The Church and the West are in Decline

Are we in need of another Reformation?

In previous articles, I have argued that the Reformation was a failure. I have heard others argue that it never really ended, in that the Church of England never truly settled on a doctrine and has been wayward ever since for that very reason.

On the one hand, Roman Catholics would generally argue that the Reformation was a mistake, whilst on the other hand, Protestants would argue that it had a net positive result.

Wherever you fall on the outcome of the 16th century Reformation - failure/success, detrimental/positive - it is probably safe to say the Church is always in need of reform. The Church Militant is made up of broken parts - you and I - and, therefore, is always in need of adjustment to ensure we remain on track. That is not to say the truth should be changed, but the Church should be reformed in order to guard and preserve the Truths of Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture.

Professor Robert Tombs published an interesting article yesterday that suggested Western Society itself is in need of reform. Tombs is a fantastic historian - Professor Emeritus of French History at the University of Cambridge - and I tend to agree with his assessment. However, he has not outlined the reason why the West is on the brink of collapse and in need of reformation, and that is because the West - formerly called Christendom - abandoned its core values. A house without a foundation cannot stand, and Christ is/was the cornerstone of civilisation. Without him, we are lost, and society itself ceases to function in an orderly fashion. We grasp at abstract values and ideas to replace what has always been known to be true. The objective becomes subjective, and everything begins to fall apart as the structure of our way of life crumbles around fallen individuals instead of being held up by a divine person. This is not a political problem but a spiritual one.

When Christendom became ‘the West,’ it became secularised. The West has lost faith in Christ. If we, as Christians, believe Christianity to be true and Jesus Christ to be the only way to Salvation, surely, we have a duty to return Christ to Christendom.

How are we doing on that front? This week alone, we have the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, preaching universalism:

“I wish all Muslims peace and joy as they enter this season of Ramadan: this special time of prayer, fasting and spiritual reflection. I give thanks for the great contribution of Muslims to our society, and for their great hospitality and welcome. I pray that this Ramadan is a time of renewal, and that we may continue to strengthen our bonds of friendship and work together for peace and justice.”

For the most senior cleric in the Church of England to be preaching on Ramadan in this way is concerning for obvious reasons: it implies that either he does not care for the souls of British Mohammedans or he does not believe Jesus Christ is the only way to Salvation. Either way, he renders himself unfit to sit in the Chair of St Augustine.

This is not a problem restricted to Anglicanism, however. His Eminence, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, released a very similar statement in which he said:

Blessings and graces to our Islamic brothers and sisters, because their holy season of Ramadan begins today! They’re a good example to us on our Lenten journey.

In the video, he claims, “Ramadan is a lot like their version of Lent,” which it is not.

‘Coexist’ seems to be the message of the day from the Western Church. Forget trying to save souls by leading them to Christ; pretend all faiths are the same, all gods are the same, and that we all end up in the same place anyway. The oldest heresies are the best, after all. This would be an excusable response for someone ignorant of the faith or someone with a poor understanding of theology, but for our religious leaders to publicly support this position is a grave sin. One for which they will be judged harshly (James 3:1).

Christianity is still in the majority, with 2.2 billion faithful worldwide. The Catholic heresy of Mohammedanism is not far behind, though, with 1.8 billion followers of Mohammed. If we do not recover biblically orthodox Christianity and restore those values, returning them back to the forefront of our way of life, the West will be Islamified in no time. Current projections show the UK could very well become a majority Islamic region by 2050. In a country with a state Church, with Lords Spiritual sitting in the Houses of Parliament, and a sovereign king acting as Supreme Governor of the Church of England, this is not only unacceptable but entirely avoidable.

It is high time the Church of England got its act together. But it will only do that with public pressure. The CofE is cutting the number of parish priests, investing in innovative ideas with lay leadership, and leaving the faithful masses without sacramental ministry. The Save the Parish campaign aims to reverse this awful direction. The parochial system of every man, woman and child belonging to a parish with a church and a vicar has been fundamental to the English way of life for centuries. Knowing that your parish priest is praying for you by the subtle yet beautiful sound of the ringing of bells at the parish church has provided comfort to many an Englishman. The parish church has been the community hub for every town and village throughout the history of our nation. With freedom to assemble and free speech under constant threat at the moment, our parishes should be protected now more than ever. But to do that, we need more parish priests.

In the last three years, vocations to ordained ministry have collapsed by 40%. There is a very real prospect that ministry is going to collapse in large parts of the Church of England within the next five years.

The numbers Dr Ian Paul notes in his blog post are alarming. The number of priestly vocations falling by 40% is a rate which will soon become unrecoverable.

Candidate numbers sponsored for stipendiary and SSM [self-supporting ministry] ordained ministry in the Church of England in 2022/3: 424, 379 recommended. 26 dioceses sponsored fewer than 10 candidates; 12 between 10 and 15; 2 between 15 and 20; Chelmsford, 27; London, 56 (a drop from 78 in 21/22).

Fr Robin Ward, Principal of St Stephen’s House, Oxford, notes that residential training has dropped to low double-digit figures in most dioceses.

Not to mention, nearly 60% of candidates are women, thus further breaking away from apostolic succession and orthodoxy.

With a worrying lack of men taking up priestly vocations in England, the country's trajectory will not be changed any time soon unless we do something about it.

If we want to return Christendom to Christ, and England in particular, we need to highlight Christian evangelism in the public square wherever we can. My friend

Sachin Jose

writes about celebrity conversions as an example. Faithful men and women who are coming to Christ in a very public way. Shia LaBeouf is a prime example of a recent convert. LeBeouf converted after researching Catholicism in order to play St Padre Pio in a movie. He says of the Traditional Latin Mass, “Latin Mass affected me deeply because it didn't feel like they were selling me a car.” Amen to that!

Could this be the kind of reformation the West needs? More of a revival. Public conversions of hearts and minds and souls to Christ. Putting Our Lord and Saviour at the forefront of our lives in public witness.

On that note, might we pray for the conversion of several high-profile persons who are showing signs of Christ working through them:

Jordan Peterson has been thinking through Catholicism for some time now, saying, “I think that Catholicism — that's as sane as people can get.” Peterson has been spotted at Traditional Latin Mass. His lovely wife Tammy recently converted to Catholicism.

Russel Brand appears to be going through a spiritual re-birth following a humiliating public smear campaign last year. We all knew of Brand’s sinful past, which the mainstream media attempted to use as a stick to beat him with, but lately, he is showing signs of contrition, repentance and faith in Christ. He recently published videos of some books and prayers that he has found helpful, as well as admitting to praying the rosary.

Tommy Robinson recorded an in-depth personal interview with me on my Lotus Eaters show last week, Fr Calvin’s Common Sense Crusade, in which we talked about his faith, among other things. Yesterday, he tweeted that in the back of a police van on his way to court, he prayed for the first time in a decade. Robinson admits to having been his own worst enemy at times, but more recently, he has clearly been the victim of a two-tiered police state.

Candace Owens is another high-profile individual who needs our prayers. Owens recently had her child baptised at the London Oratory and is on record saying, “My husband planted a seed in my head that won’t go away.”

Of course, we should always be cautious, and if we live by the Commandments we avoid idol worship. Celebrities are not to be followed in the way we follow Christ. But we are also reminded by the Scriptures that we are to live in the world, though not of the world. This increasingly secular world that we live in is obsessed with celebrity culture. If we can see that as an opportunity to shift the focus away from these individuals and back toward Christ, we will be doing a good thing.

This is just one example that comes to mind, but it is clear that we need more ways of returning Christ to the public conversation. If the West has forgotten about Him, it is our obligation to remind as many people as possible in order to restore Christendom. Because we, unlike some of our weaker leaders, are not universalists. We know the gate is narrow, we know there is only one way to the Father, we know that there is an objective truth, and we know him in the person of Jesus Christ. If we are to follow the greatest commandments of loving God with all of our heart, soul, and mind and loving our neighbours as ourselves, we need to put that into practice. It is impossible to love our neighbour and not want them to gain eternal life. It is impossible to love anyone and want to see them die a permanent death. It seems to me that if we wish to be true, loving Christians, we should be praying for the conversion of all followers of Mohammed and anyone else who does not yet know Jesus Christ to be the second person of the Trinity, the Triune God.

God bless you all, have a holy Lent, and pray for someone’s conversion today. Let us start a reformation of the West rooted in public witness, a revival of Christendom.