The Attitude of Mattathias
By Fr Benedict Kiely, European Conservative.
This essay is an abridged version of remarks given by Fr. Benedict Kiely at the National Conservatism Conference in Brussels on April 17, 2024.
Preparing for this talk, the news came in that, by a large majority, the members of the European Parliament had voted to have the so-called ‘right to abortion’ in the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights. A prophet, Monsignor Knox once wrote, sees the “evils of the day with a clear eye.” To call the right to murder our unborn a “fundamental right” is evil, and any country or continent that enshrines such a right will not survive. God is not only a God of mercy but also a God of justice. Shame on the members who voted for this; there will be a reckoning.
The title of this panel is called ‘Faith and Family in Crisis,’ and who can deny it? The wilfully blind, the ignorant, or those who both wish for the crisis and are actively encouraging it. I do not intend to give an endless list of examples of what has been happening over the last 100 years or so to cause this crisis, which is accelerating rapidly. If I address certain issues, it is to challenge us all who call ourselves conservatives, but most especially the Christians among us, to fight the good fight with all our might. It is also getting more difficult to attempt to give a positive vision for us to work on and not be drowned in the slough of despondency and discouragement.
We know, in the Bible, that apart from being a moment of destruction or calamity, the word ‘crisis’ can also mean a moment of opportunity. Etymologically, the word comes from the Greek root meaning “turning point in a disease”—it can either get much worse or much better. Later, it developed into the word for a ‘moment of decision.’ The patients, both faith and family, are very sick; they are, in fact, inseparable in their sickness. When the faith is sick, inevitably the family suffers, and vice versa.
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