Catholic politicians and the weeds in the wheat

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The Gospel reading at Mass this Sunday was Matthew 13:24-43, the parable of the weeds among the wheat. In the story, an enemy has sown weeds in the wheat crop. Workers ask the farmer if they should pull them up, and the farmer says no, as they may damage the wheat by doing so. Instead, at harvest time, they should first gather the weeds and bundle them, then throw them into the fire. This is a clear warning to unrepentant sinners.

Our parish priest is a staunch Democrat, and his homily warned us of the dangers of the weeds in our community and our nation — those who are uncharitable, who persecute migrants and commit acts of violence. But although no reasonable person wants to see anyone subjected to neglect, unjust persecution, or violence, the fact remains that the majority of these actions are coming from the political left. He gave no homilies on the riots during the summer of 2020, and he never preaches about the evils of abortion or unrestricted illegal immigration.

His homily got me thinking, as homilies should. If someone claims to be a Christian, whether Protestant or Catholic, yet condones, enables, and even celebrates policies that are antithetical to Christianity such as abortion, assisted suicide, homosexuality, and gender ideology, is he still a Christian? We’re all in need of forgiveness, grace, and salvation. But at what point does a person move from being a “bad Christian” to an actual heretic?

Though I’m not qualified to speak authoritatively on the doctrines of the various Protestant denominations, a cursory search reveals a wide range of tolerance towards issues such as abortion, gender ideology, and assisted suicide. As a Catholic, I am more familiar with the teachings of the Catholic Church on these matters. Nevertheless, shouldn’t Protestant and Catholic teachings both conform to Scriptural truths?

When political loyalty overrides fidelity to Church teaching, it creates scandal and erodes the moral witness of the Catholic Church. It requires an honest examination through the lens of the “five non-negotiables” consistent with Catholic social teaching. These non-negotiable positions are abortion, euthanasia/assisted suicide, embryonic stem cell research, human cloning, and homosexual “marriage.” While the Catholic Church does not yet have an extensive body of teaching on the topic of transgenderism, she has always taught that every person is to be respected and treated with consideration, and every form of violence and aggression is to be carefully avoided. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church is against any “gender ideology” that separates psychological gender from biological sex, and opposes chemical or surgical interventions that alter the body in absence of any valid medical need.

The Church considers the “five non-negotiables” to be intrinsically evil and gravely disordered. As such, a politician who supports and promotes any of these has rendered himself ineligible as someone for whom a Catholic may legitimately vote. To my way of thinking, that pretty much eliminates the entire Democrat party, as well as a not insignificant number of Republicans.

The Democrat party has enshrined abortion as part of its platform, referring to it as “reproductive freedom” and sometimes as “reproductive justice.” This directly conflicts with core elements of Christianity. The ostensibly Catholic New York governor Kathy Hochul signed gender ideology and assisted suicide into law, despite bishops’ opposition, which views it as a “grave moral evil,” a direct attack on human life.

Hochul’s LGBT law is forcing the Dominican Sisters’ hospice to violate their orders’ beliefs on sex-segregated care, causing her to be accused of anti-Catholic bigotry. The Little Sisters of the Poor in California are likewise being pressured to provide funds for contraceptives and abortion for their lay partners — in direct opposition to their religious beliefs.

On June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court held in a 5-4 decision that the Fourteenth Amendment requires all states to grant same-sex marriages and recognize same-sex marriages granted in other states. Catholic justices Scalia, Roberts, Alito, and Thomas dissented. In 2017, then-president and alleged Catholic Joe Biden took it one step farther by officiating at a same-sex “wedding.” The records of Catholic leaders such as Joe Biden, Kathy Hochul, and Gavin Newsom causes me to question their sincere adherence to their faith.

Many if not most Catholic Democrats in Congress support their party’s platform on these issues while simultaneously claiming adherence to their faith. They sometimes say they are personally opposed to them, but they remain publicly supportive. They are not alone. Roughly half of U.S. Catholics prioritize politics over Christ. They compartmentalize their faith or misapply the “seamless garment” philosophy to equate prudential issues (e.g., immigration, poverty) with intrinsic evils.

This shift may be attributed to cultural inertia, identity politics, and secular influences in media and academia. The Democrat party’s shift toward wealthy, secularist donors and activists has also played a pivotal role. The results have been repeated scandals to the faithful, a weakening of religious exemptions, and a “culture of death” that undermines hospice care, conscience rights, and the common good.

So far, the Catholic Church’s response has been weak. There are some Catholic leaders among the clergy and laity who are calling for repentance, a consistent ethic of life, and prioritizing the non-negotiables in voting and in public life. Among such leaders are Cardinal Robert Sarah and Bishop Joseph Strickland. Reading their letters and social media posts is refreshing, and I wish more Catholic leaders would speak out so forthrightly.

Some of the more vocal among them, like Bishop Strickland, have been censured for daring to criticize the leftward shift in the Catholic Church. Meanwhile, Pope Francis gave permission to openly bless same-sex unions, thus promoting homosexuality. The Catechism of the Catholic Church, which summarizes Church doctrine, has this to say on the topic:

Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.

I am unable to reconcile the actions of Pope Francis in granting permission for priests to bless same-sex unions with the official teaching of the Catholic Church, just as I am unable to reconcile the words and actions of ostensibly Catholic politicians who promote and enable these practices.

In Matthew 13:24-43, Jesus alludes to how those who cause others to sin will be judged. We are all sinners, and we must avoid the path taken by the proud Pharisee in Luke 18:9-14. For Catholic individuals, a daily examination of conscience using the Catechism and encyclicals rather than party loyalty is needed. Catholics must support policies that align with human dignity, from conception to natural death.

The cognitive dissonance seen when Catholic politicians and even some in Church leadership support policies antithetical to teachings of Scripture and Tradition stems from elevating politics above faith. But truth (John 8:32) demands daily alignment with Christ and His Church.

Catholics must choose fidelity to prayer and a return to tradition, forgoing convenience in order to avoid selling out Christ for politics, fostering authentic justice rooted in unchanging moral truths.

Image via Picryl.