The National Catholic Register, in its editorial of April 30, 2026, proposes a “fast from social media” as a remedy for the escalating political violence in the United States, citing the recent assassination attempt on President Trump and the murder of Charlie Kirk. The editorial draws a parallel to President Lincoln’s 1863 national day of fasting during the Civil War, suggesting that a “digital detox” could help restore national unity and peace. It references Bishop Robert Barron’s condemnation of online “viciousness and tribalism” and even cites a study showing improved attention spans and reduced depression after just two weeks of blocking internet access. While the superficial logic of reducing online toxicity might seem appealing, this proposal is a profound spiritual evasion, a classic modernist diversion that addresses symptoms while ignoring the root cause of societal collapse: the rejection of Christ the King and the pervasive apostasy within the structures occupying the Vatican.
The Superficiality of Naturalistic Solutions to Supernatural Crises
The editorial’s core premise—that a mere “fast” from social media can combat political violence—is a testament to the naturalistic, worldly lens through which the conciliar sect views societal ills. It reduces a profound spiritual and moral crisis to a matter of psychological well-being and digital hygiene. The cited study about improved attention spans and reduced depression, while perhaps factually accurate in a limited sense, completely misses the forest for the trees. The true “depression” and “lack of attention” afflicting modern man are not merely the result of screen time but stem from a far deeper malaise: the loss of faith, the abandonment of true spiritual discipline, and the systematic dismantling of Catholic doctrine and practice by the very authorities the Register implicitly upholds.
When Pope Pius XI, in his encyclical *Quas Primas*, established the Feast of Christ the King, he explicitly stated that “the hope of lasting peace will not yet shine upon nations as long as individuals and states renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior.” He further elaborated that “the entire human society had to be shaken, because it lacked a stable and strong foundation” when “God and Jesus Christ… were removed from laws and states and when authority was derived not from God but from men.” The Register’s proposal, by focusing solely on a digital detox, implicitly denies this fundamental Catholic truth. It suggests that peace can be found through human effort and technological abstinence, rather than through the arduous work of restoring Christ’s rightful dominion over all aspects of public and private life. This is the very “secularism” and “laicism” that Pius XI condemned as a “plague that poisons human society,” which “began with the denial of Christ the Lord’s reign over all nations.”
The Omission of True Spiritual Warfare
The editorial’s call for a “fast” is a pale imitation of genuine Catholic penance and spiritual warfare. True fasting, as understood by the Church for centuries, is intrinsically linked to prayer, mortification, and conversion of heart, all ordered towards repentance from sin and a return to God’s commandments. It is a means to subdue the flesh and strengthen the spirit against temptation, not merely to improve mental health metrics or reduce online outrage.
St. Pius X, in *Lamentabili Sane Exitu*, condemned the modernist error that “the pursuit of novelty in the investigation of the foundations of things leads in our times to deplorable consequences, abandoning all restraint… and often leads to the most grievous errors, which become particularly reprehensible when they concern sacred sciences, the exposition of Holy Scripture, and the principal mysteries of Faith.” The Register’s editorial, while not directly addressing sacred sciences, embodies this spirit of novelty by proposing a secularized, psychologized version of fasting that is detached from its supernatural purpose. It offers a “digital detox” when what is truly needed is a profound spiritual detox from the errors of modernism, ecumenism, and religious indifferentism that have been promulgated by the very conciliar authorities the Register refuses to unequivocally condemn.
Furthermore, the editorial’s silence on the role of the conciliar sect’s own teachings in fostering the conditions for such violence is deafening. The “viciousness and tribalism” Bishop Barron decries are not merely products of social media algorithms; they are the inevitable fruits of a Church that has abandoned its prophetic voice, diluted its doctrine, and embraced the world. The Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX explicitly condemned the idea that “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80). The conciliar sect has precisely done this, and in doing so, has contributed to the moral decay and confusion that now manifest in political violence. A true call to fasting would necessitate a call to repentance for these institutional sins, not just individual digital habits.
The Diversion from Ecclesial Apostasy
Perhaps most egregious is the editorial’s complete silence on the primary source of spiritual and moral confusion: the ongoing apostasy within the structures occupying the Vatican. While the editorial bemoans “political violence,” it fails to acknowledge that the greatest violence being perpetrated today is the spiritual violence against the faithful, perpetrated by a hierarchy that has systematically dismantled the Faith.
The “bishops” and “popes” of the conciliar sect, from John XXIII to Leo XIV, have promulgated doctrines and practices that are antithetical to the perennial Magisterium. They have embraced religious liberty, condemned by Pius IX in the Syllabus (Proposition 77: “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”), and engaged in false ecumenism, condemned by the same Syllabus (Proposition 18: “Protestantism is nothing more than another form of the same true Christian religion, in which form it is given to please God equally as in the Catholic Church”). These are not mere “novelties”; they are heresies that strike at the very heart of the Church’s mission and her claim to be the sole ark of salvation.
A genuine call to fasting and prayer for the nation would necessarily include a call for the conversion of these erring “clergy” and a rejection of their modernist innovations. It would demand a return to the immutable truths of the Faith, not a superficial abstention from social media. The editorial’s focus on “political violence” is a convenient distraction from the far more dangerous spiritual violence being waged against the souls of the faithful by those who occupy the highest positions within the visible Church.
The Illusion of “National Unity” Without Christ
The editorial’s invocation of Lincoln’s 1863 proclamation for “national humiliation, fasting and prayer” to restore “unity and peace” is deeply problematic from an integral Catholic perspective. While Lincoln’s act was commendable in its time, it operated within a framework that, while acknowledging God, did not explicitly call for the public reign of Christ the King over the nation. The Catholic understanding of true peace and unity is not merely the absence of civil strife but the presence of justice and order under God’s law.
Pius XI, in *Quas Primas*, unequivocally stated that “the hope of lasting peace will not yet shine upon nations as long as individuals and states renounce and do not wish to recognize the reign of our Savior.” He further emphasized that “the state must leave the same freedom to the members of Orders and Congregations, both male and female, who are indeed the most valiant helpers of the Pastors of the Church and contribute most to the expansion and establishment of Christ’s Kingdom.” True national unity, therefore, can only be achieved through the explicit acknowledgment of Christ’s sovereignty and the submission of all laws and public life to His commandments. A “digital fast” without this fundamental conversion is merely a cosmetic gesture, a band-aid on a gaping wound.
The Register’s proposal, by focusing on a superficial “digital detox,” implicitly promotes a naturalistic, secularized view of societal healing. It suggests that peace can be achieved through human effort and behavioral modification, rather than through the grace of God and the public profession of the Catholic Faith. This is precisely the error of “Moderate Rationalism” condemned by Pius IX in the Syllabus (Proposition 8: “As human reason is placed on a level with religion itself, so theological must be treated in the same manner as philosophical sciences”), where human solutions are elevated above divine revelation and supernatural means.
The Call to True Penance, Not Digital Diets
In conclusion, the National Catholic Register’s editorial, while perhaps well-intentioned in its desire to address political violence, offers a profoundly inadequate and spiritually bankrupt solution. A “fast from social media” is a trivial response to a crisis that is fundamentally spiritual and moral in nature. It ignores the root causes of societal decay: the rejection of Christ the King, the pervasive apostasy within the conciliar sect, and the systematic dismantling of Catholic doctrine and discipline.
True fasting, in the Catholic tradition, is a powerful means of grace, but it must be accompanied by genuine prayer, profound repentance, and a complete conversion of life. It must be ordered towards the restoration of all things in Christ, beginning with the conversion of sinners and the return of nations to His rightful dominion. Instead of a “digital detox,” what is urgently needed is a “doctrinal detox” from the errors of modernism, a rejection of the conciliar sect’s false teachings, and a return to the immutable truths of the perennial Magisterium. Only then, with God’s grace, can true peace and unity be established, not through human contrivances, but through the sweet and saving reign of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of kings and Lord of lords.
Source:
Fasting From Social Media to Combat Political Violence (ncregister.com)
Date: 30.04.2026