Erik Rosales, a correspondent for EWTN News, recounts his harrowing experience during the shooting at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in Washington, D.C., on April 26, 2026. Describing the chaos, fear, and his instinct to protect his wife, he notes that an EWTN producer began reciting the St. Michael Prayer, leading him to reflect: “We knew God was protecting us.” Rosales concludes by expressing gratitude that no lives were lost and states that the experience deepened his personal faith, reminding him that reliance on God is not just for crises but something to carry daily.
The Illusion of Security in a Godless World
The account by Erik Rosales, while emotionally compelling, presents a worldview fundamentally shaped by the very secularism that the Catholic Church has consistently condemned. His narrative, and indeed the entire framework of the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, epitomizes the modern error of building a society sine Deo (without God), only to be startled when chaos erupts. The event itself, ostensibly celebrating the First Amendment, is a testament to the misplaced priorities of a nation that has largely removed Christ the King from its public life. As Pope Pius XI unequivocally stated in his encyclical Quas Primas, “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.” The very fragility of security Rosales laments is a direct consequence of this societal apostasy, where the state seeks to provide safety without acknowledging its ultimate source in Divine Providence.
Rosales’s observation that “security procedures appeared less stringent than those typically seen at events involving the president” is a chilling indictment of the false sense of security that permeates a world order built on human ingenuity alone. This is the very “impiety and contempt for God” that Pius XI warned against, where states “thought they could do without God and that their religion was impiety and contempt for God” (Quas Primas). The reliance on metal detectors and law enforcement, while necessary in a fallen world, becomes a futile endeavor when divorced from the foundational truth that true peace and protection flow from obedience to God’s laws and the recognition of Christ’s sovereign authority.
Superstition Masquerading as Faith: The St. Michael Prayer and EWTN’s Modernist Leanings
While Rosales mentions the recitation of the St. Michael Prayer as a source of comfort, the context within which this prayer is invoked – by an EWTN producer, no less – raises profound concerns. EWTN, despite its outward appearance of Catholicity, is deeply embedded in the post-conciliar structures that have systematically undermined true Catholic doctrine and practice. Its programming, while sometimes featuring traditional elements, consistently promotes the very Modernism condemned by St. Pius X in Pascendi Dominici Gregis and Lamentabili Sane Exitu. This includes the false ecumenism, the religious indifferentism, and the subtle evolution of dogma that characterize the conciliar sect.
The St. Michael Prayer, a powerful weapon against spiritual warfare, is reduced to a mere talisman in such a context, a comforting ritual devoid of the full, uncompromising faith that demands a complete rejection of error and a steadfast adherence to lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi (the law of prayer is the law of belief is the law of life). True reliance on God, as taught by the Church for centuries, is not merely about seeking protection in moments of peril, but about living a life entirely conformed to His will, embracing His commandments, and seeking first His Kingdom. The modernist tendency is to pick and choose elements of faith, divorcing them from their doctrinal foundations and reducing them to sentimental comfort. This is precisely the “false striving for novelty” and the “development of dogmas” that St. Pius X condemned, where faith becomes a matter of personal feeling rather than objective truth.
The Absence of True Doctrine: Where is the Call to Repentance?
Perhaps the most glaring omission in Rosales’s reflection, and indeed in the entire narrative surrounding such events, is any mention of the root cause of societal ills: sin and the rejection of God. His conclusion, “reliance on God is not reserved for moments of crisis, but something to carry daily,” while superficially pious, lacks the theological depth and prophetic urgency that true Catholic faith demands. It echoes the modernist error of reducing religion to a mere moral impulse or a source of personal comfort, rather than the objective truth demanding conversion and repentance.
The Church, before the conciliar revolution, consistently taught that misfortunes, both personal and national, are often a consequence of sin and a call to conversion. Pope Pius IX, in the Syllabus of Errors, explicitly condemned the idea that “the teaching of the Catholic Church is hostile to the well-being and interests of society” (Proposition 40) and affirmed 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 dangerous error. True peace, as St. Augustine taught, is the “tranquility of order,” which can only be achieved when God is at the center of individual and collective life. Rosales’s gratitude for safety, while understandable, falls short of the profound theological reflection that would acknowledge the justice of God, the reality of sin, and the urgent need for national conversion, not merely a vague “reliance on God.”
The “Fragility of Security” and the True Foundation of Peace
Rosales’s closing thought, that the night “underscored both the fragility of security and the resilience of those who serve and protect,” is a poignant observation that, however, remains trapped within a purely naturalistic framework. It speaks to human resilience and the dedication of law enforcement, which are commendable in themselves, but completely ignores the supernatural dimension of true security and peace.
The Catholic Church has always taught that genuine peace is not merely the absence of conflict, but the presence of justice and order, ultimately derived from God. Pope Leo XIII, in his encyclical Immortale Dei, articulated this truth: “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 kind, and each fixed within definite limits, with separate spheres of action.” When the state attempts to provide security and order without acknowledging its subordination to the divine law and the Church’s authority, it builds on sand. The “fragility” Rosales observes is not merely a failure of human systems, but a manifestation of a society that has rejected its divine constitution. True resilience, therefore, is not found in human strength alone, but in the unwavering faith of those who, like the early Christians, place their ultimate trust in God, even amidst persecution and chaos, knowing that “if God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31).
Conclusion: A Call to True Conversion, Not Mere Sentiment
In sum, while Erik Rosales’s personal experience of fear and his instinct to protect his wife are universally understandable, his reflection, and the broader context in which it is presented, exemplify the spiritual poverty of a world that has largely abandoned true Catholic doctrine. The reliance on God he speaks of is a pale shadow of the robust, doctrinally sound faith that once animated Christendom. It is a faith that demands not just comfort in crisis, but a complete reorientation of life towards God, a rejection of all forms of Modernism and secularism, and a fervent prayer for the social reign of Christ the King.
Until nations and individuals truly “seek first the kingdom of God and His justice” (Matthew 6:33), and acknowledge that “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), such events will continue to expose the inherent fragility of a world built on human pride and forgetfulness of God. The true “God bless America” is not a sentimental platitude, but a profound prayer for national conversion, a return to the immutable truths of the Catholic faith, and the establishment of Christ’s reign in every heart, home, and nation. Only then will true peace and security be found, not in ballistic vests or metal detectors, but in the unshakeable foundation of Divine Law and the grace of God.
Source:
Shots Fired at White House Correspondents’ Dinner: ‘I Just Knew I Needed to Protect My Wife’ (ncregister.com)
Date: 27.04.2026