By Emily Finley, Crisis Magazine, October 27, 2020
Emily Finley holds a Ph.D in Politics from The Catholic University of America and is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Stanford University. She is the managing editor of Humanitas, an academic journal of politics and culture, published by the Center for the Study of Statesmanship.
No one should be surprised by the recent revelation that Pope Francis believes that civil unions between same-sex couples ought to be legal. Just as no one should be surprised by the promotion of Wilton Gregory—Archbishop of Washington, D.C., oligarch, and political activist—to the College of Cardinal this past Sunday. The two are intimately connected, as many are probably aware. The character and quality of Francis’s papacy is abundantly clear by now and represents a continuation of the Catholic Church’s theological, cultural, and intellectual emphases since the mid-twentieth century. We should not be surprised when, fifty years hence the Church itself is performing same-sex marriages and nominating female cardinals. This is the path we are on.
One need look no further than the writings of Jacques Maritain and the mid-century papacies that shared his secular outlook, including John XXIII and Paul VI. Taylor Marshall’s recent book Infiltration (Sophia Press, 2019) details the nefarious plans of Freemasons to destroy the church, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and culminating in the election of Pope Francis. He mentions the influence of the papacies of John XXIII and Paul VI in revolutionizing Church teachings, orienting it away from its historic spiritual mission and toward a secular pantheism. Although undoubtedly correct in identifying the pernicious influence of Freemasonry on the Church, Dr. Marshall omits the powerful cultural influences that have permeated the Church from within and without for at least the last century. …
