(LifeSiteNews) — On this week’s episode of Faith & Reason, John Henry-Westen, Father Charles Murr, Frank Wright, and special guest Bishop Joseph Strickland discuss the U.S., E.U., and numerous other countries at the United Nations (UN) calling for exceptions to child porn in a cybersecurity measure, Pope Francis’s recent statement that opposition to illegal immigration is a “grave sin,” the controversial “Amazonian Rite” entering a three-year experimentation phase, Donald Trump’s announcement that IVF coverage would be mandated if he returns to the White House, and more.
The panel first looked at a recent pedophilic article in a UN treaty. In a draft treaty on cybercrime, one article lists exceptions to the prosecution of child porn. The listed exceptions include porn that does not involve a real child or is AI-generated, created within a consensual relationship, and kept for private use. If adopted, this treaty will take effect in the coming months. The United States and the European Union were among 91 countries that voted to keep these exceptions within Article 14 of the treaty, which Westen called a “pedophile’s dream watch.”
The panel then watched a clip of delegates explaining why these exceptions were necessary. One said: “There are national laws children made as of the age of 14 and above [to] have sexual intercourse. Any countries have similar national legislation. Our national understanding is that children above the age of 14 have a right to develop sexual relationships. Children at this age may choose to have a sexual relationship with a person that is, for example, 19 years [old] – therefore, an adult. The children might produce pictures in the course of sexual engagement and share them with each other. Pictures produced as part of a legal and voluntary relationship should not be criminalized.”
“And, by the way, 50-year-old men as well,” Westen said. “They don’t use that because that would just let the cat out of the bag too much. And so they’re trying to protect this sexual abuse in most countries.”
Bp. Strickland commented, “Sadly, I think it’s just more evidence of the grip that Satan has on human minds around the world, certainly in the Church, in our nation. But it is a worldwide pandemic of evil. That’s not an overstatement, that is just the reality we face. The light of Christ is still the light of Christ, but as these people are talking, it’s like demons talking.” While reminding listeners not to lose hope or joy in Christ, he emphasized that, as Christians, we must say “no” to this foolishness.
Westen then chimed in, saying it struck him that all these UN delegates calling for exceptions to child porn crimes look entirely normal. “They’re here talking about complete insanity, immorality with children that would be unthinkable even maybe 30 or 40 years ago. And they’re dressed in their suits and all talking like this is the most normal thing.”
Wright stressed that this article is simply the result of liberalism. “Now, we must remember that the liberal idea from its inception is a competitor explanation of the world to Catholicism. It is not compatible with Catholicism. It is a competing explanatory power, and so it seeks to supplant that with its ideas of liberalization and rights and so on,” Wright said.
“Now on that further: Currently the state of the liberal idea … is reliant on a thing called critical theory, and the most foremost champion of that, Judith Butler, last year admitted in an interview that critical theories, liberal [attacks] on all norms, sexual norms, social norms, Christian and Catholic norms [open] the door to pedophilia,” the journalist added. “When she was asked whether that was the case, she admitted, ‘Yes, it does,’ because this is the liberal project. It sees every form of customary traditional religious, moral restraint as an obstacle to be swept away by liberalization and progress.”
Fr. Murr highlighted the delegate’s smirk in the clip while discussing the perverse exceptions. “It was almost diabolical. I mean, seriously, the woman is proposing something that is absolutely horrific with a little smile and a little tinge. … What is this? [Are] these people kidding?” The priest also noted that this is the first time he has ever heard that 14 is the cut-off age for children to consent to sexual activity.
“What happened to all of these studies that we’ve done in the United States with our own scandal of clerical sexual abuse, all the damage, permanent damage that people are claiming were done to children [aged] 15, 16, 17 and 18? And we went to court, and we’ve lost gazillions of dollars over this whole issue,” Murr said. “This is outrageous.”
The panel then turned to news from the Vatican, where, in a recent Wednesday audience, Pope Francis condemned those who work to regulate immigration. Stating that those who work systemically to repel migrants commit a “grave sin.” Westen reminded listeners that a “grave sin” is modern terminology for a mortal sin, so the Pontiff is saying that if you die without repenting of regulating who crosses your nation’s borders, you’ll be damned. He turned to Bishop Strickland for an explanation on the Church’s actual teaching on immigration.
Strickland first underscored how illogical the Pontiff’s statement truly is. “[I]f it’s seriously sinful to regulate immigration, then following [the Pope’s] logic, no one has a right to a private home. Then you should just let anyone walk into your home. It’s about the sacredness of the person. And the state, what does it exist for?”
Turning to the Church’s teaching on immigration, His Excellency noted that while immigrants should be welcomed, proper border security is also necessary. “As far as the Church is concerned, the state exists to provide security and protection to its citizens. And one of the ways to do that is to have walls and to have certainly immigration welcoming people, but with proper regulation…”
“[I]t’s a bit facetious, but it follows the logic: You could say, ‘Pope Francis, tear down that wall of the Vatican if this is really what you’re saying.’ … He doesn’t talk about sin a lot, but when he says this is [a] serious sin, then the Vatican is a walled nation, a walled city, and they have guards. And you can’t just go waltzing into the Vatican without permission, that this is a rightful protection of that city-state. But to say that it’s immoral to not have that protection, it’s just contrary to the whole tradition of Catholic teaching.”
Westen chimed in and quoted previous popes who clearly stated that countries have the right to regulate migration including one from Pope Benedict XVI:
At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity.
Fr. Murr said Pope Francis certainly has the right to his opinion on the subject, but he doesn’t have the right to speak as the Pope on this matter because it’s not sensible.
“You have in every nation that I know, there is legal immigration. And the reason that it’s always that way is for the good of the people of the nation and for the good of the immigrant. Why? Because it takes time to assimilate immigrants, it just does. And this is where they’re all coming from different places in the world. They need time to learn the language of the country, the customs, etc. You don’t just say, ‘Anybody can come.’ Anybody can come who applies legally,” the priest said.
For more discussion on the UN’s encouragement of child porn, Pope Francis’s immigration remarks, and more, tune in to this week’s episode of Faith & Reason.
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