(LifeSiteNews) — On December 13, a Substack blog run by liberal Catholic activist Christopher Hale reported that far-left commentator Rachel Maddow had publicly announced her purported return to the Catholic faith. Audio of Maddow’s remarks released by MS NOW confirm the news.
While the development is striking given Maddow’s long-standing public opposition to Catholic moral teaching, the question that now needs asking is: to which “Church” has Maddow returned to?
Now 52, Maddow was raised in a Catholic household but for decades has lived in defiance of the faith. She herself has been in a homosexual “marriage” since 1999. Throughout her career, she has vigorously advocated for unrestricted abortion access, open border immigration policies, and, more recently, “gender transitioning” children — all off which stand in direct contradiction to perennial Catholic moral teaching.
Maddow made her comments while speaking with Timothy Snyder at the Harris Theater in Chicago on November 21. The two were talking about the Trump administration. Click here to listen. Maddow’s remarks are relevant not just because of who she is but because there are many fallen away liberal Catholics like her who have warmed to what the Vatican has been promoting in recent years.
During her conversation with Snyder, Maddow praises both Francis and Leo XIV for their emphasis on solidarity with migrants. Maddow also said she was inspired by a recent outdoor Mass held by left-wing clergy at an ICE facility in Illinois. “I was born and raised in a conservative Catholic family… after having not considered myself [Catholic] for some time, I do consider myself to be back in the faith,” she remarked. Again the question must be asked: to what faith (and Church) is she coming back to?
In her youth, Maddow would have experienced the Church as it was under John Paul II. Among other things, John Paul founded the Pontifical Academy for Life to combat the “culture of death” — abortion, euthanasia, and similar barbaric practices. He also opposed “women’s ordination” and consistently defended Catholic moral teaching on gender. His policies were continued by Benedict XVI after his death in 2005. But it must be admitted that much of what the Vatican defended back then is now no longer what those in Rome today consider to be a top priority.
Over the past 12 years, Francis and Leo have elevated women to prominent positions in Vatican governance. They have also emphasized climate activism, aligned the Church with the sustainability goals of the United Nations, and made immigration a top-level concern. Moreover, under Francis, gender-confused persons and pro-LGBT clergy were routinely welcomed to the Vatican and even promoted in the Church. Cardinals Cupich, McElroy, Gregory, and Tobin, for instance, all rose to prominence during Francis’ tenure — and all of them have given both direct and indirect support to pro-LGBT priests.
Also over the past 12 years, Jesuit universities, left-wing Catholic media outlets, pro-“female priest” groups, and radical clergy have not only been allowed to spout their heresies but have even been encouraged to do so. Most recently, in the Archdiocese of New York, an active homosexual ABC News reporter was confirmed in St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Bishop Joseph Strickland called on his fellow clergy to denounce what took place during the USCCB’s meeting last month, but they refused to say a word. What’s more, in the Diocese of Lexington, a gender-confused female is living as a male hermit under the protection of Bishop John Stowe.
All of this is to say that there is a de facto parallel structure within the institutional Church that allows someone like Maddow to carve out a comfortable “Catholic” identity while not needing to abandon her leftist views and non-Catholic personal life. This structure is reinforced by pro-LGBT parishes, left-wing priests, heterodox websites and media outlets, and bishops who promote gender ideology under the guise of “accompanying” people “in their faith journey.”
Maddow’s alleged reversion fits neatly within this subculture of so-called liberal Catholicism. She isn’t so much embracing the true faith as it has been understood and practiced for two millennia but rather she, like many lapsed self-identified Catholic leftists these past 12 years, is merely embracing a modernized, rainbow-tinted knock off version of it that does not call souls to undergo a radical conversion of self-denial but confirms them in their non-Catholic lifestyles. Catholics should pray that souls who are caught in this deceitful system are freed from its lies and are moved to wholeheartedly embrace the true faith and live according to its teachings.
