The Charlie Kirk Moment v. the former Catholic Moment?
By Rev. Charles Church
‘The Catholic Moment’ was the hope of Rev. Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (1936–2009) who, as a Lutheran pastor, authored the books, ‘The Naked Public Square’ (1984) and ‘The Catholic Moment’ (1987). He wrote these books before converting to the Catholic Christian faith in September of 1990. I read these books while in seminary in the 1980’s. I prized them both for I had them autographed twice: once when he was a Lutheran and once again as a Catholic priest. Fr. Neuhaus’ hope of The Catholic Moment was my hope, i.e. the hope that the Catholic Church would take the lead, or seize the Moment against secularism. It was my hope that the Catholic Church would take on the challenge of secularism in what was best described by Patrick J. Buchanan as a “war for the Soul of America.” (1992 Keynote speech at the Republican National Convention.)
“The war for the soul of America” is more than just a great line from the onetime political commentator and presidential candidate, it is a seminal line for the conservative movement. It distills the political and moral and existential essence of what is at sake for our nation and by connection, the world. It is something that President Reagan, Prime Minister Thatcher, and Pope St. John Paul II understood when they and we were up against the evil empire—the communist Soviet Union. It is something that young Charlie Kirk understood when he founded Turning Point USA at eighteen, for he knew the latent Marxism of our universities. And it is something that millions are coming to realize about our post-Covid and post-Russia gate world; namely, the awareness and profound distrust of the Deep State and for us Catholic Christians, the Deep Church.
As Charlie knew, this cultural war is not just for America’s soul, it is for ‘cultural soul’ of the world. And while the secular globalists holds a hegemony on so many centers of power, they will not give it up freely. Hence, from the Brexit movement in England (exiting from the European Union), to the rise of populist movements in Argentina, La Libertad Avanza, to the United States’ MAGA movement, other nations, or their people, are watching and copying; in short, there is a worldwide populist desire for freedom.
But secularism is tenacious. It has a hold on all levels of our educational institutions—even the so-called Catholic ones. For after the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), American Catholic university and college presidents in 1967 went to a Jesuit retreat center in Wisconsin and came up with the “Land O’Lakes Statement” which secularized Catholic colleges and Universities. In response, Pope St. John Paul II issued an Apostolic Constitution in 1990 called “From the Heart of the Church” (Ex corde Ecclesiae) that called these institutions back to the Faith but unfortunately it was not heeded except by a few like Christendom in Virginia.
In any event, that is why Charlie Kirk choose his free speech venues to be high school and college campuses. He went to the belly of the beast to proclaim Christ Jesus his LORD and to debate using the Socratic method, logic, and Sacred Scripture. Charlie’s simple folding card table and two chairs was his mobile version of London’s Hyde Park “Speakers’ Corner.” College venue after high school venue, Charlie drew increasing support and increasing scorn. While the internet provides any number of Catholic apologetical sites, what Charlie Kirk and Turning Point USA were doing hasn’t been done since England’s Catholic Evidence Guild in Hyde Park with Frank Sheed and his wife, Maisie Ward—publicly defending truth, freedom, and the Christian Faith.
Charlie Kirk’s intimidating physical frame at 6’5” was mitigated by his nearly ever-present smile and winsome personality. I say nearly, because Charlie could shift his continence depending on the seriousness of the moment. In short, he could be intense—lionhearted even. He was asked not too long ago, that if he died what would he want to be remembered for, and he said, “Courage for my [Christian] Faith.”
Charlie had a charisma and a keen intellect as seen by his recent debate challenge by England’s Oxford [Student] Union on May 20th, 2025. The theme was, “Trump has gone too far.” If you want to get to know Charlie when he is on his game, watch this debate. Patriotic to his core and Socrates-like, Charlie drew crowds of young people but unlike Socrates, he developed a crisp dapper look that made him stand out. Even the late Rush Limbaugh said of the young Charlie, that he would be president some day.
Charlie Kirk knew that his popularity was limited; for he received thousands of death threats and yet, he wanted a go to the universities and by charity and by dialogue and by goodwill, he hoped he would make a difference. You may not have agreed with him, but he held his position with grace and confidence.
Now, many people are sneering at Charlie Kirk saying, he got what was deserved to him. But I’m reminded of something that Teddy Roosevelt said, in his famous speech in the Sorbonne in 1910. He said, in part, about the “man in the area.”
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause; who, at best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat.” (Theodore Roosevelt, speech at the Sorbonne, Paris, April 23rd, 1910.)
Thinking back of my own life, I remember as a child the death of John F. Kennedy in 1963. I remember the death of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and how then presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy was running for president. After Kennedy landed in Indianapolis he was told of the death of Reverend King. He threw out his prepared speech and spoke from his heart and it is said, that it was his best speech ever given. And Robert F. Kennedy concluded his speech by saying, “We must dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so long ago. That is, ‘to tame the savages of man and make gentle the life of this world.’ [I repeat], ‘To tame the savages of man and make gentle the life of this world.’ Let us dedicate ourselves to that and say a prayer for our country and for our people. Thank you very much.” Two months later, he was shot dead. Charlie Kirk is now amongst these particular men, who with President Lincoln defended civic and divine rights: The Immortals! Charlie Kirk was just a man. He was not a politician, nor a cleric. Just a man who spoke out against evil, as best he could. Charlie Kirk died defending free speech, and he died for public speech, and he died for truth, and yes, he died for Christ. He died not in a naked public square, but a public arena clothed with Christ Jesus with his faced marred “with dust and sweat and blood.”
In the 1980’s, Rev. Fr. Richard John Neuhaus argued that the only religious institution that had the wherewithal to stand up to the invasive secularism was the Catholic Church, if she grasped The Moment, The Catholic Moment. I contend that she missed her opportunity mainly due to the fecklessness and all its synonyms of weakness of our clergy: Bishops and priests.
So, where is there hope? The future lay with the laity and my hope for such organizations as Catholics For Catholics (www.cforc.com). Catholics For Catholics is lay run organization that is reaching out to other committed lay people. Enervated for various reasons, we will need to see if the Catholic Bishops will seize this new opportunity for another Catholic Moment, a Catholic LAY Moment and reach out to them. Charlie Kirk has shown them the way.
President Donald J. Trump has announced that he intends to award Charlie Kirk a posthumous award—the Presidential Metal of Freedom. It is my suggestion that others who fought for freedom will also receive one and in particular, Patrick J. Buchanan. Patrick turns 87 in November and with Charlie, has fought the good fight or to turn one of Buchanan’s phrases: Charlie and Patrick are the two wings of the same bird of freedom.
Charlie Kirk’s Moment happened, let us be like Charlie Kirk and make our Moment happen in Christ Jesus, Our LORD.
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