Social Activism Masquerading as Catholic Charity
The Catholic News Agency portal (November 19, 2025) reports the death of “Sister” JoAnn Persch, a member of the “Sisters of Mercy,” praising her five decades of immigration activism. The article highlights her attempts to bring “Communion” to detainees at a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, her co-founding of Su Casa Catholic Worker House in Chicago, and her arrests during protests. U.S. Senator Richard Durbin is quoted lauding her “kindness over hate and fear,” while the piece omits any reference to the salvation of souls or the supernatural purpose of the Church.
Subordination of Supernatural Mission to Naturalistic Humanism
The article’s depiction of Persch’s work exemplifies the conciliar sect’s reduction of the Church’s divine mission to secular social activism. Pius XI’s encyclical Quas primas (1925) dogmatically taught that “the Church, the one dispenser of salvation” exists to lead souls to eternal life through the “sweet and saving reign of Our King” Jesus Christ. By contrast, Persch’s activities—described as
“helping families, meeting those being deported, listening to them, talking, praying”
—prioritize temporal comfort over the radical call to repentance and conversion. Her ministry’s focus on political lobbying, housing asylum seekers, and “relentless advocacy” mirrors the condemned modernist error that “the Church is incapable of effectively defending evangelical ethics” (Lamentabili Sane, §63).
Disobedience to Lawful Authority and False Notions of Mercy
Persch’s boast that she
“never take[s] no for an answer”
when dealing with ICE officials reveals a spirit of rebellion antithetical to Catholic submission to lawful authority. The Syllabus of Errors (1864) explicitly condemns the notion that “It is lawful to refuse obedience to legitimate princes” (Proposition 63). While the Church permits resistance to unjust laws, Persch’s activism—including her 2018 arrest during a protest—advocated for policies violating immigration laws established by legitimate civil authority. Her nickname “Rabble” (a term for disorderly mobs) exposes the revolutionary character of her methods, which Pius IX denounced as “seeds of discord sown everywhere” (Syllabus, Introduction).
Collaboration with Anti-Catholic Forces
The article’s praise of Persch’s collaboration with politicians like Sen. Durbin—a radical supporter of abortion and gender ideology—demonstrates the conciliar sect’s betrayal of Catholic integrity. Quoting Durbin’s call to
“welcome the stranger and choose kindness over hate and fear”
ignores the Church’s teaching that “charity cannot exist without justice” (Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum). True mercy requires upholding divine law, not enabling illegal immigration that fuels human trafficking and cultural dissolution. Persch’s appearance on Samantha Bee’s blasphemous television program further illustrates her alignment with forces hostile to Christ the King.
Sacramental Desecration and False Ecumenism
Persch’s attempt to bring “Communion” to detainees—denied by ICE on November 1, 2025—epitomizes the conciliar sect’s sacrilegious approach to the sacraments. The article omits that post-conciliar “Communion” lacks validity due to the invalid Novus Ordo rite and widespread use of invalidly “ordained” ministers. Moreover, her interfaith prayer vigil with “eight spiritual leaders” including “Auxiliary Bishop” García-Maldonado violates the condemnation of religious indifferentism in Mortalium Animos (1928), where Pius XI warned against “false opinion which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy.”
Silence on Apostasy of the Sisters of Mercy
The Sisters of Mercy, founded in 1831, abandoned their rule decades ago to embrace feminist and environmentalist causes. Persch’s 73 years in the order coincided with its complete apostasy, exemplified by her 2022 co-founding of “Catherine’s Caring Cause”—a housing initiative stripping St. Catherine McAuley’s legacy of its supernatural dimension. The article’s claim that she
“professed her perpetual vows on Aug. 16, 1958”
is tragically ironic: her final vows preceded Vatican II by four years, binding her to a pre-conciliar orthodoxy she spent her life undermining.
Source:
Immigrant rights advocate Mercy Sister JoAnn Persch, 91, dies (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 19.11.2025