Morella Decries Catholic Bishops’ “Tortured Explanations” in Homosexuality Guidelines

Gary Morella is a Catholic member of the research faculty of Penn State University, and a father and grandfather who is concerned whether there will be a recognizable faith left to his children and grandchildren. He is also a friend (although we have never met in person) and a bold critic of inane political correctness, especially at his own university. While as a non-Catholic I do not concur with every theological assertion herein, I have the utmost respect for Morella as one who applies faith, reason and courage in debunking the sophistries of the day. — Peter LaBarbera, AFT

By Gary Morella

Thoughts on: Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care

The main problem with this document is the mindset since Vatican II that no longer condemns a sin that cries out to Heaven for vengeance but rather condemns those who remind the world of that fact, the latter being called charity by those in the modern Church who are unrecognizable as Catholic. This document is written in “gayspeak” in the same manner that the horrendous Always Our Children was. The biggest concern of the USCCB is homophobia, not helping those inclined to homosexual acts to leave, as opposed to live, lifestyles that are an abomination before God, or resist temptations to same.

The comparisons between the traditional Church teaching on sins against nature vs. the post-conciliar attitude is striking when one uses Sacred Scripture and Tradition in the form of statements from the Popes, Councils, Saints, and Apologists combined with the tradition of civil legislation to show the moral chasm that has resulted when the language of “pseudo charity” replaces the language of “tough love” for salvation’s sake. The result being that the necessary feelings of revulsion toward those proudly trumpeting their sodomite tendencies are no longer there opening the door for a misplaced compassion that such individuals do not deserve. There is a huge difference between an ontological dignity to which all are entitled by virtue of being made in the image and likeness of God, and a moral dignity as a function of being endowed with an intellect and will whereby good can be accepted and evil rejected. Moral dignity does not exist for those having no problem with inclinations to homosexual acts, a distinction that the post-conciliar Church never makes using language that would have us erroneously believe that there exists something called the homosexual person, a concept which turns Christian anthropology on its head making God, Who is Perfect Good, out to be a liar in creating man with a built-in one way ticket to hell in complete ignorance of the effect of the concupiscence due to Original Sin.

Words have consequences with a litany of saints to include St. John Chrysostom telling us that “A murderer only separates the soul from the body, whereas these (sodomites) destroy the soul inside the body” vs. the post-conciliar attitude of Cardinal Basil Hume who was quoted as saying “The particular orientation or inclination of the homosexual person is not a moral failing …. Being a homosexual person is, then, neither morally good nor morally bad; it is homosexual genital acts that are morally wrong.”

By reducing moral culpability only to acts, Cardinal Hume (and the entirety of the post-conciliar Church) appeared to legitimize sinful thoughts and words. However, such concessions incur culpability with regard to the vice of homosexuality like any other vice, as Catholic doctrine has ALWAYS taught.” The rest is history as Hume opened the door for the condemnation of homosexuality in the post-conciliar Church to be needlessly qualified, if at all, something that Saints Peter, Jude, Pius V, Basil of Cesarea, Augustine, Aquinas, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Great, Peter Damian, Albert the Great, Bonaventure, Catherine of Sienna, Bernardine of Sienna, Peter Canisius, and the councils of Ancyra, Toledo, Nablus, and Third Lateran did not suffer.

Would that we would have a Pope Saint Siricius (384-399) whose norms for admission into the priestly state specifically prohibited those “who were formerly vessels of vice” as not being able to “receive the instruments to administer the Sacraments.” Note the accent on “formerly” with the clear realization of the higher probability of problems admitting such individuals. Today, with the inordinately high level of those inclined to homosexual acts in the priesthood, “formerly” never enters into the question. Popes Saint Pius V, Saint Pius X, and Benedict XV echoed Pope Saint Siricius. This document from the USCCB does nothing to discourage the ordination of those inclined to homosexual acts to the priesthood, which is scandalous. [Reference: Atila Sinke Guimarães’ Vatican II, Homosexuality & Pedophilia.]

To accept someone having serious problems, no questions asked, is not showing compassion to them, but rather hate born out of no concern for their eternity. There is not the slightest inference that the scorn those inclined to homosexual acts see is self-inflicted more often than not by their obstinate refusal to see the errors of their ways. Such scorn serves a purpose when eternity is at stake, something the bishops ignored completely.

There is an attempt to equate a sin that cries out to Heaven for vengeance with others that do not in this document. This would be news to Saint Thomas Aquinas for whom the kindest thing that he could say about homosexuality was that it is the “unnatural vice.” It went down hill quickly after that for the Angelic Doctor of the Church barely making it above bestiality in terms of the gravest of sins. Heterosexual attraction is natural to man and woman (Catholic Catechism #2333), while homosexual tendencies are unnatural. Heterosexual attraction is God-given, and for the vast majority of the human race, leads to marriage, children, and family; same-sex attractions are an objective disorder. One often hears this objection to the term “objective disorder” being applied to homosexual tendencies: “If a man lusts for a woman or vice versa, this too is an objective disorder.” But this is not so, because, if the man or woman controls this natural attraction, and wills to express it in the natural state of marriage, it is a good thing, desired by the Creator. But if one has a sexual-genital attraction to another person of the same sex, it can NEVER lead to a morally good act between the two individuals, but rather it will ALWAYS lead to an immoral act. That is why it is called an objective disorder. Just the opposite is presented in the USCCB document which equates homosexual problems with heterosexual problems in this context. This is fallacious, and has never been Catholic teaching. Moreover, to constantly make blanket statements that the inclinations on their own are not sinful is dangerous because it is also Catholic teaching that inclinations given into are grave sin despite tortured USCCB explanations to the contrary.

It is an error to say that there is no scientific consensus on the cause of homosexual inclinations. The USCCB cannot make this statement, per the considerable evidence from Catholic medical professionals, and the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH). The USCCB incredibly does not encourage all those who have homosexual inclinations to seek out therapy, but rather only those who want to, which, in the light of the well known physical, psychological, social, economic, and especially spiritual consequences involved, is irrational in the extreme! We are talking about a diabolical attack on both faith and reason here, as a result of the consequences of Original Sin.

It is odd for the USCCB to tell those inclined to homosexual acts that there is no need to repress such inclinations to act morally. One would be hard pressed to argue that not suppressing inclinations to Mortal Sin is beneficial to acting morally. This is unreasonable! When temptations occur there are many Catholic devotions and sacramentals to recall in fighting them off. We are basically dealing with spiritual warfare here for our souls. Yet such Catholic answers to the devil are glaringly missing in the USCCB document.

There is an over sentimentality bordering on the absurd in being accepting to those inclined to homosexual acts in this document with the unmistakable advice to do nothing to harm the self-esteem of such poor souls. This is not be friendly, but being mean in not telling the Truth that is Christ to those who need to hear it the most for salvation’s sake. Healthy relationships cannot be fostered with those inclined to homosexual acts, in particular in families, without making every effort to get them to see that they have serious problems that need to be addressed through prayer and therapy. To suggest otherwise follows the horrendous lies of Always Our Children which told Catholic parents that they should show no concern whatsoever if their children evince inclinations to aberrant behavior, which is a bald-faced lie! How can holiness be strived for when there is no serious problem perceived on the part of those striving for same? This is contradictory!

The homophobic tendencies of the USCCB document are striking with making those inclined to homosexual acts always the victim in regard to violence. This is contrary to a large body of literature which shows that this same group, in a large part, brings the violence on themselves with their partaking in the filthiest of behaviors that make one ill when described truthfully.

It is not “welcoming” to say to the sinner that you should not be concerned about being inclined to grave sin. It is not clear form the USCCB document if this fact is important. You cannot have full and active participation in the Church if you flout its teachings. To insist on same is, pure and simply, not Catholic! What is worse, to be rejected by those who care for your immortal soul trying to get you to wake up for eternity’s sake, or to be accepted by those whose faith is solely experiential who could not care less about your final end? Rejection and scorn serve a very definite purpose in terms of the big picture here, which the USCCB has lost sight of! Why should any Catholic parent, for example, feel comfortable with having their children exposed to someone who has known inclinations to homosexual acts? Certainly not to placate the bad advice of the USCCB in this regard! There is a lot of talk about unjust discrimination in this document but no talk whatsoever about just discrimination that is demanded of any responsible Catholic, in particular, Catholic parents, when it comes to discriminating between right and wrong behavior! There are no rights owed to those who flout God’s laws, PERIOD!

For the USCCB to say that the Church does not refuse the baptism of those children in the care of same-sex couples is heretical. It is the reflection of an apostate mindset that is as anti-sensus Catholicus as it gets. How can the Church legitimize such unions when the rite of Baptism demands the renunciation of Satan? Moreover, there is widespread evidence of the extreme risk of physical abuse of young children by homosexuals due to the inordinate direct correlation of child abuse by those inclined to homosexual acts when compared against heterosexual abuse. How can there be a well founded hope that these poor children will be brought up Catholic when their very environment is straight from the bowels of hell? Such a suggestion by the USCCB is patently absurd! The Church should be making every effort to get these at-risk children out of the clutches of sexual perverts instead of de facto legitimizing their lifestyle.

The last part of the USCCB document comes straight from the militant homosexual lobby. Its signature is unmistakable. All one has to do is look at the reasons for the “gay-youth” clubs being promoted at the public schools for proof. What the USCCB fails to consider is that it is very important to feel different instead of being confirmed in your vice because that is a red flag that you need to make every effort to change, it is God’s message to you that something needs to be corrected, not ignored. That message should be loud and clear from the USCCB doc. Instead, it is muddled via “gay speak” that gives Catholics the impression that being inclined to homosexual acts is no big thing!

Soon divine intervention will be the only solution to the mess that we are in since God will not be mocked indefinitely. It is not an exaggeration to observe “Things have gotten that bad!

Thoughts on: Happy Are Those Called to His Supper: On Preparing to Receive Christ Worthily in the Eucharist

Objectively, certain thoughts, actions, and omissions entail grave sinful matter. As Catholics, we are obliged to form our consciences regarding what constitutes grave matter in accordance with the Church’s teaching.

I guess the danger of giving in to “certain thoughts” does not apply to the USCCB homosexual document since there is little emphasis of the grave sin incurred by same. Rather, we are given the “victim” scenario straight out of militant homosexual handbooks with no comment whatsoever that the individuals inclined to homosexual acts make themselves the victims by refusing to see anything wrong with such inclinations. This is reinforced by the USCCB’s refusal to directly encourage therapy for all.

Giving Public Scandal When a person is publicly known to have committed serious sin or to have rejected definitive Church teaching and is not yet reconciled with the Church, reception of Holy Communion by that person is likely to cause scandal for others. This is a further reason for refraining from receiving Holy Communion.19

The Catholic Church condemns abortion, euthanasia, sodomy, cloning, embryonic stem cell research, as well as other attacks against the sanctity of life and the family. It is the obligation of the bishop to follow canon law. Canon Law n.915 mandates the denial of Communion to all “manifest, obstinate, persistent sinners,” including but not exclusive to politicians.

Canon 915 not only protects the Eucharist from sacrilegious reception, but also prevents the faithful from grave scandal!

Where is the needed admonition on the part of the USCCB for bishops to deny Holy Communion to those knowingly causing public scandal, moreover, repeatedly doing so, per Canon Law 915? It is not there. Thus, what is the worth of a document that will be treated as dead-on-arrival by those who have more than demonstrated that they could not care less about their repeated obstinate public sins promoting the entirety of a culture-of-eternal-death, causing grave scandal to what is left of the faithful? We are to expect that all of a sudden these apostates are going to inform their consciences in accord with the teaching Magisterium of Holy Mother Church because the USCCB says they should after years of blaspheming God’s Moral Laws. Does the USCCB think that we were all born yesterday, taking us for fools? Does the USCCB not care enough for the immortal souls of all involved that are being put at risk of eternal perdition? Clearly, the word “excommunication” is not politically correct in a Church more concerned with politics than salvation. Why, we would not want to sever our ties with the Democratic Party, would we, perish the thought. Of course, of late, the major political parties are practically indistinguishable in regard to their mocking God as a matter of course. At least, the GOP puts up a good façade on occasion with some good folks trying to do the right, read “Catholic” thing, whereas the Donkey Party makes no bones about wanting to go straight to hell.

We are talking about sins crying out to Heaven for vengeance here, are we not? Is the USCCB not aware of this, i.e., do they not care about such seminal Catholic truths? Clearly, the answer is no, since the “last things” death, judgment, Heaven or Hell, are missing in their documents. They were not missing in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, however.

Comments on: Married Love and the Gift of Life

There is no mention whatsoever in this document that the traditional teaching of the Catholic Church is that the procreative takes priority over the unitive in terms of the marriage act. This is in accord with God’s plan for His Creation to procreate to populate Heaven in accord with Genesis. It is not a matter of “leaving family size entirely to chance” but rather to God.

Where is the caution that Natural Family Planning for no good reason becomes nothing more than a Catholic form of contraception resulting in grave sin? Where is there reference to man’s supernatural final end with the reminder to what is left of the faithful that contraception is serious Mortal sin putting one’s soul at risk of eternal perdition? Where is the teaching that it is not man deciding when to have children but rather man cooperating with God in accord with His Divine plan for Creation, i.e., children are a gift from God. Jeremiah – “I knew you before you were in the womb!”

The traditional Catholic Church teaching on the importance of Christian Marriage as a sacrament is no better given than in Casti Connubii, On Christian Marriage, the Encyclical of Pope Pius XI, December 31, 1930, which spoke to the world, not just the Church, for the sake of its eternal salvation.

How great is the dignity of chaste wedlock, Venerable Brethren, may be judged best from this that Christ Our Lord, Son of the Eternal Father, having assumed the nature of fallen man, not only, with His loving desire of compassing the redemption of our race, ordained it in an especial manner as the principle and foundation of domestic society and therefore of all human intercourse, but also raised it to the rank of a truly and great sacrament of the New Law, restored it to the original purity of its divine institution, and accordingly entrusted all its discipline and care to His spouse the Church. {Para. 1}

In order, however, that amongst men of every nation and every age the desired fruits may be obtained from this renewal of matrimony, it is necessary, first of all, that men’s minds be illuminated with the true doctrine of Christ regarding it; and secondly, that Christian spouses, the weakness of their wills strengthened by the internal grace of God, shape all their ways of thinking and of acting in conformity with that pure law of Christ so as to obtain true peace and happiness for themselves and for their families. {Para. 2}

… let it be repeated as an immutable and inviolable fundamental doctrine that matrimony was not instituted or restored by man but by God; not by man were the laws made to strengthen and confirm and elevate it but by God, the Author of nature, and by Christ Our Lord by Whom nature was redeemed, and hence these laws cannot be subject to any human decrees or to any contrary pact even of the spouses themselves. This is the doctrine of Holy Scripture; this is the constant tradition of the Universal Church; this the solemn definition of the sacred Council of Trent, which declares and establishes from the words of Holy Writ itself that God is the Author of the perpetual stability of the marriage bond, its unity and its firmness. {Para. 5}

The following section from Casti Connubii speaks particularly to the sodomite bastardization of marriage in regard to the just punishment deserved by replacing sanctity in accord with the natural and divine laws of God with the hedonism of the devil!

By matrimony, therefore, the souls of the contracting parties are joined and knit together more directly and more intimately than are their bodies, and that not by any passing affection of sense of spirit, but by a deliberate and firm act of the will; and from this union of souls by God’s decree, a sacred and inviolable bond arises. Hence the nature of this contract, which is proper and peculiar to it alone, makes it entirely different both from the union of animals entered into by the blind instinct of nature alone in which neither reason nor free will plays a part, and also from the haphazard unions of men, which are far removed from all true and honorable unions of will and enjoy none of the rights of family life. {Para. 7}

From this it is clear that legitimately constituted authority has the right and therefore the duty to restrict, to prevent, and to punish those base unions which are opposed to reason and to nature; but since it is a matter which flows from human nature itself, no less certain is the teaching of Our predecessor, Leo XIII of happy memory: “In choosing a state of life there is no doubt but that it is in the power and discretion of each one to prefer one or the other: either to embrace the counsel of virginity given by Jesus Christ, or to bind himself in the bonds of matrimony. To take away from man the natural and primeval right of marriage, to circumscribe in any way the principal ends of marriage laid down in the beginning by God Himself in the words ‘Increase and multiply,’ is beyond the power of any human law.” {Para. 8}

Casti Connubii makes it very clear that the primary end of marriage is the procreation and the education of children. Man does not just reproduce for survival of the species, which is something that any animal is instinctively capable of doing. Rather, man, made in the Image and Likeness of God, procreates to increase the population of Heaven, which was God’s intent for man at creation.

Since, however, We have spoken fully elsewhere on the Christian education of youth, let us sum it all up by quoting once more the words of St. Augustine: “As regards the offspring it is provided that they should be begotten lovingly and educated religiously,” – and this is also expressed succinctly in the Code of Canon Law – “The primary end of marriage is the procreation and the education of children.” {Para. 17}

Nor must we omit to remark, in fine, that since the duty entrusted to parents for the good of their children is of such high dignity and of such great importance, every use of the faculty given by God for the procreation of new life is the right and the privilege of the married state alone, by the law of God and of nature, and must be confined absolutely within the sacred limits of that state. {Para. 18}

It does not get any clearer than the following sections from Casti Connubii as to what man’s priorities are given that the “first blessing of matrimony” is the procreation of children.

The second blessing of matrimony which We said was mentioned by St. Augustine, is the blessing of conjugal honor which consists in the mutual fidelity of the spouses in fulfilling the marriage contract, so that what belongs to one of the parties by reason of this contract sanctioned by divine law, may not be denied to him or permitted to any third person; nor may there be conceded to one of the parties anything which, being contrary to the rights and laws of God and entirely opposed to matrimonial faith, can never be conceded. {Para. 19}

Wherefore, conjugal faith, or honor, demands in the first place the complete unity of matrimony which the Creator Himself laid down in the beginning when He wished it to be not otherwise than between one man and one woman. And although afterwards this primeval law was relaxed to some extent by God, the Supreme Legislator, there is no doubt that the law of the Gospel fully restored that original and perfect unity, and abrogated all dispensations as the words of Christ and the constant teaching and action of the Church show plainly. With reason, therefore, does the Sacred Council of Trent solemnly declare: “Christ Our Lord very clearly taught that in this bond two persons only are to be united and joined together when He said: ‘Therefore they are no longer two, but one flesh.’” {Para. 20}

Nor did Christ Our Lord wish only to condemn any form of polygamy or polyandry, as they are called, whether successive or simultaneous, and every other external dishonorable act, but, in order that the sacred bonds of marriage may be guarded absolutely inviolate, He forbade also even willful thoughts and desires of such like things: “But I say to you, that whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Which words of Christ Our Lord cannot be annulled even by the consent of one of the partners of marriage for they express a law of God and of nature which no will of man can break or bend. {Para. 21}

Nay, that mutual familiar intercourse between the spouses themselves, if the blessing of conjugal faith is to shine with becoming splendor, must be distinguished by chastity so that husband and wife bear themselves in all things with the law of God and of nature, and endeavor always to follow the will of their most wise and holy Creator with the greatest reverence toward the work of God. {Para. 22}

What the modern Church has forgotten

Now we see something in Casti Connubii that is missing in the modern Church, something that needs to be restored, i.e., the formal recognition that the Church alone must be the primary advisor to the nations of the world in order to preserve the moral order by countering the confusion of the “father-of-lies.” Where but in the Catholic Church, where there is worship of the One Triune God, is there found a consistent moral ethic that is never compromised, and clearly delineated in accord with the teachings of her Founder Who is Perfect Truth? For example, where in the non-Catholic world has there been complete consistent opposition to the contraceptive mentality of the age with all of its attendant derivatives to include sexual promiscuity, abortion, homosexuality, and euthanasia to name but a few? The worship of illusory false gods, in particular the Kantian “god in the mirror,” and/or the denial of the True Faith does not lend itself to such moral clarity and confidence, which Catholicism solely enjoys as being infallibly protected by the Holy Ghost in matters of faith and morals. Nowhere is this infallible protection better evidenced than by observing that the Church has been prophetic in regard to the consequences of ignoring her moral teaching, e.g., Casti Connubii.

But not only in regard to temporal goods, Venerable Brethren, is it the concern of the public authority to make proper provision for matrimony and the family, but also in other things which concern the good of souls. just laws must be made for the protection of chastity, for reciprocal conjugal aid, and for similar purposes, and these must be faithfully enforced, because, as history testifies, the prosperity of the State and the temporal happiness of its citizens cannot remain safe and sound where the foundation on which they are established, which is the moral order, is weakened and where the very fountainhead from which the State draws its life, namely, wedlock and the family, is obstructed by the vices of its citizens. {Para. 123}

For the preservation of the moral order neither the laws and sanctions of the temporal power are sufficient, nor is the beauty of virtue and the expounding of its necessity. Religious authority must enter in to enlighten the mind, to direct the will, and to strengthen human frailty by the assistance of divine grace. Such an authority is found nowhere save in the Church instituted by Christ the Lord. Hence We earnestly exhort in the Lord all those who hold the reins of power that they establish and maintain firmly harmony and friendship with this Church of Christ so that through the united activity and energy of both powers the tremendous evils, fruits of those wanton liberties which assail both marriage and the family and are a menace to both Church and State, may be effectively frustrated. {Para. 124}

Governments can assist the Church greatly in the execution of its important office, if, in laying down their ordinances, they take account of what is prescribed by divine and ecclesiastical law, and if penalties are fixed for offenders. For as it is, there are those who think that whatever is permitted by the laws of the State, or at least is not punished by them, is allowed also in the moral order, and, because they neither fear God nor see any reason to fear the laws of man, they act even against their conscience, thus often bringing ruin upon themselves and upon many others. There will be no peril to or lessening of the rights and integrity of the State from its association with the Church. Such suspicion and fear is empty and groundless, as Leo Xlll has already so clearly set forth: “It is generally agreed,” he says, “that the Founder of the Church, Jesus Christ, wished the spiritual power to be distinct from the civil, and each to be free and unhampered in doing its own work, not forgetting, however, that it is expedient to both, and in the interest of everybody, that there be a harmonious relationship. . . If the civil power combines in a friendly manner with the spiritual power of the Church, it necessarily follows that both parties will greatly benefit. The dignity of the State will be enhanced, and with religion as its guide, there will never be a rule that is not just; while for the Church there will be at hand a safeguard and defense which will operate to the public good of the faithful.” {Para. 125}

The message of Catholic teachings that many reject out-of-hand

A formed conscience in accord with the natural law is the message of the truth of Casti Connubii. The natural law as an extension of the eternal law written on the hearts of mankind demands a clear interpreter with technology changing at a pace so rapid that moral concerns are subordinate to achieving anything theoretically possible in a scientific sense, e.g., the cloning of human beings. If this interpretation is left to each individual or group in society with a vested interested in the aforementioned scientific achievement, totally devoid of any moral concerns, then as a society, the common good will have given way to anarchy. Who or what will be a better moral interpreter of the natural law if not the Church founded by a God Who gave it to mankind, as we are told in Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio, On the Peace of Christ in His Kingdom, Encyclical of Pope Pius XI, December 23, 1922.

We have already seen and come to the conclusion that the principal cause of the confusion, restlessness, and dangers which are so prominent a characteristic of false peace is the weakening of the binding force of law and lack of respect for authority, effects which logically follow upon denial of the truth that authority comes from God, the Creator and Universal Law-giver. {Para. 39}

The only remedy for such state of affairs is the peace of Christ since the peace of Christ is the peace of God, which could not exist if it did not enjoin respect for law, order, and the rights of authority. In the Holy Scriptures We read: “My children, keep discipline in peace.” (Ecclesiasticus xli, 17) “Much peace have they that love the law, O Lord.” (Psalms cxviii, 165) “He that feareth the commandment, shall dwell in peace.” (Proverbs xiii, 13) Jesus Christ very expressly states: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” (Matt. xxii, 21) He even recognized that Pilate possessed authority from on High (John xiv, 11) as he acknowledged that the scribes and Pharisees who though unworthy sat in the chair of Moses (Matt. xxiii, 2) were not without a like authority. In Joseph and Mary, Jesus respected the natural authority of parents and was subject to them for the greater part of His life. (Luke ii, 51) He also taught, by the voice of His Apostle, the same important doctrine: “Let every soul be subject to higher powers: for there is no power but from God.” (Romans xiii, 1; cf. also 1 Peter ii, 13, 18) {Para. 40}

If we stop to reflect for a moment that these ideals and doctrines of Jesus Christ, for example, his teachings on the necessity and value of the spiritual life, on the dignity and sanctity of human life, on the duty of obedience, on the divine basis of human government, on the sacramental character of matrimony and by consequence the sanctity of family life — if we stop to reflect, let us repeat, that these ideals and doctrines of Christ (which are in fact but a portion of the treasury of truth which He left to mankind) were confided by Him to His Church and to her alone for safekeeping, and that He has promised that His aid will never fail her at any time for she is the infallible teacher of His doctrines in every century and before all nations, there is no one who cannot clearly see what a singularly important role the Catholic Church is able to play, and is even called upon to assume, in providing a remedy for the ills which afflict the world today and in leading mankind toward a universal peace. {Para. 41}

Because the Church is by divine institution the sole depository and interpreter of the ideals and teachings of Christ, she alone possesses in any complete and true sense the power effectively to combat that materialistic philosophy which has already done and, still threatens, such tremendous harm to the home and to the state. The Church alone can introduce into society and maintain therein the prestige of a true, sound spiritualism, the spiritualism of Christianity which both from the point of view of truth and of its practical value is quite superior to any exclusively philosophical theory. The Church is the teacher and an example of world good-will, for she is able to inculcate and develop in mankind the “true spirit of brotherly love” (St. Augustine, De Moribus Ecclesiae Catholicae, i, 30) and by raising the public estimation of the value and dignity of the individual’s soul help thereby to lift us even unto God. {Para. 42}

Finally, the Church is able to set both public and private life on the road to righteousness by demanding that everything and all men become obedient to God “Who beholdeth the heart,” to His commands, to His laws, to His sanctions. If the teachings of the Church could only penetrate in some such manner as We have described the inner recesses of the consciences of mankind, be they rulers or be they subjects, all eventually would be so apprised of their personal and civic duties and their mutual responsibilities that in a short time “Christ would be all, and in all.” (Colossians iii, 11) {Para. 43}

An answer to the confusion of those who seek a geopolitical utopia solely via natural means and institutions is given in the following sections of Ubi Arcano. (Hint, it is not found in the UN, contrary to some prominent voices in the Vatican today).

Since the Church is the safe and sure guide to conscience, for to her safe-keeping alone there has been confided the doctrines and the promise of the assistance of Christ, she is able not only to bring about at the present hour a peace that is truly the peace of Christ, but can, better than any other agency which We know of, contribute greatly to the securing of the same peace for the future, to the making impossible of war in the future. For the Church teaches (she alone has been given by God the mandate and the right to teach with authority) that not only our acts as individuals but also as groups and as nations must conform to the eternal law of God. In fact, it is much more important that the acts of a nation follow God’s law, since on the nation rests a much greater responsibility for the consequences of its acts than on the individual. {Para. 44}

When, therefore, governments and nations follow in all their activities, whether they be national or international, the dictates of conscience grounded in the teachings, precepts, and example of Jesus Christ, and which are binding on each and every individual, then only can we have faith in one another’s word and trust in the peaceful solution of the difficulties and controversies which may grow out of differences in point of view or from clash of interests. An attempt in this direction has already and is now being made; its results, however, are almost negligible and, especially so, as far as they can be said to affect those major questions which divide seriously and serve to arouse nations one against the other. No merely human institution of today can be as successful in devising a set of international laws which will be in harmony with world conditions as the Middle Ages were in the possession of that true League of Nations, Christianity. It cannot be denied that in the Middle Ages this law was often violated; still it always existed as an ideal, according to which one might judge the acts of nations, and a beacon light calling those who had lost their way back to the safe road. {Para. 45}

There exists an institution able to safeguard the sanctity of the law of nations. This institution is a part of every nation; at the same time it is above all nations. She enjoys, too, the highest authority, the fullness of the teaching power of the Apostles. Such an institution is the Church of Christ. She alone is adapted to do this great work, for she is not only divinely commissioned to lead mankind, but moreover, because of her very make-up and the constitution which she possesses, by reason of her age-old traditions and her great prestige, which has not been lessened but has been greatly increased since the close of the War, cannot but succeed in such a venture where others assuredly will fail. {Para. 46}

It is, therefore, a fact which cannot be questioned that the true peace of Christ can only exist in the Kingdom of Christ — “the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.” It is no less unquestionable that, in doing all we can to bring about the re-establishment of Christ’s kingdom, we will be working most effectively toward a lasting world peace. Pius X in taking as his motto “To restore all things in Christ” was inspired from on High to lay the foundations of that “work of peace” which became the program and principal task of Benedict XV. These two programs of Our Predecessors We desire to unite in one — the re-establishment of the Kingdom of Christ by peace in Christ — “the peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ.” With might and main We shall ever strive to bring about this peace, putting Our trust in God, Who when He called Us to the Chair of Peter, promised that the divine assistance would never fail Us. We ask that all assist and co-operate with Us in this Our mission. Particularly We ask you to aid us, Venerable Brothers, you, His sheep, whom Our leader and Lord, Jesus Christ, has called to feed and to watch over as the most precious portion of His flock, which comprises all mankind. For, it is you whom the “Holy Ghost hath placed to rule the Church of God” (Acts xx, 28), you to whom above all, and principally, God “hath given the ministry of reconciliation, and who for Christ therefore are ambassadors.” (II Cor. v, 18, 20) You participate in His teaching power and are “the dispensers of the mysteries of God.” (I Cor. iv, 1) You have been called by Him “the salt of the earth,” “the light of the world” (Matt. v, 13, 14), fathers and teachers of Christian peoples, “a pattern of the flock from the heart” (I Peter v, 3), and “you shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. v, 19) In fine, you are the links of gold, as it were, by which “the whole body of Christ, which is the Church, is held compacted and fitly joined together” (Ephesians iv, 15, 16), built as it is on the solid rock of Peter. {Para. 49}

The duty of Catholic philosophy is to present to the world arguments from reason that reinforce faith to underscore the truth of the traditional teaching of the Church in regard to the earthly reign of Christ the King leading ultimately to a Kingdom not of this world.