Post-Election: the Law of Politics is the Salvation of Souls

This past Tuesday, American Catholics – and all of those fighting for the rights for the lives of the unborn – were dealt another setback with the loss of 5 constitutional Amendments to safeguard the unborn in Montana, Kentucky, Vermont, Michigan, and California. This is similar to what happened in 2020 when the US Supreme Court struck down a Louisiana law that would have led to fewer abortions. Thankfully, Roe v Wade was reversed this year in a historic victory but the battle ahead to change hearts and minds is far from over.

We cannot rely on secular institutions to do what can be done only by the Church. Our efforts as Catholics must be directed at converting souls, hearts, and minds to the Traditional Catholic Faith. Only then will life be protected. Secular laws enacted by governments that are not founded on Catholic principles will never do what evangelization alone can do. Secular laws are not a replacement for divine law. We must make abortion unthinkable in America not primarily by passing legal restrictions (although these are certainly good and meritorious since they help prevent the weak and pressured from murdering their children). Our focus must instead be anchored in Catholic doctrine.

By helping form another generation of true Traditional Catholics we can make abortion unthinkable. Abortion is a two-fold murder – first, it destroys sanctifying grace in the mother’s soul who murders the child. It also destroys any grace in those who perform or help foster, encourage, fund, or support the murder of human life in any way. But it even more tragically sentences the child (a truly human life with an immortal soul) to an eternity away from God. Baptism is necessary for salvation. These aborted babies are not baptized. We are not aware of any way how aborted children can go to Heaven. While we trust in God’s mercy that they will spend an eternity in Limbo away from the fires of Hell, they will ultimately never see the face of God in Heaven since they were deprived of Baptism. Aborted babies do not go to Heaven.

This reality, which is hardly taught even by Catholic priests anymore who fear offending people, must be proclaimed even more loudly. How many souls have been deprived of Heaven because of secular governments divorced from God’s laws and founded on the false principle of man’s rights? The United States was founded on the notion that the government derives its ability to govern from the consent of the people – directly contrary to the Lord and His Church which affirms that all authority comes from God (cf. Romans 13:1) and governments traditionally obtained the ability to govern by divine right, leading to the consecration and coronation of the monarch.

The failures of America and the world as a whole including formerly Catholic nations like Ireland, Spain, and Italy to prevent divorce, artificial contraception, and abortion all stem from the rapid onset of Modernism which continues to obscure the truths of life, government, and God. The errors of French Revolution and the so-called “Enlightenment” continue to pollute our minds, our schools, our institutions, and even our seminaries and priests.

There is only one supreme law and that is not the United States Constitution. It is not a document of the United States, the United Nations, or the EU. It is also not the Code of Canon Law. It is not a document published by the Vatican. The Supreme Law of the Church is the Salvation of Souls. And that law is what must be the cornerstone of all efforts or else they will fail. As King David reminds us, all our efforts if not based on the Lord’s true law and true Church will fail: “Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it” (Psalms 126:1).

All Catholics must work for the salvation of souls with an ardent and generous spirit. This is not optional. This commitment must underscore our day to day lives. We must be missionaries to our families, our friends, and everyone we meet. Everyone must know that we are Catholics. And our efforts at converting others by our example, our charity, and our unwavering commitment to the Faith will be our tools to make abortion unthinkable. And in addition to this, let us support Catholic pro-life work which understands that we are above all fighting for the salvation of souls, not just for earthly lives. Pro-life activism is needed to change the mind of the next generation and to support women in need. This coupled with true Catholic doctrine on the necessity of baptism and all Catholic dogma, rooted in traditional liturgy and a true desire for a holy life, are necessary.