A Crisis Of Truth . . . What We Can Do About It

By JOSEPH MATT

Pontius Pilate asked Christ, “What is truth?” – Two millennia later, society remains as blind and confused as was Pilate, as many members of the Catholic Church struggle for an answer to this same question. Our world is suffering from a crisis of truth.

“All the evils which poison men and nations and trouble so many hearts have a single cause and a single source: ignorance of the truth — and at times even more than ignorance, a contempt for the truth and a reckless rejection of it.”

This quote by Pope St. John XXIII truly reflects the cloud of relativism and outright disregard and rejection of truth that permeates our society, both throughout our culture and within our Catholic Church today.

Our society is replete with examples of outright contempt and disdain for the truth — none more illustrative and extreme than the advocates and supporters of the baby-killing industry. The outright barbaric murder of the most innocent of human beings and the marketing of aborted baby parts is nothing short of demonic. This scourge upon our society is indicative of the total disregard for the truth and a glaring illustration of the moral indifference of our times. Abortion has become the golden calf of our age.

The Judge Kavanaugh hearings of last year provide ample evidence of the extremes the abortion advocates will go to in their contempt and denial of any truth which would obstruct the legal ability to murder an unborn baby. The disciples and proponents of abortion have demonstrated they will stop at nothing to prevent anything that would allow them to worship at their precious altar of abortion.

Only a society that has discarded the reality of the existence, presence, and power of God would tolerate the continued murder of children in the womb. Throw out the sanctity of human life, and is it any wonder the rest of natural law falls by the wayside?  — Gender redefinition, “homosexual marriage,” euthanasia, and every other abomination will continue to add to the ills plaguing the moral foundation of our society today as we continue to cheapen the value of human life. This week alone on the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, “Catholic” New York Governor Cuomo signed into law one of the most heinous of abortion laws – allowing abortion up to the birthday of the child.

Even the Catholic Church, which for 2,000 years has been the final backstop against assault on the truth, is witnessing increasing pressure from its members, including priests and prelates, who wish to surrender the teachings of Christ to the pressures and the whims of the secular world.

Those who defend the proven values and traditions of the past are now becoming the enemy in society, even in our own Church. Christian principles are now being defined as hate speech; parents are being denied the right to teach their children — as recently witnessed in California. At the highest levels within the Catholic Church, attempts to change and alter Catholic doctrine to conform to the times are intensifying and occurring more frequently with less resistance. Reject the truth — reject God — the very embodiment of the truth. Moral depravity has no limit in a society that has rejected God as its supreme ruler.

There is no greater champion and cheerleader for today’s assault on the truth than the media. (See Dexter Duggan’s “Covington School Article “page 1 for the latest example)The majority of the media today are complicit in the rejection, contempt, and disregard of the truth. Most media have become controlled by those who wish to poison our culture and our society with the “enlightened truths” of the “progressive” age, whose Godless agendas have no time or respect for the truth. Media are no longer a tool for information or investigation to discover and present the truth but are now a mechanism for those to forward and champion agendas based on the sacred cows of our secular culture, from abortion on demand, climate change, euthanasia, borderless countries, state–indoctrinated children, ever-increasing government control, and, of course, the ongoing assault on doctrine within our own Church.

Truth is now becoming synonymous with opinion. The concept of truth has now become whatever you want it to be — what finer example than today’s gender redefinition insanity? In this age of moral relativism and pervasive political correctness major media commonly replace reason and the truth with feeling and opinion. The message from much of the media today is that we are allowed to define our own truth. Truth is now no longer objective but subjective.

If you are not a current subscriber to our print publication – let me introduce you to an alternative to the madness of today’s media – a counterforce in the crisis of truth. Readers of The Wanderer hardly need a reminder of the value and the importance of the role that our weekly journal plays in unmasking and counteracting those forces that are threatening once common values within our society and even threatening 2,000 years of consistent doctrine within the Catholic Church.

Every week, for over 151 years in our publication, we have tried to expose and pursue the truth from those that reject and deny its reality from the judges in our courtrooms, the leaders within our government, the teachers in our schools, the pulpits of our churches and even the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. For a century and a half we have been a testament to the truth for presenting reliable and accurate information. Not only are we known for our revealing and extensive detailing of issues and circumstances threatening long–held truths and beliefs, our reputation for the promotion and defense of the Catholic faith is second to none. We have a legacy of seeking to proclaim and explain the truths of our Catholic faith and how those truths can be incorporated into our lives, families, and communities for the salvation of souls and the betterment of society.

Our readers provide the best testimony as to our reputation, having written many heartfelt letters to us over the years, expressing the crucial value The Wanderer has played personally in their lives and families––sometimes across multiple generations––and how it is a much–needed instrument as an alternative voice in the battle for the moral soul of our Church and society.

The Wanderer today remains the sole surviving oldest independent national Catholic weekly newspaper in the country.

For those of you not currently subscribed to our print edition, we invite you to subscribe today at our special introductory rate and join our loyal readers who share your concerns for the assault on the truth that contributes to the decay that is tearing at the moral fabric of our Churches and our culture. Each week our publication exposes and resists the expanding tentacles of those who wish to discard the truth for their new-found “truths” and who continue to infiltrate our government, schools, churches, and hierarchy. Isn’t it time you become a weekly reader of The Wanderer?

We especially appeal to the priests, pastors, and prelates to subscribe to our weekly paper. Your churches are filled with Catholics every week who could benefit from the treasures of our weekly catechetical content alone – from our Learn Your Faith, Live Your Faith, and Catholic Heroes series. We are allies in this ongoing battle – we must support each other. The headwinds of our culture and the goal of the Evil One are forces determined to destroy and to divide us. You know first-hand how crucial the war on truth is and how difficult the promotion and defense of the Catholic faith can be. The current crisis in the Church is like no other time in this journal’s history. Help us combat the assaults on the truth and our Catholic faith and introduce your parish or a parish to The Wanderer with a gift of a bulk subscription.

Your subscription to our paper will help ensure the continued presence of the only independent Catholic weekly publication in print that provides a weekly defense and promotion of the truth. Don’t Delay Subscribe Today!

Joseph Matt

Publisher, The Wanderer