EWTN News portal reports on the final scheduled meeting of the Religious Liberty Commission, chaired by Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Vice Chair Ben Carson, where members including Bishop Robert Barron called for the commission’s continuation, citing persistent threats to religious liberty. The meeting framed religious freedom as a matter of individual conscience and institutional autonomy within a secular political order, while notably omitting any reference to the supernatural mission of the Church, the Kingship of Christ, or the duty of the state to recognize the one true religion. This omission is not accidental; it is the hallmark of the post-conciliar apostasy that has reduced the Church to a mere NGO in the marketplace of ideas.
The Reduction of Religious Liberty to Secular Autonomy
The entire discourse at the Religious Liberty Commission operates within a framework alien to Catholic doctrine. Bishop Robert Barron, a prominent figure in the conciliar establishment, identified the “principal enemy of religious liberty” as the “ideology of self-invention,” which he described as denying “the objectivity of moral values and the stability of human nature.” While this critique of moral relativism may appear superficially aligned with Catholic teaching, it is fundamentally flawed because it remains entirely within the naturalistic and philosophical plane. Barron’s language echoes the errors condemned by Pope Pius IX in the Syllabus of Errors, particularly Proposition 3, which states: “Human reason, without any reference whatsoever to God, is the sole arbiter of truth and falsehood, and of good and evil; it is law to itself…” By framing the conflict as one between “self-invention” and “traditional religion,” Barron implicitly accepts the modernist premise that religion is a human phenomenon subject to cultural evolution, rather than the divinely revealed truth to which all men and states are bound.
The commission’s focus on protecting “faith-based organizations” and “religious ministries” further reveals its naturalistic orientation. Sister Mary Elizabeth of the Sisters of Life spoke of her community’s work as “creating a society in which people are cared for, valued, and protected.” While charitable works are indeed a fruit of faith, the Church’s primary mission is not social service but the salvation of souls through the preaching of the Gospel and the administration of the sacraments. The conciliar sect’s emphasis on “human flourishing” and “caring for the vulnerable” mirrors the modernist error condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici gregis, which warned against reducing Christianity to a mere social gospel. The true Church has always taught that the greatest act of charity is to lead souls to Christ and His sacraments, not merely to alleviate temporal suffering.
The Absence of Christ the King and the Duty of the State
Perhaps the most glaring omission in the commission’s deliberations is any mention of the Kingship of Christ and the duty of the state to recognize and submit to His authority. Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical Quas Primas, unequivocally declared: “The Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men… His reign, namely, extends not only to Catholic nations or to those who, by receiving baptism according to law, belong to the Church… but His reign encompasses also all non-Christians, so that most truly the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.” Furthermore, Pius XI insisted that “rulers of states therefore not refuse public veneration and obedience to the reigning Christ, but let them fulfill this duty themselves and with their people, if they wish to maintain their authority inviolate and contribute to the increase of their homeland’s happiness.”
The Religious Liberty Commission, by contrast, operates on the assumption that the state is neutral in matters of religion and that the Church’s role is merely to advocate for its own institutional survival within a pluralistic society. This is the very error condemned by Pius IX in Proposition 77 of the Syllabus: “In the present day it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion should be held as the only religion of the State, to the exclusion of all other forms of worship.” The commission’s silence on this point is not neutrality; it is complicity in the laicist revolution that has stripped Christ of His rightful dominion over nations.
The False Notion of “Religious Liberty” as a Human Right
The commission’s entire premise rests on the modernist concept of “religious liberty” as an inherent human right, a notion repeatedly condemned by the pre-conciliar Magisterium. Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Immortale Dei, taught that “the Almighty, therefore, has given the charge of the human race to two powers, the ecclesiastical and the civil, the one being set over divine, and the other over human, each the highest in its own kind, and each fixed within limits which are defined by its own nature and special object.” The state’s duty is not to guarantee freedom of worship but to recognize the Catholic Church as the one true Church and to promote the salvation of its citizens.
The conciliar sect’s embrace of religious liberty as a positive good is a direct repudiation of this teaching. Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae, which proclaimed the right to religious freedom based on the dignity of the human person, is a document that contradicts the perennial Magisterium and has been identified by sedevacantist theologians as a manifest heresy. The Religious Liberty Commission, by operating within this framework, demonstrates its allegiance not to the true Church but to the conciliar revolution.
The Omission of the Supernatural Mission of the Church
Throughout the commission’s discussions, there was no mention of the Church’s supernatural mission, the necessity of the sacraments, the reality of sin and grace, or the eternal destiny of souls. Bishop Barron spoke of protecting “access to the sacraments” for incarcerated immigrants, but this was framed as a matter of humane treatment rather than the supernatural necessity of the sacraments for salvation. The Church has always taught that “outside the Church there is no salvation” (Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus), and that the sacraments are not mere symbols but the indispensable means of grace instituted by Christ.
The conciliar sect’s reduction of the Church to a provider of social services and advocate for institutional autonomy is a betrayal of its divine commission. As Our Lord Himself declared: “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36). The Church’s primary concern is not the protection of its temporal interests but the salvation of souls and the glory of God. The Religious Liberty Commission, by focusing exclusively on temporal and political concerns, reveals its complete disconnect from the supernatural reality of the Church.
Conclusion: A Commission in Service of the Conciliar Apostasy
The Religious Liberty Commission, despite its veneer of defending faith, is in reality a tool of the conciliar apostasy. Its naturalistic framework, its silence on the Kingship of Christ, its embrace of the heretical concept of religious liberty, and its omission of the Church’s supernatural mission all demonstrate its allegiance to the post-conciliar revolution rather than to the perennial Magisterium. The true Church does not seek liberty from the state but the submission of the state to Christ the King. As Pope Pius XI declared: “The feast of Christ the King… will bring society back to our most beloved Savior.” Until the conciliar sect repudiates its errors and returns to the immutable Tradition, its efforts to defend “religious liberty” will remain a hollow mockery of the Church’s true mission.
Source:
Religious Liberty Commission members urge continued work as threats ‘are not disappearing’ (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 13.04.2026