National Catholic Register portal offers a touching story about the lifelong friendship between President Harry S. Truman and Msgr. Curtis Tiernan. Beneath the surface of this heartwarming narrative, however, lies a profound lesson about the dangers of naturalistic virtue and the erosion of Catholic identity through fraternal bonds with Protestantism.
The article recounts how Truman, a lifelong Baptist, and Father Tiernan, a Catholic chaplain, forged a deep friendship during World War I. Their bond, the text suggests, was built on shared values, mutual respect, and a love of history. Tiernan, described as a “warm, likable man,” was admired by Truman, who declared, “If all priests were like him, there would be no Protestants.” This statement, while flattering to Tiernan, reveals a deeply problematic sentiment: the idea that Catholic priesthood is validated by its ability to erase Protestant identity, rather than by its divine mandate to convert souls to the one true Church.
The narrative continues with Tiernan’s service in World War II, where he was described in an Army efficiency report as a “broad-minded Catholic chaplain.” This term, “broad-minded,” is a hallmark of the modernist mentality that would soon infect the Church after the Second Vatican Council. It suggests a dilution of Catholic distinctiveness in favor of a generic, inclusive Christianity that prioritizes ecumenical harmony over doctrinal precision.
Truman’s invitation to Tiernan to accompany him during the Potsdam Conference in 1945 is presented as a testament to their friendship. Yet, the article notes that Truman attended Protestant church services at 10 a.m. and then planned to attend Tiernan’s Mass at 11:30 a.m., quipping, “I guess I should stand in good with the Almighty for the coming week.” This casual approach to worship, hopping between Protestant and Catholic services, is a textbook example of the indifferentism condemned by the Church. Pius XI’s encyclical *Quas Primas* (1925) explicitly states that Christ’s reign extends over all nations and individuals, and that there is no separation between religious allegiance and public life. Truman’s flippant remark about “standing in good with the Almighty” through a Mass attendance motivated by superstition rather than faith is a chilling illustration of the secularism Pius XI warned against.
The article’s conclusion, quoting Micah 6:8 — “to do justice and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God” — reduces the Catholic faith to a generic moralism. This is the naturalistic reading of Scripture that has infected the post-conciliar Church. The true Catholic understanding, as taught by the pre-conciliar Magisterium, is that justice and goodness are inseparable from the supernatural virtues of faith, hope, and charity, and that walking humbly with God means submission to His Church and her sacraments.
The story of Truman and Tiernan is not a model of Catholic friendship but a cautionary tale. It demonstrates how natural virtue, unmoored from supernatural truth, leads to a false ecumenism that ultimately undermines the Church’s mission. The article’s celebration of this friendship, devoid of any critical analysis of its theological implications, is symptomatic of the post-conciliar Church’s embrace of the world’s values over the Gospel of Christ the King.
The Truman-Tiernan Friendship: A Panegyric to Naturalism and Ecumenical Indifferentism
The National Catholic Register has presented, under the guise of a historical feature, a narrative that is less a testament to Catholic fidelity and more a symptom of the post-conciliar capitulation to the world. The story of the friendship between President Harry S. Truman and Msgr. L. Curtis Tiernan is held up as a model of virtue, yet upon examination, it reveals a profound theological bankruptcy—a naturalistic reduction of the faith, a capitulation to ecumenical indifferentism, and a silence on the supernatural mission of the Church that renders the entire account spiritually sterile.
The “Broad-Minded” Chaplain: A Prototype of Post-Conciliar Modernism
The article describes Father Tiernan in an U.S. Army efficiency report as a “broad-minded Catholic chaplain, loyal and efficient, who takes a keen interest in the affairs of the regiment, whether or not they pertain to the Church.” This characterization is not a compliment; it is an indictment. The term “broad-minded” is the very hallmark of the modernist mentality that would, within two decades, sweep through the Church like a pestilence, reducing the sacred priesthood to a functionary role and the Mass to a communal meal. A Catholic chaplain’s primary duty is not to the “affairs of the regiment” in a naturalistic sense, but to the salvation of souls through the administration of the sacraments and the preaching of the unchanging deposit of faith. The fact that this worldly efficiency report is cited without criticism reveals the extent to which the conciliar Church has internalized the world’s values. The true Catholic chaplain, as understood by the pre-conciliar Church, is a man of God first and a military functionary second. His “efficiency” is measured not in organizational skills but in the number of souls brought to Christ and the fervor with which he offers the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
Truman’s Compliment: An Ecumenical Heresy in Disguise
The article quotes Truman as saying, “If all priests were like him, there would be no Protestants.” This statement, presented as the “ultimate compliment,” is in fact a heretical sentiment that strikes at the heart of Catholic ecclesiology. The Church has always taught that she is the one true ark of salvation, and that Protestants, through their separation from the Vicar of Christ, are in a state of grave spiritual danger. The purpose of the Catholic priesthood is not to make Protestants comfortable in their errors but to convert them to the fullness of truth. A priest who makes Protestants feel content in their separation has failed in his fundamental mission. This statement, celebrated by the National Catholic Register, is a perfect encapsulation of the false ecumenism that Pius XI condemned in *Mortalium Animos* (1928), where he forbade Catholics to participate in non-Catholic religious gatherings or to promote the idea that all religions are equally valid paths to God. The article’s uncritical presentation of this remark demonstrates how far the conciliar Church has drifted from the teaching that there is no salvation outside the Church (*Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus*).
The Potsdam Indifferentism: A President’s Religious Bipartisanship
The most revealing episode in the article is Truman’s behavior during the Potsdam Conference in 1945. The text states that Truman attended Protestant church services at 10 a.m. and then planned to attend Tiernan’s Mass at 11:30 a.m., quipping, “I guess I should stand in good with the Almighty for the coming week — and my how I’ll need it.” This is not faith; it is superstition. This is the religious indifferentism that the Church has condemned for centuries. Truman’s casual hopping between a Protestant service and a Catholic Mass, motivated by a superstitious desire to cover all his spiritual bases, is a grotesque parody of true Catholic devotion. It reduces the Mass from the unbloody re-presentation of the Sacrifice of Calvary to a magical ritual performed for personal benefit. The article presents this as a charming anecdote, but it is a chilling illustration of the secularism that Pius XI warned against in *Quas Primas*: “When God and Jesus Christ were removed from laws and states… the foundations of that authority were destroyed.” Truman’s flippant remark is the logical consequence of a society that has removed Christ the King from public life, reducing religion to a private, subjective experience devoid of objective truth.
The Silence on the Supernatural: A Faith Without the Supernatural
Throughout the entire article, there is not a single mention of the supernatural mission of the Church, the necessity of the sacraments for salvation, the reality of sanctifying grace, or the existence of the state of grace. The faith of Father Tiernan is reduced to a naturalistic moralism: he is “warm,” “likable,” “loyal,” and “efficient.” He offers “hope” to the wounded and dying, but the article never specifies that this hope is found solely in the Catholic faith and the sacraments of penance and extreme unction. The article’s conclusion, quoting Micah 6:8 — “to do justice and to love goodness and to walk humbly with your God” — is a perfect example of the modernist reduction of Christianity to a social gospel. This verse, ripped from its context of the Mosaic Law and the coming of the Messiah, is used to justify a generic theism that has no need for the Church, the sacraments, or the supernatural life of grace. This is the faith of the conciliar Church, a faith that has been stripped of its supernatural essence and reduced to a humanitarian ethic.
The Fruits of Naturalistic Friendship: A Cautionary Tale
The article celebrates the “strong bonds of friendship” between Truman and Tiernan, deriving from their “fundamental goodness.” But what is this “fundamental goodness” apart from the supernatural virtue of charity? It is mere natural virtue, which, without grace, cannot merit eternal life. The article presents this friendship as a model, but it is a cautionary tale. It demonstrates how a Catholic priest, by fraternizing with a Protestant president on natural grounds, can become an instrument of the very indifferentism that is destroying the Church. The true Catholic friend of a non-Catholic is not the one who makes him comfortable in his errors but the one who, with charity and firmness, calls him to conversion. Father Tiernan, as presented in this article, never once challenged Truman to embrace the Catholic faith. He was content to be a “broad-minded” chaplain, a “good man,” and a “friend.” This is not the friendship of a saint; it is the friendship of a naturalist.
The National Catholic Register, by publishing this article without a single critical comment, reveals its own complicity in the post-conciliar apostasy. It celebrates a friendship that is built on the ruins of Catholic identity, a friendship that has no place for the supernatural mission of the Church, and a friendship that ultimately serves to legitimize the very errors that have led to the spiritual ruin of millions. The story of Truman and Tiernan is not a model to be imitated but a warning to be heeded: without the supernatural faith, without the Church, and without the Kingship of Christ, even the most “fundamental goodness” is but a whitewashed tomb, full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness (Mt. 23:27).
Source:
The Catholic Priest Who Forged a Lifelong Friendship With Harry Truman (ncregister.com)
Date: 26.06.2026