Heaven’s Gatekeepers: The Human Cost of “Spiritual Warfare”
Barron Mind, A Series of Grievances
On all things wrong (and some things right) with the Catholic Church...
When that pair of disciples encountered an anonymous Jesus on the Road to Emmaus two thousand years ago, they stopped, spoke, and ultimately broke bread with him—today, the average Christian, at least in the US, may be more liable to “stand their ground” and open fire. That was apparently the case with Andrew Lester, the 84-year-old man who shot 16-year-old Ralph Yarl for approaching his door on April 13th. Per the Kansas City Star, Lester’s grandson describes the alleged shooter’s politics as “stock Fox News, conservative American stuff. It’s ‘anybody who gets an abortion is a murderer.’ And ‘fatherless Black families are the reason why crime exists in this country.’” Yarl’s assault occurred within a week of the killing of 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis and shooting injuries of high school cheerleaders Peyton Washington and Heather Roth, which likewise occurred within the context of mistaken location.
Concurrent with these tragedies, Catholics™ were embroiled in a seemingly unrelated rhetorical war over the scope, limits and applications of sacramental grace. First, the lordless (and lawless) EWTN rōnin over at Pillar Catholic stirred the Trad Cath hornets’ nest with confidentially sourced reporting on the Archdiocese of Chicago’s “restrictions'' on Adoration during the (again, very silly and disingenuous) “Eucharistic Revival.” More interestingly, noted author and co-founder of Black Catholic Messenger Alessandra Harris broke Catholic Twitter (in all the expected, ugly ways) with her brave Where Peter Is recounting of a priest callously denying absolution to a teenage family member (adding salt and leaven to the Christly wound, Harris also drew an empathetic analogy to the Church’s continued mistreatment of LGBTQ+ people). And finally, Catholic Answers (no one asked for) published an antiquated, cruel and wholly incorrect “your unbaptized baby is in purgatory” explainer (love being part of a religion which plants that nightmare scenario in the minds of grieving parents).
In the novel context of everyday gun violence actually garnering national attention, all this sanctimonious “angels on the head of a pin” quibbling actually proves both illuminating and infuriating. Because for all the talk of “Revival” and bringing “healing” to a “broken world,” the US Church seems more intent than ever on giving us hell.
Waste of Grace
Not long before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a US diocese was considering whether and how to revitalize its approach to youth ministry. The highlights included emphasizing belonging and acceptance, offering genuine accompaniment and nonjudgmental mentorship, and helping them navigate the many challenges of their lives rooted in and guided by faith. Not exactly rocket science, and yet at least one bishop remained skeptical. “But how,” he asked, “does this lead them back to the altar?” It never went anywhere, and in this case the typical “what about me?” clerical myopia proved a sort of anti-prophecy: teen mental health soon worsened (especially among girls and LGBTQ+ youth) and young adults lead the pack in the pandemic-accelerated religious exodus.
It’s easy to argue with the good bishop’s obtuse priorities: no one in their right mind will approach your altar when you don’t give a shit about their lives. But honestly, what’s the point? Whatever their pious platitudes, the most vocal adherents of sacramental absolutism don’t actually seem like they want anyone stepping to the altar at all. This same bishop, for instance, later showed no qualms about overstating the dearth of Church Teaching on gender identity in order to bolster the case for discriminating against trans youth in Catholic schools (hard to “lead them to the altar” when they aren’t allowed through the doors). And in terms of the the reactions to Harris’ account of reconciliatory insensitivities, rather than pause to appreciate the mere fact of someone under age 50 entering a confessional in the first place, many die-hard Catholic commentators (professional, clerical and otherwise) were far more concerned with defending a priest’s supposed ontological authority to spiritually abuse a teenager.
Because we all know the Church isn’t actually committed to deepening the ranks of the communion of saints—whether on earth or above. If it was, we wouldn’t have people unable to receive Communion across Africa due to the lack of available male priests, just as we wouldn’t have churches closing and combining in the US for much the same reason. We wouldn’t still be debating married priests and women deacons in the Amazon, especially since lay indigenous women have long been baptizing across the region out of pastoral necessity. And we wouldn’t be pointing fingers at everyone deemed too queer, too Democrat, or simply too human to merit Divine Mercy.
Hell Bent
While the resulting spiritual and psychological harm is significant in itself, this powder keg of indifference to human suffering and institutional defensiveness contributes to a broader secular culture of material violence and harm. “Devout Catholic” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, along with his Knights of the Ku Klux Congress, are currently seeking to legislate a “religious” prerogative to deny sinners (define as you will) actual fucking health care. In terms of gun violence, when White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called for an assault weapons ban in the wake of the past week’s spate of shootings, Joseph Strickland—Bishop of Tyler, TX and perennial “say the quiet part out loud” Twitter troll—responded with the following (unsolicited) quip:
“I must correct you, KJP, the leading cause of death for children is abortion…period. And by the way your boss aggressively promotes this leading cause of death for children.”
Given that the USCCB itself issued its own call for an assault weapons ban in 2022, you’d think Bishop Strickland’s casual deflecting of the shooting deaths of young people in order to score cheap political points on abortion might raise some episcopal consternation. But, as previously covered regarding the proximity of US Catholicism and gun culture, the Bishops know their audience: it’s George Zimmerman, that other “devout” Catholic and former altar server who pursued and shot Black teenager Trayvon Martin to death; it’s unhinged anti-abortion activist and conservative Catholic folk hero Abby Johnson, who participated in the January 6th insurrection and encourages police to racially profile her adopted biracial son.
Yes, though the US Bishops may rail against “bending” to the culture when it comes to progressive politics (and basic human decency), in terms of the AR15-toting, “BLM immigrant transsexuals are coming to pillage and plunder your privilege and women” populism, their spines have snapped entirely. And it makes sense: the Conference needs these chuckleheads too much to ever risk going the way of Cupich, McElroy or any of the other capos of the sedevacantist conspiracy board. As their own anti-Francis agenda has more than demonstrated, so-called “reverence” tends to end at the “Traditional” Latin Morass and the grinding of their socio-political ax.
Deranged Fruit
And this is perhaps the most damning condemnation of all: even the USCCB’s own flock knows they have no moral authority. Even if the Bishops are genuinely concerned about, say, the roughly 115 people killed by guns per day this year alone (Logan Roy voice: “I’ve got my fucking suspicions”), the Andrew Lester’s of the world, with their OAN-drone, “abortion is more murder than actually shooting someone” American Christology runs the show. That was certainly the case when EWTN canceled the once-popular “Morning Glory” program, ceding to audience outrage over host Gloria Purvis’ accurate relaying of Church Teaching on racism following the murder of George Floyd. (EWTN came under fire this past week in a Faithful America petition to the USCCB, which describes the “news” and devotional outlet as “promoting far-right MAGA perspectives and misinformation” and “spreading outright Christian nationalism,” terms which could also aptly be applied to Fox News itself.)
So this is where we are, I suppose: precluding babies from Heaven, content to watch the (gun)fire of Hell to ring out at doorsteps and in driveways and in parked vehicles. (As long as that trans sports ban goes through, amiright???) There are other ways, of course. I recall a priest in Honduras, who, when gunfire erupted outside his church during Mass, descended from the pulpit and charged into the street, commanding the violence to cease. He, I guess, was less concerned with “bringing them to the altar” than with bringing altar witness to the suffering in his midst. Go figure.
Perturbed,
G. Fault
(Note: I try to stay focused on US Church shenanigans, but I did find it noteworthy that, per the in New York Times, lawmakers in Uganda are using textbook Catholic stridency in bolstering highly punitive anti-LGBTQ+ laws, promising to “protect the sanctity of the family and children against ‘the sin of homosexuality.’” Nice to know the Church really is Universal.)
[Correction: An earlier version of this blog mistakenly reported that Ralph Yarl had been killed. Thankfully, Yarl is alive and currently recovering.]