Deathless Faith in Conspiracy Theories

A reader echoes the Standard Fallback Approach deployed by far too many conservative Catholic every time some conservative folk hero is questioned:

I’m beginning to see a distinct pattern of people conspiring against faithful opinionated Catholics. and Fr. Pavone is just the next one in line. Well, of course then there is Bishop Finn. I pray justice will prevail here. I do not hold out much hope for Fr. Pavone. He ruffled too many “progressive” feathers.

I don’t care for your blog either as I class you in with the progressives.

Sorry, but this brainless approach of perpetually declaring somebody a “progressive” (by which is meant “dissenting enemy of the Church”) has had a devastating effect on so-called “orthodox” Catholics. You can see it at work again and again and you can watch the wreckage it has visited on the Church over the past decade. Cardinal Law was a conservative folk hero, so critics who spoke against his handling of abusive priests could only have been filled with malice for the Church. Maciel was a conservative folk hero, so critics could only have been motivated by progressive dissent. Fr. Euteneuer was a conservative folk hero, so critics could only have been motivated by a thirst for babies’ blood and a desire to destroy the prolife movement. Fr. Corapi is a conservative folk hero, so obviously the nefarious “progressive” conspiracy of which Bp. Mulvey, SOLT, EWTN and the Register are so obviously a part destroyed him, because they all had so much to gain from it. And now this “conspiracy” is out to get Fr. Pavone and Bp. Finn. It is not possible that there are real issues here that need to be faced. It’s The Conspiracy.

I’m beginning to think that God is punishing the hubris of the self-endowed title “faithful conservative Catholic” with an almost preternatural lack of discernment in picking folk heroes to wrongly defend. Our tribe has been so spectacularly wrong about so many of its heroes so often for so long you have to wonder when we will figure out that reactionary accusations of Dark Conspiracies are no match for facts.