Fatima Perspectives #1223
By his own admission, Matteo Salvini, the new Deputy Prime Minister of Italy, is not much of a Catholic. Divorced and the father of a child born out of wedlock to his “domestic partner” (since left behind, along with his wife, for a new girlfriend), Salvini admitted during a recent interview with La Nuova Bussola Quotidiana that he has seldom prayed the Rosary, which he had merely exhibited during a recent rally in Milan, and that his religious observance consists primarily of making the Sign of the Cross when he awakes and when he goes to bed.
And yet, like the twice-divorced Donald J. Trump, Salvini, now considered the most powerful man in Italy, is condemned by the organs of “respectable” establishment Catholic opinion for his “far right” (apparently there is no far left in the minds of these people) views on immigration and the preservation of national identity in the face of a veritable Muslim invasion that is bringing violence and social disruption to every Western nation. Paradoxically, “mainstream” Catholic opinion — in a human element of the Church clearly pervaded by homosexual infiltration — attacks Salvini not for being an inobservant Catholic but rather because he favors a recovery of the Catholic identity of Italy and the maintenance of traditional Christian values, both now threatened not only by the militant secularization of the EU but also by an Islamicization, favorable to violent religious fanatics, that is being aided and abetted by a wayward Pope himself.
In the cited interview Salvini expresses dismay about such attacks against him as the cover of Famiglia Cristiana [Christian Family], which likened him to Satan, even though he defends the Catholic family. As he explains, while the so-called respectable Catholic mainstream attacks him, many Catholics, both clergy and laity, privately express support, but they do so in fear:
“[T]here is a fundamental underlying prejudice that I can not explain… The beauty is that after the cover of Famiglia Cristiana and the Avvenire attacks many men and women of the Church, with name, surname, address, invite me to continue this way. Even priests and bishops. But the thing that struck me is this: everyone signed – also because anonymous letters are not even taken into consideration – but all with a request for confidentiality to avoid problems. This really surprised me. In politics, I’m used to it, but in a world of openness, dialogue, sobriety and its own way of being, I did not expect there to be such a climate.”
In other words, the Catholics who support Salvini, even the bishops among them, fear reprisals within their own Church should their support for him become known.
What is to account for this astonishing situation? The answer was suggested by the future Pope Benedict XVI during a sermon preceding the conclave at which he was elected:
“We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.
“We, however, have a different goal: the Son of God, the true man. He is the measure of true humanism. An ‘adult’ faith is not a faith that follows the trends of fashion and the latest novelty; a mature adult faith is deeply rooted in friendship with Christ. It is this friendship that opens us up to all that is good and gives us a criterion by which to distinguish the true from the false, and deceit from truth.”
The dictatorship of relativism Benedict decried is now firmly entrenched within the Church herself, whose human element follows political correctness rather than the divine commission to make disciples of all nations. Thus does papal “mouthpiece” Antonio Spadaro scoff at Salvini’s support for a measure to require the display of a Crucifix in Italy’s public buildings. “If you remove the (religious) symbolism from the crucifix … it becomes a parody,” Spadaro huffs. The Crucifix, according to his Twitter feed, is not “a team emblem” but rather “screams love to the enemy and unconditional welcome.”
In other words, for Spadaro the Cross on which Our Lord hung is a symbol of unrestricted Muslim immigration and a general bowing before the enemies of the Church. And I find it telling that in the linked Twitter feed the “gay friendly” Spadaro supplies a totally nude image of Christ without the Cross.
Such are the trendy, politically correct churchmen who administer the dictatorship of relativism in the Church today, attacking even admittedly weak Catholics who try in some way to defend the Catholic roots of Europe. “I’m the last among good Christians, but I don’t think I deserve this,” said Salvini after the ludicrously misnamed “Christian Family” compared him to Satan on its cover because he defends the Christian family.
To which I would reply to Salvini: Welcome to the greatest crisis the Church has ever known. Perhaps it is time you actually began praying the Rosary regularly. Meanwhile, Catholics ought to pray for you, that you do not flag in your effort to restore some measure of sanity in a Europe gone mad.
The name Salvini is the patronymic or plural form of Salvino, whose Latin meaning is Savior. Perhaps this is a sign that, like King David, Matteo Salvini could do great things for his nation in the name of the Lord despite his own admitted unworthiness. But then who among us can count himself worthy of the Lord’s favor?
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