, human immortality, the Holy Trinity, man’s direct responsibility to God, as well as the thoughts, feelings and culture encompassed in the word “Catholic,” then Modernism represents a return to paganism, which is fundamentally indifferent to truth.
Belloc deemed the Modernist attack on the Church more profound than previous heresies, because it regards people as being sufficient unto themselves, prayers as mere self-suggestions, and God as a mere figment of the individual’s imagination—an image of self somehow projected on the universe with no basis in reality.
Belloc sees the radical difference and enormity of the modernist heresy
In his writings, the European author and historian encouraged us to listen to Pope Pius XI, who observed during the 1930s that whereas in the past the denial of God had been confined to a comparatively small number of intellectuals, that denial had now gained a foothold among the masses and was acting as a global social force.
And finally, Belloc noted that rather than be shocked at cruelty as a weapon of religious persecution, people had become indifferent.
Belloc observed insufficient protest and response to cruelty because the Modernist attack had minimized the perception that human life is something sacred. Those who ignore the dignity of life also ignore human suffering at the hands of others.
A vivid example of this indifference are the millions of “pro-choice” people in America who consciously ignore the abortion atrocities in China, not to mention in the U.S. and globally. In China, however, the horrors of the abortion process are exacerbated in unimaginable ways.
In China, during the past half century and continuing today, more than three hundred million babies have been forcibly aborted against the mothers’ will, and close to half as many women forcibly sterilized without anesthesia.
We haven’t heard any protests from American leftists who support women’s rights and choice, because there haven’t been any. They are oblivious to human suffering at the hands of others because they long ago abandoned notions of the dignity of life.
Perhaps the most important take-away from Belloc is his conclusion that Modernism was, even in his day, far more advanced than people realize, which always happens with the most significant movements in history.
It is daunting to realize that Belloc made these observations 80 years ago. Much of what he wrote sounds like it could have been penned yesterday. But this begs the question: “Was it just as bad during the 1930s, or have things gotten worse?”
Are things worse today than in the 1930s?
Woefully, things are much worse today. Catholic tradition has been defiled by modern-day heretics in key leadership roles who embrace — and in some cases, embellish — the Modernist heresies. They have dishonored the Church and, in the process, undermined the morality of America.
The Kennedys’ influence?
One of the most devastating milestones in the evolution of the Modernist Heresy in America was fashioned by the Kennedy clan in 1964. In the glow of Camelot, Ted Kennedy was running for re-election to the Senate in Massachusetts and Robert Kennedy was running for Senate in New York. Catholic theology regarding abortion was standing in the way of the Kennedy family’s political ambitions. The Kennedys were Catholic and the Catholic Church is pro-life and, until this time, the Kennedys were pro-life as well.
The problem was that the Kennedys were also Democrats, and the Democrat Party had become the pro-abortion party.
The powerful abortion lobby was donating lots of money to Democrat campaigns. And every campaign needs a boatload of cash, especially a run for U.S. Senate. So, in the summer of 1964 Sargent Shriver, the brother-in-law of the late President Kennedy, gathered a group of mostly Jesuit priest-theologians to formulate a political stance and rationale that would allow a Catholic politician to support the pro-abortion political platform of the Democrat Party and yet still be considered a good Catholic.
The group met for a day-and-a-half starting on the ocean terrace of Robert Kennedy’s Hyannisport home, then adjourning to a nearby hotel. Both Kennedy brothers were briefly present, along with Sargent Shriver, Dr. Andre E. Hellegers, former Jesuit priest Albert R. Jonson, and the following Jesuit priests: Father Robert F. Drinan (Dean of Boston College School of Law), Father Richard A. McCormick, Father Charles E. Curran (professor at Catholic University), and Father Joseph Fuchs (theologian from Gregorian University).
There was no representation from the Vatican or The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops at this gathering. Nor was a single bishop involved.
The outcome of the meeting was pre-determined
The purpose of this Kennedy-arranged meeting cannot be overstated. The purpose was not to clarify the Church’s teaching about abortion. Its purpose was to devise a rationale that would facilitate the Kennedy’s political ambitions. Thus, the outcome was pre-ordained.
Although the theologians present at the gathering claimed to agree on the immorality of abortion as taught by the Church, they reached the conclusion previously put forth by the Jesuit priest John Courtney Murray that “distinguished between the moral aspects of an issue and the feasibility of enacting legislation about that issue.” Responding to pressure from the Kennedys and Shriver, the priests at the gathering finally agreed to support the notion that “a Catholic politician could in good conscience vote in favor of abortion.”
Even though the result of the meeting allowed the Kennedys to claim the moral high ground in the political arena, this position has never been accepted by the Church.
The true teaching of the Church on the matter
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput has shown strong leadership by encouraging Catholics to live their faith without compromise in the public square. In his book “Render Unto Caesar,” Archbishop Chaput reminds Catholic politicians of their obligation to protect life.
In “Faithful Citizenship,” the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) states that the right to life is the foundation of every other human right. They committed to “persist in the duty to counsel, in the hope that the scandal of their [Catholic congregants’] cooperating in evil can be resolved by the proper formation of their consciences.”
Tying it all together – The Big Picture
The ramifications of the modernist heresy extends far beyond the issue of abortion, because it provides a perceived foundation for Catholic politicians to support any morally bankrupt position they choose. They need only assert that “although this vote is contrary to my personal beliefs, it is in the best interest of the community” (which means “in my political best interest”) to cast any vote contrary to the Magisterium.
This reasoning has laid the faulty foundation for many political leaders to self-justify thinking as did 2016 Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine who, when asked publicly if he had ever struggled with his conscience over a public policy position that conflicts with his faith, responded that the choice was “easy.” He then cited his faith-based opposition, not to abortion-on-demand, but to the death penalty for criminals.
Belloc claimed that the Modernist assault can lead to only one of two possible outcomes. The first is that the Catholic Church will be reduced by the Modernists to political impotence, numerical insignificance and silence in the public square, even though it will not disappear completely because the Church, founded by Christ, is the only human institution not subject to the law of mortality. In this scenario, the Church won’t be wiped out but will be reduced to a small band of forgotten people held in contempt by those who defeated it.
Belloc’s second possibility is that the Catholic Church, as it has done throughout history, will react strongly against these Modernist enemies and subdue them. The Church will recover and rise again in triumph to lead the civilization which she revitalized, and thereby restore the world.
But today we must consider a third possibility. It is possible the Church could undergo another schism, with Modernists going in one direction and authentic Catholics in another.
For the good of the Church and society Catholics should strive to achieve the second of these three outcomes. However, triumphant victory cannot be achieved without doing battle. Therefore, the important questions for today’s Catholics are:
- “Where will the battle for our Faith take place?”
- “What will the battlefield look like?” and,
- “How will this battle be fought?”
A war of influence
The battle for Catholicism during the 21st Century will take place mostly in cyber space, meaning primarily through social media. It won’t be armed conflict like the Crusades. It won’t be fought with sword and shield, or from horseback. But it won’t be a communications war, either. It will be a war of influence. The victors will be those who can win the hearts and minds of the global populace.
To triumph in this epic struggle, Catholics must first find true fulfillment by living a life of valid Catholicity. Then they must effectively inspire others to find fulfillment through the truth of Catholicism. Finding love and mercy in the true Magisterium, while forcefully combatting heresy, is the primary Catholic challenge of the millennium.
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RELATED RESOURCES:
- “BAD RELIGION: A Nation of Heretics,” by Ross Douthat
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Dick and Martha Lyles are dedicated to the renewal of culture. Mr. Lyles is the CEO of Origin Entertainment, a Hollywood-based film studio producing engaging, entertaining and transformative movies for the big screen.
Thank you
Thank you for the work you do, and the moral clarity and courage you possess. Also thank you for this fantastic article.
Modernist Heresy
Very good discussion. What needs to be added is the moral relativism that has accompanied the value shift that has occurred since the 1960s. We have evoled from an authority-centered society to a person-centered society. This shift has affected everything from how we raise our kids to what we believe. “Truth” is now defined by the individual — not by some outside authority.
Our Catholic population has been affected by this value shift and surveys show that half of them don’t believe in many of the Chuch’s major teachings, such as those regarding abortion, pre-marital sex, etc. We need to educate our Catholic brethren about our beliefs and why we believe what we do. A return to the philosophy, apologetics, and theology of former days seems to be in order.