U.S. News
Catholics Grapple With Converts Using Faith as Political Platform
Clear Facts
- The Catholic Church officially condemns all forms of antisemitism and honors the Jewish people.
- Prominent traditional thinkers like G.K. Chesterton and St. Elizabeth Seton reflect the faith’s long history of notable converts.
- Theologians say religious devotion should focus on eternal salvation, not self-advancement or political gain.
Tens of thousands of Americans are preparing to join the Catholic Church this year as the faith continues to grow through major conversions.
The Church historically serves as a pillar of Western civilization by providing education, healthcare, and social services globally.
Conservative commentator Ryan James Girdusky warned that a small cadre of political influencers are using their new membership as a political prop.
He noted that these individuals often pick and choose which church teachings to follow to build social media platforms.
“The phrase ‘Christ is King’ should not be followed by ‘Netanyahu should be on trial for war crimes.'”
Girdusky argued that using religious phrases to single out other faiths for political purposes is the equivalent of taking the Lord’s name in vain.
He suggested that true Catholics should look to the saints to build the church rather than seeking views and followers.
Maintaining nuanced opinions about Middle Eastern affairs is possible without adopting hostility toward the Jewish people as God’s chosen community.
The integrity of the faith relies on genuine devotion rather than using the institution as a platform for dictating foreign policy.
Let us know what you think, please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Sandra McCarter
April 7, 2026 at 5:11 am
I truly believe that too many people now do not even understand the Catholic faith. I also believe seeing the change in my own church of new converts coming in that they are having a big influence on all of the traditional values that I’m used to seeing they’re gone by the wayside as they say. I think if our priest and deacons don’t start addressing this in their homily this is going to get to the point that it’s so out of control nothing will ever go back to the true Catholic faith and the young people coming up will not be taught the true Catholic faith. Faith formation or as I always call it CCD used to be the teaching of the traditional Catholic faith. Now it is more being taught by converts and they are not using the Bible or old CCD lessons. This is really sad. This is changing our church and it’s not for the better. What I see is a lot of people that are bringing traditions from other churches and incorporating them into the Catholic Church. This is now hurting those of us that are traditional Catholics to not want to even be part of the current church because it is so far away from what I grew up believing. So what are we supposed to do? I do blame a lot of this on our priest and again deacons. They are afraid to address anything because of political stances. That is really sad because political affiliation is not what God‘s gonna look at. He’s not gonna care what political affiliation you are or how many toes you step on by stating the truth of the Catholic Church. I believe God wants you to stand up for him and the truth of the Catholic Church I’m becoming very disappointed as this is
not being addressed and I’m not sure why it is not.