Sacrilege Is Sacrilege: The Ends Do Not Justify The Means

Last updated on: November 8, 2016 at 7:19 am by Henry Karlson

Sacrilege Is Sacrilege: The Ends Do Not Justify The Means 2016-11-08T07:19:44-05:00 Henry Karlson

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By Anonymous Byzantine artist 9th century (“De Byzance a Istambul” p.129) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

In medieval times, it was not uncommon for unsavory clerics, religious and laity to be waiting near a dying saint, not for the sake of comforting them, but with the hope of getting first dibs at the saint’s body for the creation of relics. Of course, many who were not saints also had similar relic hunters at their side. Bodies were routinely desecrated for the sake of personal gain.

Now, it is the bodies of dead infants which are searched for, taken, and put on display, continuing the abuse which was started when they were alive. They might be seen as holy victims of abuse, but instead of being treated with dignity and respect, they continue to be used as objects for someone else’s gain, for someone else’s goal, which has little to no regard to their personal dignity. What lay behind the abuse use of relics in the past remains with us today.

That is why when I saw that Fr. Frank Pavone used the body of a dead child as part of a political ploy, I could not help but think of what he held in common with many a medieval relic hunter. He showed no respect to the child. He showed no understanding of the dignity which is to be had for the dead. Instead, he saw an opportunity to make a political message with the child being the means by which he was to make it; how many can look on the remains and not see how monstrous an act of desecration this is to the temple of God made without hands. Yes, the child previously was treated with great indignity, but now, instead of seeking to rectify it and bless the child on its way to eternity, Fr. Pavone thought he could use the child some more, not to cause remorse to those who viewed the child, but rather to elicit support for Donald Trump.

Being authentically pro-life is to support the dignity of the human person, and with it, to lift up the vulnerable in society as those who need protection from those who would harm them. The poor, lowly, dispossessed, those who are offered no place as a home for themselves on the earth, those who have no one to speak out and protect them, they are the people we must work not only to protect, but to elevate their voice in society so that their needs can be met. How awful is it to use the vulnerable dead in order to support an abuser of other vulnerable people? It is a demonstration of how far the political pro-life cause is from moral principles and instead seek to use select moral principles to overturn the core pro-life cause.

Those in medieval times who collected the relics said they were doing some good, spreading the holiness of the saint around, and used this to justify how they were abusing the saint and the temple of God. Often, they would add the sacrilege of selling the relic, offering the relic to some medieval official who wanted the power of the saint’s blessings to upon them, to strengthen their political power; likewise, Fr. Pavone seemingly sold out his message to Donald Trump, willing to put political expediency over the dignity not only of the dead child, but the sacred altar of Christ.

The sacrilege committed is manifold. Not only do we see the undignified treatment of the child, whose body is made to be a temple of God, we see Christ’s altar used not for the promotion of Christ, for the glorification of God, but for a lesser, human end, a desired political goal. Even if the goal is good, it is a lesser good than the good expected out of an altar, which then qualifies it to be an evil act. Evil corrupts the good, abuses it, for some end other than the good which is to be expected. Sexual sins are sins because sexuality is abused, not because sex is evil. To say, therefore, Fr. Pavone is doing good by showing the harm in abortion, and he is doing good because he is promoting a political candidate he thinks is going to help the United States, is only to do what Satan does; justify evil by the good which can be found in the evil act.

The fact so many are led astray by this and do not see the scandal it has caused only demonstrates the prelest contained within many involved with the political pro-life movement. Prelest, spiritual delusion, always hides itself in the semblance holiness. But in its arrogance, it allows no correction, and this, we see, alas, is prevalent today. Prelest not only gives excuses for personal misbehavior, it often judges others for not accepting it as holy. Prelest knows no obedience, no humility, but always doubles down on its own self-righteousness when it leads people to do some evil.

Yes, life is good, and we are to protect life; but we must not focus on the political battle and turn it into idol which we put up before Christ. When we are unable to see sacrilege as bad because it seems to help us in our cause, then we have lost the big picture and need help.

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