The world is dangerous, violent, and threatening. Tariffs and missiles, robots and algorithms, news and podcasts are waking us from the beautiful dream of global harmony. Those old horrors we so naively believed civilization had eliminated are returning with force. They return even stronger, given the devastating potential we now possess. We are staring into an open abyss, the abyss of wars, uprisings, terrorism, bankruptcies, shortages, and chaos.
They try to convince us that countless monsters are emerging from the open gates of Hell. Russian and Ukrainian monsters, Israeli and Palestinian, American and Chinese, fascists and Antifa, liberals and leftists, bots and influencers. We are told that, in this new world, old values no longer apply. We must be realistic and adapt to the world as it is. As Christians, how do we respond? The converted, the resurrected, and the saved, how do they face the open gates of Hell?
The first response is to pray, to entrust to the Lord of History that which truly transcends us. These are events that far exceed even those who believe they own the world and think they control it, let alone us, ordinary citizens. It was diabolical pride that created these evils, but there is also a subtle pride in our own arrogance in wanting to understand or influence them. Let us entrust them to the One who truly encompasses them.
Second, we must affirm with certainty that only our Faith has the answer the world needs. This is true at all times, but especially evident before these open gates. The root of these horrors is clearly the lack of love for one’s neighbor. The information age is filled with complaints, outrage, accusations, and condemnation. The cure is dialogue, understanding, empathy, and mercy.
We are often right in the accusations we make, but we are incapable of seeing the reason in those who accuse us. Worse still, seeing ourselves as righteous pursuers of terrible wrongdoers, we end up doing precisely the things we condemn in them, thereby justifying their accusations against us. The worthy fight against racist and capitalist injustices has led to cancel culture and self-censorship. The understandable rejection of the woke inquisition and the dictatorship of political correctness has led to the militarization of ICE and threats to destroy a civilization overnight. At every level, from coffee shop conversations and social media to military confrontations, the world has become entangled in a spiral of aggression, where each blow seems perfectly justified and justifies the next and greater one.
Rarely has this supreme wisdom been so clear and so urgent: “Do not resist an evil person. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two. (…) Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Mt 5:39–41, 44).
The third aspect is the proclamation of truth, the heralding of the Resurrection. In the face of the gates of Hell, the cry for peace is indispensable. Loving one’s enemies does not mean passively watching their aggression. Turning the other cheek is not weakness, but strength. We must assess the world with honesty and attention to detail, denounce with respect, and accuse with mercy. We must protect the vulnerable without attacking the strong, support the poor by transforming the rich, and promote efficiency without ignoring equity. We must fight for life out of love for those who fight against it.
We must defend humanity, all of humanity, not only the humanity of the womb and the deathbed, but also that found in poverty, in chemical or sexual addiction, and in discrimination. We must promote progress, but the progress of the whole person and of all people. We must build democracy, but one in which voters of radical parties have no reason to vote for them.
They tell us that the gates of Hell are open. We respond that we stand with Peter, upon whom the Lord built His Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it (cf. Mt 16:18). It has been so for many centuries, across many worlds. And this one is not even among the worst.
João César das Neves, Professor at CATÓLICA-ISBON