The ‘Catholic’ Joy of Apostasy: Troubadours Preach Naturalism in EWTN’s Neo-Church
A Summary of Naturalistic Humanism
The EWTN News article from February 24, 2026, reports on a Zoom interview with five Catholic friends—the “Troubadours”—Joseph Pearce, William Fahey, Dale Ahlquist, Christopher Check, and Daniel Kerr—following their Prairie Troubadour conference in Fort Scott, Kansas. The group, which produces the “Tuesdays with the Troubadours” podcast, discusses their friendship, the conference theme “For Love of God and Country,” and their joy in meeting. They describe their gatherings as featuring “lively discourse,” “toothsome food, strong drink,” and folk music, with Check stating, “All expressions of human experience are most completely understood through the lens of the Church’s understanding of the world,” and adding, “if it’s good, or true or beautiful, … it belongs to the Catholic Church.” The article presents their friendship as a model of fraternity in an age of loneliness, with references to “worship of God and friendship” as what makes humans human, quoting “Pope Benedict.” The thesis is clear: this is a showcase of post-conciliar Catholicism—a naturalistic, human-centered “joy” that utterly rejects the supernatural, the kingship of Christ over all societies, and the immutable doctrine of the pre-1958 Church, instead promoting a cozy, patriotic, and utterly bankrupt pseudo-Catholic humanism.
Level 1: Factual Deconstruction—Platform and Implicit Assumptions
The article’s factual basis is a group of men active within the post-conciliar ecclesial structures, appearing on EWTN—a network that has long promoted Modernist interpretations and the conciliar revolution. Their very platform is a symptom of apostasy. EWTN, while often perceived as “traditional,” fully accepts the legitimacy of the antipopes from John XXIII onward and the doctrinal revolution of Vatican II. By participating, the Troubadours implicitly recognize the conciliar sect as the Catholic Church, thereby committing the sin of schism against the true, immovable Church of Christ. Their description of their work as providing “a Catholic answer” to everyday questions, from frying pans to summer reading, reveals a naturalistic reduction of the Faith. The Catholic Faith is not a set of answers to human experiences but a supernatural revelation that judges and transforms those experiences. Their silence on the state of grace, the necessity of the sacraments for salvation, the reality of hell, and the duty to convert nations exposes their humanism. They speak of “joy” and “friendship” as ends in themselves, not as fruits of the Unbloody Sacrifice of Calvary and the indwelling of the Holy Ghost.
Level 2: Linguistic and Rhetorical Analysis—The Tone of Naturalism
The language is saturated with sentimental, humanistic buzzwords: “joy,” “fraternity,” “friendship,” “mirth,” “home,” “retro,” “kindred spirits.” This is the vocabulary of the cult of man, condemned by Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors (Error 58: “All the rectitude and excellence of morality ought to be placed in the accumulation and increase of riches… and the gratification of pleasure”). The Troubadours’ “joy” is rooted in “good red wine,” folk songs, and mutual admiration—a hedonistic camaraderie that has no place in the Catholic notion of amor Dei, which is a sorrowful, sacrificial love. Check’s statement that worship and friendship “make us human” is a direct echo of Modernist personalism, reducing religion to an anthropological experience. The phrase “For Love of God and Country” is a blasphemous syncretism. In Catholic doctrine, as defined by Pius XI in Quas Primas, the love of country must be subordinated to the reign of Christ the King: “Let rulers of states therefore not refuse public veneration and obedience to the reigning Christ.” Their patriotism is naturalistic, not supernatural; it does not demand the Social Reign of Christ the King over the American republic, which remains fundamentally liberal and apostate.
Level 3: Theological Confrontation—Silence on the Supernatural and Christ’s Kingship
The article’s gravest sin is its systematic silence on the supernatural. There is no mention of:
- The Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass as a propitiatory sacrifice, not a “celebration of community.”
- The state of grace and the danger of damnation.
- The absolute necessity of the sacraments for salvation, especially Baptism and Penance.
- The duty to convert nations and the falsehood of religious liberty (condemned by Pius IX, Syllabus Error 15: “Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which… he shall consider true”).
- The primacy of the spiritual over the temporal and the subordination of the state to Christ the King.
This silence is a denial of the Faith. Pius XI, in Quas Primas, declared that the plague of the modern world is the removal of Christ from public life: “When God and Jesus Christ… were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” The Troubadours’ conference theme “For Love of God and Country” implicitly accepts the liberal separation of Church and State, a direct contradiction of Quas Primas and the Syllabus (Error 55: “The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church” is condemned). Their “retro” focus on American folk songs and a “retro place” is a idolatry of the natural order, ignoring that all true goodness must be ordered to the supernatural end of man. They quote “Pope Benedict” (Joseph Ratzinger, a notorious Modernist) on friendship and worship, thereby endorsing his heretical ecumenism and relativism. The true Catholic teaching, from the Council of Trent and Pius XI, is that worship belongs to God alone and must be ordered to the sacrifice of the Mass; friendship is a natural good that must be elevated by charity, the supernatural virtue.
Level 4: Symptomatic Analysis—The Fruit of the Conciliar Revolution
The Troubadours are a perfect product of the neo-church. Their emphasis on “incarnate” friendships (Check’s comment that “every one of these friendships began incarnate first!”) is a rejection of the primacy of the spiritual. In Catholic doctrine, even natural friendships must be ordered to the supernatural; they are not ends in themselves. Their podcast and conference are exercises in cultural Catholicism—a focus on Chesterton (a questionable figure with modernist leanings), folk music, and “good red wine”—which is the very “naturalistic humanism” Pius X condemned in Pascendi Dominici gregis as the synthesis of all Modernist errors. Their platform on EWTN, their acceptance of “Pope Benedict,” and their silence on the apostasy of the post-conciliar hierarchy demonstrate their formal adherence to the conciliar sect. They are “pseudo-traditionalists” who, like the FSSPX, acknowledge the usurpers but try to “have the old Mass.” This is the heresy of “recognize and resist”, which is schismatic because it recognizes a manifestly heretical “papacy.” As St. Robert Bellarmine taught (from the provided Defense of Sedevacantism file), a manifest heretic ceases to be Pope ipso facto. The Troubadours’ recognition of “Pope Benedict” and “Pope Francis” (and by extension, the current antipope Leo XIV) is a public denial of Catholic doctrine.
Level 5: The Omission of Christ the King and the Error of “God and Country”
The conference theme “For Love of God and Country” is a direct contradiction of Catholic social teaching. Pius XI, in Quas Primas, established the feast of Christ the King precisely to combat the error of separating God from the state: “The State must leave the same freedom to the members of Orders… but it is necessary that Christ reign in the mind of man… in the will… in the heart… in the body.” The Troubadours’ “God and Country” suggests a partnership, not a reign. This is the error of Americanism, condemned by Leo XIII in Testem benevolentiae (1899), which holds that the Church should adapt to the American experiment of separation of Church and State. Their “retro” celebration of American folk songs in a historic Kansas town is a nostalgic embrace of liberal democracy, which the Syllabus condemns (Error 39: “The State, as being the origin and source of all rights, is endowed with a certain right not circumscribed by any limits”). They omit that the American founding, while having some good elements, is rooted in Enlightenment rationalism and religious indifferentism—both condemned by the Church. Their silence on the need for the Social Kingship of Christ over the United States is a betrayal of the Faith.
Level 6: The Heresy of “Joy” Without the Cross
The Troubadours repeatedly emphasize “joy” and “mirth.” This is the heresy of Optimism, condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi. The true Catholic joy is a fruit of the Holy Ghost (Gal. 5:22) that coexists with sorrow for sin, the memory of Christ’s Passion, and the fear of hell. Their joy is natural, sensual, and centered on human fellowship. It is the joy of the world, not the joy of the Kingdom of God. Pius XI in Quas Primas describes the Kingdom of Christ as requiring “renounce earthly riches… deny themselves and carry their cross.” There is no cross in the Troubadours’ narrative—only “good red wine” and folk songs. This is antinomianism, the denial that the moral law applies to the regenerate. Their “joy” is the joy of the concupiscence of the eyes (1 John 2:16), not the joy of charity.
Level 7: The False Ecumenism of “Catholic Answers”
Christopher Check’s claim that “if it’s good, or true or beautiful, … it belongs to the Catholic Church” is a heretical blurring of the lines. This is the Modernist error of immanentism condemned by Pius X in Lamentabili sane exitu (Proposition 20: “Revelation was merely man’s self-awareness of his relationship to God”). The Catholic Church possesses all truth because she is the Spouse of Christ and the depository of divine revelation. But this does not mean that every natural good “belongs” to the Church in the sense that non-Catholics can possess it without conversion. The Troubadours’ statement implies a natural participation in truth that does not require submission to the Roman Pontiff—a direct contradiction of the Syllabus (Error 21: “The Church has not the power of defining dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion”). Their “Catholic Answers” ministry, while sometimes useful for apologetics, operates within the conciliar framework of religious liberty and ecumenism, both condemned. They never call non-Catholics to convert, only to find “goodness, truth, beauty” in their own traditions—a betrayal of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20).
Level 8: The Sedevacantist Reality—They Serve the Usurpers
The Troubadours’ entire public activity is conducted in formal communion with the conciliar antipopes. They quote “Pope Benedict,” appear on EWTN (which promotes the antipopes), and never denounce the apostasy of the post-1958 hierarchy. According to the doctrine of St. Robert Bellarmine (from the Defense of Sedevacantism file), a manifest heretic loses all jurisdiction ipso facto. The last true Pope was Pius XII. The men they call “Pope” (John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Francis, and the current antipope Leo XIV) are manifest heretics who have taught Modernism, religious liberty, and ecumenism—all condemned by Pius IX, Pius X, and Pius XI. By recognizing these men, the Troubadours are in formal schism. Their “friendship” is built on a common acceptance of apostasy. They are not “Catholic leaders” but lay apostles of the neo-church, using traditional trappings (folk songs, Chesterton, classical education) to sugarcoat the poison of Modernism.
Conclusion: A Showcase of Apostate Naturalism
The Prairie Troubadour conference and podcast are a textbook example of the post-conciliar Church’s abandonment of the supernatural. They replace the Sacrifice of the Mass with “good red wine,” the Kingship of Christ with “God and Country,” the state of grace with “joy,” and the conversion of nations with “Catholic answers” that respect other religions. Their silence on the heresy of the antipopes, the abomination of the Novus Ordo Missae, and the duty to reject the conciliar sect makes them complicit in the greatest apostasy in Church history. They are not “Catholic friends” but fellow travelers in the neo-church’s revolution, offering a palatable, naturalistic, and utterly bankrupt version of “Catholicism” that is more dangerous because it wears a traditional mask. The true Catholic, adhering to the integral Faith before 1958, must reject them and their works as opera tenebrarum (works of darkness).
Source:
5 Catholic leaders, old friends talk faith, friendship at Prairie Troubadour conference (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 24.02.2026