Unholy Vatican Alliance: Social Justice and the Society of Jesuits
Unholy Vatican Alliance: Social Justice and the Society of Jesuits [1]
By Stuart P. Quint
Paul warns Christians to flee from worldly philosophy that deceives and destroys faith in the truth: “Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.”[2]
One of the most ominous forms of worldly philosophy today is social justice. Rome and her Jesuits weaponize social justice against Christianity.
Social justice attacks the absolute authority of God’s Word. It contradicts the truth of the gospel. By denying what the Bible teaches on human beings, the cause and nature of sin, and salvation, social justice is a manmade invention that opposes true Christianity.
The documentary “By What Standard” shows examples of the havoc of social justice wrought in the Southern Baptist Convention, America’s largest Protestant denomination.[3] Church leaders and believers must resist the infiltration of social justice and its cancer of ethnic politics, false guilt, women pastors, and embrace of the transgender agenda.
Unfortunately, many Reformed seminaries[4] and evangelical leaders have compromised by adopting social justice. Popular author and leader Tim Keller preaches social justice[5] and its Marxist roots.[6] Other advocates include Russell Moore[7], Matt Chandler[8], Jemar Tisby[9], and Jarvis Williams[10].
Social justice is not merely a matter of American politics. It concerns the gospel of Jesus Christ in our day around the world. Just ask believers in South Africa and Latin America.
Social Justice Seeks Broad Restructuring of Society at Christians’ Expense
The United Nations defines social justice as “the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth. Social justice is not possible without strong and coherent redistributive policies conceived and implemented by public agencies.”[11]
Although the UN emphasizes “the fruits of economic growth”, social justice does not limit itself to monetary issues. Social justice touches other issues such as immigration and open borders, attack on the Biblical family, radical environmentalism, and aggressive ecumenical efforts toward one world religion. Future articles will examine these issues and Rome’s involvement.
Something even more ominous is that the UN considers belief in Biblical Christianity as antithetical to social justice! “Present-day believers in an absolute truth identified with virtue and justice are neither willing nor desirable companions for the defenders of social justice.”[12]
While many definitions exist[13], most people today agree that social justice includes these elements:
- The problems in the world boil down to the “hegemony” of “oppressing” groups that deprive “oppressed” groups of “power and equality”. All groups deserve equal opportunity, resources, and outcomes.
- People are divided into groups of “haves” and “have nots. (The official terms are “the oppressors” and “the oppressed”.) Additionally, a person’s identity is rooted primarily in his/her group, not as an individual created in the image of God.
- The solution to these imbalances is redistribution. A wiser power (the government) has the authority and responsibility of “redistributing” resources from the “haves” to the “have nots. Alleviating the misery of “the oppressed” is insufficient. Rather, government must restructure the institutions that make this “oppression” of power persist.[14]
If this sounds like Marxism, it is!
However, whereas Marx was solely focused on “rectifying” the economic aspect of people’s lives, social justice has a lot more in mind. Social justice seeks revolutionary change of political and social structures as well. Hence, social justice is often referred to as “cultural Marxism”.[15]
“Black Lives Matter” (BLM) is a recent and prominent example of a movement that aggressively pushes social justice in America. Their website seeks a comprehensive restructuring of society beyond mere elevation of their “Black” identity above all others.[16] BLM promotes radical feminism, transgenderism, and opposition to the nuclear family. Specific policies they seek include the abolition of police and prisons as well as reparations to “oppressed groups”. Advocates openly trumpet LGBTQA+[17] and Palestinian resistance against Israel.[18]
Today’s iteration of social justice also has deep roots in the Roman Catholic Church.
Rome Opens the Door of Liberation Theology to Embrace Marx
Since the Industrial Revolution at the end of the nineteenth century, the Roman Catholic Church confined its understanding of social justice as simply organizing workers into collectives to advocate for the rights of the poor. However, this concept evolved after Vatican Council II in the 1960’s.
The emergence of liberation theology[19] attracted a significant faction within the Roman Catholic Church. Appealing to Thomas Aquinas, many believed they should do more than mere acts of charity for the poor.
“…whatever certain people have in superabundance is due, by natural law, to the purpose of succoring the poor… In cases of need, all things are common property, so that there would seem to be no sin in taking another’s property, for need has made it common. …it is lawful for a man to succor his own need by means of another’s property by taking it either openly or secretly; nor is this, properly speaking, theft and robbery…. It is not theft, properly speaking, to take secretly and use another’s property in a case of extreme need; because that which he takes for the support of his life becomes his own property by reason of that need…. In a case of a like need a man may also take secretly another’s property in order to succor his neighbor in need.”[20]
They believed that the poor needed to be freed from the “oppression” of social and economic structures that kept them down. Such “liberation” often included violent means like the Marxist uprisings in Cuba, Grenada, and Trinidad.[21] According to a former Romanian KGB general, the similarities are more than mere coincidence.[22]
The Jesuits, the largest order in the Roman Catholic Church,[23] have been champions of liberation theology since its emergence in the 1960’s. Jesuit Pope Francis has rehabilitated the reputation of the pioneers of liberation theology after previous popes had isolated them.[24]
Current Jesuit Successor General Arturo de Sosa, with the blessing of Pope Francis, lists social justice as one of the four “Universal Apostolic Priorities” for the Jesuit order:
“Turning to the second U.A.P. (‘to walk with the poor, the outcasts of the world, those whose dignity has been violated, in a mission of reconciliation and justice’), Father Sosa writes, ‘the path we seek to follow with the poor is one that promotes social justice and the change of economic, political and social structures that generate injustice; this path is a necessary dimension of the reconciliation of individuals, peoples, and their cultures with one another, with nature, and with God.’”[25]
The Jesuits do not limit their definition of “the poor, the outcasts of the world” solely to those who are living in economic poverty.
Bryan Massingale, SJ, a theology professor at Jesuit Fordham University in New York, does not limit “justice” to this one category. Indeed, his words echo the platform of BLM.
First, Massingale calls upon his reader to experience “soul sickness” over the sin of “racism” (being part of an “oppressing group” that lords “power” over an “oppressed group”).
”This soul sickness can only be healed by deep prayer. Yes, we need social reforms. We need equal educational opportunities, changed police practices, equitable access to health care, an end to employment and housing discrimination. But only an invasion of divine love will shatter the small images of God that enable us to live undisturbed by the racism that benefits some and terrorizes so many.[26]
Massingale also equates the LGBTQA+ movement with African Americans (again, like BLM):
“My whole ministry, in some way, has been to help the Church catch up to God, to help the Church understand that God has already gifted people of color with dignity and value and worth, and God has already gifted LGBT people with dignity, value, and worth.”[27]
What is also quite interesting is his allusion to contemplative mysticism, an alleged subjective way to open oneself “access to God” by emptying one’s mind of reason and filling it with one’s imagination (or worse, contact with the spiritual world of demons). Massingale offers a mystical remedy to assuage the guilt of the listener’s “soul sickness” over systemic racism:
“In her essay, ‘The Desire for God and the Transformative Power of Contemplation’, Baltimore Carmelite Sr. Constance FitzGerald writes, ‘The time will come when God’s light will invade our lives and show us everything we have avoided seeing. Then will be manifest the confinement of our carefully constructed meanings, the limitations of our life projects, the fragility of the support systems or infrastructures on which we depend … [and] the darkness in our own heart.’”[28]
In her essay, the nun Constance FitzGerald makes some disturbing connections between social justice issues and Jesuit mysticism.[29] Her essay is dedicated to Barbara Brennan, a nun who led the reintroduction of mysticism for Catholics and others in America post Vatican II. Brennan worked closely with Jesuit schools. She propagated feminist theology and “new cosmology”. Pope Francis was the first to give her a warm reception.[30]
FitzGerald refers to another Brazilian female theologian and mystic, Maria Clara Bingemer. Her citation itself is part of a collection dedicated to Peruvian priest Gustavo Gutierrez, one of the fathers of liberation theology.[31]
Constance FitzGerald also cites her own work on the mystic John of the Cross in a book edited by Tilden Edwards. The founder of the ecumenical Shalem Institute, Edwards declared contemplative mysticism as “the Western bridge to Far Eastern spirituality.”[32]
Remember that a major foundation of the Jesuit order is the mystical Spiritual Disciplines of Ignatius de Loyola.[33] Contemplative mysticism deadens reason and heightens subjective feeling.[34] It also brainwashes the practitioner to submit to his superiors by making his thinking more “flexible”.[35]
Could such “flexible” thinking inspire BLM sympathizers to attack the truth of “2 + 2 = 4”[36], music theory[37], and Biblical values of hard work, delayed gratification, and even politeness[38] as “racist” concepts?
God condemns those who distort truth: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”[39]
Jesuit Collaboration with Radical Social Justice Today[40]
Despite the Vatican’s assertion that BLM is peaceful,[41] significant violence in many American cities has ensued in 2020. Battles with police, destruction of small businesses and homes, and vandalism of historical landmarks are signs of turmoil. Citizens, especially those whom BLM alleges to help, have suffered irreparable loss of property and lives.[42]
It is noteworthy that Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, voices his support for ongoing massive protests,[43] yet he aggressively bans gatherings of churches and even small home fellowships.[44] Newsom has tight connections to the Jesuits. “I have deep faith and devotion to our churches, I grew up in the church and went to a Jesuit university…”[45] He also appointed Greg Boyle, a Jesuit priest, to his economic task force on reopening the economy.[46]
Near the Seattle riots in the CHAZ,[47] Cyrus Habib, a member of the Platform Committee for the 2016 national Democratic Party convention,[48] is resigning as Lieutenant Governor of Washington State to become a Jesuit priest.[49] He is an ardent supporter of social justice, including BLM.[50]
Rome and her Jesuits are providing both material and moral support for this evil.
The Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD)[51] collects funds on a regular basis from US Catholic parishes. Established by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1969, CCHD seeks to “empower the poor and educate others about the root causes of poverty.”[52]
The next line reveals this fund is more than simply about charity: “The belief that those who are directly affected by unjust systems and structures have the best insight into knowing how to change them is central to CCHD.”[53]
CCHD is serious about changing what they consider “unjust systems and structures” by whatever means they consider necessary, even revolution.
According to the Catholic Lepanto Institute, “…many Catholics do not realize… [its] very core is a philosophy of revolutionary leftist ideologies.”[54] The CCHD has funded groups promoting homosexuality, abortion, birth control, prostitution, and socialism. Yet, the core mission of CCHD is “convincing Catholics to fund Marxist revolution in the United States.”[55]
The CCHD has sent hundreds of thousands of dollars to radical groups involved in warring with police in New York, Chicago, Houston, and New Orleans.[56] The website of the Worker’s Center of Central New York displays a clenched red fist, a popular Marxist emblem.[57] They call for violent revolution:
“…these riots and lootings are taking back what the masses of working black and brown communities are owed. Riots and protests are necessary tools and we fully support… An injury to one is a[n] injury to all.”[58]
Pope Francis openly promotes the new outpouring of liberation theology: “Today, we old people laugh about how worried we were about liberation theology.”[59]
Conclusion: Wake Up, Christian!
No matter where you live, social justice is a threat to believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
What can you do?
First, make sure you are not falling for the lies of social justice. Paul commands, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”[60]
The greatest threat to Christians comes not from the outside world of rioters and their wicked sponsors “in the high places”. Rather, the greatest threat of social justice is to our loyalty to the true gospel of Jesus Christ.[61] Many professing evangelicals are being swept up by social justice.
Second, ask God for wisdom how to help other people who are enslaved by the deceit of social justice. Recognize that not everyone who espouses social justice is necessarily a diehard Marxist revolutionary. Ask God for wisdom how to approach such people.
Follow Paul’s instruction. “In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth…”[62]
Given the vicious seduction of social justice, you also need to be patient and pray. Only God can grant a person repentance and freedom from Satan’s trap: “And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.” [63]
[1] The official name for the Jesuits is “the Society of Jesus”. Yet, since Jesuits work to undermine the teachings of Christ, it follows that the Jesuit agenda opposes, not upholds, Christ. Hence, they are dubbed “the Society of Jesuits”, not “of Jesus”.
[2] Colossians 2:8. Unless otherwise stated, all Bible verses come from the King James Version.
[3] Documentary by Dr. Tom Ascol, “By What Standard: God’s World… God’s Rules”, (June 8,2020: Founders Ministries) on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFHfa0s1XLM accessed on August 8, 2020.
[4] https://capstonereport.com/2020/06/25/crisis-southern-baptist-theological-seminary-training-social-justice-warriors/34578/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[5] See https://christianintellectual.com/the-theological-problem-with-tim-kellers-so-called-social-justice/. For a thorough review of Keller’s admiration for “justice” activism identical to Liberation Theology, see Timothy F. Kauffman, “Workers of the Church, Unite! The Radical, Marxist Foundation of Keller’s Social Gospel”, The Trinity Review, March-June 2014 on http://trinityfoundation.org/PDF/The%20Trinity%20Review%20Review%20317%20Workers%20of%20the%20Church%20Unite%20KauffmanonKeller.pdf . Both accessed on August 5, 2020.
[6] Keller writes how in college he was “heavily influenced by the neo-Marxist critical theory of the Frankfurt School. In 1968, this was heady stuff. The social activism was particularly attractive, and the critique of American bourgeoisie society was compelling…” Tim Keller, The Reason for God (2008: Dutton, New York), 11-12. See http://www.newcalvinist.com/kellers-political-motivation/ accessed on August 6, 2020.
[7] See https://www.russellmoore.com/2018/09/07/the-gospel-and-social-injustice-part-1/ accessed on August 5, 2020.
[8] http://preacherboy316pt2.blogspot.com/2018/04/matt-chandler-calls-social-justice.html accessed on August 6, 2020.
[9] https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/reviews/color-compromise/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[10] https://thewayofimprovement.com/2019/08/08/southern-baptist-anti-social-justice-warriors-and-race/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[11] https://www.un.org/esa/socdev/documents/ifsd/SocialJustice.pdf accessed on August 6, 2020.
[12] Idem.
[13] Jesuit writers admit the diversity of definitions of social justice. https://brill.com/view/journals/jjs/6/4/article-p651_651.xml?language=en accessed on August 6, 2020.
[14] Voddie Baucham, Dean of Christian Theology at African Christian University in Zambia and co-author of the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, clarifies the issues on “Defining Social Justice” presentation at the Sovereign Nations Conference on January 19, 2019 on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFNOP2IqwoY .
[15] Today’s cultural Marxism was planted by Dr. Antonio Gramsci, former head of the Italian Communist Party and founder of the “Frankfurt School”. The failure of Marxism to take hold in Western Europe prompted Gramsci to broaden the scope of the problem beyond economic conflict between the bourgeois and the proletariat. This inspired him to teach “critical theory”, which critiques all of society from a Marxist perspective. Economic, political, social, cultural, anthropological, and even religious matters are put under a Marxist microscope. See https://voegelinview.com/cultural-marxism-antonio-gramsci-frankfort-school/ accessed on August 6, 2020.
[16] The Black Lives Matter (BLM) website contains numerous references to affirming “transgender” and dismantling “cisgender” (those who believe only in sexes born as male and female) privilege, including the “nuclear family”. https://blacklivesmatter.com/what-we-believe/ accessed on August 6, 2020.
[17] LGBTQA+ = Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Trans, Queers, and Allies. 2 of the 3 founders of BLM identify as “queer”. See https://www.wbfj.fm/stated-goals-black-lives-matter-anti-christian/ accessed on August 7, 2020.
[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV3nnFheQRo accessed on August 6, 2020.
[19] See https://bb.berea.edu.pl/liberation-theology-infused-in-western-thinking/ accessed on August 4, 2020.
[20] Summa Theologiae, 11-11, 7th article.
[21] Richard Bennett was a direct witness of the latter two. Idem.
[22] “The highest-ranking defector from communism in the ‘70s, he [Ion Mihai Pacepa] spoke to CNA recently about the connection between the Soviet Union and Liberation Theology in Latin America… The movement was born in the KGB, and it had a KGB-invented name: Liberation Theology. During those years, the KGB had a penchant for “liberation” movements. The National Liberation Army of Columbia (FARC), created by the KGB with help from Fidel Castro; the “National Liberation Army of Bolivia, created by the KGB with help from “Che” Guevara; and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), created by the KGB with help from Yasser Arafat are just a few additional “liberation” movements born at the Lubyanka — the headquarters of the KGB.” https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/former-soviet-spy-we-created-liberation-theology-83634 accessed on August 7, 2020.
[23] https://www.jesuits.org/about-us/the-jesuits/ accessed on July 27, 2020.
[24] https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/02/pope-reflects-on-changed-attitudes-toward-liberation-theology/ accessed on August 7, 2020.
[25] https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2019/02/19/pope-francis-approves-four-priorities-jesuits-next-decade accessed on August 7, 2020.
[26] https://www.newwaysministry.org/2020/06/12/new-profile-of-fr-bryan-massingale-details-his-mission-to-seek-lgbtq-racial-justice/ accessed on August 7, 2020.
[27] https://www.newwaysministry.org/2020/06/12/new-profile-of-fr-bryan-massingale-details-his-mission-to-seek-lgbtq-racial-justice/ accessed on August 7, 2020.
[28] https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/assumptions-white-privilege-and-what-we-can-do-about-it accessed on August 7, 2020.
[29] https://www.baltimorecarmel.org/wp-content/writings/CF_The_Desire_for_God_and_the_Transformative_Power_of_Contemplation.pdf accessed on August 7, 2020.
[30] https://ihmsisters.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Margaret-Brennan-Remembering.pdf accessed on August 7, 2020.
[31] https://www.baltimorecarmel.org/wp-content/writings/CF_The_Desire_for_God_and_the_Transformative_Power_of_Contemplation.pdf accessed on August 7, 2020.
[32] Tilden Edwards, Spiritual Friend (1980: Paulist Press, New York), 18. Cited on https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/tildenedwards.htm accessed on August 7, 2020.
[33] http://www.ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-prayer/the-spiritual-exercises/ accessed on July 26, 2020.
[34] https://bb.berea.edu.pl/experiencing-god-through-deceitful-mysticism-by-richard-bennett/ accessed on August 10, 2020.
[35] Ignatius de Loyola said, “If we wish to proceed securely in all things, we must hold fast to the following principle: What seems to me white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines.” http://www.ibosj.ca/2013/04/thinking-with-church.html accessed on July 27, 2020.
[36] https://thefederalist.com/2020/08/07/when-educrats-cant-even-agree-that-224-public-education-is-a-joke/ accessed on August 8, 2020. George Orwell cites “2 + 2 = 4” as the dividing line whether people and societies succumb to dictatorship.) See https://www.amny.com/opinion/orwell-warned-us-a-nation-where-2-2-5-1-19306926/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[37] https://musictheoryswhiteracialframe.wordpress.com/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[38] https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jul/17/smithsonian-african-american-museum-remove-whitene/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[39] Isaiah 5:20
[40] Much of the material in this section comes from Shaun Willcock, a pastor in South Africa. He is a personal eyewitness of the destruction of social justice ideology in 2 countries (and warns believers in the US and UK the same might await them). https://www.biblebasedministries.co.uk/2020/07/02/rome-the-jesuits-and-the-black-lives-matter-communist-revolution/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[41] https://www.vaticannews.va/en/africa/news/2020-06/drc-archbishop-marcel-utembi-i-salute-the-fight-against-racis.html accessed on August 8, 2020.
[42] Read the heartbreaking story of a pastor in the South Side of Chicago. https://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/chicago-pastor-this-weeks-violence-has-set-our-black-community-back-decades/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[43] https://calmatters.org/justice/2020/06/george-floyd-protests-newsom-trump-curfews/ accessed on August 10, 2020.
[44] https://faithandlibertydc.org/detail/20200716inhome-bible-studies-now-illegal-in-california accessed on August 10, 2020.
[45] https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Gavin-Newsom-churches-California-reopen-legal-news-15289103.php accessed on August 10, 2020.
[46] https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-fr-greg-boyle-sj-wants-to-tell-california-jobs/id1473033613?i=1000476041617 accessed on August 10, 2020.
[47] https://www.city-journal.org/end-of-chaz accessed on August 10, 2020.
[48] https://nwasianweekly.com/2016/02/sen-cyrus-habib-to-serve-on-dnc-2016-platform-committee/ accessed on August 10, 2020.
[49] https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2020/03/19/lieutenant-governor-cyrus-habib-why-i-am-giving-elected-office-and-joining-jesuits accessed on August 10, 2020.
[50] https://m.facebook.com/waltgov/posts/3335736049790924 accessed on August 10, 2020.
[51] https://catholiccharitiesswks.org/about-us/46-home/news/social-justice/14-catholic-campaign-for-human-development accessed on August 8, 2020.
[52]I Idem.
[53] https://www.usccb.org/committees/catholic-campaign-human-development accessed on August 8, 2020.
[54] https://www.lepantoin.org/the-marxist-core-of-the-catholic-campaign-for-human-development/
accessed on August 8, 2020.
[55] Idem.
[56] https://www.lepantoin.org/us-bishops-agency-funds-groups-calling-for-the-killing-of-cops-rebellion-and-rioting/
Accessed on August 8, 2020.
[57] https://workerscny.org accessed on August 8, 2020.
[58] https://www.lepantoin.org/us-bishops-agency-funds-groups-calling-for-the-killing-of-cops-rebellion-and-rioting/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[59] https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2019/02/pope-reflects-on-changed-attitudes-toward-liberation-theology/ accessed on August 8, 2020.
[60] 1 Timothy 4:16
[61] For a solid introduction on the perils of evangelicals advocating social justice, see https://religiousaffections.org/articles/articles-on-church/whats-wrong-with-the-recent-evangelical-social-justice-movements/ accessed on August 6, 2020. Voddie Baucham, Dean of Christian Theology at African Christian University in Zambia and original signer of the Statement on Social Justice and the Gospel, clarifies the issues on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFNOP2IqwoY .
[62] 2 Timothy 2:25
[63] 2 Timothy 2:26
