The interview with Jonathan Safran Foer, a writer whose fame rests on sentimental novels and essays promoting moral relativism, is a perfect icon of the conciliar “Church.” When Foer quotes James Baldwin—”You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read”—he encapsulates the modernist heresy: the elevation of subjective human experience and emotionalism above the objective, unchanging Truth of Divine Revelation.
True Catholic doctrine teaches that the purpose of literature and art is to lead souls to God, the *Via, Veritas, et Vita* (The Way, the Truth, and the Life). However, Foer’s concept of truth is entirely naturalistic and pragmatic. He claims that “truth is not a territory to be defended, but a good to be shared,” a statement that directly contradicts the Magisterium’s duty to guard the deposit of faith. The Church has always taught that truth must be defined, defended, and proposed with authority, not “shared” as if it were a negotiable commodity. This is the modernist error of *indifferentism*, where all opinions are valid provided they evoke a sentimental response.
The “Empathy” Heresy and the Destruction of Charity
The central theme of the article is the substitution of supernatural charity with the naturalistic concept of “empathy.” Foer suggests that literature’s power lies in its ability to make people “feel the suffering of others as their own.” This is a profound theological error. Without grace and the theological virtue of charity, “empathy” is merely a natural emotion that fades with time and is incapable of meriting salvation. The Church has always taught that true love is an act of the will, commanded by God, rooted in the *Imago Dei*, and directed toward the supernatural end of union with God. To reduce the solution of human suffering to “feeling” is to deny the necessity of the Cross, the sacraments, and the salvific mission of the true Church.
Furthermore, Foer’s observation that “we’ve gotten to a place… which is not competing truths, but an unwillingness to accept that there is such a thing as truth” is a diagnosis of the modernist apostasy that the structures occupying the Vatican have systematically fostered for decades. By refusing to condemn heresy and by engaging in false ecumenism, these structures have created a “shared reality” where objective truth is suppressed in favor of a humanitarian mush.
Climate Change and AI: The New Naturalistic “Sacraments”
The article’s discussion on climate change and Artificial Intelligence exposes the shift from a supernatural worldview to a purely materialist, almost pagan, concern for the “planet.” Foer notes, “We know that our choices as individuals, as communities, as countries are creating climate change.” This statement, while scientifically debatable in its extent, is theologically bankrupt because it ignores the primary cause of all suffering: original sin and the state of mortal sin. The true Catholic response to suffering is not “climate policy” or “AI ethics” based on secular humanism, but repentance, mortification, and the reception of the sacraments.
The “Pope” Leo XIV’s encyclical *Magnifica Humanitas*, praised by Foer as “brilliant and important,” is a document of the conciliar sect that attempts to baptize secular concerns while ignoring the spiritual ruin of nations. It is a continuation of the modernist project condemned by St. Pius X in *Pascendi Dominici Gregis*, which sought to replace the supernatural with the “religious consciousness” of man.
The “Leadership” of the Antichrist’s Vicar
Foer’s praise for Leo XIV—”there are no good leaders right now… that really distinguishes Pope Leo”—is a chilling confirmation of the sedevacantist thesis. The fact that a secular novelist, representative of the worldly elite, finds the current occupant of the Vatican to be a “good leader” proves that this “pope” is not the Vicar of Christ, but a humanitarian figurehead, a “teacher of confusion” who speaks the language of the world. The true Popes, from St. Peter to Pius XII, were persecuted, misunderstood, and hated by the world precisely because they preached the hard truths of the Gospel. When the world loves your “pope,” you are worshiping in the synagogue of Satan.
The meeting in St. Peter’s Basilica, beneath Bernini’s Baldachin—now a museum for the profane—demonstrates that the Vatican is no longer the House of God, but a center for the promotion of globalist, naturalistic ideologies. The “quiet intimacy” Foer describes is the intimacy of the apostate with the father of lies, a shared bond of rebellion against the Kingship of Christ.
Conclusion: The Abomination of Desolation
