February 09, 2010
 
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| A Prime Minister and Two Cardinals |
| by Rev. George W. Rutler |
| 11/18/08 |
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Ordinarily this column is devoted to people I have known. Our current national crisis is an excuse for me to mention three exceptions.
I cannot say I really knew Winston Churchill, but once my father took me to see him when he was visiting Bernard Baruch in Manhattan. He had no idea who I was but I remember his voice: "You are a good little boy." I took the detached protocol as an oracle. On November 10, 1942, after El Alamein, Churchill had said that the North African campaign was "not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." On February 20, 1943, the German-Italian Panzer Army attacked the United States Army II Corps at the Kasserine Pass in west central Tunisia. Our troops were ill prepared and ill led, with poor coordination between air and ground forces and inadequate tanks. One thousand Americans were killed.
Quickly there was a complete shake-up from all local units right up to the top commanders, with Patton replacing Fredendall. Eventually the end of the beginning ended in victory. This is a contemporary allegory, when we see in the wake of the 2008 elections the social consequences of poorly formed Catholics overwhelmed by secular forces.
Though I did not know Cardinal Newman, one excuse being that he died 55 years before I was born, I think that I have lived with his words so long that we would need no introduction. He predicted that naive and untested Catholics would fall into "mass apostasy" through lack of preparedness in spiritual combat:
Do you think [the Prince of Lies] is so unskillful in his craft, as to ask you openly and plainly to join him in his warfare against the Truth? No; he offers you baits to tempt you. He promises you civil liberty; he promises you equality; he promises you trade and wealth; he promises you a remission of taxes; he promises you reform. This is the way in which he conceals from you the kind of work to which he is putting you; he tempts you to rail against your rulers and superiors; he does so himself, and induces you to imitate him; or he promises you illumination, he offers you knowledge, science, philosophy, enlargement of mind. He scoffs at times gone by; he scoffs at every institution which reveres them. He prompts you what to say, and then listens to you, and praises you, and encourages you. He bids you mount aloft. He shows you how to become as gods. Then he laughs and jokes with you, and gets intimate with you; he takes your hand, and gets his fingers between yours, and grasps them, and then you are his.
My acquaintance with Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was slim, only a passing one on occasions when I was a student. Yet I have remembered what he wrote before he became pope about governments that would pose as religions and secular leaders who would be messiahs controlling the tides: "Wherever politics tries to be redemptive, it is promising too much. Where it wishes to do the work of God, it becomes not divine, but demonic" (Truth and Tolerance).
In this end of the beginning of offenses against the dignity of life, we may reasonably expect a dismantling of the pro-life work since 1973 and taxpayer support of infanticide, along with repudiation of the Mexico City accords, which blocked the funding of eugenics abroad. The freedom of the Church's voice in the public forum will be tested by an inhibiting alliance of government and media. And there will be financial intimidation. Most immediately, in my own state of New York, the new control of both houses of the Albany legislature by the same party hostile to the good of the Church could help passage of a bill to eliminate the statute of limitations in lawsuits against Catholic and other private institutions, while exempting public institutions.
As with the lesson of the Kasserine Pass, we are learning that there is no place for amateur soldiers in the army of the Lord, neither in the infantry nor among the commanders. A short time from now, some will say in reflection: "We should have listened to the warnings." The Churchillian response, fortified by two prophetic cardinals, will be, "Why didn't you?"
Rev. George W. Rutler is the pastor of the Church of our Saviour in New York City. His latest book, Coincidentally: Unserious Reflections on Trivial Connections, is available from Crossroads Publishing. Readers have left 7 comments. Fr Rutler, Thank you so much for your words of wisdom. I have wondered why I was not born in better times to be a faithful Catholic (such as the 1200s), but then I remember that God created me to honor Him in this time and this place no matter what obstacles are placed in His way by the evil one and his servants. As St Josemaria Escriva said, "This time is a crisis of saints." We need more saints, and I pray that all of us become saints through being faithful until our dying breath to the fullness of the truth, beauty, and love that our Church teaches and lives. As I discern the signs of the times that preceded even this recent election, I've seen persecution coming from the secular left and the pink fascists of the homosexual movement -- in short, the culture of death with its new pseudo-messianic standard bearer. I believe God is sorting out the faithful Catholics from those willing to make compromises with evil. I pray that I am found on His side when all is said and done. We can't be too vigilant, and I thank you for your prayerful vigilance. Written by Sam Were the 1200s really better times to be a faithful Catholic? The Church was about to collapse under its own worldliness "back-sliding" after the reforms of St. Gregory VII until God raised up St. Francis of Assisi, St. Domininc and Pope Inncent III among others to bring about a brief "revival". And then it was only shortly thereafter that we had another decline which led to the Great Western Schism (just read Sts. Catherine of Siena and Bridget of Sweden to see how bad it got). One thing I have learned from reading the letters and essays of the saints throughout time, there is always a crisis--it just takes different forms. Our battle is against principalities and powers, the armies of the evil one and it always has been. As St. Anthony Mary Claret said, the four archdemons, love of money, love of pleasure, independence of the mind, and independence of the will are always hard at work serving their master. If we cling to the Cross and keep the fire of charity lit in our hearts, we will overcome. We must spread that flame wherever divine love has grown cold and been exchanged for the love of the world. Written by QC Fr. Rutler, Thank you for your post. It comforts my heart. I have felt like a voice in the wilderness my whole life.... even as a child when I stood up for the babies before the devastating decision of the Supreme Court in 1973. Just the other night, at my Parish, I felt again like a voice in the wilderness as I stood up to correct the "in house" expert on her clear agenda of legitimizing her Obama Vote as a Catholic by making all Life issues equal. We are living in a time arrived to by a systematic dumbing down of Catholics... and so most are living on the equivalent of a rice diet at best. We do have the technology to reverse this spiritual deprivation; do we have the SAINTS enough to systematically equip the souls for the battle at hand? Written by Mother of Two Sons The election is over and the eminent assault on the culture of life has never been greater. The silence is deafening from Obama/Democrat Party Catholics. No one is calling them on it. The Current President elect and his political party have promised the most draconian assault on Pope John Paul’s Culture of Life ever. We should be planning the largest pro-life march ever in January, protest NOW at politician offices, protest NOW at City Halls, fill mail boxes and phone networks of politicians NOW with pro-life messages, and what ever else we can think of. As Catholics we are just with the truth and if we had half the outrage and political organization that a few homosexual activists have we wouldn’t be in the current situation to begin with. Just watch the voters of California be over ruled again some how through legal maneuvers by homosexual activists. Written by nobody While the words of Cardinal Newman are powerful enough, they fall into the cathegory described by historian John Lukacs as in need of a context. Who were the people referred to when he says "encourage you to rebel against lawful authorities"? I say this, because the same words said in 1775-6 would be those of an unregenerate Tory who would have been forced to escape to Canada - words that would tar the Catholic Church with the label "anti-patriotic" and justify Catholic oppresion. We must be careful not to extract combative words from the context of their times, making them aim to different people that were meant in the original. Anachronism is amusing when used in TV shows like Xena, but a big headache when applied to current and past events. Written by Adriana "encourage you to rebel against lawful authorities"? It’s not inherently wrong to question someone’s references, but clearly you go beyond that with a jaundiced eye and suspicious mind. Here I believe is the reference: Sermon 1: The Times of Antichrist (website provided) Comfortable Catholics soon forget the malignant principle of Antichrist is always at work is the point. I request the same in return. Please provide references where Fr. Rutler has expressed such things as anachronism to validate your disrespectful and salacious cynicism.  Written by nobody sorry, I was just commenting on the paragraph, and forgot to reread it. But, "tempt to rail against your rulers and superiors" has exactly the same problem. Can't you see a Tory clergyman in 1775 and 1776 condemning thus John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and the rest of those dangerous revolutionist who while promising trade and wealth, **remission of taxes**, and reform, tempts them to rail against their ruler and superior George III? One must be careful with time-dated statements and not attempt to move them out of their time and space. Written by Adriana |
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