Michael Reagan’s Death Highlights the Naturalism of Conciliar Catholicism
Catholic News Agency reports the death of Michael Reagan (1945-2026), emphasizing his role as son of former U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his identification with Catholicism through his adoptive mother Jane Wyman. The article quotes Reagan’s 2024 interview where he joked about his Protestant father being “three floors below” his Catholic mother in heaven, while highlighting his family’s Catholic affiliations.
Naturalistic Reduction of the Supernatural Order
The report exemplifies the naturalism (Pius X, Pascendi Dominici Gregis) permeating conciliar-era Catholic journalism. By framing Reagan’s faith as mere familial inheritance – “My whole family is [Catholic]” – the article reduces the theological virtue of faith to sociological accident. This contradicts the Church’s teaching that faith is “a supernatural virtue by which we believe that what God has revealed is true – not because its intrinsic truth is seen by the natural light of reason – but because of the authority of God who reveals it” (Council of Trent, Session VI). Nowhere does the piece mention sacramental life, adherence to doctrine, or the sine qua non of salvation: “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved” (Mark 16:16).
Ecumenical Indifferentism in Eschatological Imagery
Reagan’s flippant comparison of his parents’ eternal destinations – positioning his Protestant father merely “three floors below” his Catholic mother in heaven – constitutes grave indifferentism condemned by Gregory XVI in Mirari Vos. The First Vatican Council dogmatically declared that “by divine and Catholic faith all those things are to be believed which are contained in the word of God as found in Scripture and tradition” (Session III, Chapter 3). To suggest differing levels of beatitude correspond to denominational differences mocks the Church’s exclusive mediatory role: “Neither is there salvation in any other” (Acts 4:12).
Omission of Requiem Rites and Sacramental Reality
The article’s silence about Reagan’s reception of last rites speaks volumes about post-conciliar Catholicism’s erosion of supernatural consciousness. Pius XII’s Mediator Dei emphasized that “the Sacraments of the New Law… are necessary for the salvation of mankind.” By highlighting secular achievements (“conservative activist,” “Reagan Ranch”) while neglecting to inquire whether Reagan died fortified by Extreme Unction, the report prioritizes natural over supernatural goods – precisely the “cult of man” Paul VI denounced in his 1972 homily.
Young America’s Foundation’s Protestantized Eulogy
The statement by Scott Walker of Young America’s Foundation that Reagan is “with the Lord” employs typically Protestant language foreign to Catholic eschatology. The Council of Florence’s decree Laetentur Caeli (1439) defined that souls not perfectly purified “are cleansed after death by purgatorial punishments,” while the Church prays “for those who have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified” (Council of Trent, Session XXV). This omission reflects the conciliar sect’s abandonment of doctrinal precision in favor of ecumenical sentimentalism.
Canonical Irregularities in Conciliar “Conversions”
The uncritical reporting of Colleen Reagan’s alleged “conversion to Catholicism” raises questions never addressed in conciliar journalism. Canon 1258 of the 1917 Code forbade communicatio in sacris with heretics, requiring converts to abjure errors. The article’s silence on whether Mrs. Reagan rejected Protestant errors – or whether she embraced Vatican II’s heresies – demonstrates the counterfeit nature of post-conciliar “conversions.” As Pius XII warned: “The salvation of many depends on the prayers and sacrifices of the mystical Body of Christ offered for this intention” (Mystici Corporis Christi), not political alliances.
Conclusion: When Obituaries Become Occasions of Scandal
This obituary typifies the conciliar sect’s reduction of Catholicism to cultural identifier rather than the one Ark of Salvation. By celebrating natural bonds over supernatural grace, joking about eternal realities, and employing Protestantized language about salvation, Catholic News Agency – ostensibly orthodox – proves itself complicit in the Great Apostasy. St. Augustine’s warning echoes through the ages: “Unlearned people… think that we are to believe that Christ is nothing else than what the eye has gazed upon; whereas… the whole Christ is Word and flesh” (Tractate 1 on John). When Catholic journalism forgets this, it becomes propaganda for Antichrist.
Source:
Michael Reagan, Catholic son of U.S. President Ronald Reagan, dies at 80 (catholicnewsagency.com)
Date: 07.01.2026