On May 5, 2026, the EWTN News portal reported that Bishop Daniel Thomas of Toledo, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, sent a letter to Congress urging lawmakers to “put children and families first” in the appropriations process. The letter calls for defunding abortion providers, supporting restorative reproductive medicine, opposing IVF, and upholding the Hyde Amendment. On the surface, this appears to be a commendable defense of innocent life. Yet a closer examination—through the lens of unchanging Catholic doctrine—reveals a profound spiritual bankruptcy: the letter operates entirely within the framework of secular political lobbying, reduces the Church’s mission to legislative maneuvering, and completely omits the only solution that truly protects the unborn and restores social order: the Social Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Symptom of a Church That Has Abdicated Its Divine Mandate
The letter from Bishop Daniel Thomas is addressed not to the faithful, not to priests, not even to the “Pope” in Rome—but to “the chairs and vice chairs for the committees on appropriations of the U.S. House and the U.S. Senate.” This fact alone is revelatory. The bishop of the conciliar sect positions himself as a lobbyist, a special interest group representative pleading before Caesar for crumbs from the table of secular power. Where is the voice of the Church that once spoke with the authority of Christ the King, commanding nations to submit to the divine law? Where is the anathema, the excommunication, the thunderous condemnation that the Sovereign Pontiffs hurled at governments that dared to legislate against God’s commandments?
Pius XI, in the encyclical Quas Primas (1925), which we have in our possession, declared with unmistakable clarity:
The Church, established by Christ as a perfect society, demands for itself by a right belonging to it, which it cannot renounce, full freedom and independence from secular authority, and that in fulfilling the mission entrusted to it by God—to teach, govern, and lead all to eternal happiness, those who belong to the Kingdom of Christ—it cannot depend on anyone’s will.
The bishop of Toledo does not demand the Church’s independence from the state. He begs the state for favorable appropriations. He does not remind Congress that Christ the King has supreme authority over all nations and that every law contrary to divine law is null and void—as Pius IX declared in the Syllabus of Errors (1864), condemning the proposition that “the civil authority may interfere in matters relating to religion, morality and spiritual government” (Proposition 44). Instead, Bishop Thomas politely “urges” Congress to “advance appropriations that respect and affirm the dignity of all human life.”
This is the language of a supplicant, not of a successor of the Apostles.
What the Letter Silences: The Only True Solution
The most damning aspect of this letter is not what it says, but what it systematically omits. Not once—not a single word—does Bishop Thomas mention the Social Kingship of Christ. Not once does he remind the United States Congress that Our Lord Jesus Christ is King of all nations, that the state has a positive duty to publicly recognize and obey Him, and that no amount of appropriations can substitute for the conversion of a nation to the Catholic faith.
Pius XI stated this with absolute clarity in Quas Primas:
If rulers and legitimate superiors will have the conviction that they exercise authority not so much by their own right as by the command and in the place of the Divine King, everyone will notice how religiously and wisely they will use their authority… Peace will flourish and internal order will be established, for every cause of disturbance will be removed.
And further:
The annual celebration of this solemnity will also remind states that not only private individuals, but also rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him: for it will remind them of the final judgment, in which Christ, whom not only was cast out of the state, but was also forgotten and ignored through contempt, will very severely avenge these insults, because His royal dignity demands that all relations in the state be ordered on the basis of God’s commandments and Christian principles.
Bishop Thomas speaks of “funding priorities” and “appropriations packages.” Pius XI speaks of the final judgment and the severe vengeance of Christ the King against states that cast Him out. The contrast could not be more stark. The conciliar sect has replaced the supernatural order with the bureaucratic order, the preaching of divine truth with the management of political capital.
The Hyde Amendment: A Prudential Compromise Elevated to Doctrine
Bishop Thomas urges Congress to “continue upholding the Hyde Amendment, which protects taxpayer funding from being used for abortions, and to oppose any bill that expands taxpayer funding of elective abortion.” He further calls for the extension of “last year’s historic, one-year defunding of the abortion industry in Medicaid within the ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act’ (H.R.1).”
Let us be clear about what the Hyde Amendment is: it is a legislative compromise that permits abortion to remain legal throughout the United States while merely restricting the use of certain federal funds for the procedure. It does not outlaw abortion. It does not recognize the unborn child as a person with an inviolable right to life under God’s law. It does not challenge the jurisprudential framework of Roe v. Wade or its successors. It is, in essence, an agreement to allow mass murder to continue while ensuring that taxpayers are not directly billed for every killing.
The Catholic Church, before the conciliar revolution, never spoke in such terms. The Church taught that abortion is murder, that it incurs automatic excommunication (Canon 2350 of the 1917 Code of Canon Law), and that the state has no authority to legalize it. Pius IX, in Apostolicae Sedis (1869), affixed the penalty of excommunication reserved to the Ordinary for “those who procure abortion, not excluding the mother.” The Church did not ask Congress to “defund abortion providers”—she declared that the procurement of abortion is a grave crime against God and that those who cooperate in it are cut off from the Body of Christ.
The conciliar sect’s approach—lobbying for defunding rather than demanding the total criminalization of abortion—reveals its fundamental acceptance of the secular, liberal framework. It operates within the system rather than confronting the system with the fullness of Catholic truth. It seeks to manage evil rather than eradicate it.
“Restorative Reproductive Medicine”: The Church as Health Policy Consultant
Bishop Thomas voices support for “restorative reproductive medicine to help couples experiencing infertility have families” and calls for “funding and access to resources, such as training or research, for holistic and comprehensive restorative reproductive medicine, to help identify and treat underlying causes for those experiencing infertility.”
While the opposition to IVF is doctrinally correct—and Bishop Thomas rightly notes that “IVF represents an underregulated industry that creates hundreds of thousands or even millions of preborn children who will be interminably frozen, lost in attempts to implant them within a mother, or discarded and killed”—the framing is once again entirely naturalistic and political. The bishop speaks of “funding,” “training,” “research,” and “access to resources.” He speaks as a health policy advisor, not as a shepherd of souls.
Where is the call to repentance? Where is the reminder that children are a gift from God, that infertility may be a cross to be borne with supernatural faith, that the sacrament of matrimony confers graces sufficient for every trial? Where is the teaching of the Church on the primary end of matrimony—the procreation and education of children in the Catholic faith—and the obligation of parents to raise their offspring for Heaven, not merely for earthly flourishing?
The conciliar sect has reduced the Church’s pastoral mission to the provision of social services. The bishop of Toledo does not call couples to prayer, to the sacraments, to trust in Divine Providence. He calls Congress to fund medical research. This is not the language of the Church of Christ; it is the language of a non-governmental organization.
The Omission of Baptism and the Supernatural Order
Perhaps the most spiritually catastrophic omission in Bishop Thomas’s letter is the complete absence of any reference to the supernatural order. There is no mention of baptism, without which no child—born or preborn—can attain eternal salvation. There is no mention of the state of grace, of mortal sin, of the necessity of the sacraments for salvation. There is no mention of the eternal destiny of every human soul, which is the only matter of ultimate consequence.
The bishop speaks of “the dignity and flourishing of the human person” and “the protection of innocent, preborn lives” as though these were ends in themselves, to be achieved through legislative appropriations. But the Church has always taught that the ultimate end of every human person is the Beatific Vision—the eternal contemplation of God in Heaven. The protection of innocent life is a grave moral obligation, yes, but it is ordered toward the salvation of souls, not toward “flourishing” in this temporal life.
St. Pius X, in Lamentabili Sane Exitu (1907), condemned the modernist proposition that “the Church is incapable of effectively defending evangelical ethics, because it steadfastly adheres to its views, which cannot be reconciled with modern progress” (Proposition 63). The conciliar sect has done precisely what St. Pius X condemned: it has abandoned the uncompromising defense of divine law in favor of a pragmatic accommodation with modern secular governance. Bishop Thomas does not challenge the legitimacy of a government that permits the mass slaughter of innocents; he asks it to be more generous with its funding priorities.
The Deeper Apostasy: A Church That No Longer Believes in Itself
The letter from Bishop Daniel Thomas is not merely inadequate; it is symptomatic of the total apostasy of the conciliar sect. This is an institution that no longer believes it is the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ, the Ark of Salvation outside which there is no hope of eternal life. It no longer believes it has the authority to command nations, to anathematize rulers who defy God’s law, to impose canonical penalties on those who cooperate with evil.
Instead, it sends polite letters to congressional committees. It “urges” and “calls for” and “supports.” It operates as one interest group among many in a pluralistic democracy, competing for influence with every other lobby in Washington. It has accepted the very error that Pius IX condemned in the Syllabus of Errors:
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. (Proposition 77)
The conciliar sect not only accepts this error—it embraces it, promulgates it, and structures its entire institutional life around it. The bishops do not demand that the United States recognize the Catholic religion as the sole religion of the state. They do not demand that Catholic morality be enshrined in law. They do not demand that the government submit to the authority of Christ the King. They ask for appropriations.
What the Church Actually Teaches About the State’s Duty
The authentic Catholic position on the relationship between the Church and the state was articulated with crystalline clarity by Leo XIII in Immortale Dei (1885) and by Pius XI in Quas Primas. The state is not a morally neutral entity that the Church must lobby for favorable treatment. The state is a society ordained by God to promote the common good, which includes the spiritual welfare of its citizens. The state has a duty to profess the Catholic faith, to protect the Church, to enact laws in conformity with divine law, and to suppress public offenses against God.
Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors, condemned the following propositions, which are now the operative principles of the conciliar sect:
– “The Church ought to be separated from the State, and the State from the Church” (Proposition 55)
– “The civil authority may interfere in matters relating to religion, morality and spiritual government” (Proposition 44)
– “The best theory of civil society requires that popular schools… should be freed from all ecclesiastical authority, control and interference” (Proposition 47)
– “The Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” (Proposition 80)
Every one of these condemned propositions is now the official teaching and practice of the conciliar sect. The bishops do not demand the Church’s authority over education, over morality, over the state itself. They ask Congress to fund WIC and defund Planned Parenthood. They have exchanged the birthright of the Church—her divine mandate to govern nations in the name of Christ the King—for a bowl of political porridge.
Conclusion: The Call to Reject the Conciliar Apostasy
The letter of Bishop Daniel Thomas to Congress is a perfect specimen of the conciliar sect’s apostasy. It is well-intentioned in a worldly sense—it opposes abortion, it criticizes IVF, it calls for support for mothers and children. But it does all of this within a framework that is fundamentally incompatible with the Catholic faith. It accepts the legitimacy of a secular state that permits the murder of innocents. It reduces the Church’s mission to political lobbying. It omits the Social Kingship of Christ, the necessity of the sacraments, the reality of eternal judgment, and the Church’s divine authority over nations.
The faithful must reject this counterfeit Catholicism. The faithful must return to the unchanging teaching of the Church, which proclaims that Our Lord Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, that His authority extends over every nation and every aspect of human life, and that no legislative appropriation, no matter how “pro-life” in its intent, can substitute for the total submission of the state to the law of God.
As Pius XI declared:
Oh, what happiness we would enjoy if individuals, families, and states allowed themselves to be governed by Christ. “Then at last,” to use the words which our predecessor Leo XIII addressed to all bishops 25 years ago, “so many wounds can be healed, then there will be hope that the law will regain its former authority, sweet peace will return again, swords and weapons will fall from hands, when all willingly accept the reign of Christ and obey Him, and every tongue will confess that our Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”
The conciliar sect does not call states to accept the reign of Christ. It calls them to accept its appropriations requests. This is not the Church of Jesus Christ. This is the abomination of desolation sitting in the temple of God (2 Thess. 2:4). The faithful must have no part in it.
Source:
U.S. bishop urges Congress to ‘put children and families first’ in appropriations process (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 05.05.2026