Fr. David Sherry

District Superior of Canada

Dear Reader,

The Catholic Church is condemned by many. But, according to G.K. Chesterton, the heretics witness that She is condemned for all sorts of things that She Herself has condemned! Condemned for denying freedom, we find that She Herself condemns those who deny freedom. Spurned for being anti-sex, we find that She fulminates against those who destroy and denature it.

Not only that, She is condemned for opposing excesses. She is too spiritual (virginity?), and She is also too material (ah, the riches of the Vatican, the pomp of the papal court!) She is too mixed up with the power of the State (Catholic kings?), and She is not mixed-up enough with the power of the State (Praemunire and Romish popery!).

But there is more: not only do we find that the accusations against the Church are not true, when we dig a little, we find that it is precisely the opposite that is the truth. “The Church is anti-science (Galileo).” But when you investigate, you find that not only did the Church not condemn Galileo’s science per se (rather, his attempts to become the infallible interpreter of scripture), She has always and ever been the vindicator and protector of science, and wherever She brought the Faith, reason flourished as never before.

Here’s a classic. “The Catholic Church is anti-woman, and it is because of it that woman has been oppressed. Thanks to the throwing off of the Church, woman is at last free.” Not only is this not true, it is precisely the opposite that is the truth. Before the coming of Christ, paganism treated woman not as a person, but as a thing. Forced marriage, polygamy, and divorce bear witness. Jesus Christ came into the world and what happened? No more polygamy, no more divorce, and no more forced marriage. The wife is not one of many within a man’s harem, she can’t be got rid of because she’s out of date or a nag, and she is free to say “I don’t.” And if you look at her as a thing, you have sinned. The result of this “oppression” by the Church? The liberation and dignity of woman.

And now? Woman returns to slavery. Divorce is back, polygamy is linear rather than simultaneous, and rather than forcing marriage, we’ve just got rid of it altogether. Wife, mother and queen of a home? She should be out making money, like a good slave. . .

Fr. David Sherry