We Have Met the Enemy, and He is Us

This is a piece I have been thinking about, for a long, long time. Ever since it was obvious that the media was being involved in attempting to shape political, and yes, theological thought.

There is a LOT of evil stuff going on right now. I don’t think it’s all that hard to figure that out, and see it. Now, to be up front, I am a practicing Catholic with a degree in theology, and, on secular politics I am a supporter of the President of the United States, which is at this writing Donald J. Trump. Now, there are several reasons why, the most important to me is the life issue, the murder of the unborn. He has been the most Pro Life President in my 68 years on this earth, and I appreciate his work in that area. Just as a touch up, the Church teaches that there are prudential judgements, things like immigration, taxation, etc. where folks of good will can disagree, and there are intrinsic evils, such as abortion, which can NEVER be justified. The two are not on the same level. I honestly believe that this is the central issue of our day, and there is big money being made on it. Therefore, the secular politics of it. Which brings me to my subject matter. The Pope, the media, and us.

Walt Kelly, the great cartoonist, used to do ‘Pogo’, which was featured in many newspapers. Pogo was a neat little animal type guy who went around commenting and getting into all kinds of mischief. Pogo’s greatest gift to mankind was his forming of the phrase, “We have met the enemy, and he is us”. Man, have these words rang true in recent times.

Now, I will be the first to admit that this Pope, Pope Francis, is from a different background than most of the western media, and us as westerners, can relate too. Most of us don’t even make the effort to relate to it, yet it no doubt influences the Holy Father’s view on secular issues. I get that, and I understand it. The Pope is from an area of the world where big dictators ruled with an iron hand, and crushed the poor, and certainly any dissenters. In his home country of Argentina, folks would ‘disappear’, and for a while the fish industry could not even fish off the waters of the country because of the sheer number of bodies dumped in the ocean by the ruling class, the coastal waters were so contaminated. It was a very different environment than previous Popes from western Europe ever dealt with. Certainly, a different environment than western media, and especially, the average American was ever exposed to. So, to me, the disconnect comes from a Pope whose secular life experiences and opinions so differ from the average American.

The media, in the United States especially, has seized on this right from the get go. It began even back in 2016, when some slick media operative asked the Holy Father on a plane ride about the toughening up on the US border situation, which, in my opinion, was exposing the average citizen of the USA to a lot of real bad stuff, as well as making millions for drug traffickers. The ‘better to build bridges than walls’ comment was in response to a real set up question, and the Pope was referring to generalities, not specifically one man, the President of the United States. However, the media took it, and ran with it, and they’ve been doing it ever since. There are a lot of real smart people out there with real bad intentions.

This has gone on since, and many Catholics have bought into it, wholesale. Now, I will be the first to admit that the Holy Father makes some real ham handed moves, administratively, and appears to be somewhat influenced by staff that really don’t understand the west, or have some bad intentions. And, in any large, man run organization, those folks will be around. I think the Holy Father is somewhat naive, and allows himself to be played and set up for controversy by slick operators with marketing majors. And, considering the fact that the Holy Father is an 82 year old man helps them. Marketing majors who are very good at what they do, which is stirring up s–t. Among that number are some political operators working for some very bad folks.

Sadly, even some members of the Catholic media, especially in the United States, have bought into this, and have gained for themselves some real notoriety keeping the pot stirred. Having not been overseas for a while, my gut feeling is that the dissension with the Pope is largely an American deal, ginned up and kept going by American media folks, many of them Catholic. I have many friends in Europe, and this sort of thing does not seem to be as prevalent over there.

I seriously do not think that Pope Francis singles out America, and Americans for criticism constantly, as many media folks have Americans believing. America is influential, but, to the surprise of many, the USA is not the center of the universe. The Holy Father speaks in generalities, about economics, justice, and how the Gospels and teachings of Our Lord Jesus Christ may apply to them. There are over 1.4 BILLION Catholics in the world, and, frankly, a pretty small percentage of them live in the USA. I seriously have my doubts that secular US politics is the first thing everyone thinks of when they awake each morning in the Vatican. Are there some bad actors in the Vatican? I’m sure. Don’t forget Judas was one of the first ordained Bishops in history, and look what he did. In this country, we just elected a President that works hard to fight Church teachings, and this guy is ‘catholic’. WE did that. Not the Pope.

The Pope, probably because of the times we live in (and this is gonna get me in trouble here) also raises the ire of sedevacanteist movement and it’s allies. Sede Vacanteist folks believe there is no valid Pope at this time, that Francis is some kind of imposter, or anti Pope. OK. There are also very many American Catholics who are buying into this Latin Mass is the cure all, Vatican II is bad and evil. Now, there is nothing wrong with an Ordinary Form of Mass. Not now, not ever. It is so valid, and the Sacraments are absolutely as valid as they ever have been. They still have the approval of the Vatican. However, the issue is that a lot of folks support the Latin Mass and traditions not specifically for theological reasons, but because that’s the way we ‘always did it’, back before all this turmoil. Therefore, the focus is on how the guy down the pew is holding his hands during the Our Father, or the gender of the altar servers serving Mass, rather than the fact that we have the opportunity to receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Our Lord Jesus Christ in every valid Mass, Ordinary or Novus Ordo. I don’t know about you guys, but I know my shortcomings, which are plentiful. I need to focus on keeping my own house in order, making sure I utilize the Sacraments, not by watching someone else and making judgements as to that person’s genuineness when receiving Communion. I’ll leave that to a higher authority, and it isn’t me. I’m not that good at reading body language, anyway.

I grew up pre Vatican II, and I will tell you that we had our issues with misbehaving clerics, and folks who were not serious about their faith, then, too. So many think that the problems we have were caused by Vatican II. You went to Mass ( I was a 15 year old when Vat II took hold), you watched the Priest say mass, you didn’t understand anything going on, and you didn’t participate. Now, as I’m older and understand a bit more, I enjoy an Ordinary Mass. I also very much enjoy singing, participating and being involved in a Novus Ordo Mass, too. Either way, to me, the focus now is the Eucharist, and it is valid in any form of Mass as celebrated by a priest with faculties. When I went back for my theology degree at the age of 47, we spent an entire semester studying Vatican II, and it is a fabulous document. It addressed a lot of things that needed addressed. But, to pretend we weren’t cursed by Teddy McCarrick’s pre Vatican II is a fallacy. Satan has always targeted Christ’ Church, and will until the great day happens that he’s out of the picture.

Now, the media, popular culture has made it easier to attack the Church, and to question it’s teachings. I get that . We have what, 500 some tv channels around? An internet where every evil and dissension is at your fingertips. Information moves at the speed of sound, and evil situations that appear fantastic are no longer just fantasy, they can be created on your computer in a matter of seconds. Catholic social pages are now filled with hatred and innuendoes to the point they rival the hatred on any political web site, only this time directed at other Christians and Catholics. I lost a friend recently who is a Latin Mass type, who made the statement to me that “The Holy Spirit allowed Satan to appoint Pope Francis to teach us a lesson”! Now, that is a pure heresy, and does not square with what Christ himself said. “You are rock, and upon this rock I will build MY Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” Christ said that. He said that. I believe that.

Now, break out your pitchforks and torches and come after me. I’m ready! God Bless, and have a wonderful and Blessed Christmas.