EWTN News reports that over 100 U.S. lawmakers have urged President Donald Trump to press Chinese President Xi Jinping for the release of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong media mogul and self-described “devout Catholic” sentenced to 20 years in prison on national security charges. The bipartisan letter, spearheaded by Rep. Chris Smith and Sen. Rick Scott, frames the appeal purely in terms of “humanitarian parole,” “deteriorating health,” and political prisoner status, while completely ignoring the supernatural destiny of the soul and the absolute primacy of the Catholic Church’s social kingship. This entire episode is a masterclass in naturalistic humanitarianism that reduces a soul’s suffering to a bargaining chip in geopolitical negotiations, revealing the utter spiritual bankruptcy of modern secular governance even when it claims to champion “freedom.”
The Reduction of a Soul to a Geopolitical Pawn
The letter from the 105 lawmakers treats Jimmy Lai’s imprisonment as a matter of “humanitarian parole” and “deteriorating health,” with Rep. Smith urging Trump to “look Xi Jinping in the eyes and say, ‘Let this guy go.'” This language is revealing: it reduces a human being—a soul created by God for eternal salvation—to a negotiable commodity in the theater of international relations. The lawmakers’ appeal rests entirely on naturalistic premises: physical health, family reunification, and political leverage. There is not a single mention of Lai’s supernatural obligations as a Catholic, nor any recognition that his primary allegiance must be to Christ the King and His Church, not to any earthly power or political ideology.
Pius XI taught in Quas Primas that “the Kingdom of our Redeemer encompasses all men” and that “men united in societies are no less subject to the authority of Christ than individuals.” Yet here we see a group of legislators operating entirely within the framework of secular humanism, appealing to “humanitarian” principles while remaining willfully blind to the divine constitution of society. They ask Trump to act as a negotiator of temporal interests, not as a Catholic ruler who must publicly acknowledge Christ’s royal dignity and demand justice based on God’s law.
The Silence on Spiritual Persecution and Apostasy
What is most glaringly absent from this entire discourse is any acknowledgment of the spiritual dimension of persecution. Jimmy Lai is described as a “devout Catholic,” yet there is no inquiry into whether his faith is being tested by God, whether he is in a state of grace, or whether the Catholic Church—the true Church, not the conciliar sect—has provided him with the sacramental means to endure his suffering. Instead, the focus is entirely on physical health and political freedom, as if these were the highest goods.
This silence is symptomatic of the modernist mentality that has infected even those who claim to defend religious liberty. The Syllabus of Errors condemned the proposition that “the civil liberty of every form of worship… conduce more easily to corrupt the morals and minds of the people” (Proposition 79). Yet today’s lawmakers operate precisely within this framework, treating all religions as equivalent and reducing Catholic persecution to a matter of “human rights” rather than divine justice. They do not ask whether Lai’s imprisonment is a consequence of the Church’s failure to uphold Christ’s kingship over China, nor do they recognize that true freedom comes only through submission to the Gospel.
The Illusion of “Humanitarian” Appeals to Tyrants
The lawmakers’ appeal to Xi Jinping is framed as a “humanitarian gesture,” with Smith suggesting that releasing Lai would be “a good gesture” that “means a lot to us as Americans.” This language is not only naive but blasphemous in its implications. It treats the Chinese Communist Party—an openly atheist and anti-Catholic regime—as a legitimate authority capable of dispensing mercy, rather than as an instrument of Satan that must be confronted with the full weight of Catholic truth.
Pius IX warned in the Syllabus of Errors that “the State, as being the origin and source of all rights, is endowed with a certain right not circumscribed by any limits” (Proposition 39) is a condemned error. Yet these lawmakers implicitly accept the CCP’s absolute sovereignty over its citizens, begging for clemency rather than demanding justice based on God’s law. They do not recognize that “the Church has not the power of defining dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion” (Proposition 21) is a condemned error, and therefore they cannot articulate why Lai’s Catholic faith demands his release on theological grounds, not merely humanitarian ones.
The Absence of the Church’s Social Kingship
The entire episode reveals the total absence of the Church’s social kingship in modern political discourse. There is no mention of Christ the King, no appeal to the Church’s authority to judge the actions of states, and no recognition that “the Church, established by Christ as a perfect society, demands for itself… full freedom and independence from secular authority” (Pius XI, Quas Primas). Instead, the lawmakers operate within the framework of laicism—the very plague that Pius XI sought to remedy with the feast of Christ the King.
This is the inevitable consequence of the conciliar revolution, which abandoned the Church’s claim to temporal sovereignty and reduced her mission to “dialogue” with the world. The post-conciliar sect has no answer to persecution except to beg secular powers for mercy, because it has surrendered the theological principles that would allow it to demand justice. The true Church, by contrast, teaches that “the state is happy not by one means, and man by another; for the state is nothing else than a harmonious association of men” (St. Augustine, quoted in Quas Primas). Until Christ is recognized as King of China, no “humanitarian appeal” will secure true freedom for Catholics like Jimmy Lai.
The Danger of “Catholic” Identity Without Catholic Action
Jimmy Lai is described as a “devout Catholic,” yet his public life—as a media mogul promoting “democracy” and “freedom” within a secular framework—raises serious questions about whether his faith is integral or merely cultural. The Catholic Church teaches that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), and that “the entire government of public schools… may and ought to appertain to the civil power” (Proposition 45, condemned in the Syllabus) is an error. Yet Lai’s Apple Daily operated within the framework of liberal democracy, promoting values that are often antithetical to Catholic teaching.
This is not to justify his imprisonment—the CCP has no authority to persecute Catholics—but to highlight the danger of a “Catholic” identity that is not rooted in the Church’s social teaching. A truly Catholic media outlet would proclaim Christ the King, defend the Church’s rights, and reject the errors of liberalism and religious indifferentism. Until Catholics like Lai embrace this integral faith, they will continue to be persecuted by both secular regimes and the conciar sect that has abandoned them.
Conclusion: The Futility of Naturalistic Humanitarianism
The Jimmy Lai case is a stark reminder that naturalistic humanitarianism is incapable of securing true freedom for Catholics. The lawmakers’ appeal to Trump, their focus on “health” and “humanitarian parole,” and their silence on the Church’s social kingship all reveal a world that has rejected Christ and is therefore incapable of justice. As Pius XI taught, “when God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed” (Ubi Arcano). Until Christ is restored as King of nations, no amount of political pressure will free the persecuted Church.
The true response to Lai’s imprisonment is not to beg tyrants for mercy, but to proclaim the Gospel, demand the Church’s rights, and reject the errors of liberalism and secularism that have led to this persecution. The conciliar sect has failed in this mission, and so the faithful must take up the banner of Christ the King and fight for His reign over all nations—including China.
Source:
U.S. lawmakers urge Trump to press China’s president on Jimmy Lai case (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 09.05.2026