EWTN World News reports that a Canadian organization called “Catholic Conscience” is launching an annual conference titled “Building a Culture of Life and Dignity,” with its inaugural 2026 gathering, “Restoring the Covenant: Catholic Social Teaching as Common Social Ground,” set for May 30 in Toronto. The event, open to “all people of goodwill,” proposes Catholic social doctrine as a roadmap for renewing public life, drawing inspiration from Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum. Matthew Marquardt, executive director of Catholic Conscience and president of Canadian Catholic News, states that the conference aims to address the breakdown of the “social covenant” and the erosion of human dignity, offering Catholic social teaching as a unifying framework. The event will feature speakers such as Bishop Mark Hagemoen, Peter Copeland of the Macdonald-Laurier Institute, Tucker Sigourney from Harvard, Moira McQueen, and Kathleen Muggeridge, combining liturgy with plenary talks and breakout sessions. Marquardt emphasizes that “our social covenant is broken and needs to be restored,” urging collective responsibility.
The “Social Covenant” Without the King: A Naturalistic Framework
The very title of this conference, “Restoring the Covenant: Catholic Social Teaching as Common Social Ground,” immediately signals a fundamental theological inversion. By framing the Church’s social doctrine as “common social ground,” the organizers implicitly reduce the supernatural mission of the Church to a mere sociological tool, a utilitarian framework for civic cohesion. This is precisely what Pope Pius XI warned against in his encyclical Quas Primas (1925), where he lamented 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.” The conference’s premise, while acknowledging a “broken” society, fails to explicitly identify the root cause: the public rejection of Christ the King’s authority over all nations and individuals. Instead, it offers “Catholic social teaching” as a solution, effectively making the Church a servant of temporal societal renewal rather than the dispenser of salvation and the arbiter of all things supernatural.
Pius XI, in Quas Primas, unequivocally states that Christ’s kingdom “encompasses all men – as our predecessor of immortal memory, Leo XIII, whose words we gladly quote here, says: ‘His reign, namely, extends not only to Catholic nations or to those who, by receiving baptism according to law, belong to the Church, even though their erroneous opinions have led them astray or discord has separated them from love, but His reign encompasses also all non-Christians, so that most truly the entire human race is subject to the authority of Jesus Christ.'” The Toronto conference’s focus on a “social covenant” and “common social ground” inherently dilutes this universal and absolute dominion of Christ, reducing it to a set of principles for public discourse, rather than the divine mandate that demands obedience from all, whether individuals, families, or states. Pius XI further clarifies that “not only private individuals, but also rulers and governments have the duty to publicly honor Christ and obey Him,” a duty that goes far beyond merely offering “common ground.”
“All People of Goodwill”: The Ecumenical Trap and Religious Indifferentism
The conference’s explicit openness to “all people of goodwill” is a hallmark of post-conciliar ecumenism and religious indifferentism, directly condemned by the Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX (1864). Proposition 15 states: “Every man is free to embrace and profess that religion which, guided by the light of reason, he shall consider true.” Proposition 16 affirms: “Man may, in the observance of any religion whatever, find the way of eternal salvation, and arrive at eternal salvation.” And Proposition 17 declares: “Good hope at least is to be entertained of the eternal salvation of all those who are not at all in the true Church of Christ.” By inviting “all people of goodwill” without explicit condition of conversion to the Catholic Faith, the conference implicitly endorses the heretical notion that salvation can be found outside the Catholic Church, or that “goodwill” is a sufficient substitute for the true Faith.
This approach stands in stark contrast to the Church’s perennial teaching. As Pius XI articulated in Quas Primas, the Church demands “full freedom and independence from secular authority,” and its mission is “to teach, govern, and lead all to eternal happiness, those who belong to the Kingdom of Christ.” This mission is not about finding “common ground” with error, but about proclaiming the unique and salvific truth of Christ and His Church. The conference’s inclusive language, while perhaps well-intentioned in a worldly sense, ultimately undermines the Church’s exclusive claim to truth and her divine mandate to convert all nations, as Christ Himself commanded: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:19).
The “Culture of Life” Without the Supernatural: A Humanistic Distortion
While the conference aims to build a “Culture of Life and Dignity” and address the “erosion of human dignity from conception to natural death,” its framing within a “social covenant” and “common social ground” reduces these profoundly theological concepts to mere humanistic or bioethical concerns. The Catholic understanding of “life” and “dignity” is intrinsically linked to man’s supernatural end: eternal union with God, achieved through grace, the sacraments, and the Church. Without this supernatural dimension, “life” becomes merely biological existence, and “dignity” becomes a secular construct, subject to the whims of societal consensus or governmental policy, such as the “Quality of Life Framework” mentioned in the article.
The Syllabus of Errors (Proposition 58) explicitly condemns the idea that “no other forces are to be recognized except those which reside in matter, and all the rectitude and excellence of morality ought to be placed in the accumulation and increase of riches by every possible means, and the gratification of pleasure.” By focusing on “civic conversation,” “cooperation,” and “regulatory demands,” the conference risks reducing the Church’s prophetic voice to that of a pressure group advocating for a more “humane” secular order, rather than the divine institution calling all men to conversion and eternal salvation. The true “Culture of Life” is one where Christ the King reigns supreme, where His law guides all aspects of private and public life, and where the sacraments are the primary means of sanctification and salvation. Pius XI, in Quas Primas, reminds us 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,” and that true happiness and peace are found only in obedience to Christ.
The “Breakdown” and the True Remedy: Apostasy vs. Social Engineering
The conference identifies the “breakdown of our shared social covenant” and “erosion of human dignity” as the deepest problems. While these are indeed symptoms of a profound societal ill, the article, and by extension the conference, fails to diagnose the true cause: the widespread apostasy from Christ and His Church, particularly within the structures of the post-conciliar “Church” itself. Pius XI, in Quas Primas, directly attributes societal ills to the rejection of Christ’s reign: “this kind of outpouring of evil has afflicted the whole world because very many have removed Jesus Christ and His most holy law from their customs, from private, family, and public life.” He further laments the “secularism of our times, so-called laicism, its errors and wicked endeavors,” which began with “the denial of Christ the Lord’s reign over all nations.”
The proposed remedy of “restoring the covenant” through “Catholic social teaching as common social ground” is a form of social engineering that bypasses the only true remedy: the reconversion of individuals and societies to the Catholic Faith, the recognition of Christ the King’s public reign, and the restoration of the Church’s full authority. The conference’s focus on “volunteer, employment, and fundraising opportunities” for Catholic organizations, while practically necessary, risks becoming an end in itself, rather than a means to facilitate the Church’s primary mission of saving souls. The true “responsibility” for restoring society lies not merely in “every one of us” collectively, but in the explicit acknowledgment of Christ’s Kingship and the submission of all things to His divine law. As Pius XI states, “if men were ever to recognize Christ’s royal authority over themselves, both privately and publicly, then unheard-of blessings would flow upon the whole society, such as due freedom, order, and tranquility, and concord and peace.”
The Speakers and the Agenda: A Conciliar Consensus
The list of speakers, including a “Bishop” from Saskatoon, a fellow from Harvard, a lawyer in moral theology, and representatives from various Catholic organizations, reflects the typical post-conciliar approach to engaging with the world. These individuals, while perhaps personally well-intentioned, operate within a framework that has largely accepted the premises of modern secular society, seeking to find “common ground” rather than proclaim the unadulterated truth. The inclusion of a “John and Daria Barry postdoctoral fellow at Harvard” and a representative from the “Macdonald-Laurier Institute” (a secular think tank) further underscores the conference’s aim to engage with secular intellectual and policy circles on their own terms, rather than challenging those terms with the full force of Catholic doctrine.
The discussion on “the influence of news and media in shaping social values” by “Catholic Register publisher Peter Stockland” is a pertinent topic, but without a clear articulation of the Church’s teaching on the morality of media, the dangers of modern communication, and the absolute necessity of truth in public discourse, it risks becoming a mere academic exercise. The conference’s vision, as presented, is one of pragmatic engagement and incremental influence within a secular system, rather than a radical call for the conversion of that system to Christ the King. This approach, while perhaps yielding some temporal benefits, ultimately fails to address the spiritual root of societal decay and risks further entrenching the very errors it purports to combat.
Conclusion: A Call to True Restoration, Not Mere Social Repair
The Toronto conference, as described, represents a well-intentioned but ultimately flawed attempt to address societal problems using the language of Catholic social teaching, yet stripped of its full theological and supernatural implications. By framing the solution as a “social covenant” and “common social ground” open to “all people of goodwill,” it inadvertently promotes religious indifferentism and reduces the Church’s divine mission to a humanistic project of social betterment. The true “restoration” of society can only come from the public and private recognition of Jesus Christ as King, the submission of all nations and individuals to His law, and the uncompromising proclamation of the Catholic Faith as the sole means of salvation. As Pope Pius XI unequivocally declared, “the Roman Pontiff can, and ought to, reconcile himself, and come to terms with progress, liberalism and modern civilization” is a condemned error (Syllabus of Errors, Proposition 80). The path to true peace and order lies not in compromise with the world, but in the triumph of Christ’s Kingdom, which alone can bring about the “unheard-of blessings” of “due freedom, order, and tranquility, and concord and peace.”
Source:
Toronto Catholic conference to explore breakdown of the social covenant (ewtnnews.com)
Date: 02.05.2026