Into the Moral Abyss

“[O]ne cannot sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and condition,” lamented Pope Benedict XV in 1921, that “made foolish by desire to please, they do not see to what a degree the indecency of their clothing shocks every honest man, and offends God.”1 After which he observed, “Most of them would formerly have blushed for those toilettes [adornments] as for a grave fault against Christian modesty; now it does not suffice for them to exhibit them on the public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of the churches, to assist at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table where one receives the heavenly Author of purity.” What would the same Pope say today? … one shudders at his answer.>Such is the present state of debauchery that has consumed all Western societies. America, never being converted, and apostate Europe are firmly trapped in this moral abyss. In these places, upon leaving home, a Catholic is immediately confronted with grave offenses against modesty — particularly with women, though not exclusively — which in previous times would have been unthinkable, much less countenanced in public. In warmer months, merely walking around your neighborhood can be an occasion of sin. Step into a grocery store, a restaurant or a department store and you will similarly find no relief. As the August Pontiff mentioned above, gone is the influence of Catholic standards of modesty and the shame by which the former was enforced, both individually and socially. Further, it is not unreasonable to speculate that the prostitute of old would blush at the way modern, self-styled Christian women dress today.

Originally published in The Journal of American Reform. Read original article