Secular Messianism Replaces Divine Justice in Lai Case Commentary
Catholic News Agency portal reports on December 16, 2025 regarding the guilty verdict against Catholic businessman Jimmy Lai in Hong Kong. The coverage centers on statements by Lai’s godfather Bill McGurn, who dismissed the trial as a “phony” process while placing hope for Lai’s release in political negotiations involving Donald Trump, Keir Starmer, and Xi Jinping. The article emphasizes Lai’s Catholic identity and family faith while framing his plight through secular human rights discourse.
Omission of Supernatural Finality in Persecution Narrative
The report reduces Lai’s imprisonment to a geopolitical bargaining chip, ignoring the par excellence Catholic understanding of persecution as participation in Christ’s Passion. Nowhere does the analysis reference the unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary offered for Lai’s perseverance, nor the eternal stakes involved. As Pius XI declared in Quas Primas, “The hope of lasting peace among nations will not be realized until individuals and states obey Christ’s law and recognize His reign” (QP §1). The article’s exclusive focus on temporal deliverance through political deals negates the primacy of spiritual combat (Eph 6:12).
Jimmy cannot be released until he was convicted, and that’s why we had to wait all these years for the trial and then his conviction.
This statement reveals a thoroughly naturalistic worldview. McGurn’s admission that “everyone knew he would always be convicted” betrays abandonment of divine providence – a stark contrast to the martyrological tradition where unexpected deliverance through miracles remained ever possible for God’s faithful (Dan 3:16-18). The early Church chronicled such interventions precisely to strengthen believers’ hope in transcendent justice.
Idolatry of Earthly Powers
The article promotes blasphemous equivalence between Christ the King and worldly rulers: “Jimmy’s future will be determined by three men: Xi Jinping of China, President Trump of the United States, and Keir Starmer of Britain.” This tripartite secular trinity replaces the Holy Trinity as arbiter of human destiny, directly contravening Psalm 145:3 (“Put not your trust in princes”). The 1917 Code of Canon Law explicitly condemned such religious indifferentism (Canon 1325), while Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors rejected the notion that “the Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church” (Error 55).
Trump’s role as purported savior – “essential to the deal” – constitutes particular scandal. This serial adulterer and promoter of abortion access (via Supreme Court appointments) becomes messianic figure, despite his policies violating the non licet prohibitions against cooperation with intrinsic evils (1 Cor 5:11). The article’s celebration of his involvement demonstrates the conciliar sect’s collapse into pure pragmatism.
Perverted “Human Rights” Framework
Persistent references to “human rights” and “pro-democracy advocacy” substitute Enlightenment categories for authentically Catholic ones. The true crisis isn’t Lai’s political persecution but his potential deprivation of sacramental grace. As Pius XII taught, “The rights of man derive from his dignity as a creature ordained to supernatural beatitude” (La Solemità, 1944). The article never mentions whether Lai receives Holy Communion, makes sacramental confession, or has priestly visitation – the actual sine qua non for a Catholic prisoner’s welfare.
Lai’s daughter Claire compounds this error by requesting that America help her father “recover in peace” rather than die in state of grace. The family’s admirable fortitude – praised as “extraordinary faith-filled family” – rings hollow absent any reference to viaticum or last rites. This omission exposes the conciliar sect’s sacramental minimalism, where natural virtues replace supernatural ones.
The Naturalism of Modern “Catholic” Journalism
EWTN’s coverage exemplifies the post-conciliar media’s descent into pure activism. By framing Lai’s case through press freedom and democracy rather than regnum Christi, they commit the very error condemned in Pius XI’s Quas Primas: “When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony” (QP §19). The article’s concluding appeal for donations to “report the truth” while ignoring Veritas Ipsa (Truth Himself) completes this tragic farce.
Until self-styled “Catholic media” rediscover the sensus Catholicus that animated pre-1958 journalism – like La Civiltà Cattolica‘s relentless defense of Christ’s social reign – their work remains but “sounding brass or tinkling cymbal” (1 Cor 13:1). Jimmy Lai deserves coverage worthy of his apparent confession of faith, not this baptized secularism.
Source:
Jimmy Lai’s godfather weighs in on ‘phony’ guilty verdict (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 16.12.2025