By: Christ the King Law Center (CKLC)

Editor's Note: The following is a modified abstract of a paper presented at a conference held by Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) on October 8, 2016 titled Make America Catholic Again! ​













​However, while government may take the form of either a polity, aristocracy, or monarchy they are not all equally good. Monarchy is the best. This was stated by Pope Pius VI after the King of France-Louis XVI-was executed by the French Revolutionaries in 1793:
          

• The most Christian King, Louis XVI, was condemned to death by an impoius conspiracy and this judgment was carried out. We shall recall to you in a few words the ordering and motives of this sentence. The National Convention had no right or authority to pronounce   it. In fact, after having abolished the monarchy, the best of all governments, it had transferred all the public power to the people-the people which, guided neither by reason nor by counsels, forms just ideas on no point whatsoever, assesses few things in accordance with the truth and evaluates a great many according to mere opinion, which is ever fickle, and ever easy to deceive and to lead into every excess, ungrateful, arrogant, and cruel.

Saint Thomas Aquinas taught that monarchy is the best form of government because it ensures peace: "The best government of a multitude is rule by one, and this is clear from the purpose of government, which is peace; for the peace and unity of his subjects are the purpose of the one who rules, and one is a better constituted cause of unity than many." [2]

Another doctor of the Church-Saint Robert Bellarmine-also taught that monarchy is the best form of government in his book On the Roman Pontiff, in the chapter titled "The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, Monarchy of the Roman Pontiff." [3] In it he analyzes the forms of government as such, weighing their advantages and disadvantages, and concludes that the best one in thesis is monarchy. He then goes on to ask what form of government-aristocratic, democratic, or monarchic-would be most fitting for the Church. After a careful analysis he concludes that it is monarchy:

• "If monarchy is the best and most excellent government, as above we have shown, and it is certain that the Church of God, instituted by the most sapient prince of Christ, ought to [be] best governed, who can deny that the government of it ought to be a monarchy?" [4]

[1] Acta Apostolicae Sadis, cap. 2.

[2] St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa Contra Gentiles, (Garden City, N.Y.: Image Books, 1960), Book IV, p. 291. 

[3] St. Robert Bellarmine, in Bellarmine Extracts on Politics and Government from the Supreme Pontiff from Third General Controversy, George Albert Moore, Trans., Ed. (Chevy Chase, Md: The Country Dollar Press, undated).

[4] Ibid., p. 37.

By: Carolyn Fusina

Editor’s Note: The following article was published on the website of The Weaker Vessel. It has been reprinted here with the permission of the author Carolyn Fusina.



​Muslim immigration into Europe and to a lesser degree North America is the focus of the new populist, nationalist political movement which has gained momentum in the last several years. An appeal to the defense of Europe’s “Christian heritage” is part of the movement’s platform.

Nigel Farage wrote in an introduction to UKIP’s 2015 “Christian Manifesto”: “We need a much more muscular defense of our Christian heritage and our Christian Constitution. Ours is fundamentally a Christian nation…” [i]

Leaders in the movement in what were once Catholic countries have made similar comments. Sebastian Kurz said in a television interview, “What has shaped Europe, what has shaped Austria? We have a culture shaped by our Judeo-Christian heritage and the Enlightenment – and this culture needs protecting…” [ii]  Marine Le Pen said at a rally back in 2012, “The principles we fight for are engraved in our national motto: liberty, equality, fraternity…That stems from the principles of secularization resulting from a Christian heritage.” [iii]

Le Pen and Kurz speak in contradictions rather than about the truth of European history. Such statements about acknowledging and protecting Europe’s “Christian heritage” are political slogans based on vague sentiments, and when you scratch the surface, they fall apart. Underneath the sloganeering these politicians may have a nagging intuition about the truth, but instead of exploring this intuition, they stick to the safety of their political platform.

For example, when figures in the movement refer to Europe’s “Christian roots” are they referring to Protestantism or Catholicism? For these are two very different things. As any Catholic worth his salt knows, Protestantism is a heresy. Protestants left the Church. Protestantism is essentially a revolt against Catholicism.

In addition to Protestantism there is another revolt against the Catholic Church, enabled by Freemasonry—Enlightenment rationalism. The liberal values bequeathed to us by the Enlightenment—liberty, equality, fraternity—are most certainly not part of Europe’s true Christian heritage. They are anti-Catholic, and therefore anti-Christian.

Europe before the Protestant Revolt was Catholic. It was not a perfect society, but it can be said of it, as Pope Leo XIII did in 1891 in Rerum Novarum when referring to the 12th and 13th centuries, the “Golden Age of Christianity”:

• …civil society was renovated in every part by Christian institutions… in the strength of that renewal the human race was lifted up to better things-nay… it was brought back from death to life, and to so excellent a life that nothing more perfect had been known before, or will come to be known in the ages that have yet to be. [iv]

A spirit of Revolution [v] was born following the Middle Ages, beginning with the Protestant Revolt and followed by the Enlightenment, and was specifically carried out in the French Revolution. How does this relate to our situation today with a new batch of Muslim hordes invading Europe?

The Revolutionary spirit seeks to do away with the old Catholic order, and the crisis of man and of civilization that we face today in the West is merely a continuation of this rejection of God and His Church. The current Muslim invasion is occurring because we rejected the authority of Christ over our lives and nations and embraced the man-centred, morally decadent values of liberalism. In short, our current troubles can be traced back to the French Revolution and the Freemasonic enterprise that enabled it.

Meanwhile, European politicians on the Right speak of Europe’s “Christian heritage.” Such confused ideas about history and religion are problematic because they will keep us from solving the essential crisis of our time. The real threat to Europe is not globalization and islamization, these are recent developments that have emerged late in our journey to self-destruction (although of course Muslims have invaded Europe in the past). The real threat is our moral decadence defined by our rejection of Christ and the authority of His Church.

The great crisis of our time, building up over centuries (not since George Soros began manipulating everything), is a spiritual crisis which politics—no matter how hard it courts the Christian vote or pays homage to the “Christian heritage” of Europe—can solve. Our crisis is spiritual.
In what was a ridiculous statement for a Catholic to make, that of wanting to protect both his country’s Christian and Enlightenment culture, Kurz revealed the contradiction of the movement, and the reason it will fail. Liberty, equality and fraternity are not part of the Christian heritage of France. They are opposed to it. The Enlightenment is opposed to Catholicism—it wants to destroy it.

Le Pen similarly spoke of a mix of the Enlightenment and Christianity as France’s Christian heritage. This simply does not wash. Le Pen only wants her followers to have a “sense” of Europe’s Christian identity or the Catholic roots of France because she thinks it will help stem the tide of globalization and islamization. She is a liberal, however, and doesn’t really want religion to play a serious role in the life of France. Christianity, however, is not a cultural identity, but a religion with certain Truths that will not go away no matter how intently we have piled on the layers of liberal ideology.

The foundation of liberalism is a false idea of man’s freedom. The liberty of the Revolution is not the freedom of Christianity which is only found in man directing his will to obey God, but is license to do what one wants. Implicit in liberalism’s notion of freedom is man’s independence from God and His Church, the Catholic Church.

This is the source of our moral decadence—our independence from God. We are morally decadent because individuals and nations do not submit His Sovereign rule.

The most important development in the degradation of the West is not the 1960s sexual revolution, contrary to what the “Religious Right” in America thinks, nor the globalizing and islamizing effects of the European Union or George Soros’ evil empire. It is the idea of religious liberty bequeathed to us by the French Revolution and the American Revolution. It was brought on by a hatred of the Catholic Church and is essentially a denial that She is the one, true Church that has apostolic authority to teach and govern man. The Revolutionary spirit desires to see the Church gutted by spreading the heresy that all religions are equal and the Catholic Faith is not the one, true Faith. Subsequently, the peoples of democratic, western countries must have the right to “religious freedom”—the freedom to practice the religion of their choice.

The imposition of religious liberty onto the social order was the first step in our moral decline, because it emasculated the Catholic Church’s role as moral guide. It left man’s moral life to his own conscience, informed not by a Catholic social order that he could not escape or ignore, but by his personal choice to attend church on Sunday and to attend the church of his choice. Later, he would choose to not attend church at all.

The “moral decadence” referred to here, however, does not mean a decrease in professing Christians, or a morally lax society accepting of pornography, abortion, divorce, contraception, etc. These are signs of it, or symptoms. What is meant by “moral decadence” here is our disordered way of life that begins with not acknowledging the Kingship of Christ and his rule over individuals and nations.

The West looked on in dismay as the May 2017 terrorist attack at Manchester arena unfolded. The media made a point of mentioning one of the victims of the attack was an 8-year-old girl. Several other victims were under 16 years of age. These children were twice victims, however: they were the victims of the terrorist attack, but they were also victims of a degenerate culture, one in which children attend Ariana Grande concerts, with the approval of parents that consist of pornography in the guise of music. Grande’s performances and “music” are more than a little sexually suggestive. Why was an 8-year-old, or any sane person for that matter, attending this sleaze-fest? Why did her mother take her to the concert? Why is such an act as Ariana Grande allowed to perform in the first place?

Is this degenerate, hyper-sexualized culture what Farage and Le Pen want to defend? Because Ariana Grande is, for the most part, typical of today’s culture in the West. It is one big sleaze-fest.

It’s no secret that Islam views the West as morally decadent and therefore weakened and therefore penetrable. Yet, we continue to shore up the decadent moral values of Godless liberalism that brought on the decadence and weakness in the first place.

Anti-immigration parties and policies, if they succeed in Europe, might stem the tide of Muslim immigration, but would not stop the Tsunami of moral decadence that is at the heart of the decay of Western civilization. If the Right got what it wants and George Soros was stymied in his evil, globalist agenda, and immigration policies in Europe and North America became anti-Muslim, all this would not undo the course of decay and self-destruction that predates the globalist agenda and the influx of Muslims into Western democracies.

We’re going down. If it is by the sword of the infidel, this simply is the last nail in the coffin we climbed into ourselves because we are morally sick to death.

The cure for our spiritual sickness cannot be found in the current populist, nationalist movement. A spiritual sickness calls for a spiritual cure. And by “spiritual sickness” I do not mean that individual men are sick in their souls, although that too is the case—I mean nations are sick because of their rejection of Christ as King.

Nations are governed by Christ whether they acknowledge it or not. Christ is King from whom all authority to rule is granted. Only acknowledging this ultimate reality will keep us from the death that is so close.

Both men and nations have made themselves independent of God; this is what liberalism is in all its manifestations—political, economic and social. Man has become his own authority, his own god. The insanity and chaos of our time is the result of claiming for so long, without repentance, that God does not exist as He does.

A true spiritual cure can only come from the true Church, the Catholic Church. This cure involves realizing religious liberty is a heresy. The State has the duty to profess the Catholic Faith, since it is the one, true Faith. Religious toleration, therefore, is shown toward non-Catholics, but it is only toleration. Non-Catholics can practice their religion in private, but Catholicism is the religion of the State and the head of the State is subject to the authority of the Church.

Under this system, there would be no political sloganeering as the Muslims stream in. In a Catholic social order there would be no Ariana Grande concerts.

But we in the West so worship the idea of religious liberty in our utopian visions of a pluralistic, democratic state, that such a Catholic system is anathema to “rational” man. But how “rational” is it to avoid an oncoming fireball by pouring kerosene on oneself? Liberalism made us weak so let’s stand up for those liberal values?

The Muslims have told us they enter in upon our moral decadence—why do we not repent of that decadence to the one true Judge of this world? No, “rational” man simply steeps himself in more liberty, more “rights,” more material riches and fleeting pleasures, all the while relegating the Faith to the private sphere where it can hold no sway.

The West was dying long before the globalist agenda arrived on the scene, before the sexual revolution of the 1960s, before the infidel influx on our shores. These are not the problem. We are the problem. We raised up liberal values to be worshipped in our parliaments. We did it—conservatives and liberals alike.

It wouldn’t matter if there was 1 Muslim or 1 million among us. Ours is a spiritual sickness that no Muslim has inflicted upon us. We did it to ourselves.

There is only one thing that can save us—and it is far from the minds of any politician in the West. It is the acknowledgment of a little-known, all-important truth: Christ has sovereignty over all people and nations. He is King. All authority to govern descends from Him (not, “the people”). His Church, the Catholic Church, is the one true Church, and therefore there can be no religious liberty because it is a denial of this fact.

This is not a question of a vague “reclaiming our European religious heritage” or saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays” or defending bakers from having to bake cakes for “gay weddings.” These things are all done while affirming that religion is a private matter.

Only when the Social Kingship of Christ is proclaimed by a country will that country be armed to defeat its enemy. Only when religious liberty is shown to be the heretical proposition it is, will we find ourselves on the right course.

For now, misguided right-wing politicians and pundits continue to promote the contradictory ideas of the false resistance.

******************************

Conservative commentators speak of the end of liberalism or the failure of liberalism. [vi] What we are witnessing at this time in the rage and degradation around us is the dissatisfaction with and despair over what liberalism has wrought for us. Liberalism is an ideology built on pride and rejection of God that came out of certain “enlightened” men’s minds in the 17th and 18th centuries. It is an ideology built on the intellect turning away from God to the self. It lies now like a great, global garbage heap with the corpses of innocent unborn children strewn all about it.

The political Right has some intuition about this, but can’t let go of its political machinations and aspirations to fully grasp we are experiencing a spiritual crisis, not a political one.

In a recent article by Theodore Dalrymple, after briefly discussing Britain’s “enormous cultural problems,” Dalrymple writes:

• These problems do not originate from Britain’s membership of the European Union, nor will they be solved by exit from the Union. They can be solved only by something more resembling a religious revival than by any likely government action. [vii]

A “religious revival?” Well, if Britain was to truly revive religion and go back to its Christian roots, it would become Catholic, for England was a Catholic country before Henry VIII infamously broke away from the Church, paving the way for Protestantism.

Europe’s “Christian heritage?” Europe’s Christian roots are the Catholic Church and medieval Christendom, which began with the conversion of King Clovis to Catholicism in 496.

Our crisis was begun and is perpetuated by man refusing to submit to God and His Church. The garbage can only be cleared away by submitting once again. We need fearless garbage men now, to burn away the garbage with the fire of their zeal for subjection—and above all, men willing to do penance for the slaughter of the innocents by placing themselves and their nations completely under the sovereign Kingship of Christ our Lord.
——————————————————————--

[i] Referenced in UKIP website article: http://www.ukipdaily.com/case-another-ukip-christian-manifesto/

[ii] Quoted here: http://catholicherald.co.uk/issues/november-10th-2017/sebastian-kurz-europes-christian-chancellor/

[iii]Quoted here: https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/05/christian-identity-france/525558/

[iv] See: http://w2.vatican.va/content/leo-xiii/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_l-xiii_enc_15051891_rerum-novarum.html

[v] “Revolution” here does not refer to a specific revolutionary event but to the slow and violent sweeping away of the Christian social order, starting in the late Middle Ages. The Protestant Revolt, the French Revolution, the American Revolution and the Russian Revolution are all specific revolutionary events that are part of the overall “Revolution.” The Revolutionary spirit is characterized by anti-Catholicism and the worship of “liberty” (a.k.a. license). Under the Revolutionary order the rights of man usurp the rights of God. See Revolution and Counter-Revolution by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira for more on this topic.

[vi] See, for example, Patrick Buchanan’s column of October 20, 2017, titled, Is Liberalism a Dying Faith?, in which Buchanan can’t seem to shake the mindset that everything was okay before the 1960s.

[vii] See: http://www.libertylawsite.org/2017/12/14/i-have-seen-londons-future-and-it-is-caracas/

Carolyn Fusina is a housewife and writer. She writes essays about feminism and other topics at theweakervessel.com.

Below is a list of Traditional 
Latin Masses (TLMs) in southern
California for Christmas on 
December 25, 2017. 
DISCLAIMER. 











Key: 

Diocese: TLMs administered by priests that operate under the control or approval of the local diocese or bishop. 

Independent: TLMs administered by priests that do not operate under the control or approval of the local diocese or bishop (not including SSPX). 

SSPX: TLMs administered by priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).


Archdiocese of Los Angeles  

St. Therese Church (Diocese)
1100 East Alhambra Road
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 282-2744
Time: 1:00 p.m. (Sung High Mass)

Our Lady of the Angels Church (SSPX)
1100 West Duarte Road
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 447-1752
Time: 12:00 p.m.

Saint Mary Magdalen Chapel (Diocese)
2532 Ventura Boulevard
Camarillo, California 93010
(805) 484-0532
Time: 10:00 a.m.

​San Felipe Chapel (FSSP)
738 N. Geraghty Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90063
Time: 8:00 a.m.

Maria Stella Maris Mission (SSPX)
3600 S. Gaffey Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 548-4706
Time: 8:30 a.m.

St. Thomas Aquinas College Chapel (Diocese)
10000 N. Ojai Road
Santa Paula, CA 93060
(805) 525-4417
Time: 7:15 a.m.

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church (Diocese)
515 West Opp Street
Wilmington, CA 90744 
(310) 834-5215
Time: 9:30 a.m.

Saint Victor Catholic Church (FSSP)
8634 Holloway Drive
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 652-6477
Time: 12:00 a.m.

Diocese of Orange

Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church (Diocese)
1015 Baker Street  
Costa Mesa, CA 92626   
(714) 540-2214   
Time: 12:30 p.m.

Our Lady Help of Christians (Independent)
9621 Bixby Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92841
(714) 635-0510
Time: 12:00 a.m., 8:00 a.m., & 10:00 a.m.

Saint Mary's by the Sea (Diocese)
321 10th Street  
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 536-6913
Time: 12:00 p.m.

Serra Chapel (Diocese) 
San Juan Capistrano Mission Basilica
51520 Camino Capistrano
San Juan Capistrano, CA 92657
(949) 234-1360
Time: 8:00 a.m.

John Paul II Polish Center (Diocese)
3999 Rose Drive
Yorba Linda, CA 92886
(714) 996-8161
Time: 7:00 a.m.

Diocese of San Bernardino 

St. Joseph's & Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (SSPX)
1090 West Laurel Street
Colton, CA 92324
(909) 824-0323
Time: 12:00 a.m. & 9:00 a.m.

San Secondo d'Asti (Diocese)
250 North Turner Avenue
Guasti/Ontario, CA 91761
(909) 390-0011
Time: 10:30 a.m.

Sacred Heart Church (Diocese)
43775 Deep Canyon Road
Palm Desert, CA 92260
(760) 346-6502
Time:2:30 p.m.

Diocese of San Diego

Saint Anne Catholic Church (FSSP)
2337 Irving Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92113
(619) 239-8253
Time: 12:00 a.m., 7:30 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 11:05 a.m., 12:30 p.m.

By: Christ the King Law Center (CKLC)

Editor's Note: The following is a modified abstract of a paper presented at a conference held by Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) on October 8, 2016 titled Make America Catholic Again! ​








​


The Magisterium of the Church and good philosophy teaches that government in civil society has several legitimate forms. Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical Diurturnum Illud taught the following: "There is no question here respecting forms of government, for there is no reason why the Church should not approve of the chief power being held by one man or by more, provided only it be just, and that it tend to the common advantage. Wherefore, so long as justice be respected, the people are not hindered from choosing for themselves that form of government which suits best either their own disposition, or the institutions and customs of their ancestors." [1]
           
Saint Thomas Aquinas reasoned that there are three classical forms of government that are legitimate and in harmony with natural order. They are: polity, aristocracy, and monarchy.
  
In a polity the government is controlled by many people. According to Thomas Aquinas a polity is a "just government... administered by many." [2]  A polity could easily be compared by many to a modern day democracy but according to Thomas Aquinas a democracy was an unjust form of government in which "the bad government is carried on by the multitude." [3] A polity and democracy are both similar in that they are governments ruled by many but they are different in that in a polity the rulers seek the common good while in a democracy they seek their own good over the common good. Thus Aquinas reasons that "a government becomes unjust by the fact that the ruler, paying no heed to the common good, seeks his own private good. Wherefore the further he departs from the common good the more unjust will his government be." [4] 

In an aristocracy the government is controlled by a few men of virtue. Aquinas states that this form of government is one of "noble governance, or governance by noble men.." (Ibid) By noble men Aquinas implies that they are not noble because they are born in the right family but noble because they are virtuous. [5] And just as Aquinas taught that democracy is the opposite of polity so he taught that the opposite of aristocracy was oligarchy where the government was ruled by a few who sought their own advantage over that of the common good. [6]

In a monarchy the government is controlled by one person. Aquinas states that "if a just government is in the hands of one man alone, he is properly called a king" and he compares such a king to King David who ruled ancient Israel by God's appointment. [7] And as with polity and aristocracy Aquinas taught that the opposite of monarchy is tyranny where one person seeks their own benefit and not the good of their subjects. 

​
[1] Leo XIII, Encyclical Diuturnum (1881) 7.

[2] Aquinas, St. Thomas. On Kingship To the King of Cyprus, trans. Gerald B. Phelan. East Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Mediaeval Studies; 1949.  Google book service. Web. 30 Nov. 2017. 

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.
​
[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

Below is a list of Traditional Latin Masses (TLMs) in southern California for the Feast of All Saints on November 1, 2017. DISCLAIMER. 








Key: 

Diocese: TLMs administered by priests that operate under the control or approval of the local diocese or bishop. 

FSSP: TLMs administered by priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP).

Independent: TLMs administered by priests that do not operate under the control or approval of the local diocese or bishop (not including SSPX). 

SSPX: TLMs administered by priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).


Archdiocese of Los Angeles  

Our Lady of the Angels Church (SSPX)
1100 West Duarte Road
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 447-1752
Time: 8:00 a.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Saint Mary Magdalen (FSSP)
2532 Ventura Boulevard
Camarillo, California 93010
(805) 484-0532
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Tradition in Action (Independent)
Address: Call number for address
Montebello, California 
(323) 725-0219
Time: 8:00 a.m.

Our Lady of the Angels Monastery (FSSP)
1977 Carmen Avenue
Los Angeles, California 90068
(323) 466-2186
Time: 7:00 p.m.
​
Maria Stella Maris Mission (SSPX)
3600 S. Gaffey Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 548-4706
Time: 7:30 p.m.

St. Thomas Aquinas College Chapel (Diocese)
10000 N. Ojai Road
Santa Paula, CA 93060
(805) 525-4417
Time: 7:00 a.m.

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church (Diocese)
515 West Opp Street
Wilmington, CA 90744 
(310) 834-5215
Time: 7:30 p.m.

Saints Victor Catholic Church  (FSSP)
8634 Holloway Drive
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 652-6477
Time: 9:00 a.m.

Diocese of Orange

Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church (Diocese)
1015 Baker Street  
Costa Mesa, CA 92626   
(714) 540-2214   
Time: 12:00 p.m.

Our Lady Help of Christians (Independent)
9621 Bixby Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92841
(714) 635-0510
Time: 7:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., & 7:00 p.m.

Saint Mary's by the Sea (Diocese)
1015 Baker Street  
Costa Mesa, CA 92626   
(714) 540-2214   
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Diocese of San Bernardino 

Saint Joseph's & Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (SSPX)
1090 West Laurel Street
Colton, CA 92324
(909) 824-0323
Time: 7:00 p.m.

San Secondo d'Asti (Diocese)
250 North Turner Avenue
Guasti/Ontario, CA 91761
(909) 390-0011
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Our Lady of the Desert School (Call to check status)
55765 Mountain View Trail
Yucca Valley, CA 92284
(760) 365-4676
Time: Call to check Mass time

Diocese of San Diego

Saint Anne Catholic Church (FSSP)
2337 Irving Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92113
(619) 239-8253
Time: 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., & 7:00 p.m.

By: Christ the King Law Center (CKLC)

Editor's Note: The following is a modified abstract of a paper presented at a seminar held by Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) on October 5, 2013 titled Is the Constitution Catholic? ​















So what is the point of this whole presentation? Are we calling for the immediate establishment of a Catholic state in the United States? We earnestly desire the establishment of such a state and everyone should do everything in their power to obtain it! Unfortunately this does not appear possible under the current conditions of American society. Nevertheless we are not stating that the current government established under this Constitution is illegitimate and therefore does not require our submission to it since our Faith teaches us to “let every soul be subject to higher powers: for there is no power but from God, and those that are, are ordained of God.” [1] And furthermore we do not state that a Catholic cannot support and defend the Constitution of the United States since that Constitution provides for a mechanism in order for it to be amended [2] if we disagree with how it is written [3].  In fact since the original ten amendments were ratified the Constitution has been amended seventeen times.
 
Instead what we seek is to show Catholics that the Constitution is not an infallible document. In its present form the Constitution does not adequately protect the freedom of the Church and contradicts traditional Catholic doctrine on the proper relationship between Church and State. Even some of the most “conservative” Justices of the Supreme Court have agreed to an interpretation of the Constitution that forbids the establishment of a Catholic state even if the overwhelming majority of American citizens are Catholic. Furthermore these same Justices agree to an interpretation of the Constitution that makes the laws of the state superior to the laws of God and the Church and therefore contradicts the teachings of Scripture which states that when there is a conflict between God’s laws and man’s “We must obey God rather than men”. [4]
 
Only once we have recognized these problems in our current Constitution can we begin to find a solution to the crisis in our society. But that solution cannot be found in the judgments of men such as James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington but in the decrees of Our Lord Jesus Christ who is King not just of our hearts but also of our nation as a whole. As Pope Pius XI wrote in his Encyclical Quas Primas (On the Feast of Christ the King):
 
“When once men recognize, both in private and in public life, that Christ is King, society will at last receive the great blessings of real liberty, well-ordered discipline, peace and harmony.” [5]


[1] Romans 13:1.

[2] See U.S. Const. art. V.

[3] See U.S. Const. amend. I.

[4] Acts 5:29.

[5] Pius XI, Encyclical Quas Primas (1925) 19.

Below is a list of Traditional Latin Masses (TLMs) in southern California for the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary on August 15, 2017. DISCLAIMER.










Key: 

Diocese: TLMs administered by priests that operate under the control and approval of the local diocese or bishop. 

FSSP: TLMs administered by priests of the Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP).

Independent: TLMs administered by priests that do not operate under the control or approval of the local diocese or bishop. 

SSPX: TLMs administered by priests of the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX).




Archdiocese of Los Angeles  

Our Lady of the Angels Church (SSPX)                              
1100 West Duarte Road
Arcadia, CA 91007
(626) 447-1752
Time: 8:00 a.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Saint Mary Magdalen Chapel (FSSP)
2532 Ventura Blvd.
Camarillo, CA 93010
(805) 484-0532
Time: 7:00 p.m.

San Felipe Chapel (FSSP)
738 N. Geraghty Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90063
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Maria Stella Maris Mission (SSPX)
3600 S. Gaffey Street
San Pedro, CA 90731
(310) 548-4706
Time: 7:00 p.m.

St. Thomas Aquinas College Chapel (Diocese)
10000 N. Ojai Road
Santa Paula, CA 93060
(805) 525-4417
Time: 7:15 a.m.

Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church (Diocese)
515 West Opp Street
Wilmington, CA 90744 
(310) 834-5215
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Saint Victor Catholic Church (FSSP)
8634 Holloway Drive
West Hollywood, CA 90069
(310) 652-6477
Time: 9:00 a.m.

Diocese of Orange

Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church (Diocese)
1015 Baker Street 
Costa Mesa, CA 92626  
(714) 540-2214  
Time: 12:00 p.m.

Our Lady Help of Christians (Independent)
9621 Bixby Avenue
Garden Grove, CA 92841
(714) 635-0510
Time: 7:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m.

Saint Mary's by the Sea (Diocese)
321 10th Street
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 536-6913
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Diocese of San Bernardino 

St. Joseph's & Immaculate Heart of Mary Church (SSPX)
1090 West Laurel Street
Colton, CA 92324
(909) 824-0323
Time: 7:00 p.m.

San Secondo d'Asti (Diocese)
250 North Turner Avenue
Guasti/Ontario, CA 91761
(909) 390-0011
Time: 7:00 p.m.

Diocese of San Diego

Saint Anne Catholic Church (FSSP)
2337 Irving Avenue
San Diego, CA. 92113
(619) 239-8253
Time: 7:00 a.m., 9:00 a.m., 7:00 p.m. 

By: Christ the King Law Center (CKLC)

Editor's Note: The following is a modified abstract of a paper presented at a seminar held by Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) on October 5, 2013 titled Is the Constitution Catholic? Part I of this article can be found here.


As stated in part I of this article the "ultra-conservative" Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia stated:

• 'We [the Supreme Court] have never held that an individual's religious beliefs excuse him from compliance with an otherwise valid law prohibiting conduct that the State is free to regulate. On the contrary, the record of more than a century of our free exercise jurisprudence contradicts that proposition. As described succinctly by Justice Frankfurter…: “Conscientious scruples have not, in the course of the long struggle for religious toleration, relieved the individual from obedience to a general law not aimed at the promotion or restriction of religious beliefs. The mere possession of religious convictions which contradict the relevant concerns of a political society does not relieve the citizen from the discharge of political responsibilities.” We first had the occasion to assert that principle in Reynolds v. United States… where we rejected the claim that criminal laws against polygamy could not be constitutionally applied to those whose religion commanded the practice. “Laws” we said, “are made for the government of actions, and while they cannot interfere with mere religious beliefs and opinions, they may with practices… Can a man excuse his practices to the contrary because of his religious belief? To permit this would make the professed doctrines of religious belief superior to the law of the land, and in effect to permit every citizen to become a law unto himself.”’ [1]

[P]erhaps a more recent example of these “valid laws” that Justice Scalia was describing is the decision in January 2012 by the Obama administration to issue a mandate under the Affordable Care Act (also known as “Obamacare”) that requires all employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of any moral or religious objections. The ministries of institutions like Catholic Schools, hospitals and charities-educating the young, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry-are not considered sufficiently religious to qualify for the mandate’s narrow “religious exemption.” Not only will such institutions be forced to provide services that directly contradict the teachings of the Church, but more alarmingly-this anti-Catholic federal government is claiming the right to decide for Catholic institutions what constitutes their ministry.
 
The outrage against the mandate was so great that in February 2012 President Obama offered an “accommodation” whereby insurance providers, rather than employers, would pay for the services to which religious employers have moral objections. But this did not solve the problem because at the end of the day the mandate still forces all employers to provide health plans with free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs or face crippling fines.
 
Numerous lawsuits [2] were filed across the country which, among other things, challenged the constitutionality of the mandate. While no final decision [3] has been issued many courts have granted injunctions preventing the mandate from being enforced while other courts have denied them. One court that denied an injunction against the mandate stated:

• “Plaintiffs’ claim based on the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment is almost sure to fail [because]… [Obamacare’s]… contraceptive coverage requirement is neutral and generally applicable. [The right to freely practice one’s religion] does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply [with a] valid and neutral law of general applicability on the ground that the law proscribes (or prescribes) conduct that his religion prescribes (or proscribes).” [4]

 
As Justice Scalia’s decision in Employment Division makes clear, the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment does not operate to invalidate neutral laws of general applicability. Based on this decision the courts can decide that the Obamacare contraceptive mandate does not target a particular religious group, nor are they designed to interfere with a particular religious faith and that they apply equally to non-exempt, non-grandfathered plans. [5]
 

[1] See Employment Division v. Smith, 494 U.S. 872, 878-79 (1990).

[2] See “HHS Mandate Central”. The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. Web. 30 September 2013. http://www.becketfund.org/hhsinformationcentral/.

[3] Since October 2013 the U.S. Supreme Court has issued two rulings regarding the Obamacare contraceptive mandate which will be discussed in a subsequent blog. 

[4] Autocam Corp. v. Sebelius, No. 12-cv-
1096, 2012 WL 6845677 (W.D. Mich. Dec. 24, 2012).

[5] Id.

By: Christ the King Law Center (CKLC)










​Since President Donald Trump was inaugurated as President of the United States on January 20, 2017 we have commented here on the good promises he has made during his campaign which we hope he will fulfill as President. We have offered a prayer to the President here and also offered Christopher Ferrara's commentary on President Trump's appointment to the Supreme Court justice Neil Gorsuch here. In this article we will comment on another important event that happened that day which was the end of Barack Obama's (BO's) term as President of the United States. The termination of BO's time as President was a major relief to many Catholics across the country. In his eight years as President BO had pushed an extreme liberal political program that went further than his predecessors. Whole books can be written on all of the destructive and evil policies of the Obama administration but in this article we will focus on one aspect of his political program. That aspect was the attempt to force some of the Church’s institutions to fund abortion and contraception. Such a policy should leave no doubt that Obama’s legacy includes that of a violator of the Church’s freedom. 

The Obama administration sought to force Catholic hospitals and charities to provide contraception and abortion inducing drugs in their health insurance plans to their employees. In January 2012 the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) issued a mandate under the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) that required all employer health plans to provide free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs, regardless of any moral or religious objections. The ministries of institutions like Catholic schools, hospitals and charities-educating the young, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry-were not considered sufficiently religious to qualify for the mandate’s narrow “religious exemption.” The outrage against this mandate was so great that in February 2012 the Obama administration offered an “accommodation” whereby insurance providers, rather than employers, would pay for the services to which religious employers have moral objections. But this did not solve the problem because at the end of the day, the HHS mandate still forced all employers to provide health plans with free contraceptives, sterilizations and abortion-inducing drugs-or face fines. Numerous different organizations sued for relief from the mandate but the Obama administration continued to maintain the mandate with some other modifications that still did not satisfy the objections of Catholic organizations such as the Little Sisters of the Poor. For example, on August 27, 2014, the administration announced a new regulation that created a new way for religious organizations to sign control of their health plans over to the government. However, this would have made Catholic religious organizations like the Little Sisters of the Poor complicit in the distribution of immoral drugs when they signed away control of their health plans to the government. The Little Sisters of the Poor rightly objected to this fraudulent "exemption" and were able to win a victory at the Supreme Court where the Court ordered the Obama administration to not impose fines on the Little Sisters. [1]  

Obama's attempt to force Catholic organizations to provide contraception and abortion inducing drugs in their health insurance plans can be rightly compared to another tyrant's attempt to crush the freedom of God's Church. That tyrant's name is King Henry VIII, the lecherous heretical madman who ruled England centuries ago but whose evil actions still impact us today. Fortunately under President Trump there appears to be some hope. In May 2017, President Trump issued an Executive Order directing HHS and other federal agencies to protect the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious ministries from the HHS mandate. This means that the agencies must fix their rules to exempt the Little Sisters and other religious groups from the HHS mandate. It also means that the agencies must end their unnecessary legal fights against the Little Sisters and other ministries in courts around the country. The President's Executive Order used the language of the liberal/progressivist error of religious liberty which as a matter of principle we at Christ the King Law Center (CKLC) reject since it is against the infallible magisterium of the Church. [2] The President's Executive Order makes no distinction in its intent to protect both the true and the false religion. Nevertheless as a matter of prudence this order is tolerable for the purpose of protecting the freedom of the Church. We pray for the day when, like Saint Constantine the Great, the President will acknowledge Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords and put the power of the United States government in the defense and service of Christ's Kingdom on Earth: the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church. 

[1] See here: http://www.becketlaw.org/case/littlesisters/.

[2] See our article here.