Courage, Conviction, and the Culture of Death

"What began as the 'live and let live' slogan of the LGBT is ending in prison time for anyone who dares to say, 'this is wrong,' and 'what you are doing is sinful.'"

From Crisis

By Joseph Pearce

What began as the "live and let live" slogan of the LGBT is ending in prison time for anyone who dares to say, "this is wrong," and "what you are doing is sinful."

Many years ago, I was told a joke that was not in particularly good taste, nor was it particularly funny. I’m going to retell it, irrespective of the aforementioned reasons for not doing so, because it illustrates something greatly ironic about the culture of death and the dictatorship of relativism in which we find ourselves.

A man to his friend: Why are you leaving the country?

Friend: They’ve made homosexuality legal and I want to get out of here before they make it compulsory.

I know it’s not funny, and I know it’s in highly questionable taste; but it does highlight a great irony. The irony is that homosexual practice has not been made compulsory, but endorsement of homosexual practice has been. Such is the intolerance of the dictatorship of relativism toward those who fail to show tolerance of the things that it says must be tolerated.

This intolerance in the name of tolerance, this Orwellian doublethink, is currently rampant, especially in Europe. In the United Kingdom, more than 12,000 people a year are being arrested for criticizing the government of Sturmführer Starmer on social media.

The fact that the dictatorship of relativism is wedded to the culture of death is evident in Iceland, which boasts of finding the Final Solution to the “problem” of Down syndrome in the systemic extermination of all those babies who are discovered in the womb to be “guilty” of the genetic “defect.” It is in Iceland, too, that the intolerance of those who fail to endorse homosexual practice is especially evident.

Fr. Jakob Rolland, chancellor of the Catholic Church in Iceland, was threatened with arrest by the police after he gave an interview with state broadcaster RÚV in which he stated the Catholic Church’s position on homosexuality. Such a position is no longer tolerated in Icelandic law, following the passing of a parliamentary statute in 2023 banning so-called “conversion therapy” of those experiencing same-sex attraction. According to those seeking to silence Fr. Rolland, his adherence to Catholic teaching and his refusal of the Eucharist to those living in same-sex relationships are forms of “conversion therapy.”

Asked whether he should obey the new law, Fr. Rolland responded in a manner reminiscent of the courage and conviction of St. Thomas More: “Yes, as long as the laws align with God’s laws, then it’s fine. It has been known in law from the very beginning that when the laws of the land and God’s laws conflict, God’s laws apply.” As with all good disciples of Christ, he is happy to render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, but he will not render, or surrender, the things that are God’s to Caesar.

The courage of his convictions was evident in an earlier interview, in 2019, when Fr. Rolland stated:

If two women came to us and wanted to marry, then I’d say, “Unfortunately, that won’t work for us.” If they wanted to press charges, I’d say, “Do it.” If I go to prison, then I go to prison, but it won’t change my position.

Apart from having the courage of his convictions, Fr. Rolland also has the deep understanding of the things of which he is convicted and the ability to express them with clarity and charity:

Sexual orientation is only one factor among many that concern an individual’s tendencies towards some lifestyle that is not good for the individual and not good for society. And “conversion”—change of heart—this is a key word in the daily life of Catholic people. We are constantly in the position of turning away from what is evil towards what is good.

Against the charge that he is discriminating against those struggling with the disorder of same-sex attraction, Fr. Rolland makes it clear that we are all disordered in one way or another. Each of us struggle with sin and its harmful consequences. In this sense, those struggling with one form of disorder are no different from those struggling with different disorders. We are all sinners, and we are called to love one another; but there’s a difference between loving the sinner and endorsing the sin, a difference and a distance which is as wide as the chasm that separates Heaven from Hell:

Everyone who comes to church has their problems and sins, struggling to some degree with bad tendencies towards something. Everyone is kneeling, sometimes crying before God, before the statue of the Holy Virgin Mary, and asking for help. We are all really in the same position.

In recent interviews, Fr. Rolland has affirmed that Catholics with homosexual inclinations may receive the Eucharist—but not if they are engaged in intimate same-sex relationships. In other words, those struggling with a moral disorder are welcome to receive the Sacrament as repentant sinners. This is obvious because all human persons are in some sense morally disordered. The key word is not the noun, sinners, but the adjective, repentant.

In the face of the intolerance of the state, Fr. Rolland remains resolute, gaining great encouragement by the number of young people taking an interest in the Faith:

Yesterday I had a meeting for people who want to learn more about the Catholic faith and the Church’s teachings. And it was just a large group, and the vast majority were young people. So maybe it’s also part of the zeitgeist to be looking for an anchor, for answers to life’s questions. You want to find security and a sanctuary and community, and that’s the kind of people who come to us.

Fr. Rolland’s sense of encouragement at the number of young converts is also being felt in other countries. In France, over 13,000 adults and 8,000 teens were received into the Church this Easter, a new record for adult converts. The increase in the number of teenagers is simply startling. In 2017, only 1,385 teenagers requested baptism. This year, that number skyrocketed to 8,152.

Especially encouraging is the overall youthfulness of these new French converts. Older generations make up a tiny fraction of the total number. Only 1 percent of adult baptisms involve people over 65. In contrast, the overwhelming majority of new converts (82 percent) are between 18 and 40 years old. A similar, if less dramatic, upswing is being seen in the United Kingdom and other countries.

What are we to make of this resurgent Catholicism in the midst of the culture of death? Perhaps, as Fr. Rolland surmises, young people are “looking for an anchor, for answers to life’s questions.” They are seeking “security, sanctuary and community.”

In brief and in sum, they are seeking what can’t be found in the disordered world of relativism and nihilism. All that is needed is for the leaders of the Church to have the courage and conviction of good and resolute priests, such as Fr. Rolland. Such courage and such conviction will provide the rock to which young people need to cling as the culture of death continues its slow, sordid, and self-assisted suicide.