The Artemis Narrative: A Modernist Fairy Tale of Human Triumph
The National Catholic Register commentary by Daniel B. Gallagher presents NASA’s Artemis II mission as a harmonious convergence of human scientific prowess and personal Christian faith. The article celebrates the crew—including the “first woman,” “first person of color,” and “first Canadian” on a lunar mission—as pioneers whose exploits inspire awe and humble praise of God. It references astronauts’ private devotions (Victor Glover’s Bible, Buzz Aldrin’s Presbyterian communion) and past papal messages (Paul VI’s note to Apollo 11) to frame space exploration as a natural outflow of religious wonder. The thesis is that venturing into space renews our perception of divine power and human dependence on God, quoting Maximus the Confessor: “only wonder can comprehend his incomprehensible power.”
From the perspective of integral Catholic faith—the immutable doctrine of the Church before the conciliar apostasy—this narrative is a quintessential product of Modernism, reducing the supernatural to naturalistic sentiment and utterly ignoring the exclusive reign of Christ the King over all human endeavors. It is a spiritual and theological bankruptcy that replaces dogma with vague “wonder” and the Church’s juridical mission with individualistic piety.
Religious Indifferentism Masked as “Faith”
The article’s central flaw is its presentation of “faith” as a generic, personal sentiment compatible with any religious expression. It notes that Commander Reid Wiseman and pilot Victor Glover “share a Christian faith,” and that Aldrin participated in a “private prayer service” as a Presbyterian. This is a deliberate omission of the Catholic Church’s exclusive claim to truth. The Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX (1864) condemns such indifferentism in the severest terms:
15. Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.
16. Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation.
17. Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ.
By presenting the astronauts’ diverse religious backgrounds (Catholic, Presbyterian) as equally valid expressions of “faith” that harmonize with space exploration, the article propagates the condemned error that all religions are paths to salvation. It ignores the Catholic dogma extra ecclesiam nulla salus—outside the Church there is no salvation—defined repeatedly by the Magisterium. The article’s silence on the necessity of Catholic baptism and membership in the Church for salvation is not neutrality; it is a damning omission that reveals its naturalistic, Modernist foundation. The “faith” referenced is a subjective, emotional state, not the theological virtue that assents to all truths revealed by God and taught by the Catholic Church.
Furthermore, the article cites the Apollo 8 Genesis reading and Paul VI’s note as ecumenical touchstones. Paul VI, whose papacy began in the wake of Vatican II, embodies the conciliar revolution. His note quoting Psalm 8 is an example of the “cult of man” condemned by Pius IX (Syllabus, Prop. 40: “The teaching of the Catholic Church is hostile to the well-being and interests of society”). The article treats this as a benign gesture, ignoring that the post-conciliar papacy has systematically promoted religious liberty (Dignitatis Humanae) and ecumenism, both condemned by the Syllabus (Props. 15-18, 77-78). The “humble praise” offered is not the Catholic duty of public submission to Christ the King, but a vague theism that could be shared by a Deist or a Pantheist.
The Omission of Christ the King: A Denial of Social Kingship
The article’s most glaring omission is any reference to the Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Pope Pius XI’s encyclical Quas Primas (1925), establishing the feast of Christ the King, is explicit: the Kingdom of Christ encompasses all individuals, families, and states, and all human authority must be exercised in His name and according to His laws. The encyclical condemns the secularism that “removed Jesus Christ and His most holy law from… public life” as the cause of societal chaos.
The Artemis mission is framed entirely within the context of national prestige (“to get there before China”), scientific discovery, and human “ingenuity.” There is not a single word about the duty of nations and scientists to subordinate their work to the law of God and the authority of the Catholic Church. This is the precise error of Modernism: the separation of the natural from the supernatural, of science from faith. Pius XI taught:
“When God and Jesus Christ… were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed… the entire human society had to be shaken.”
The article celebrates the astronauts’ “drive of humanity to go see what is on the other side of that mountain” as a noble impulse. But Catholic doctrine, as expounded by Pope Leo XIII in Immortale Dei and Pius XI in Quas Primas, holds that all human activity must be ordered to the ultimate end of man—the glory of God and the salvation of souls. The pursuit of knowledge for its own sake, divorced from this supernatural end, is a form of idolatry. The article’s language is pure naturalism: “expand the horizons of human knowledge,” “human ingenuity,” “value of human exploration.” This is the “cult of man” that Pius IX anathematized. Where is the acknowledgment that the moon, like all creation, exists to manifest God’s glory and that its exploration must be conducted under the banner of Christ the King, with prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary and recourse to the sacraments? The silence is deafening and damning.
The Usurped Papacy and Its False Blessings
The article references “Pope Leo XIV” and “his saintly predecessor” Paul VI. From the standpoint of integral Catholic faith, these are not legitimate pontiffs. The line of Roman Pontiffs from John XXIII (1958) onward are manifest heretics who have abandoned the Catholic faith, as proven by their endorsements of religious liberty, ecumenism, and the collegiality of bishops—all condemned by pre-1958 Magisterium. St. Robert Bellarmine, cited in the provided file on sedevacantism, is unequivocal:
“A manifest heretic… by that very fact ceases to be Pope and head… a manifest heretic cannot be Pope. It cannot be objected that the character remains in him, because if he remained Pope because of the character, since it is indelible, he could never be deposed.”
Pope Paul IV’s bull Cum ex Apostolatus Officio declares that any cleric who “has defected from the Catholic Faith or fallen into some heresy… his promotion… shall be null, void, and of no effect.” The conciliar “popes” have definitively professed heresy (e.g., John Paul II’s prayer with infidels at Assisi, Benedict XVI’s endorsement of Luther’s doctrine of justification, Francis’s praise of paganism). Therefore, they never validly occupied the See of Rome. The “papal” note left on the moon by Paul VI is an act of a false pontiff, a symbolic participation in the apostasy of the conciliar sect. The article treats it as a pious gesture, thereby endorsing the legitimacy of the modernist hierarchy. This is a grave error. The true Catholic Church has no visible head on earth at this time; the See of Peter is vacant (sedevacantism). Any “blessing” or “message” from the conciliar “papacy” is a sacrilegious counterfeit.
Silence on the Supernatural: The Grave Accusation
The article’s entire framework is naturalistic. It speaks of “awe,” “wonder,” “humility,” and “praise” in purely psychological and aesthetic terms. There is no mention of the sine qua non of the Christian life: the state of grace, the necessity of the sacraments, the reality of mortal sin, the judgment of God, the eternal destiny of souls. This is the hallmark of Modernism, condemned by St. Pius X in Lamentabili Sane Exitu and Pascendi Dominici Gregis. The Modernist reduces religion to a feeling or an ethical system, denying the supernatural order.
The astronauts’ “personal worship” and “private prayer services” are presented as sufficient. But Catholic doctrine, defined by the Council of Trent, teaches that public worship is due to God alone in the manner He has prescribed—through the sacrifice of the Mass and the sacraments administered by validly ordained priests in communion with the Roman Pontiff. The article’s silence on the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the source and summit of Christian life, is a silent denial of its necessity. The “praise” offered is not the liturgical worship of the Church, which alone is acceptable to God. The article’s God is a vague “Creator” of Psalm 8, not the Incarnate God, Jesus Christ, who reigns as King and must be publicly acknowledged as such by all human societies, including space agencies.
Maximus the Confessor is invoked to say “only wonder can comprehend his incomprehensible power.” But for the Catholic, wonder (admiratio) must lead to faith, hope, and charity—the theological virtues infused by God and requiring the sacraments. It must lead to the confession of the Catholic faith as the sole path to salvation. The article’s wonder is sterile; it does not condemn errors, it does not call for the conversion of nations, it does not demand the social reign of Christ. It is a wonder that serves the “cult of man” and the “progress of humanity,” precisely the errors Pius IX listed in the Syllabus (Props. 2, 3, 58-64).
The Artemis Program as an Instrument of the “Abomination of Desolation”
From the integral Catholic perspective, the Artemis program, like all contemporary human endeavors, operates within the “abomination of desolation” foretold by Daniel and mentioned by Christ (Matt. 24:15). This is the state of the world and the “church” after the apostasy of Vatican II. The article’s enthusiastic embrace of diversity (“first woman,” “first person of color”) reflects the conciliar sect’s obsession with democratization and the “cult of man,” where human achievement and social engineering are celebrated as ends in themselves. This is the naturalistic religion of Freemasonry, which the Syllabus condemns (Props. 39-55 on civil society and church-state relations).
The article’s call to “humble ourselves and praise our God” in the face of the moon’s inhospitable environment is a pious sentiment that masks a profound error: it suggests that God’s power is acknowledged only when human power fails. But Catholic theology teaches that God’s power is manifest even in human success, which must be immediately subordinated to His glory and used for the propagation of His kingdom. The Artemis mission, funded by a government that enshrines religious liberty and abortion, is an act of rebellion against God unless it is accompanied by public penance, conversion, and the re-establishment of the Social Kingship of Christ. The article says nothing of this. It therefore functions as a piece of spiritual propaganda for the conciliar sect, encouraging the faithful to find “God” in the achievements of a secular, apostate civilization.
The true Catholic response to space exploration is not sentimental wonder, but the prophetic voice of condemnation. As Pius IX thundered in the Syllabus against the errors of his day, so must we condemn the errors of ours. The moon, like all creation, belongs to Christ. Any human activity there must be under the jurisdiction of the Catholic Church and for the ultimate end of saving souls. The Artemis mission, launched under the auspices of a modernist “pope” and a secular state, is an act of idolatry—the worship of human reason and progress. The article’s failure to see this, and its presentation of such idolatry as compatible with “faith,” is the very essence of the apostasy that has consumed the post-1958 religious structures.
Therefore, the commentary is not a harmless reflection on science and religion. It is a sophisticated instrument of the Modernist error, using the language of faith to inoculate Catholics against the rigor of Catholic doctrine. It replaces the dogma of the Social Kingship of Christ with a vague theism, the necessity of the Church with religious indifferentism, and the supernatural order with naturalistic awe. In doing so, it participates in the great apostasy and leads souls further from the true Faith, which alone can save them.
Source:
Returning to the Moon, Returning to God (ncregister.com)
Date: 02.04.2026