Our Lord Jesus Christ as King of the Church Militant

by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

In his meditation about the Kingdom of Christ, St. Ignatius compares Our Lord Jesus Christ to an earthly king who is at war and addresses his subjects, inviting them to join the war for His sake. Note that this is a spiritual situation very similar to the earthly situation that existed in his time.

God the Father enthroned, with Our Lord and Our Lady. late 15th century painting

So Our Lord invites the faithful to wage war on His side, with arguments similar to those employed by the kings of the time to invite, through the nobles, their subjects to participate in war. He approaches the meditation with the whole logical reasoning of a military man of the time and transposes it to Our Lord Jesus Christ, Whom he considers to be King of the Church Militant.

Let us therefore place ourselves in the perspective of St. Ignatius of Loyola, considering the Church Militant.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Catholic Church, comes asking us to join His Holy War inside the Church against progressivism, and inside the State, against communism. And He appeals to us to fight and not be soft or indifferent to this struggle, but to wage battle with all our soul.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Catholic Church, comes asking us to join His Holy War inside the Church against progressivism, and inside the State, against communism. And He appeals to us to fight and not be soft or indifferent to this struggle, but to wage battle with all our soul.
Standup for Religious Freedom Rally in Washington DC at the HHS Building

Of course, St. Ignatius does not speak about progressivism. Since his meditation is destined for all times, he refers generically to the world, the devil and the flesh, which are the causes of all errors at all times, in which they simply change name.

In his time, the error was Protestantism, supported by people who called themselves Catholics but who were deep down Protestants working for Protestantism inside the Catholic Church. In the civil sphere, those persons tended to eliminate all social and political inequalities. In other words, they were forerunners of the French Revolution.

“Consider the war that Jesus Christ came to bring from Heaven to earth.”

I will now go into the text by St. Ignatius: “Consider the war that Jesus Christ came to bring from Heaven to earth.” This sentence shocks. People are used to the idea that Our Lord Jesus Christ came to bring peace. Yet St. Ignatius with all naturality begins the meditation by saying “Consider that war that Jesus Christ came to bring from Heaven to earth.” How different this is from today’s hollow pacifism! What a meditation, for example, for a Christmas night: Our Lord Jesus Christ appears on earth as a warrior Who came to bring war!