(LifeSiteNews) — Although Matt Walsh did not appear in person at last week’s Catholics for Catholics gala in Washington, D.C., his remarks captured the essence of what the gathering represents.
In an age when too many Catholics compromise with the modern world and cut corners for political victories, Walsh lays out a solidly orthodox roadmap for followers of Jesus Christ to follow as they seek to influence the culture around them.
Walsh began his remarks where every faithful Catholic father must begin: with the eternal destiny of his children. “My politics,” he stated, “are simply this: I want my children to go to heaven.”
We’re grateful to @MattWalshBlog for his message of support on the importance of protecting our children and families through faith and truth.
Watch the full Catholic Prayer for America Gala! https://t.co/3JnouVVvhy pic.twitter.com/toTVSRTKtx
— Catholics for Catholics 🇺🇲 (@CforCatholics) March 24, 2026
That single sentence encapsulates the entirety of the past 2,000 years of Church teaching. How so, you might wonder? Well, in brief, those who have authority over others have been given that role by God. Whether it be popes and priests, kings and presidents, or mothers and fathers, those who occupy these positions of power over others must have as their goal their spiritual well-being, either indirectly or directly.
Walsh is essentially reminding his viewers that the primary vocation of Catholics in this life is not political victories but the salvation of souls. At the same time, in order to allow more souls to more easily be saved, foreign policy as well as political battles over cultural issues must be engaged with so the next generation can have more opportunities to live a life free from occasions of sin and filled with prayer and sanctity.
Walsh grounds his politics in the definition of love given by St. Thomas Aquinas: “to love is to will the good of the other.” Walsh notes that he does this by loving his wife and his six children. He explains that it is his duty to make choices that help them get to heaven.
“I think that we as Catholics and conservative should think and speak more in these terms, and organize our politics around it,” Walsh argues. “Our culture is full of threats to our kids, threats to their bodies, minds, and souls. Abortion, pornography, divorce, the LGBT agenda, the mass legalization, a normalization of drugs… these are the things we’re fighting against. This is where our focus should be.”
READ: Daily Wire article laments ‘troubling pattern’ of Catholic converts speaking out against Zionism
Again, Walsh grounds his outlook not in a narrow libertarian worldview that ultimately ignores the good of the other. Nor does he overreach by promoting a politics that seeks to dominate the civil sphere, as socialists and Marxists do. He grounds his outlook in what he calls a “properly ordered” society that views persons as children of God and whose eternal destiny is to be with Him in paradise. This sort of politics is what other conservatives should adopt.
Now some might worry and reject it as a form of theocratic totalitarianism. It is not. It is simply putting the Catholic faith into practice without apology so more souls will be saved. It is recognizing that the temporal order exists for the sake of the divine order, not the other way around. There could be nothing more totalitarian than creating a political system that prioritizes this life over eternal life.
Walsh closes his brief remarks by noting that Christ Himself warned that it would be better for a man who causes the “little ones” to be scandalized to be thrown into the sea with a millstone around his neck (Mt. 18:6). Walsh is right to note the verse. It is for this reason why engaging in the culture wars is so important. Transgender surgeries, puberty blockers, abortion – these are all wicked practices that destroy the innocence of children. They deny souls the chance to live the life God wants for them.
Walsh draws attention to this by concluding: “Protect our children and help them get to heaven. Create a society that is properly ordered in that direction. That is all that matters. It’s the mission that we live and die for, to carry the fire and keep it burning.”
One can hope that Walsh’s message will be heard by more Catholics, especially young men, so they will advance a Christ-centered politics that aims at the conversion of nations and the world to the true faith. What else is there, anyway? As Our Lord said in the Gospel of Mark: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” So too we must ask: “For what shall it profit a leader, if he shall conquer many nations and win all sorts of political victories but he and his family end up in the fires of hell?”