In 1899, a young Dutchman named Anno entered the Carmelite novitiate. He enjoyed the austerity, silence, fasting, prayer, and especially the study. Anno also encouraged other students to write articles on faith-related topics and submit them to magazines and newspapers, and eventually he got enough students writing that he started his own magazine which was published by his Carmelite community and distributed to all Dutch Catholics. When ordained, Anno took the name Titus in honor of his father, and after earning a doctorate in theology he went on to teach at the seminary, then at the Catholic University of Nijmegen where he served as a professor, spiritual director, and rector. In 1935 he was appointed the spiritual director of the 30 Catholic Newspapers in Holland, and proceeded to write articles critical of National Socialism and the Nazi party in neighboring Germany. “The Nazi movement is a black lie,” he wrote. “It is pagan…. A sewer of falsehood.” Prior to the Nazi invasion of Holland in 1940, the Gestapo had already identified him as a potential troublemaker, and after the invasion they followed him constantly. When the newspapers in Holland were forced to print Nazi propaganda, the Archbishop asked Fr. Titus if he would be willing to voluntarily go to the Catholic newspapers in person to hand-deliver a message calling for united opposition to the Nazi demands. Fr. Titus agreed.
He began taking a letter from the bishops to each Catholic newspaper editor. The letter said that no publication could continue to call itself Catholic if it published any Nazi propaganda or any article favoring the Nazis. “We have reached our limit,” the letter said. “We cannot serve them. It will be our duty to refuse.” The Nazis responded by rounding up 3,000 Dutch Jews who had converted to Catholicism, including St. Edith Stein, also known by her religious name, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. While the Dutch Catholics reached their limit with the Nazis, the Nazis also reached their limit with Fr. Titus and his troublemaking, and arrested him at his monastery on January 19, 1942. His interrogation began with the question: “Why have you disobeyed regulations?” Fr. Titus replied, “As a Catholic, I could have done nothing differently.” The interrogating officer continued, “You are a saboteur. Your church is trying to sabotage the orders of the occupying powers, to prevent the national socialistic philosophy of life from reaching the Dutch population.” Fr. Titus simply stated, “We must object to anything or any philosophy that is not in line with Catholic doctrine.”
In 1942 we knew what evil looked like. It had a face and a uniform. The greatest evil we face today is harder to recognize, because it has no face and no uniform. It is constantly shifting, changing names, assuming new identities, and consuming new causes at an alarming rate. The greatest evil we face today is moral relativism. Moral relativism encourages people to make up their own truth and reject the idea of a singular truth. For the moral relativist, their truth is as valid as your truth: it’s real for them, therefore it is valid, no matter how illogical or contrived their explanation. But getting others to merely tolerate their “truth” is not enough. Getting others to accept their “truth” is better, but it’s still not enough. Getting others to celebrate their “truth” is almost good enough, but still, there’s one more step that must be taken: For the moral relativist, only when others participate in their “truth” and make it their own “truth”, only then is it enough.
But if we are to call ourselves Catholics, we must realize that we have reached our limit. We cannot serve the moral relativists. It is our duty to refuse. For as Catholics, we have the responsibility to stand fast to the singular truth. We also have the responsibility to proclaim that truth with love. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do is to tell someone a truth that may make them uncomfortable. Maybe that truth is, “You have a drinking problem.” Maybe it’s, “Your gambling is ruining your marriage”; “You need a filter for your internet”; “You need to get to Confession”; or “You need to come back to the Church.” Or maybe the truth is even harder, something like, “You are living in a sinful relationship that cannot be blessed”; “You are a male”; or “Your pronouns are she/her.” We must speak the truth because as a Catholic, to call ourselves Catholic, we must object to anything or any philosophy that is not in line with Catholic doctrine.
St. Titus Brandsma said, “Those who want to win the world for Christ must have the courage to come into conflict with it.” Sometimes the word “conflict” means to boldly fight for what is right and to proclaim the truth with courage and boldness. Sometimes we need to proclaim the truth gently, with love, and while respecting the dignity of the person. The nurse at Dachau that administered the lethal injection of carbolic acid to St. Titus Brandsma was raised Catholic, but had fallen away and embraced atheistic Naziism. Until his last breath, St. Titus Brandsma kept trying to bring her back to the faith by delivering the truth with a smile, and also through unceasing prayer for the salvation of her soul. Christ’s power was made perfect in the weakness if this heroic martyr, and in the end, decades after his martyrdom, his efforts won the soul of the nurse who took his life. May we all speak the truth with courage, with boldness, and with love. As a Catholic, we can do nothing differently.