Pope St Pius X’s ‘Acerbo Nimis’ & Occupied America’s Assault on Truth
“The enemy has, indeed, long been prowling about the fold and attacking it with such subtle cunning that now, more than ever before, the prediction of the Apostle to the elders of the Church of Ephesus seems to be verified: ‘I know that…fierce wolves will get in among you, and will not spare the flock.’” -Pope St Pius X (1905)
“How are they to hear, if no one preaches?” -St Paul
(In my effort to reach out to fellow Catholics specifically, I have recently been including more content from papal encyclicals from a past come and gone and being resurrected as we speak. This is not to exclude non-Catholics, obviously, but in addition to my usual political work that often brings in Christ and the Christian faith, I am aiming to add some things more specific to Catholicism for a number of reasons–first and foremost my love for the traditional practices of the ancient faith. Here are two examples from February and March, “On Usury and Other Dishonest Profits: An Increasingly Relevant 1745 Papal Encyclical” and “The Four Last Things & Traditional Christianity: A View on the Death Penalty.”)
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In an era where deception masquerades as truth and ignorance is paraded as enlightenment, the words of Pope St Pius X in his 1905 encyclical Acerbo Nimis resonate with a clarity that cuts through the fog of modern misinformation.
He lamented the pervasive religious ignorance of his time. And that was long before humans had available to them the sheer amount of information as they have today:
It is hard to find words to describe how profound is the darkness in which they are engulfed and, what is most deplorable of all, how tranquilly they repose there. They rarely give thought to God, the Supreme Author and Ruler of all things, or to the teachings of the faith of Christ. They know nothing of the Incarnation of the Word of God, nothing of the perfect restoration of the human race which He accomplished. Grace, the greatest of the helps for attaining eternal things…are entirely unknown to them. They have no conception of the malice and baseness of sin; hence they show no anxiety to avoid sin or to renounce it…. And so Our Predecessor, Benedict XIV, had just cause to write: “We declare that a great number of those who are condemned to eternal punishment suffer that everlasting calamity because of ignorance of those mysteries of faith which must be known and believed in order to be numbered among the elect.
Can you imagine what he’d say now in 2025?
Seems frightening, but we have to ask ourselves the question: Does truth change over time? Eternal truth, that is.
People don’t know the truth because they’ve roamed in a swamp of deception that makes it difficult to know any different. Those who hold power in this world need us to remain ignorant.
This is all about control and destroying the souls of God’s children. If you don’t know what’s true, you can’t act. If you don’t act, you can’t resist. And if you can’t resist, you can be ruled.
Ruled by the prince of this world—and that is the whole point, precisely what Christ was constantly warning about.
The Parable of the Sower & the Information War
Consider the Parable of the Sower from the Gospel of Luke (8:4-15, Douay-Rheims). It is a popular Gospel passage often glossed over by Catholics who have heard it seventeen too many times. Once upon a time, I was guilty of this mentality.
But there is always something new too cull from the Word of God.
We all know the one—Christ describes seeds falling on different types of ground—some on the wayside, some on rocky soil, others among thorns, and finally, some on good ground. Christ himself explains to his apostles after he tells it:
- The seed is the Word of God.
- Those on the wayside are they that hear, then the devil comes and takes the word out of their heart, lest believing they should be saved.
- Those on the rock receive it with joy for a time but have no roots—when temptation comes, they fall away.
- Those among thorns fall among thorns are they who have heard and, going their way, are choked with the cares and riches and pleasures of this life and yield no fruit.
- On the good ground are they who, in a good and perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it and bring forth fruit in patience.
Now ask yourself: What kind of ground is our world cultivating?
Juxtapose the parable with the current state of that world. Our modern culture is a wasteland of rocky soil and thorn-choked fields, where truth struggles to survive beneath the constant onslaught of lies. And who’s doing the planting?
Legacy media. Universities. The political class. The so-called “experts” and “scientists” who tell us what to think, what to believe, and—most importantly—what not to question.
Take Libya. Take Ukraine. Take Israel. Take Syria. Take every major geopolitical event. Narratives are carefully crafted, not to inform, but to manipulate public opinion, to serve agendas that have little to do with the pursuit of truth and everything to do with the consolidation of power. It is a relentless barrage of half-truths and outright lies, preventing the seeds of truth from taking root in the hearts and minds of the populace, even Christians. The script is already written—included the opposition’s, the one we think is on our side. We’re just supposed to nod along, yell it out on social media that !we’re taking our country back!, and depend on Trump to fix everything.
Don’t ask why American politicians send endless billions to protect foreign borders while our own country falls apart.
Don’t ask why we’re fed cartoonishly simplistic narratives, as if international conflicts are Marvel movies with a clear-cut good guy and bad guy.
And most certainly don’t ask who benefits from keeping you distracted, misinformed, and obedient, or else you’ll be labeled with one of those pesky little pejoratives.
And as Pius X warned, when people are ignorant of the truth, they become easy prey for those who seek to rule over them. This is why he emphasized the critical role of proper catechesis:
We must now consider upon whom rests the obligation to dissipate this most pernicious ignorance and to impart in its stead the knowledge that is wholly indispensable. There can be no doubt…that this most important duty rests upon all who are pastors of souls. On them, by command of Christ, rest the obligations of knowing and of feeding the flocks committed to their care; and to feed implies, first of all, to teach. “I will give you pastors according to my own heart,” God promised through Jeremias, “and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine.” Hence the Apostle Paul said: “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel,” thereby indicating that the first duty of all those who are entrusted in any way with the government of the Church is to instruct the faithful in the things of God.
But let’s be honest—he’s not talking about some vague, faceless authority or victims. He’s talking about you and me. He’s talking about the globalist overlords intent on enslaving us in a totalitarian, worldwide government many sovereign nations, thank God, seem to be fighting.
It is a moral imperative to illuminate the darkness of ignorance with the light of truth.
Ignorance doesn’t just exist. It is cultivated. It is enforced. And the only way to destroy it is to speak truth—loudly, relentlessly, and without apology.
LEJEUNE RECENT
The Pharisees Then, the Infiltration Now
Christ made this clear in the Gospel of St John Chapter 8 when he faced down the Pharisees, saying, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and he stood not in the truth; because truth is not in him.”
This scathing rebuke underscores the eternal struggle between truth and falsehood, between those who seek to enlighten and those who, wittingly or unwittingly, perpetuate deception.
Who exactly was he talking to then?
The ruling class of his time. The religious “experts” who twisted truth, controlled the narrative, and crushed anyone who stepped out of line. The infiltrators who had traitors inside the Roman government.
Sound familiar?
You’ve heard of the Trojan horse, right? What about a fifth column?
The media. The establishment. The so-called “thought leaders” who demand blind obedience, who crush dissent.
And what’s their real function?
To keep us ignorant.
To manufacture our consent.
To keep us bickering amongst each other.
To make sure we never ask, Who actually benefits from all this?
Who are the ones you can’t dare talk about?
Because when people are ignorant, they are easy to control.
They clap like sitcom idiots on cue.
We are forced to agree with those who hold that the chief cause of the present indifference and, as it were, infirmity of soul, and the serious evils that result from it, is to be found above all in ignorance of things divine. This is fully in accord with what God Himself declared through the Prophet Osee [Hosea]: “And there is no knowledge of God in the land. Cursing and lying and killing and theft and adultery have overflowed: and blood hath touched blood. Thereafter shall the land mourn, and everyone that dwelleth in it shall languish.”
In the political arena, this battle manifests in the form of propaganda and the suppression of truth. The legacy media long ago abdicated its responsibility to hold power to account, choosing instead to act as its mouthpiece. This dereliction of duty has profound implications, as an uninformed or misinformed populace is ill-equipped to make decisions that align with their best interests or the common good.
Pius X was blunt in his warning about this:
There is…no reason for wonder that the corruption of morals and depravity of life is already so great, and ever increasingly greater, not only among uncivilized peoples but even in those very nations that are called Christian. The Apostle Paul, writing to the Ephesians, repeatedly admonished them in these words: “But immorality and every uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as become saints; or obscenity or foolish talk.” He also places the foundation of holiness and sound morals upon a knowledge of divine things-which holds in check evil desires: “See to it therefore, brethren, that you walk with care: not as unwise but as wise. . . Therefore, do not become foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” And rightly so. For the will of man retains but little of that divinely implanted love of virtue and righteousness by which it was, as it were, attracted strongly toward the real and not merely apparent good. Disordered by the stain of the first sin, and almost forgetful of God, its Author, it improperly turns every affection to a love of vanity and deceit. This erring will, blinded by its own evil desires, has need therefore of a guide to lead it back to the paths of justice whence it has so unfortunately strayed. The intellect itself is this guide, which need not be sought elsewhere, but is provided by nature itself. It is a guide, though, that, if it lack its companion light, the knowledge of divine things, will be only an instance of the blind leading the blind so that both will fall into the pit.
Here lies the crux of the matter: ignorance begets apathy, and apathy begets inaction. When individuals are deprived of truth, their capacity for righteous action is severely compromised. Ignorance makes cowards of men. It rots the soul.
And here’s the frightening kicker: It is absolutely not accidental. In yesterday’s post I wrote “It’s not just that nothing ever gets done. It’s that nothing was ever meant to get done.”
That’s the trick.
The power of Satan goes beyond the story we hear of his temptation of Christ in the desert. Do we think Christ opened himself up to that for his own growth in strength and will power? Or is it more likely he was doing it knowing he would one day tell the story to his disciples and they would write it down for us to use as inspiration?
The people in power need you ignorant of this force. They want you distracted from this force. And they’ll do anything to keep you there.
So what is the antidote to this pervasive ignorance and manipulation? It begins with a commitment from at least a certain number of us to seeking truth, to questioning narratives, and to educating ourselves and others. It requires the courage to stand against the tide of popular opinion when it is rooted in falsehood. It demands vigilance, discernment, and an unwavering dedication to the principles of justice and integrity–and the humility to keep seeking providential instruction.
There is always something new to cull from the Word of God.
We do not think it necessary to set forth here the praises of such instruction or to point out how meritorious it is in God’s sight. If, assuredly, the alms with which we relieve the needs of the poor are highly praised by the Lord, how much more precious in His eyes, then, will be the zeal and labor expended in teaching and admonishing, by which we provide not for the passing needs of the body but for the eternal profit of the soul! Nothing, surely, is more desirable, nothing more acceptable to Jesus Christ, the Savior of souls, Who testifies of Himself through Isaias: “To bring good news to the poor he has sent me.”
The words of Pius X in Acerbo Nimis, bolstered by none other than Scripture itself, serve as both a warning and a call to action. Such a braiding of wisdom reminds us that ignorance is not merely a personal failing but a societal ill with far-reaching consequences. As we navigate the complexities of our modern world, let us take to heart the lessons of the past, the teachings of Scripture, and the imperative to be bearers of truth in an age rife with deception.
Pope St Pius X wasn’t issuing a polite suggestion—he was sounding the alarm.
Are we listening?
Are we taking action?
Or are we letting the seed fall where it shouldn’t?
“The holy king David, praising God for the light of truth with which He had illumined the intellect, exclaimed: ‘The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us.’ Then he described the effect of this light by adding: ‘Thou hast given gladness in my heart,’ gladness, that is, which enlarges our heart so that it runs in the way of God’s Commandments.”
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May everyone named directly or referenced indirectly ask forgiveness and do penance for their sins against America and God. I fight this information war in the spirit of justice and love for the innocent, but I have been reminded of the need for mercy and prayers for our enemies. I am a sinner in need of redemption as well after all, for my sins are many. In the words of Jesus Christ himself, Lord forgive us all, for we know not what we do.
