Critical analysis of “The Churh Under

Attack" by T. Locsin.

I particularly appreciated Dr. Moczar’s treatment of the revolutionary period in

France. Didn’t most of us learn in high school that this revolution was good for
the progress of man? How foolish we were to believe it! Dr. Moczar teaches
us that no revolution is good, that revolution by its very nature is not a
Christian concept. She is worth quoting here:

“Whenever someone says, ‘I have a right to … more money, abortion, a better

job, a satisfying love affair, ‘and so on, he is echoing the revolutionary concept
of rights: claims to whatever we happen to desire, regardless of any
corresponding obligation or moral context… Abstract principles have a way of
leading to unpleasant consequences.”

She points out that revolutions are never spontaneous; they are created by
men with agendas, and she is speaking here of revolutions in general – the
French, the Russian, even the American. The French Revolution had its cast
of evil characters with agendas, the most important of which were to smash
altar and crown – to get rid of the “infamous thing” in the words of Voltaire in
speaking of the Church, and to topple the monarchy. Thousands of French
citizens were martyred to the cause of Revolution, which, in the end, brought
not a stable society, but more terror, a Reign of Terror. Then came Napoleon
who literally crowned himself Emperor, swallowed much of Europe in his
arrogant quest for more power, and had his Grand Armee defeated by that
most heartless of enemies to conquering armies, the Russian winter.

Catholic thinking had always taught that the legitimate ruler – usually a king –
was destined by God to rule the nation. The ideal monarch would take care of
the “big things” — national defense, the administration of justice, and the
rights of the Church (never was a Catholic country of Europe a theocracy as
in modern Islamic states or in ancient Israel), while the people took care of
their own affairs. This is based on the Catholic principle of subsidiarity,
beginning with the smallest unit of the family, then the parish, the community
and so on up the line. Citizens of traditional Christendom had much more
freedom from government than we Americans do today. For France, kicking
the priests and nuns out (or murdering them before they could leave) was an
absolute disaster. Gone were the hospitals, the free schools for the poor run
by religious orders and the other services that the good sisters and priests
provided the citizenry, usually at no or minimal charge. There was no longer a
safety net, and the poor became the positively destitute. Because this little
gem is worthy of more than one read, I will mention only a couple of other
interesting tidbits which one does not usually encounter in “regular” history
books. One is the heroic Catholic opposition to Nazism in Germany, fostered
by the White Rose Resistance. These young Catholic and other Christian
students, led by an Aristotle-quoting brother and sister (Hans and Sophie
Scholl), mounted what has been called the only public political display of
defiance that occurred in Nazi Germany. Their activities were quickly ended
and the leaders guillotined. Giving due credit to His Holiness, Pius XII, who
has been viciously and falsely accused of facilitating the extermination of the
Jews, it was he who helped the plotters remain in contact in the unsuccessful
attempt on Hitler’s life by the Catholic Claus von Stauffenberg. Besides this,
as is now well known, Pius saved more than 800,000 Jews by hiding them
within Vatican City. In addition, he kept the Roman population fed during the
Nazi occupation.

One more comment: On two occasions Dr. Moczar points out that certain
historical disasters could have been averted. The first: If the French King,
Louis XIV, in 1689 had consecrated France to the Sacred Heart of Jesus as
Our Lord requested him to do through the mediation of His servant Saint
Margaret Mary Alacoque, the debacle of one hundred years later would not
have occurred. The second is obvious. If Russia had been consecrated to Our
Lady’s Immaculate Heart by 1960 as Our Lady of Fatima requested through
the communication of the young Portuguese seers, Russia would not have
“spread her errors.” In other words, the world could have been spared the
horrors of Communism and the disaster of World War II.