QUESTION : A group of Catholic sisters criticized Archbishop of New York Timothy Cardinal Dolan for his recent comments about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, suggesting the cardinal is “confusing the true witness of the Gospel” by likening Kirk to a biblical saint. Now the question is whether Kirk’s worldview was one that should be praised from a gospel perspective? – Jojo Pappachan
ANSWER: Jacob Parappally MSFS
Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s remarks about the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk have ignited serious questions among the faithful about the stance Church authorities should or should not take on issues and persons that do not conform to fundamental Gospel values. Even the well-respected Bombay Archdiocesan journal The Examiner caused many of its readers to raise their eyebrows and some to criticize sharply, when it included Charlie Kirk on its cover page along with St. Mother Teresa and Fr. Stan Lourdusamy, SJ, as “Luminaries of Love.” Later, the journal apologized to its readers for featuring Charlie Kirk alongside others who stood solely for pure Gospel values.
A valid question can be raised: Can Charlie Kirk’s worldview be appreciated and praised from a Gospel perspective? The Catholic sisters who publicly expressed concern and protested against Cardinal Dolan’s comparison of Charlie Kirk to a biblical saint said that he was “confusing the true witness of the Gospel.” The critique of these nuns, who are committed to Gospel values and boldly affirm them beyond political loyalties and private interests, provides an occasion to reflect on what constitutes a Gospel-centred worldview.
-
Discerning the Presence or Absence of Gospel Values
Jesus preached the Kingdom of God not as a future reality but as a present one to be discovered within the hearers of his Good News of liberation, salvation, and wholeness. In him, this Kingdom of God was inaugurated. For Jesus, the Kingdom he preached with an authority hitherto unknown to his predecessors was about a community or society with God as its King or Sovereign. This Kingdom was to be a Kin-dom, a network of relationships based on love, justice, equality, inclusivity, peace, reconciliation, and fellowship. Jesus told his hearers that this Kingdom was within and among them. It is present in every human being of good will, in all times. They need only to be open to discover it, accept it, celebrate it, and live it.
One must transcend narrow partisanship and work for the transformation of society through living and promoting Gospel values: solidarity with the poor and the marginalized, and the defence of human dignity and freedom. Such a person can be presented as a model for others to follow. However, those who listen to Charlie Kirk’s talks and interviews can easily discern that he subscribed to a narrow, nationalistic, fundamentalist, and partisan ideology that lacks the inclusivity, humanity, and love proclaimed by the Gospel.
The principles enunciated in the Sermon on the Mount provide a criterion to discern where the Kingdom, or Kin-dom, is present. It serves as a clear moral compass. The Beatitudes (Matt 5:1–12) outline the attitudes that a disciple of Jesus must embody to belong to the Kingdom of God: humility, meekness, total dependence on God, purity of heart, peace-making, and a preferential option for the poor and the suffering. Any ideology or worldview whether social, political, or economic must be judged by how it embodies these values of the Kingdom of God or the Gospel. The Kingdom that Jesus preached transcends all human-made boundaries and includes everyone. Its strongest values are self-emptying love (agape), justice, equality, and koinonia (communion), expressed in diakonia (self-giving service). It embraces everyone, especially those who feel excluded from the mainstream of society, the poor, the marginalized, the outcasts, migrants, and refugees. It is not about the ideology of national strength, economic self-sufficiency, or partisan identity. It challenges every ideology, whether conservative or progressive, to be transformed by self-emptying love.
-
Gospel Values versus Ideology
There is an inseparable relationship between faith and social justice in Catholic tradition. Any political ideology that promotes discrimination cannot be endorsed by a Catholic, as it goes against Gospel values. The “well-kept secret of the Church,” namely its social doctrine, is expressed in the teaching of the Magisterium, especially in papal encyclicals. Rerum Novarum (Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour) by Pope Leo XIII addressed the relationship between capital and labour, as well as between governments and citizens. It marked the beginning of the Church’s official teaching on social justice. From Rerum Novarum to Pope Francis’s Laudato Si’, the social teachings of the Church demand a preferential option for the poor, recognition of the dignity of every human person, cooperation among nations to improve the quality of life, and a commitment to peace. These principles challenge all forces that promote division, discrimination, and the marginalization of the vulnerable.
Catholic Social Teaching warns against absolutizing political or economic ideologies. In his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis cautions that “the Gospel message must not be reduced to some of its moral or social aspects; otherwise, it ceases to be the Gospel” (EG 39). Similarly, in Fratelli Tutti, he emphasizes that true social fraternity “calls for a love capable of transcending borders” and warns against “closed populist nationalism” that excludes others (FT 99 -101).
When any ideology—Western or Indian, conservative or progressive—marginalizes the poor, discriminates, demonizes opponents, or polarizes people in the name of religion or ethnicity, it ceases to be compatible with the values of the Kingdom Jesus preached.
Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric is often confrontational and polarizing; it stands in tension with Gospel imperatives. Christianity cannot be equated with such partisanship or Christian cultural nationalism. Gospel values cannot be compromised or presented as ideological banners for securing political power. The Church, which holds the New Testament as its norm of life, cannot compromise with any ideology. The Gospel is good news of wholeness and a transformative way of self-emptying love. Pope Francis’s warning is timely: “Ideologies interpret the Gospel according to a preconceived framework; faith, on the other hand, allows the Gospel to interpret us” (EG 39). When any ideology—Western or Indian, conservative or progressive—marginalizes the poor, discriminates, demonizes opponents, or polarizes people in the name of religion or ethnicity, it ceases to be compatible with the values of the Kingdom Jesus preached.
-
The Case of Charlie Kirk
Charlie Kirk was tragically killed by gunshots while addressing students on the campus of Utah Valley University in September 2025. Paradoxically, he supported the conservative party’s opposition to gun control. He was known for his conservative activism and for championing Christian nationalism in the USA. He subscribed to the ideology of free-market capitalism and cultural conservatism and opposed the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
Though he was an evangelical Protestant, some of his views supported the traditional Catholic teaching, particularly his opposition to abortion. Thus, some of his convictions appealed to those who hold to traditional morality and religious liberty. He inspired many young people with right-wing political views among Republicans and conservative-minded Christians, both Protestant and Catholic. No wonder some had no hesitation in comparing his assassination to the crucifixion of Jesus or the martyrdom of St. Stephen.
Charlie Kirk’s ideology and worldview, propagated through his organization Turning Point USA, defined by ideological combativeness, Christian nationalism, free-market capitalism, and disregard for social equality, cannot be celebrated, as they risk distorting the moral clarity of the Gospel. His ideology is ethically deficient, theologically impoverished, and culturally reactive. According to Pope Francis, “Faith becomes ideology, and ideology frightens; ideology chases away people and distances the Church from the people. It is a serious illness—this of ideological Christians… Christians who lose the faith and prefer ideologies. Their attitude is rigid, moralistic, ethical, but without kindness” (National Catholic Reporter, October 18, 2013).
Charlie Kirk’s rhetoric is often confrontational and polarizing; it stands in tension with Gospel imperatives. Christianity cannot be equated with such partisanship or Christian cultural nationalism. Gospel values cannot be compromised or presented as ideological banners for securing political power.
Pope Francis echoed Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the Modern World): “The Church… is not identified with any political community nor bound by ties to any political system” (GS 76). This is also a warning to the Indian Church that it must guard against supporting political ideologies for temporal gain, especially in a context where political and religious identities are easily conflated. The CBCI’s statement Called to be Faithful Witnesses in a Pluralistic Society (2008) stresses that “the Christian vocation is to stand for truth and justice while fostering peace and dialogue.”
Cardinal Dolan’s praise of Charlie Kirk might have been for his courage and conviction regarding his ideological beliefs, which included certain Catholic moral teachings such as opposition to abortion. However, he seemed to have overlooked Charlie Kirk’s divisive, discriminatory, and partisan views that polarize society. Christian courage must be rooted in self-emptying love, humility, and solidarity, especially with the poor and the disadvantaged. The Gospel’s call to discipleship is not a call to defend divisive political ideologies but to embody the love and compassion of Jesus Christ. One must transcend narrow partisanship and work for the transformation of society through living and promoting Gospel values: solidarity with the poor and the marginalized, and the defence of human dignity and freedom. Such a person can be presented as a model for others to follow. However, those who listen to Charlie Kirk’s talks and interviews can easily discern that he subscribed to a narrow, nationalistic, fundamentalist, and partisan ideology that lacks the inclusivity, humanity, and love proclaimed by the Gospel.
- The Prophetic Voice of the Church
All over the world, the Church faces severe difficulties and even persecution from fundamentalist religious groups and governments. Such opposition to Gospel values and violent attacks on Christians and their places of worship tempt some Christians to adopt fundamentalist positions. However, Christian fundamentalism with militancy is not the answer.
The prophetic vocation of the Church is to speak the truth in love and to resist any attempt to instrumentalize the Gospel for ideological purposes. Whatever the consequences, the Church must prophetically denounce all forms of discrimination, social exclusion, and violence. The Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences (FABC), in its Final Statement of the 2016 Plenary Assembly, affirmed: “Our mission is not to conquer but to accompany.” The Church’s prophetic mission is to heal divisions, stand with the poor and marginalized to secure their human rights, and build communion.
The criticism voiced by the group of Catholic sisters concerning Cardinal Dolan’s remarks about Charlie Kirk is a prophetic witness that needs to be heard by all ecclesiastical authorities. It originates from the prophetic awareness shared by the entire People of God, including the hierarchy, that Gospel witness must remain transparent, inclusive, and liberative. One’s holiness is not judged by zeal for an ideology but by commitment to self-emptying love that transcends all boundaries. The sisters’ statement suggests that one must not confuse cultural and political warriors with witnesses of the Gospel. Otherwise, Christianity risks being reduced to a political ideology.
The Church must embody the compassionate truth of Christ, which includes love, justice, equality, mercy, humility, peace, and fellowship. The call to discipleship resists both the left and the right when they become self-righteous and exclusionary. A Christian disciple is not called to baptize a political ideology but to let the Spirit of God build communion by purifying our consciences of all divisive tendencies. In this sense, the question about praising Charlie Kirk’s worldview becomes a reminder to all Christians, whether in America or Asia, that discipleship is not about taking sides but about taking up the Cross. The Gospel must remain our criterion for judging any worldview, to see whether it is humanizing or dehumanizing.
When the Church fulfils its prophetic function by denouncing all dehumanizing ideologies and announcing the humanizing communion of all people, it remains credible as the “leaven and soul of human society” (GS 40) and a sign of hope for the world.
