Faithful American Catholics find themselves in an unfortunate situation. We now realize we are political orphans—abandoned by the Republican Party recently, long ago abandoned by the Democrats. We also appear to be spiritual orphans now too. While it appears that way on the surface, the story of the Donatist heresy shows us why we are not truly orphaned.
Why do I say spiritual orphans? The post Vatican II, conciliar Church hierarchy openly, and in some cases proudly, abandoned faithful Catholics in effort to cooperate with (and in some cases to promote) the Great Reset. Whether they openly admit it or not, some do and some do not, that’s what has happened.
The Leadership Abandons the Faithful
It has been almost one year since the Virus began wreaking political and cultural havoc on the world. While most Viruses tend to focus on destroying individuals physically, this Virus has done so much more damage on the civilizational level than any other virus in the history of the world. The Church was not spared. Here are the low lights:
- Masses over Lent, Easter, Pentecost and Christmas were cancelled
- Sacraments (including Baptism!) were cancelled and delayed
- The canonical legal right to receive Holy Communion on the tongue was violated
- Holy Days of obligation were eliminated
- Confessions were eliminated, limited or restricted
- Priests were forbidden to give last rights
- Sacramentals were removed from parish churches
- Catholics were told it is morally licit to receive vaccines tested on aborted baby cell lines
- Catholics were told it is morally required to receive vaccines tested on aborted baby cell lines
- Catholics were told it is morally acceptable to vote for pro-abortion politicians
- Catholic school children were removed from school and forcibly kept away from classmates and forced to wear masks
- Pro-life and other charitable events have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely
The above are just some examples of what Catholics have had to endure over the past year in the name of Virus safety. Every single one of these examples were condoned at some point, and in many cases continue to be, by the Church’s hierarchy and the Vatican. Sure, some government restrictions made operating difficult, but at the end of the day, it was the Church’s own hierarchy and the Vatican that went along with all of it—often above and beyond what the secular authorities required.
They made the calculated to decision to play “doctor” and cooperate with secular authorities and the media, rather than care for the eternal souls of their flock. The impact, of course, has been devastating on Mass attendance. What of the state of the souls of these Catholics who did not receive sacraments or now believe it is now okay to support pro-abortion policies and intentionally avoid their duties and obligations to God? Only God knows the true impact of this devastation I am afraid.
In part because of the support of the Church’s leadership and Catholic cooperation with evil, we now have to endure “Catholic” Joe Biden representing the faith on a global scale, who supports abortion up until the day of birth and has personally “married” same-sex couples, as the torch bearer for the faith just behind Bergolgio (a.k.a. Francis) who openly subscribes to the Great Reset and Biden’s Build Back Better campaign. Naturally, a Jesuit priest will say the invocation at the inauguration, just to make sure that stamp of approval is visible. Things seem quite bleak for faithful Catholics—have we not been abandoned?
The Donatist Heresy
Given this situation, what is the faithful Catholic supposed to do? It seems we have been abandoned and left for dead, both physically, but more significantly, spiritually. While this looks like a hopeless situation, we have to remember God is much bigger than all of this. And so must our faith and trust be in Him.
I would like to point out an example from history how God deals with similar situations, and how this proves beyond a shadow of a doubt the Truth and power of the Catholic Church in the face of diabolical insanity.
During the third and fourth centuries, Roman and Christian relations fluctuated between peace and persecution. After a forty-year period of peace, persecution of the Christians returned under Emperor Diocletian between 303-305 A.D. During this short period of time, some Bishops and clerics were accused of surrendering, or turning over, sacred writings to the secular authorities persecuting the faithful in order to avoid punishment and appease Diocletian’s government.
Those who cooperated with Roman officials came to be called traditors. Some notable clerics underwent zealous inquiries and trials after being accused of being a traditor. Under the leadership of Donatus, who claimed to be an African bishop, many purists in the Church insisted on holding those they thought to be traditors to account for their failures during the Diocletian persecutions.
At one point, a priest named Caecilian was consecrated Bishop of Carthage in A.D. 311, but a group of Donatists claimed that he was not a valid bishop because the Bishop who consecrated him, Felix of Aptunga, had been a traditor. Ultimately, the Church found Caecilian innocent and a valid Bishop. The Roman Emperor himself confirmed the decision. The Donatists refused to accept these decisions and their relentless zeal for eradicating the Church of traditors and other sinners from the Church caused the tables to be turned on themselves.
Essentially, the Donatists were arguing that the validity of the sacraments depends on the moral character of the minister. They insisted that the visible Church must be a pure one and that it is not only possible but preferable to exclude from the Church anyone guilty of sinful or immoral conduct. They particularly focused their wrath on those who they believed failed in their moral duties during the Diocletian persecution. Those who compromised with the evil secular Roman authorities, especially those who turned over sacred writings, were particularly loathsome and deserving to be cut off from the Christian community.
Significantly, any priest or bishop who compromised with Roman officials during this time, lost their ability to confer the sacraments, according to Donatists. This meant the priest or bishop who failed in their moral life lost the ability to consecrate Holy Eucharist, administer Baptism and confer Holy Orders. The Donatists went so far as to require re-baptism of anyone who was baptized by a traditor or a priest ordained by a traditor. This was too much for St. Augustine.
Saint Augustine argued extensively against the Donatists. Augustine argued that the Church was always a mixture of good and evil people. What the Donatists were doing was attempting to sift out the good Church members from the evil ones before the Last Judgment. Yes, Church discipline needed to be maintained and sinners should be corrected, but that does mean any self-selected group of individuals can usurp God’s authority and take it upon themselves to determine who is worthy to remain in the Church and who should be excluded permanently because of their sins. This requires the ability to read a man’s heart, and only God can claim this power.
Furthermore, Augustine argued, the sacraments belong to God and not man. If the validity of the sacraments depended on the moral quality of the ministers of the sacraments, the Church could not possibly survive. Christ would not establish a universal Church doomed to failure. The power behind the sacraments come from Christ, not His priests. As such, no Christian should worry about the validity of the sacraments due to the moral character of the minister. Christ’s power is not limited by the moral failings of His ministers. Such an idea in Augustine’s mind was blasphemous.
Applicable Lessons from Donatism for Today
Circling back, it is easy to see how the Donatist heresy can guide us in responding to our current situation. When we see how cowardly and effeminate our spiritual leaders acted in the face of fairly mild (compared to Roman persecution, anyway) persecution, it is easy to fall into despair. After all, they did sell the faithful down the river and placed worldly honors and money above the salvation of souls and Christ’s Kingship.
But none of that changes the nature or authority of Christ’s Church. God is much bigger and more powerful than any weak-kneed apostolic bureaucratic administrator. We need to take comfort in that. If the ability to access grace was dependent on the moral quality of our pastors, indeed, we would be in big trouble. Thanks be to God, it’s not.
Notice that Augustine never said the traditors did anything noble or worthy of God. He never defended the actions of surrendering sacred objects to the enemy to avoid the harshness of persecution. The Donatists were not wrong because they objected to the cowardly actions of some clergy during the persecution. The Donatists were wrong because they argued those cowardly and immoral actions stripped the clergy of their authority to administer sacraments and cut them off from apostolic succession.
The Church survives and continues on through apostolic succession today because of the power of Christ and His Church. Sacramental graces continue to flow through the sinful and wretched ordained priests and bishops, despite their own moral failings.
This is absolutely amazing when you think about it. How good, how powerful is God, that He will sustain the Church despite the evil failings of His own ministers? No purely human organization operates or thinks this way. How could the Church have lasted over 2000 years if this was not the case?
If anything, the fact the Church is infiltrated by some of the most wretched and faithless individuals, perhaps in Her history, and yet God’s graces continue to flow through them to the Catholic faithful, is just extraordinary. As battered and bruised as the Church may be right now, as saturated as she is with communists and heretics, she continues to remain visible and open for the faithful to tap into her power and the graces that flow through her. Yes, we may have to work at accessing that grace because of the ministers’ evil actions, but it still remains. The Truth and power of the Church is quite obvious because of this reality.
So despite the abuse and abandonment the faithful have had to endure over the past year from Church leaders, let us avoid falling into the Donatist trap where we look for alternatives outside the visible Church because of the moral failings of those within her apostolic leadership. We need not accept their heresies, we must continue to avoid sin despite what they tell us, and we need not obey unjust or illegal orders just because of their office. What we must do, is acknowledge the Lord works through these people to give grace and sustain His Church. They are an important cog in the continuity of apostolic succession. Yes, it may be uncomfortable, and yes it feels icky at times. But God knows what He is doing. We must stick with Him and His plan if we are to pull out of the current mess.
Information in this post about the Donatist heresy is taken from The Political and Social Ideas of St. Augustine by Herbert A. Deane, Columbia University Press, 1963.