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A Journal of Catholic News and Views

23 May 2003

The spirit of liberalism in the Church and in the world

Man was created by God and for God. His intellect was given him to know God, his heart to love God, and his will to serve God. The knowledge of God brings the love of God, and the love of God brings the desire to serve God. Since man was created for God, who is Truth itself, man has a certain love for truth, and is attracted thereby. But since man has a fallen intellect, he often follows what he believes to be true and good, which is in fact only a distortion thereof. A man is said to be deceived when he believes something that is false; or, more subtle still, when, by focusing primarily on lesser truths, he is drawn away from higher truths; in this case it could be said that he is being "deceived by truth."

Man rises up against God

When God created man, He gave him special gifts that were not his own by nature. One of these gifts was "original justice" or "integrity". Original justice was a certain spiritual "authority" that kept man's lower nature subordinate to his higher nature, so that his passions and emotions (lower nature) perfectly obeyed his reason (higher nature). When man rose up against God, however, God removed this "authority" and man was left to exist without it. "[B]y the sin of our first parent original justice was taken away, whereby not only were the lower powers of the soul held together under the control of reason, without any disorder whatever, but also the whole body was held together in subjection to the souls without any defect..." (St. Thomas, Summa, Vol. 2 Q 85, Art. 5) When man, a lesser being, rose up against God, a higher being, God removed the gift of original justice and man's lower nature rose up against his higher nature. Now there is a great struggle within man: the struggle between his flesh and his spirit. "For the flesh lusteth against the spirit: and the spirit against the flesh; for these are contrary one to another." (Gal. 5: 17) These adversaries now fight for the obedience of the will; man's reason tells him what he ought to do, while his flesh seeks its own satisfaction. "For I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good. For to will, is present within me; but to accomplish that which is good, I find not. For the good which I will, I do not; but the evil which I will not, that I do. ... For I am delighted with the law of God, according to the inward man (the reason): But I see another law in my members (the flesh), fighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me in the law of sin, that is in my members." (Romans 7: 18-19,22-23) This disorder is the direct result of the first man rising up against God.

God becomes man to pay the price

To rescue man from this fallen state, and to restore him to union with God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity — the Word of God — assumed human flesh to pay the penalty of man's disobedience. Theologians tell us that the Word of God is, as it were, the Divine Intellect, or Truth, of God. So infinite is this intellect of God that it is a Person — The Second Person of the Trinity. So, in a very real sense, it was the Truth of God Who assumed human flesh and became man. Having Redeemed mankind, this God-man is now the rightful King of the human race. Thus we have the phrase "Christ the King". "The Creator and Redeemer of human nature, the Son of God, is King and Lord of the world, and holds absolute sovereignty over men, both as individuals and as members of society. 'He hath given to Him power and honor and dominion, and all peoples, tribes, and languages shall serve Him (Ps. ii. 6,8)'. Therefore, the law of Christ ought to hold sway in society. Let Jesus be excluded, and human reason is left without its greatest protection and illumination." (Christ Our Redeemer, Leo XIII)

Man rises up against Christ the King

In our day, we again see man rising up against God, or, more specifically, rising up against Christ the King. In the garden of Eden when man first rose up against God, God removed the gift of original justice and man's lower nature rose up against his higher nature. Similarly, today when man is rising up against Christ the King — Who is the Truth of God — we see a similar effect. If we examine, we will see that in our day truth is rising up against truth; that is to say, lesser truths are rising up against higher truths, natural truths are rising up against supernatural truths, the subjective is rising up against the objective, and the exception is rising up against the rule. It could be said that the revolution of our day has brought with it a "revolution of truth". Let us again recall the words of Pope Leo XIII: "Let Jesus be excluded, and human reason is left without its greatest protection and illumination." (ibid.) This inversion of truth seems to be one of the fruits of the spirit of liberalism, which is invading both the Church and the world.

Natural truths rising up against supernatural truths

This revolution of the truth is causing great confusion in the Church and in the world today. In the world we see many liberal "causes" that promote natural good: a clean environment, natural safety (i.e. wear your seatbelt, avoid secondhand smoke, etc.) while ignoring higher supernatural truths, such as avoiding sin and saving our immortal souls. To some, it may seem that these "do-gooders" are a great help to society; after all, shouldn't we all promote clean air and clean water? And isn't it a good idea to wear our seatbelts and eat only healthy foods? Certainly, these things in themselves are not bad, and in fact are good. The problem is that by continually placing such emphasis on these natural truths, our minds are diverted from, and we are becoming forgetful of, higher supernatural truths. Over 100 years ago, Pope Leo XIII already observed the following: "As to what we have termed the well-being of the soul, which consists chiefly in the practice of the true religion and unswerving observance of the Christian precepts, We perceive that it is daily losing esteem among men, either by reason of forgetfulness or disregard, in such a way that the greater the advance made in the well-being of the body, the greater is the falling away in that of the soul." (On the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens) Why is this? Because when the primary focus is directed toward the natural, and away from the supernatural, we become forgetful of that which we are losing sight of: "Out of sight, out of mind." This saying applies not only to what is visible to the eye, but what is the focus of our attention. It seems that the more our attention is directed towards the natural, the less aware we become of the supernatural; the more our focus is directed toward natural health, the less we focus on spiritual health. With the saints, it was the opposite: they often became so focused on the spiritual that they became neglectful of their natural health. Today it is the contrary: by continually overemphasizing the natural, our attention is drawn away from the supernatural, therefore causing any thought of the supernatural to be driven into the back of our mind and eventually forgotten.

Let us take an example to show where the overemphasis on the natural to the exclusion of the supernatural has led. Our society has now reached the point where sin (whether in the area of faith or morals) is either considered to be a "right" or a "personal matter". Fornication is considered natural and even healthy as long as one uses "protection" (no thought of the spiritual, only the natural), while a heroin addict is given a clean needle, by those who "care". Many of these same caring people have no problem with pornography (which destroys the immortal soul), but consider driving an SUV or smoking a cigarette the equivalent of a mortal sin. The "moral precepts" of the environmental movement now govern our society, while the true faith and its moral precepts are considered intolerant and/or insensitive, and thus are completely rejected. It is through the redirection of our attention to the natural and away from the supernatural that the later has been forgotten. Pope Pius X observed the following regarding the errors of the modernists: "If you carefully search for the cause of those errors you will find that it lies in the fact that in these days when the natural sciences absorb so much study, the more severe and lofty studies have been proportionately neglected — some of them have almost passed into oblivion..." (Pascendi)

Within man's faculty of reason, there are two levels. St. Thomas quotes St. Augustine as saying: "...the higher reason is that which is intent on the contemplation of things eternal," while the lower "is intent on the disposal of temporal things. ... [A]ccording to Augustine, they are distinguished by the function of their actions...for wisdom is attributed to the higher reason, science to the lower." (Summa, Vol. I, Q79. Art. 9) The higher reason, which pertains to the contemplation of the supernatural, is ruled by God, while the lower reason is ruled by the higher. We are often amazed that people who are so educated in natural sciences can be so far from the truth in other areas. The reason for this is that their education has excluded God, and therefore their lower reason is not guided by the higher. All learning is now of the natural sciences. Anything that cannot be scientifically proven is considered "superstitious". Modern education, having rejected God, does not engage the higher reason; thus in modern education the lower reason has lost its guide. For God has ordained that the lower reason be guided by the higher, as St. Thomas points out "The lower reason is said to flow from the higher and to be ruled by it..." This explains why modern man, who has made such great advances in the natural sciences, can be so blind to eternal realities: "ever learning, yet never coming to the knowledge of the truth... professing themselves wise, they became fools."

There is a certain built-in curse for rejecting God: we lose our way. For as soon as man rejects God, he ceases to use his higher reason and thus his lower reason easily goes astray. The result is what we see everywhere today: Highly educated people who will believe the most unbelievable things. This has been the result of overemphasizing the natural to the exclusion, and eventual rejection, of the supernatural. In this way, the natural has risen up against the supernatural.

The exception rising up against the rule

The same liberal spirit is at work in the Church and is destroying both faith and morals by obscuring the clarity of truth. In the area of faith, it is accomplished, not so much through outright heresy, as through a distortion of the truth. This has been accomplished by placing the primary focus on the exception, rather than the rule. By redirecting the attention toward the exception, the rule (i.e. truth) becomes obscure and eventually meaningless. It is not a direct attack, but rather an indirect attack on the faith. Just as overemphasizing the natural diminishes the supernatural, so overemphasizing the exception diminishes the faith. Rather than viewing a possible exception through the lens of the rule, the rule is distorted by viewing it through the lens of a thousand possible exceptions. Eventually, the overemphasis on the exception causes a practical rejection of the rule. "Liberal Catholics make a rule of the exception: by the very fact, they destroy the rule." (Against the Heresies, Archb. Lefebvre)

The dogma "outside the Church there is no salvation" is one example out of thousands. While it is true that the Church makes allowances for the possibility that a person can be saved if they are invincibly ignorant of the Catholic faith through no fault of their own, this possibility of an exception has, for many, become the rule. Before the "enlightenment" of our present era, none of the Saints or Doctors of the Church placed any emphasis on this possibility. They were all forceful in declaring, with St. Augustine, that: "No man can find salvation except in the Catholic Church. Outside the Catholic Church one can have everything except salvation. One can have honor, one can have the sacraments, one can shout alleluia, one can answer amen, one can have faith in the Name of the Father and the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and preach it too, but never can anyone find salvation except in the Catholic Church." (St. Augustine) And with St. Fulgentius who said: "Most firmly hold and never doubt that not only pagans, but also Jews, all heretics (i.e. Protestants), and all schismatics who finish this life outside of the Catholic Church, will go into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels."

For over 1900 years, the Church taught this truth unambiguously, and without feeling any need to water down the dogma in favor of the possible exception. The Church was aware of the possibility of an exception, but realized that emphasizing it, rather than the rule, would only lead to confusion and ultimately a denial of an element of faith. While Pius IX acknowledged that it may be possible for a person who is invincibly ignorant of the Catholic Faith to attain salvation, the chances of such a person existing are surely extremely rare.

In his encyclical Singulari Quiden, Blessed Pope Pius IX condemned "the devilish system of indifference between different religions," who "embrace people who have strayed from the truth, who are enemies of the true faith," and those who "maintain that the haven of eternal salvation is open to sectarians of any religion." He therefore commanded the Bishops to "diligently defend your people against these pernicious errors. Saturate them with the doctrine of Catholic truth more accurately each day. Teach them that just as there is only one God, one Christ, one Holy Spirit, so there is only one truth, which is divinely revealed. There is only one divine faith. ... There is only one True, Holy, Catholic Church, which is the Apostolic Roman Church. There is only one See founded on Peter by the word of the Lord, outside of which we cannot have God for a father..." The same Holy Pontiff, in the encyclical Quanto Conficiamure Moerore, condemned "a grave error entrapping some Catholics who believe that it is possible to arrive at eternal salvation although living in error and alienated from the true faith and Catholic unity. Such belief," the Pontiff declares, "is absolutely opposed to Catholic teaching." Thus, the Holy Pontiff is forceful in declaring the dogma unambiguously. Then in the next sentence he acknowledges that there can be exceptions: "There are of course, those who are struggling with invincible ignorance about our most holy religion. Sincerely observing the natural law and its precepts inscribed by God on all hearts and ready to obey God, they live honest lives and are able to attain eternal life by the efficacious virtue of divine light and grace. Because God knows, searches and clearly understands the minds, hearts, thoughts, and nature of all, his supreme kindness and clemency do not permit anyone at all who is not guilty of deliberate sin to suffer eternal punishment."

The Holy Pontiff teaches the rule, while acknowledging the possibility of an exception, but how rare must this exception be? The person must be: 1) Invincibly ignorant of the Catholic faith, and 2) "Not guilty of deliberate sin." Has such a person ever existed? God only knows! This is something that will only be known on judgment day. What we do know is that there is no salvation outside the Catholic Church, and therefore anyone who is saved must be a member of the Catholic Church to attain salvation. How is this possible?

If a child of five years old is baptized in a Protestant Church, and if that baptism is valid, that child is a Catholic. Even if the child had never been in a Catholic Church, never met a Catholic priest, or heard any Catholic dogmas, that child is a Catholic none-the-less. In the same way, if a person who is invincibly ignorant of the Catholic faith attains salvation — through a miracle of God's grace — they must be a member of the Catholic Church. In the book Against the Heresies, Archbishop Lefebvre explains how this is possible. Commenting on Proposition #16 of the Syllabus of Errors, where Pope Pius IX condemned the proposition that: "Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation (CONDEMNED)," the Archbishop wrote: "Evidently, certain distinctions must be made. Souls can be saved in a religion other than the Catholic religion (Protestantism, Islam, Buddhism, etc.), but not by this religion. There may be souls who, not knowing Our Lord, have by the grace of the good Lord, good interior dispositions, who submit to God — God in so far as these people can conceive Him — and who want to accomplish His will. There certainly are not many such persons, because these people, not being baptized, suffer more than Christians the effects of original sin. But some of these persons make an act of love, which implicitly is equivalent to baptism of desire. It is uniquely by this means that they are able to be saved. Implicit baptism means the Church: by the very fact that baptism of desire is found implicitly in their act of charity and submission to God these persons belong to the Church. They are saved by the Church, by Our Lord Jesus Christ. For there is baptism of water, baptism of blood, baptism of desire (that of catechumens), then baptism of implicit desire, which is contained in an act of true love of God. How many are saved by this form of baptism? God alone knows. It is a great mystery for us. One cannot say, then, that no one is saved in these religions, but if he is saved, it is always by his attachment to the mystical body which is the Catholic Church, even if the persons concerned do not know it." (Against the Heresies, Pages 216-217) So there can be exceptions to the general order of things, but these are exceptions, which we should not presume upon. Let's take an example to illustrate the point:

Let's say that a father kept a loaded gun in the house. Now, certainly it has occurred since the invention of the revolver that a bullet has failed to fire when the trigger was pulled. Therefore, based on this possibility should the father continually remind his children that if they play with a gun and shoot at each other, it may not go off? Would that be a wise and prudent father — one who truly cares for his children? If the father continually discussed the possibility that the gun may not go off if the trigger were pulled, would he be misleading his children? Yes! Although what he is saying is not false, it is deceptive because it implies that something that is rare is actually likely. The result will be that the children will become more negligent in playing with loaded guns, which most likely will kill one of them. Should the father not say: "Do not play with a loaded gun, whatever you do! If you play with a loaded gun, someone will get killed." A wise and prudent father may realize there are a very slight percentage of bullets that are defective, but he knows it is not wise to continually remind his children of this, lest they become forgetful of the dangers of playing with loaded guns.

In today's Society — which is probably more sinful that the days of Sodom and Gomorrah — it is certainly more likely that a gun will fail to fire than that a person who rejects the Catholic faith will attain salvation.

Since the Second Vatican Council, however, the liberals in the Church have managed to shift the emphasis from the rule to the exception. Now, instead of stating the dogma and merely allowing for a rare, but possible exception, the emphasis has been placed on the exception to the exclusion of the rule. The dogma of "outside the Church there is no salvation" is now so loosely interpreted that virtually everyone falls into the category of "invincibly ignorant" — even those who have heard and rejected the Catholic faith. We now have nearly 40 years of experience to show that shifting the emphasis from the rule to the exception results in a general watering down of dogma and the eventual denial of the rule. These days, if you listen to a Catholic radio show, and the subject of no salvation outside the Church come up, the host may, and somewhat hesitatingly, admit the rule before launching into a litany of exceptions. By the end of the "explanation", the listener is left with the impression that there is salvation outside the Catholic Church and that the dogma has a meaning directly contrary to what it says.

This gradual shift in emphasis from the rule to the exception has had the effect of causing many of the clergy to believe that the Church has changed its teaching on the salvation of non-Catholics. Thus, they no longer believe an infallible dogma of the faith that a Catholic must hold to attain salvation. By an inversion of truth, shifting the emphasis to the exception, the faith has been diminished.

Subjective rising up against the objective

In the moral order, we often see the subjective rising against the objective, once again, by a redirection of attention. This is accomplished by judging situations based on subjective guilt, rather than objective morality. Instead of determining how a moral act lines up with objective morality, the attention is directed toward the subjective guilt of the individual. As the one becomes confused with the other, judging objective morality becomes confused with judging subjective guilt. Eventually we are led to believe that we should not judge objective morality lest we become guilty of judging subjective guilt, or that we cannot judge an act to be sinful because we do not know the subjective state of the person. Often objective morality is mentioned only in passing, if at all, while the emphasis is placed on the subjective disposition of the person.

Satan, who is the master of deception, and the breeder of confusion, has been very successful elevating lesser truths to the exclusion, and destruction, of higher truths. Through this tactic, the devil has managed to deceive many — even within the Church — under the appearance good. "The devil has succeeded in infiltrating evil under the appearance of good... worst of all, the devil has succeeded in leading into error and deceiving souls having a heavy responsibility through the position they hold." (Sister Lucy of Fatima)

Secondary truths rising up against primary truths

We see the same strategy with regard to the "rights of man" exalted to the exclusion of his duties. Now it is true that man does have certain rights, but these rights proceed from his duties, while his duties correspond to the Rights of God. God, Who created man, has the right to demand certain things of him; man has the corresponding duty to obey what God commands, as well as the right to the means to fulfill his duties towards God. Today, however, the rights of man are exalted to the exclusion of his duties.

By placing emphasis on man's rights instead of his duties, we have lost sight of the higher truth and made our "rights" an end in themselves. The "sense of duty" is then destroyed and is replaced by what could be called a "sense of rights". While the sense of duty makes one aware of his duties toward God and man, the "sense of rights" conversely makes one aware of other people's duties toward himself. Making his own "rights" supreme, each man makes himself a "god", who demands that others fulfill their duty towards him, while the corresponding awareness of his duties towards others becomes diminished. When emphasis is placed on man's duties, rather than his rights, the rights of others are respected as a result of each one fulfilling their duty. "To preach duty is to exhort the practice of virtue and responsibility. When everyone fulfills his duty, the rights of others will be respected." (Against the Heresies, Archbishop Lefebvre) By shifting the emphasis from man's duties to his "rights", the lesser has destroyed the greater. Pope Leo XIII saw this shift back in his day and declared the following: "About the 'rights of man,' as they are called, the multitude has heard enough; it is time they should hear about the rights of God." (Christ Our Redeemer)

When we view matters in their proper perspective and order, we can see through many of the errors of our day. For example: The first commandment is "I am the Lord your God; you shall not have strange gods before me." Man's corresponding duty to this command of God is to worship God in the manner that He commands; therefore, man has a right to worship according to the true form of worship commanded by God. On the other hand, man has no right to worship God in a false way, for our rights proceed from our duties, and our duties correspond to God's law. A society may find it beneficial to tolerate false forms of worship to prevent a greater evil, but false worship can never be called a "right" because it contradicts God's law. "Liberty of worship, as it is called... is based on the principal that every man is free to profess, as he may choose, any religion or none. But assuredly of all the duties which man has to fulfill, that, without a doubt, is the chiefest and holiest which commands him to worship God with devotion and piety. ... And if it be asked which if the many conflicting religions it is necessary to adopt, reason and the natural law unhesitatingly tell us to practice that one which God enjoins, and which men can easily recognize by certain exterior notes whereby Divine Providence has willed that it should be distinguished, because, in a matter of such moment, the most terrible loss would be the conquest of error. Wherefore, when a liberty such as We have described is offered to man (i.e. freedom of worship), the power is given him to pervert or abandon with impunity the most sacred of duties, and to exchange the unchangeable good for evil." (On the Nature of True Liberty, Pope Leo XIII) Thus, "religious liberty" as it is called, is a false liberty, because man has no "right" to break the first commandment.

Lesser rising up against the greater

The current ecumenical movement is an example of a lesser good, being exalted to the destruction of a higher truth — in this case, "unity" is exalted to the exclusion of faith. Now unity is certainly a good thing, and it is true that God desires unity; but faith is much higher than unity. The current ecumenical movement, however, has distorted this order and placed "unity" at the summit to the exclusion of faith. But the Catholic faith is the very foundation of Christian unity, and there will never be true unity outside of the true faith. The ecumenists invert the order, however, and subordinate Divine faith — outside of which no one can be saved — to "unity". Pope Pius X said the following: "These Modernists completely invert the parts, and of them may be applied the words which another of Our predecessors, Gregory IX, addressed to some theologians of his time: '...these men, led away by various and strange doctrines, turn the head into the tail and force the queen to serve the handmaid." (Pascendi) This is what we are seeing everywhere today. In the mad drive toward "unity", the faith has actually become somewhat of a stumbling block; therefore, the faith has been gradually disregarded in the hope that unity can be achieved "in diversity" — that is, in a diversity of "faiths". But this so-called "unity in diversity" is false unity founded outside of Jesus Christ and His faith. "The true union between Christians is that which Jesus Christ, the Author of the Church instituted and desired, and which consists in a unity of faith and a unity of government." (Pope Leo XIII, The Reunion of Christendom, 1894) "Unity in diversity" is not Christian unity: It is rather the long desired goal of Freemasonry, which Pope Leo XIII rightly called "the kingdom of Satan on earth." That is why Pope Pius XI could say with confidence that those who sought unity, without seeking the return of the dissidents to the Catholic Church, were deceived.

"[W]hen there is a question of fostering unity among Christians it is easy for many to be misled by the apparent excellence of the object to be achieved. `Is it not right', they ask, `is it not the obvious duty of all who invoke the name of Christ to refrain from mutual reproaches and at last to be united in charity? Dare anyone say that he loves Christ and yet not strive with all his might to accomplish the desire of Him who asked His Father that His disciples might be 'one'? (John 17:21). 'If only Christians were one' it is contended, 'then they might do so much more to drive out the danger of irreligion which, with its insidious and far-reaching advance, is threatening to sap the strength of the Gospel.' These and similar arguments, are constantly on the lips of the 'pan-Christians'. The energy with which this scheme is being promoted has won for it many adherents, and even many Catholics are attracted by it, since it holds out hope of a union apparently constant with the wishes of Holy Mother Church. In reality, however, these fair and alluring words cloak a most grave error, subversive to the foundations of the Catholic Faith." (Mortalium Animos)

We can see clearly the error of these 'pan-Christians'. They seek a lesser good to the exclusion of a higher good; that is, they seek unity to the exclusion of faith. The end is the destruction of the faith for the sake of a lesser good that will never come.

Social Gospel rising up against the supernatural end of the Gospel

We see the same inversion of truth with regard to the Church's mission. By placing the primary emphasis on the "social gospel" to the exclusion of the supernatural purpose of the Gospel (the salvation of souls), the mission of the Church has been distorted . This distortion has diminished the supernatural aspect of the Church — especially the American Church — and reduced it to a mere humanitarian institution devoid of any mention of the supernatural.

Here it would be opportune to quote Fr. Salvany's book "Liberalism is a Sin": "[T]he Liberal Catholic's appreciation of the Church has no foundation in its supernatural character. The Church does not address herself to his sympathies as a supernatural society whose first and supernatural end is the glory of God and the salvation of souls. It is on her social and human side that he regards her with affection. ... our Liberal Catholics are proclaiming the shadow while rejecting the substance. ... Forgetting the divine and supernatural character of the Church ... they thus eviscerate the Church, making her the mere husk of what she really is ... It is really not Catholicity, but mere naturalism, a pure rationalism; it is in a word paganism disguised in a Catholic form using Catholic language." (Pgs. 35-37)

In the book "An Introduction to the Devout Life", St. Francis De Sales wrote the following: "So, the Apostles, who were commissioned to preach the Gospel and feed the souls of men with the Bread of Life, rightly judged that they must not forsake this duty in order to minister to the bodily needs of the poor, although in itself that was so sacred a duty." (Pg. 106) In our day we often see the exact opposite: many in the Church have ceased preaching the (true) Gospel, and have shifted their focus to its social side. The overemphasis of the "social gospel" to the exclusion of the supernatural purpose of the Gospel has caused, in many, a forgetfulness of sin and all that is not of this world. That is why in a liberal Church, one will hear many sermons about "helping the poor and the needy in the community" but few about the pains of hell and avoiding sin. Once again, to quote Gregory IX: "[these men] turn the head into the tail and force the queen to serve the handmaid." By inverting the order, they destroy the primary purpose of the Church, which is the salvation of souls.

Conclusion

The examples of lesser truths rising up against greater truths are many. Whether it is obedience rising up to the destruction of faith, as is occurring throughout the Catholic world today, or the exaltation of "human life" to the exclusion of "supernatural life", or "love of neighbor" to the exclusion of love of God, the same pattern is occurring everywhere. Many of these errors are very subtle and difficult to discern. It is often difficult to put your finger on the error because they are based on a certain amount of truth. For lesser truths are still true, and there can be exceptions to the rule, but by focusing primarily on the lesser truths, or the exceptions, we lose sight of the higher truths, and destroy the rules. Once our eyes are open to this tactic, however, we will see it employed in all areas of life, both in the Church and in the world.

In our day when man has risen up against Christ the King, lesser truths have risen up against higher truths. Christ has been dethroned and a "diabolical disorientation" reigns. "We remember saying," recalled Pope Pius XI, "that these manifold evils in the world were due to the fact that the majority of men had thrust Jesus Christ and His holy law out of their lives; that these had no place either in private affairs or in politics: and We said further, that as long as individuals and states refused to submit to the rule of Our Savior, there would be no really hopeful prospect of a lasting peace among nations. Men must look for the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ." What would the Pontiff say now when those in the Church itself have rejected Christ the King, and are seeking to build an earthly utopia together with the Church's worst enemies? Our present trial will end only when the Church ceases trying to be like the world, to win the affection of the world, and returns on its knees to the Lord saying: "Save us Lord, lest we perish." Only then with there "come a great calm."