There are no coincidences in history; everything that happens is part of God’s plans. Although we can see in history great evils when the powerful reject His plan and impose their own will, still our Lord reaches out to those who will follow, and can bring good out of what is undeniably evil. So it is part of God’s providential plan that Catholics stir into action to defend the rights of the most vulnerable, and our rights and duties to proclaim the Gospel.
For Greater Glory was recently released on DVD. This film tells the story of the Cristero War that took place in Mexico between the years 1926 and 1929. It shows how Catholics were driven to the use of force after many failed attempts to peacefully obtain justice under the persecution of a violent anti-Christian government. The government was bent on destroying the Catholic Church by the brutal enforcement of the Marxist inspired anti-clerical laws written into the 1917 Mexican Constitution.
This movie has many great features, like the depiction of Blessed José Sanchez del Rio, the teenaged martyr who served the troops as a flag-bearer and died with “Viva Cristo Rey!” on his lips. Although like all human labors it has some limitations, such as some historical errors which were pointed out by the Cristero Center of the Autonomous University of Guadalajara and some concessions to contemporary habits, but the movie is important both in itself and for the times in which we find ourselves today.
Like the Catholics in Mexico in the twenties and thirties, though not on the same scale, we are facing persecution from a government that appears to be hostile to Christianity. Under the Affordable Care Act, for example, the government is forcing almost all religious institutions to pay for insurance that must fully cover abortion-inducing drugs, sterilization and contraception, or face stiff penalties. This legal mandate is not only a threat to all Christians, but to all persons of good will who cherish the rights recognized by the U.S. Constitution. So we are reduced to the harsh alternative of choosing between obeying a law that we in good conscience cannot, or the holy disobedience of martyrs.
The Affordable Care Act also marks a clear step towards euthanasia. It establishes the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB), the 15 person unelected board of “experts” who will make life and death decisions based on cost/benefit analysis. This will have dire consequences for those whose health care becomes too expensive to be deemed worthy of coverage, especially those who are most vulnerable – the elderly and severely disabled.
I am not proposing that we respond with violent means as our friends south of the border did years ago. I suggest rather that it is our duty to follow our conscience, and that the violation of the sacred laws of conscience does not lead to flourishing for the individual or the nation. As St. Thomas Aquinas explains it, a law is an ordinance of reason for the common good made by the authority that has care of the community and is promulgated by it (S.T., I-II, a. 90). The HHS mandate, we can easily demonstrate, is not an ordinance of reason for the common good. It embodies an unreasonable measure against the common good to promote abortion, sterilization, and contraception. It is also unreasonable and against the best traditions of the American Republic to force persons to act against their consciences.
In accordance with the Constitution of the United States, this law has been promulgated by persons who are responsible for leading – for serving – the nation. But one of the good aspects of the laws of the American Republic is that those who serve the county in political leadership only do so for a limited period of time, so it is reasonable that people of good will might decide not to extend their term in office.
Taking into account the terrible injustice that is imposed by the HHS mandate we should keep in mind the very pertinent observation made by the U.S. Catholic Bishops:
Some unjust laws impose such injustices on individuals and organizations that disobeying the laws may be justified. Every effort must be made to repeal them. When fundamental human goods, such as the right of conscience, are at stake, we may need to witness to the truth by resisting the law and incurring its penalties.
In other words, Catholics should prepare for civil disobedience to the HHS mandate and to be ready to face persecution. For Greater Glory is a timely reminder of the risks that we are facing, one to which we should pay heed.
The Cristeros also find agreement with an esteemed American leader, whose words speak as clearly to us today as they did to18th century America:
Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism, who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked: Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.
This, from the Farewell Address of America’s first president, George Washington. To stand up for our faith and our rights is not an option: It is an integral part of the calling that the Lord has given to us to defend without concession the rights of the unborn and the rights of all human persons who are threatened by an unjust law. So we should be prepared to use all the moral and legal means that are necessary to oppose the HHS mandate.
Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro is the director of Human Life International’s office in Rome. He was ordained a priest for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York on Nov. 14, 1987. From the beginning of his priestly ministry, Monsignor Barreiro was involved in the Pro-Life and Traditional Latin Mass apostolates. He received his licentiate and doctorate degree in Systematic Theology from the University of the Holy Cross, in Rome, Italy. For a period of time in the 1990s, Msgr. Barreiro served in the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.
Since September 1998, Msgr. Barreiro has been the Executive Director of the Rome office of Human Life International. In Rome, he started an apostolate with priests and seminarians from all over the world who are studying in the Eternal City. Msgr. Barreiro has published hundreds of articles on theological and life issues, and historical subjects in popular and scholarly publications. He was appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness on March 26, 2004.
