The Catholic International Order
Former Army Lieutenant Colonel Yevgeny Vindman, the military officer who testified against President Donald Trump, is in the news again. In a high profile piece appearing in Foreign Policy, he wrote that the “world is on a precipice of a return to wars of aggression by tyrants only interested in power.” He concluded that the United Nations had to be restructured as a result to prevent countries lead by tyrants (he was referring to Vladimir Putin) from escaping responsibility.[1] It was an audacious piece as it, in typical plutocratic fashion, placed blame on the targets of the plutocracy while ignoring the real tyrants’ own plans for world dominion as expressed with such things as the Great Reset and in such forums as Klaus Schwabe’s World Economic Forum. A few days later, Volodomyr Zielensky, President of the Ukraine, called for the removal of Russia from the United Nation’s Security Council.[2] Previously, Zielensky addressed the United States Congress on March 16, 2022 and anyone listening to it came away with the feeling that he was making a case for stronger international organizations to “protect” places like the Ukraine. The question is now posed: Are we in need of a new international order, and if so, what would it look like?
Catholicism provides the answer, though whether the Church’s own leadership is aware of it or whether they have the courage to promote it, is quite in doubt. Regardless, the Catholic International Order is spelled out clearly in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the many encyclicals that went before it, particularly during the pontificates of St John XXIII, St Paul VI and St John Paul II.[3] The basis of the Catholic order is found in the virtues of solidarity, charity, and justice[4] and specific aspects of that order are pertinent to discussions of the Fifth Commandment[5] as well as in the Seventh Commandment.[6] It applies to all countries because all humans have a common origin and a rational nature.[7] The duty to recognize Christ’s authority over public and private lives, applies to all countries, to all societies.[8]
The touchstone of relations between countries is one of “solidarity.”[9] “Solidarity” has at least three accepted colloquial meanings: “[1] union or fellowship arising from common responsibilities and interests, as between members of a group or between classes, peoples, etc.:….[2] community of feelings, purposes, etc.[3] community of responsibilities and interests.”[10]
“Solidarity” has a special meaning in the area of faith and morals. It is a form of “friendship” or “social charity.”[11] Pope St John Paul II took this term, birthed in business and applied to economic structures for a century or more, expanded its definition and meaning, and made it into a Christian virtue. Solidarity is a commitment to the common good, and not to the “structures of sin” that exist to serve the thirst for wealth or power.[12] The “common good” is understood as “the sum total of social conditions which allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to reach their fulfillment more fully and more easily.”[13] Just as there is a common good in individual societies, there is a universal common good.[14] This universal common good necessarily transcends “the common good cherished and pursued by the national communities.”[15] The universal common good has a higher claim than the nation in serving the person and so
“it must serve as a moral check on the claims of the nation, for if these claims are validly made in the name of the national good and the relation of this to the exigencies of human personality, then, by a parallel claim, the national community itself must be subordinate to the moral claims made in the name of a common social good wider than its own and including elements the national good cannot provide in the service of human personality.”[16]
Solidarity achieves the universal common good by developing the whole human person, both materially and spiritually.[17] Development of the person has as its purpose assisting each human to achieve their vocation which is to know love and serve God to be with him in the next.[18]
Solidarity imposes a moral duty between countries to assist with development of the whole human person.[19] Excessive economic and social disparities among the peoples of the earth cause scandal[20], which leads to strife.[21] Solidarity in the material sense is therefore manifested partly by “the distribution of goods and remuneration for work.”[22] This includes rich nations providing assistance those nations “unable to ensure the means of their development by themselves.”[23] It means that the “`perverse mechanisms’ that impede the development of the less advanced countries. In place of abusive if not usurious financial systems, iniquitous commercial relations among nations, and the arms race, there must be substituted a common effort to mobilize resources toward objectives of moral, cultural, and economic development, `redefining the priorities and hierarchies of value.’”[24] It is strictly forbidden for countries to seek to advance private economic interests vis a vis other countries:
“The short-term pursuit of private or collective interests cannot legitimate undertakings that promote violence and conflict among nations and compromise the international juridical order.”[25]
And, where there are great inequalities to the detriment of people spiritually and materially, it is morally just to expropriate the wealth of some.[26]
Man does not live by bread alone. Therefore, “Solidarity…practices the sharing of spiritual goods even more than material ones.”[27] Solidarity demands spreading “the spiritual goods of the faith.”[28] Development, as that term is understood in national societies and in the international society, includes spiritual development, and that spiritual development must be in accordance with the Catholic Faith.
As the common good of national societies require the establishment of the Catholic Church and the Catholic Faith in law,[29] thereby making it the basis of public policy and a check on private appetites, so there is a universal common good for all of humanity that requires the establishment of the Catholic Church and the Catholic Faith in international conventions and institutions. An international order that promotes truly authentic Catholic doctrine justifies the creation of an effective world authority to insure the protection and strengthening of that order, and to protect the proper and full development of the human person:
“Such international collaboration [as set forth by Pope St Paul VI in Populorum Progressio and in accord with the Catholic international order] among the nations of the world certainly calls for institutions that will promote, coordinate and direct it, until a new juridical order is firmly established and fully ratified. We give willing and wholehearted support to those public organizations that have already joined in promoting the development of nations, and We ardently hope that they will enjoy ever growing authority. As We told the United Nations General Assembly in New York: `Your vocation is to bring not just some peoples but all peoples together as brothers…Who can fail to see the need and importance of thus gradually coming to the establishment of a world authority capable of taking effective action on the juridical and political planes?’”[30]
Previously, the Catholic Church provided the institutional leadership and structure for relations between countries. Its international physical presence and its spiritual leadership and authority was essential in resolving problems between countries, though that would breakdown especially when the leadership of one country or another put their own private purposes ahead of those of their own country or the international order. The Protestant Reformation cannot be understood as anything other than the destruction of this international order for the benefit of private gain regardless of how that desire for private gain presented itself or what it used to advance itself. Nationalism, religious fanaticism, ideologies, heresies, propaganda, a distorted sense of human rights – all of these were used, and continue to be used, to promote the purposes of the plutocrats and those who broke with solidarity rejecting the same as a virtue. Does the Catholic leadership hold to the virtue of solidarity?
Francis in his numerous actions, talks, and writings has advanced the viewpoint of the plutocrats who seek the destruction of all cultures and societies not of their making and a remaking of cultures and societies as they see fit which means opening people up for exploitation all in service to wealth. The plutocracy does not have the well-being of the total person, the full and proper development of peoples, as an object of its actions, nor have they ever. Now more than ever, the Catholic Church and its leadership is needed to stand up to the growing globalist agenda which has been called Luciferian by some observers and students of the thing, while being totalitarian.[31]
As I conclude this piece, I realize the need to make clear that there is shaping up in the minds of the peoples of the world a major battle between two forces: on the one hand the forces of wealth, disorder, tyranny lead and managed by the plutocracy headquartered in the USA and Western Europe, and on the other side the forces of right order lead by Russia and China.[32] The USA and the West advance things like LGBTQ+ and push it on people[33] which makes their nefarious designs more readily apparent to the mass of good, hard-working, moral people. It also serves to inflame passions, and invite push-back thereby giving credence to the claims of Ray Dalio and others that a civil war in the USA is imminent.[34] The Western plutocracy based in the USA, is, as I previously explained, on the march as it has been for more than 240 years. The same bent on world conquest is not apparent from the nationalist regimes of Russia and China, both of which by virtue of their language, world view and leadership simply do not present the same existential threat to the peoples, and whole persons, of the world.[35]
Perception is reality we are told, and I believe that is true. The same issues that we faced in America, are the ones now we face on a global scale. It is a time of great opportunity and as some would say, a transition period or revolutionary epoch. The choice is clear: do we continue to support Liberalism and its child, tyranny, and do we continue to adhere to the Americanist heresy that America (and hence the plutocracy) teaches the Church? Or do we work and suffer for the Social Kingship of Christ, the institution of the Divine Positive Law as the basis of every society and of the global order?
[1] Yevgeny Vindman, “Putin’s War Is An Existential Crisis for the United Nations,” April 1, 2022, Foreign Policy.
[2] William Mauldin, Yuliya Chernova, “Ukraine’s Zielensky Calls for Removing Putin from U. N.’s Security Council After Alleged War Crimes,” April 5, 2022, Wall Street Journal.
[3] In particular, one should review the following: Pope St. John XXIII Pacem In Terris (1963), Pope St. Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (1967), Pope St. John Paul II Solicitudo Rei Socialis (1987) and Centesimus Annus (1991).
[4] Pope St Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (1967), paragraph 44.
[5] “Thou shalt not kill.”
[6] “Thou shalt not steal.”
[7] Section 1939, Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).
[8] Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas, “18. Thus the empire of our Redeemer embraces all men. To use the words of Our immortal predecessor, Pope Leo XIII: `His empire includes not only Catholic nations, not only baptized persons who, though of right belonging to the Church, have been led astray by error, or have been cut off from her by schism, but also all those who are outside the Christian faith; so that truly the whole of mankind is subject to the power of Jesus Christ.’…. Nor is there any difference in this matter between the individual and the family or the State; for all men, whether collectively or individually, are under the dominion of Christ. In him is the salvation of the individual, in him is the salvation of society. `Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given to men whereby we must be saved.’…He is the author of happiness and true prosperity for every man and for every nation. `For a nation is happy when its citizens are happy. What else is a nation but a number of men living in concord?’…. If, therefore, the rulers of nations wish to preserve their authority, to promote and increase the prosperity of their countries, they will not neglect the public duty of reverence and obedience to the rule of Christ.” (emphasis supplied)
[9] “There must be solidarity among nations that are already interdependent.” Section 2438, CCC.
[10] “Solidarity,” Dictionary.com retrieved April 5, 2022.
[11] CCC 1939.
[12] St John Paul II, Solicitudo rei socialis, paragraph 38; also, see David Wemhoff, “Modernism As The Enemy of Solidarity,” December 27, 2021, The American Proposition.
[13] CCC 1906; Also, see John J. Wright, National Patriotism in Papal Teaching (The Stratford Company, Boston, 1942), 205-208.
[14] Wright, Ibid.
[15] Wright, Ibid.
[16] Wright, Ibid.
[17] Solidarity “is even more essential when it is a question of dismantling the `perverse mechanisms’ that impede the development of the less advanced countries. In place of abusive if not usurious financial systems, iniquitous commercial relations among nations, and the arms race, there must be substituted a common effort to mobilize resources toward objectives of moral, cultural, and economic development, `redefining the priorities and hierarchies of value.’” Section 2438, CCC.
[18] The human vocation is to know, love and serve God in this life so as to be with Him in the next life. The Catechism puts it forth this way: “[1877] The vocation of humanity is to show forth the image of God and to be transformed into the image of the Father’s only Son. This vocation takes a personal form since each of us is called to enter into the divine beatitude; it also concerns the human community as a whole. [1878] All men are called to the same end: God himself.”
[19] Section 2439 of the CCC sets out the following: “Rich nations have a grave moral responsibility toward those which are unable to ensure the means of their development by themselves or have been prevented from doing so by tragic historical events. It is a duty in solidarity and charity; it is also an obligation in justice if the prosperity of the rich nations has come from resources that have not been paid for fairly.”
[20] Section 2284 defines scandal as follows: “an attitude or behavior which leads another to do evil. The person who gives scandal becomes his neighbor’s tempter. He damages virtue and integrity; he may even draw his brother into spiritual death. Scandal is a grave offense if by deed or omission another is deliberately led into a grave offense.”
[21] Gaudium et Spes, Section 29, paragraph 3; Interestingly enough, this view of the Church is in accord with the view of the American Founders (James Madison in Federalist X) who saw conflict between holders of different types of property and holders of different quantities of property, and the Catholic view is also consistent with that put forward more recently by billionaire Ray Dalio who mentioned in his latest book, The Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail, the cause of strife in and between societies being based on economic disparities.
[22] CCC 1939 and 1940.
[23] CCC 2439.
[24] CCC 2438; Pope St Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (1967).
[25] CCC 2316.
[26] Pope St. Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (1967), “If certain landed estates impede the general prosperity because they are extensive, unused or poorly used, or because they bring hardship to peoples or are detrimental to the interests of the country, the common good sometimes demands their expropriation.” Para. 24
[27] CCC 1948.
[28] CCC 1942: “The virtue of solidarity goes beyond material goods. In spreading the spiritual goods of the faith, the Church has promoted, and often opened new paths for, the development of temporal goods as well.”
[29] See, David Wemhoff, “The Fundamental Right to the Catholic Confessional State,” November 11, 2019, The American Proposition.
[30] Pope St Paul VI, Populorum Progressio (1967), paragraph 78.
[31] Brandon Smith, “What Is The `Great Reset’ And What Do The Globalists Actually Want?”, April 1, 2022, Alt-Market.us; See CCC 2244 in which it is recognized that “Societies not recognizing this vision [i.e., the Catholic Faith] or rejecting it in the name of their independence from God…arrogate to themselves an explicit or implicit totalitarian power over man and his destiny, as history shows.” Also see Pope St John Paul II, Centisimus Annus, paragraphs 45 and 46.
[32] Certainly the agreement of February 4, 2022 between the two countries goes a long way to justifying the view that many hold that Russia and China are on the side of good and right. Of note, the agreement stated: “every nation has its own unique national features, history, culture, social system and level of social and economic development, universal nature of human rights should be seen through the prism of the real situation in every particular country, and human rights should be protected in accordance with the specific situation in each country and the needs of its population.” “Joint Statement of the Russian Federation and the People’s Republic of China on the International Relations Entering a New Era and the Global Sustainable Development, February 4, 2022 as found at China Aerospace Studies Institute.
[33] “SoCal City to Give Transgender and Non-Binary Residents Up to $ 900 Per Month in Universal Basic Income,” April 5, 2022, The Gateway Pundit.
[34] See, David Wemhoff, “The Ukraine is About China, Part I,” March 3, 2022, The American Proposition and “The Ukraine is About China, Part II,” March 18, 2022, The American Proposition; I have for a very long time now been writing about the civil war in America as one between an ideology (or ideologies) and the plutocrats who promote it (or them) versus some understanding of, or some adherence to some part of, the Natural Law. (E.g., BLM and Antifa on one side and Second Amendment groups (self defense), pro-lifers (right to procreation and self-defense) on the other.)
[35] The repeated propaganda from the MSM is laughable when one considers it in any depth. The MSM claims both Putin and Xi want to rule the world. There is justifiably some concern about the power and reach of Artificial Intelligence, but that is a matter for another paper, and with the global plutocracy on the move, one has much more to fear from the USA and the West which serves as the vehicles for the designs of the plutocrats who seek to harm both body and soul with their actions and ideologies and who certainly reject any form of Catholic order to society. Now, of course, the plutocracy is able and willing to distort Catholicism to serve its own purposes and my two volume book John Courtney Murray, Time/Life and the American Proposition certainly gives a very important and concrete historical instance of this.