[FROM THE ARCHIVE: November 29, 2023, originally titled “Religion & Fascism: Examination of Conscience in a Time of Advent”]
Unfortunately, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference has embarrassed itself again by declaring that their number one priority this upcoming presidential election year will be: Abortion.
Not the destruction of democracy and rule of law; and not even Climate Change, the subject of a major and much heralded encyclical by Pope Francis and, more recently, an apostolic exhortation. In the latter, titled Laudate Deum, the pope calls out the United States in particular for its lifestyle that uses seven times the amount of fossil fuel energy per person than persons of the Global South.
Did that touch the moral conscience of American Catholic bishops?
Religion contributed mightily to the selling of fascism in the 1930s via Fr. Coughlin’s antisemitic radio program, which reached 30 million listeners in a population of about 150 million.
Mussolini, Franco and Hitler used the church in their reigns of terror, just as many white evangelicals back today’s version.
The recent papacies of JP II and Benedict XVI made it their priority to destroy liberation theology in Latin America, in cahoots with the then Opus-Dei driven CIA. And to appoint young hierarchy in their own image, many of whom are still operating today.
The outsized role that Opus Dei and its philosophy carries with the current Supreme Court is clear. Leo Leonardo is their poster boy. Opus Dei is the brain child of the most corrupt, misogynist and fastest-declared-“saint” in history, Jose Escriva, a fascist Spanish priest whose followers were on the cabinet of Spanish fascist dictator Franco for years.
Fascism with its extreme homophobia and misogynist anti-abortion politics seem to hold a special appeal to some Roman Catholic hierarchy in America today. Consider Archbishop Strickland, Cardinal Burke, his buddy Steve Bannon and the Opus Dei archbishop of Los Angeles, for starters, the latter having led the National Conference of Bishops for several years, including canonizing Junipero Serra.
Let the season of Advent be a fitting time for collective examination of conscience regarding religion’s role in the history of American fascism.
Adapted from Matthew Fox, The Pope’s War: Why Ratzinger’s Secret Crusade Has Imperiled the Church and How It Can be Saved, pp. 106-144
And Fox, Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society.
Banner image: “The Sacrifice: The Rise of Fascism.” Image by Daniel Arrhakis on Flickr.
Queries for Contemplation
Do you think abortion should be religion’s number one priority in the upcoming presidential year? If not, what would be your number one priority?
Recommended Reading
Letters to Pope Francis
Matthew Fox challenges the new Pope to live up to the promise of his namesake St. Francis and reshape a church that has been mired in corruption and bereft of authentic spirituality and rigorous theological debate. Former Dominican priest Matthew Fox presents a series of heartfelt letters to his brother in Christ about the great challenges facing the church today, drawing from the deep spiritual and theological sources that have been suppressed since Vatican II, and implores him to restore the sensus fidelium (the sense of the faithful) and reshape a church with justice and compassion.
Sins of the Spirit, Blessings of the Flesh: Transforming Evil in Soul and Society
Visionary theologian and best-selling author Matthew Fox offers a new theology of evil that fundamentally changes the traditional perception of good and evil and points the way to a more enlightened treatment of ourselves, one another, and all of nature. In comparing the Eastern tradition of the 7 chakras to the Western tradition of the 7 capital sins, Fox allows us to think creatively about our capacity for personal and institutional evil and what we can do about them.
“A scholarly masterpiece embodying a better vision and depth of perception far beyond the grasp of any one single science. A breath-taking analysis.” — Diarmuid O’Murchu, author of Quantum Theology: Spiritual Implications of the New Physics
3 thoughts on “Religion & Fascism: Examination of Conscience”
Wow! Another powerful DM from the spiritual prophet Matthew and his DM team. God’s Spirit of Truth, Peace, and Justice is truly with you and the team. Over the years, your prophetic voice through your books and DMs have sensitized me to the ongoing history of patriarchal and institutional (including the church, and recently Christofacism) racism, violence, and injustices (especially the last 500 years) mainly towards indigenous peoples, women (misogyny), minorities, and the environment (ecocide). These destructive trends and history in society have gotten worse the last century and now the beginning of this century with more wars, social inequities, environmental degradation, and the growth of fascism and Christofacism, even in the US with an ominous presidential election before us in November.
God’s ’arc of Justice’ is indeed long and I admire all spiritual warriors who fight for Truth, Peace & Social Justice for humanity and our Sacred Mother Earth with faith, compassion and courage, and All the common good people in the world who maintain their faith and acts of goodness, joy, and love in their daily lives and responsibilities with others. The virtues of Faith, Hope, and Love are indeed spiritually essential on our personal and communal spiritual journeys of evolution of Our Souls and Consciousness to the PRESENCE of GOD’S SPIRIT of DIVINE LOVE within and among Us… COSMIC CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS….
Amen. It is hard to keep the faith in the face of such corruption, but that is what we are called to do in every way that we can.
Dear Matthew, first congratulations on your clarity and prophetism. Unfortunately this is a worldwide reality. In Brazil, Christofacism is also a reality and the position of the church is the same.