I have been ashamed and dismayed to see a Catholic commenter state that "we all know where Kirk's soul is" because he did not die a visible Catholic.
I would remind everyone that the Church's traditional teaching does not support this judgmentalism. Christ is able before the moment of death to invite a dying person into His Church. Moreover the Church has always taught that a baptized person (and protestant baptisms have always been considered valid) can lose the state of grace only by the deliberate commission of a mortal sin. That means he has to know his action or inaction is a mortal sin and has to freely choose to enter into the sin. The Church also teaches that none of us (except perhaps a bishop) can judge the state of another person's soul.
Charlie Kirk was killed in part because of his witness to the truths of Christ, truths that I assume he sincerely witnessed to the best of his abilities. I expect the loving Christ will receive his soul as such.
Yes,100% in agreement. This comes up a lot in a lot of places and I'm always having to write similarly. No-one knows what happens between a soul and God at the point of death. Also about mortal sin. As Fr Rumble in Radio Replies kept saying 'Protestants will be judged as Protestants' etc.. Not as Catholics. I remember someone had said at some time that a lot of us are going to be very surprised at who is - and who isn't - in Heaven!
Why do you say a bishop might be able to judge the state of another person‘s soul? My understanding of church teaching is that no one can, not a priest nor a bishop nor the pope.
I had read somewhere that someone said perhaps a bishop could. That's why I put in the word perhaps. I simply did not want to say no one when I was not sufficiently informed on the matter.
Clarification: Protestant baptisms are considered "valid" in general, but are not PRESUMED valid individually, until after they have been investigated. Prior to V2, it was standard procedure to investigate Protestant convert's baptisms to ensure they have been done in the Trinitarian form.
Further, Kirk had been attending the NO with his wife and kids, and recently made a call to Protestants to give the Blessed Mother her due as the Mother of God. We truly DON'T know the state of his soul. Perhaps he was in the process of converting.
Apparently, there have also been reported problems with Catholic baptisms, where the use of an incorrect formula actually nullified that Catholic baptism.
Yes, but I think the actual words of baptism remained the same. But you are probably right that people felt they could change this too. Didn't work out so well.
The "external rite" of the conciliar rite of baptism is communal in nature. Many "enterprising" clerics thought that changing the essential form to "we believe" would be more theologically accurate, so they deviated from the established form.
For that reason, I had all my children conditionally baptized, in case the cleric did the same thing.
Of course, you could have conditionally baptized them yourself.
A 'home baptism' actually saved my life when I was 3 weeks old. I had caught pneumonia and stopped breathing and turned blue, and my sister or mother grabbed a vase on a windowsill with extremely cold water in it and baptized me, and the cold water shocked me back into breathing.
I was just a few moments away from eternal glory, because my sister or mother had baptized me the night before. Maybe this is why I have always hated cold water.
My children are not amused when I bring this up...
Thanks for the timely reminder. Same applies for the Jews for whom God has a special plan and purpose and salvation will be offered as the blinders come off. Btw, with regard to reading the state of another´s soul, Padre Pio and some other saints had this gift - he would sometimes spend 10 hours in the confessional as the queues went down the street.
Exactly, and when we see the real state of our souls in the illumination of conscience which God will provide, it will similarly be a game changer for repentance and revival.
I was reminded of GK Chesterton's quip that much journalism consisted of saying "Lord Jones is dead" to people who had no idea that Lord Jones was alive. Sadly that was the case with Charlie Kirk. The first time I ever heard of him was when his murder inundated UK news sites. But his killing affects all Christians, in as far as far as it is a merciless threat against anyone who resists an atheist agenda. Freedom of speech? Charlie proclaimed it. He invited people to "Prove me wrong". If you can't prove someone wrong, you kill them.
As Rod Dreyer noted in his comment on Charlie Kirk, today is 9/11. He hopes that this will not be a early event on the road to civil war in Western countries.
Like probably 99% of the UK population, I had never heard of him until after his killing. I looked up some basic facts to see why his death was attracting such attention, replacing coverage of Ukraine, the drones in Poland, Gaza and much more.
Mr. Murphy, I was going to reply to that stupid question but you beat me to it. You said it yourself in your original comment, "The first time I ever heard of him was when his murder inundated UK news sites." Maybe I missed something but you clearly speak, read, and write English, and your use of the term "UK news sites" seems to be a reference to the Internet... Mmm... perhaps you searched the name of Charlie Kirk with your favorite search engine, or on those UK news sites, or maybe even U.S. news sites... maybe on YouTube or other places... I mean you must have, otherwise how would you have posted the other things you said about Charlie Kirk? And since this person commented 3 hours after you did...
First: Eternal Father, I offer thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, for the repose of the soul of Charlie Kirk. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
2nd, even though Charlie Kirk was an evangelical Protestant, at least he publicly called for respect for the Blessed Virgin Mary. I can't help but wonder if he was given the grace of final repentance in the moments before he passed, and took it, thus saving his soul.
3rd, I'm gratified that his Catholic friends (and even non-Catholic friends) gathered together to pray the Rosary for him. May this be a catalyst for his non-Catholic friends to convert to the True Catholic Faith.
4th, Charlie Kirk was doing some good work dealing with people who the majority of the time were just repeating the same old tired talking points and calling him "nazi" & "fascist", though occasionally some would be fair and listen to what he had to say with some respect, credit to those few people. But, this outright murder was just plain WRONG, and I hope those responsible are caught and do hard time in prison. And also repent, because eternity in hell is a prison from which their is no escape.
5th, my condolences to Mrs. Kirk and family and friends. Please pray for them.
Also:
Eternal Father, I offer thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, for the repose of the soul of Iryna Zarutska. May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Kirk was ahead of Ghandi on his road to the True faith, and fearless in speaking out. Trump is somewhere in between - interesting as he was caught openly musing about his chances of getting to heaven. The nation´s future is in the balance and depends on what faithful men and women do next.
Charlie Kirk’s assassination illustrates tragically - but perfectly - how the progressive movement reacts to honest dialogue. This should give every Catholic of a conservative stripe pause whenever the Vatican uses this word - “dialogue.” In the Church today, it’s only a shibboleth used to avoid the real thing.
"...horrified commuters" ??? The only place I've seen the full video is on Megyn Kelly's broadcast. After Irina is stabbed the commuters on the other side of the door mumble to themselves that "he just stabbed that girl" but they don't go to her aid. They turn their backs and shuffle their feet. The black woman seated opposite Irina does nothing. Likewise the black man seated behind that woman, who saw Irina being stabbed, gets up as the train stops, stands by Irina's seat looking down at her bleeding out and dying on the floor, and casually walks off the train. Then one young man does rush over to try to help Irina. Then a girl joins him. Then a third person, another man. One of the men helping looks hispanic, the girl is white and the second man looks hispanic or black. So, no, none of the commuters near Irina looked "horrified". They ignored her. The three who helped weren't seated near her in the train.
I just watched this - that aspect of it is pretty horrific. She just looks like such a really frightened little girl looking into his face - that's all I'm saying.
Charlie Kirk's pro-life work must not be allowed to also die. No one can replace Charlie Kirk, but somehow his pro-life college-outreach work must go on. Perhaps pro-life leaders, especially young ones but not limited to them, could volunteer to periodically go to a college campus under the auspices of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and help continue Charlie's pro-life work.
Catholic teaching prefers local authority: the family, the town, the state. But subsidiarity presumes competence. When a local prosecutor refuses to protect his citizens, higher authority is not only permitted but required to intervene. Attorney General Bondi’s decision to take federal jurisdiction over Zarutska’s case is a textbook example: higher power correcting local dereliction in service of justice.”
Morning Meditation by St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop & Dr. of the Church
Thursday, 09-11-2025--Thirteenth Week after Pentecost
(snippet)
"Ah, Christian, put your affairs in order. Reflect that your all is at stake: remember that, in a very short time, your body will be deposited in the earth, and your soul will go to dwell in the house of eternity. How dreadful, then, will be your misfortune if you are condemned to an eternity of woe! Reflect well on this now, for then you shall find no remedy."
"O my God, I am forced to acknowledge with shame and confusion that I have hitherto blindly wandered astray from Thee! I have scarcely ever thought seriously of saving my soul. O God, my Father, save me, through Jesus Christ. I am willing to part with everything here, provided I do not lose Thee. O Mary, my surest hope, save me by thy powerful intercession."
Without a doubt the best analysis, comment and tribute to Kirk and Zarutska that I have read so far on the internet. The most sickening are the young children left without a mom or dad. The perpetrators can not even be considered human.
From what I've read, it appears that Iryna's killer may be a paranoid schizo - with a long history of violence. If that is the case, it's about time the 'enablers' of such people face justice. He should have been in a secure hospital for his own sake and that of other people. A number of years ago, I remember reading about a man (I think here in the UK) who had been begging the authorities to lock him up again (I think his mother was as well). He knew that if they didn't he'd end up killing someone. The 'authorities' ignored him and yes, he went on to kill - I think again.
This is what happens when a country as a whole turns it's back on Almighty God! You negate God from your lives, you negate: love, peace, kindness, compassion, tolerance, compassion, understanding, and the list goes on... No until we as a nation turn back to Almighty God, this will continue to happen in our Country, our States, our Cities, and even more so in our families. Like the saying goes: "God is the Answer!" God in His time will make all things New! We on our part, must continue to Pray and Pray and Pray and Pray! All of those who have lost their lives due to the hatred that people have against those whom they dislike or might not agree with, or just do not value any kind of life at all, they need our prayers and they need professional help! Prayer is the Answer! Fr. D Roman
I have been ashamed and dismayed to see a Catholic commenter state that "we all know where Kirk's soul is" because he did not die a visible Catholic.
I would remind everyone that the Church's traditional teaching does not support this judgmentalism. Christ is able before the moment of death to invite a dying person into His Church. Moreover the Church has always taught that a baptized person (and protestant baptisms have always been considered valid) can lose the state of grace only by the deliberate commission of a mortal sin. That means he has to know his action or inaction is a mortal sin and has to freely choose to enter into the sin. The Church also teaches that none of us (except perhaps a bishop) can judge the state of another person's soul.
Charlie Kirk was killed in part because of his witness to the truths of Christ, truths that I assume he sincerely witnessed to the best of his abilities. I expect the loving Christ will receive his soul as such.
Yes,100% in agreement. This comes up a lot in a lot of places and I'm always having to write similarly. No-one knows what happens between a soul and God at the point of death. Also about mortal sin. As Fr Rumble in Radio Replies kept saying 'Protestants will be judged as Protestants' etc.. Not as Catholics. I remember someone had said at some time that a lot of us are going to be very surprised at who is - and who isn't - in Heaven!
Why do you say a bishop might be able to judge the state of another person‘s soul? My understanding of church teaching is that no one can, not a priest nor a bishop nor the pope.
I had read somewhere that someone said perhaps a bishop could. That's why I put in the word perhaps. I simply did not want to say no one when I was not sufficiently informed on the matter.
Clarification: Protestant baptisms are considered "valid" in general, but are not PRESUMED valid individually, until after they have been investigated. Prior to V2, it was standard procedure to investigate Protestant convert's baptisms to ensure they have been done in the Trinitarian form.
Further, Kirk had been attending the NO with his wife and kids, and recently made a call to Protestants to give the Blessed Mother her due as the Mother of God. We truly DON'T know the state of his soul. Perhaps he was in the process of converting.
yes, charlie kirk was in the process of entering the catholic church.
Apparently, there have also been reported problems with Catholic baptisms, where the use of an incorrect formula actually nullified that Catholic baptism.
After V2, yes.
The conciliar church changed the rite of baptism to make it more Protestant, and clerics assumed that meant the formula could change.
Yes, but I think the actual words of baptism remained the same. But you are probably right that people felt they could change this too. Didn't work out so well.
The "external rite" of the conciliar rite of baptism is communal in nature. Many "enterprising" clerics thought that changing the essential form to "we believe" would be more theologically accurate, so they deviated from the established form.
For that reason, I had all my children conditionally baptized, in case the cleric did the same thing.
Of course, you could have conditionally baptized them yourself.
A 'home baptism' actually saved my life when I was 3 weeks old. I had caught pneumonia and stopped breathing and turned blue, and my sister or mother grabbed a vase on a windowsill with extremely cold water in it and baptized me, and the cold water shocked me back into breathing.
I was just a few moments away from eternal glory, because my sister or mother had baptized me the night before. Maybe this is why I have always hated cold water.
My children are not amused when I bring this up...
Thanks for the timely reminder. Same applies for the Jews for whom God has a special plan and purpose and salvation will be offered as the blinders come off. Btw, with regard to reading the state of another´s soul, Padre Pio and some other saints had this gift - he would sometimes spend 10 hours in the confessional as the queues went down the street.
Padre Pio had this gift not for purposes of judging, but for purposes of helping the penitent make a good confession.
Exactly, and when we see the real state of our souls in the illumination of conscience which God will provide, it will similarly be a game changer for repentance and revival.
Thank you for this piece, Mr. Jackson. I was nodding my head in agreement from beginning to end.
Irena's fellow commuters were not at all horrified. They were completely indifferent.
I was reminded of GK Chesterton's quip that much journalism consisted of saying "Lord Jones is dead" to people who had no idea that Lord Jones was alive. Sadly that was the case with Charlie Kirk. The first time I ever heard of him was when his murder inundated UK news sites. But his killing affects all Christians, in as far as far as it is a merciless threat against anyone who resists an atheist agenda. Freedom of speech? Charlie proclaimed it. He invited people to "Prove me wrong". If you can't prove someone wrong, you kill them.
As Rod Dreyer noted in his comment on Charlie Kirk, today is 9/11. He hopes that this will not be a early event on the road to civil war in Western countries.
https://open.substack.com/pub/roddreher/p/the-assassination-of-charlie-kirk?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=9bqtm
I thought you said you never heard of him?
Like probably 99% of the UK population, I had never heard of him until after his killing. I looked up some basic facts to see why his death was attracting such attention, replacing coverage of Ukraine, the drones in Poland, Gaza and much more.
Mr. Murphy, I was going to reply to that stupid question but you beat me to it. You said it yourself in your original comment, "The first time I ever heard of him was when his murder inundated UK news sites." Maybe I missed something but you clearly speak, read, and write English, and your use of the term "UK news sites" seems to be a reference to the Internet... Mmm... perhaps you searched the name of Charlie Kirk with your favorite search engine, or on those UK news sites, or maybe even U.S. news sites... maybe on YouTube or other places... I mean you must have, otherwise how would you have posted the other things you said about Charlie Kirk? And since this person commented 3 hours after you did...
Charlie Kirk was a good man. He was good because he had God's grace. Im confident that he was saved but maybe purgatory was required.
If American doesn't get it together and turn back toGod ,we are done as a nation and will be conquered by another.
Thank you Mr. Jackson, good observation.
First: Eternal Father, I offer thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, for the repose of the soul of Charlie Kirk. May his soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
2nd, even though Charlie Kirk was an evangelical Protestant, at least he publicly called for respect for the Blessed Virgin Mary. I can't help but wonder if he was given the grace of final repentance in the moments before he passed, and took it, thus saving his soul.
3rd, I'm gratified that his Catholic friends (and even non-Catholic friends) gathered together to pray the Rosary for him. May this be a catalyst for his non-Catholic friends to convert to the True Catholic Faith.
4th, Charlie Kirk was doing some good work dealing with people who the majority of the time were just repeating the same old tired talking points and calling him "nazi" & "fascist", though occasionally some would be fair and listen to what he had to say with some respect, credit to those few people. But, this outright murder was just plain WRONG, and I hope those responsible are caught and do hard time in prison. And also repent, because eternity in hell is a prison from which their is no escape.
5th, my condolences to Mrs. Kirk and family and friends. Please pray for them.
Also:
Eternal Father, I offer thee the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, for the repose of the soul of Iryna Zarutska. May her soul, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Condolences to her family and friends.
Kirk was ahead of Ghandi on his road to the True faith, and fearless in speaking out. Trump is somewhere in between - interesting as he was caught openly musing about his chances of getting to heaven. The nation´s future is in the balance and depends on what faithful men and women do next.
Re: Trump... And also his posting Happy Birthday the the Blessed Virgin Mary... and this wasn't the 1st time.
Your other 2 points... Totally agree with you
Charlie Kirk’s assassination illustrates tragically - but perfectly - how the progressive movement reacts to honest dialogue. This should give every Catholic of a conservative stripe pause whenever the Vatican uses this word - “dialogue.” In the Church today, it’s only a shibboleth used to avoid the real thing.
"...horrified commuters" ??? The only place I've seen the full video is on Megyn Kelly's broadcast. After Irina is stabbed the commuters on the other side of the door mumble to themselves that "he just stabbed that girl" but they don't go to her aid. They turn their backs and shuffle their feet. The black woman seated opposite Irina does nothing. Likewise the black man seated behind that woman, who saw Irina being stabbed, gets up as the train stops, stands by Irina's seat looking down at her bleeding out and dying on the floor, and casually walks off the train. Then one young man does rush over to try to help Irina. Then a girl joins him. Then a third person, another man. One of the men helping looks hispanic, the girl is white and the second man looks hispanic or black. So, no, none of the commuters near Irina looked "horrified". They ignored her. The three who helped weren't seated near her in the train.
I just watched this - that aspect of it is pretty horrific. She just looks like such a really frightened little girl looking into his face - that's all I'm saying.
Very telling that the USCCB always sides with the Democrats (left) during the elections.
Charlie Kirk's pro-life work must not be allowed to also die. No one can replace Charlie Kirk, but somehow his pro-life college-outreach work must go on. Perhaps pro-life leaders, especially young ones but not limited to them, could volunteer to periodically go to a college campus under the auspices of Turning Point USA (TPUSA) and help continue Charlie's pro-life work.
“Subsidiarity and Its Limits
Catholic teaching prefers local authority: the family, the town, the state. But subsidiarity presumes competence. When a local prosecutor refuses to protect his citizens, higher authority is not only permitted but required to intervene. Attorney General Bondi’s decision to take federal jurisdiction over Zarutska’s case is a textbook example: higher power correcting local dereliction in service of justice.”
YES.
THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR LAST END
Morning Meditation by St. Alphonsus Liguori, Bishop & Dr. of the Church
Thursday, 09-11-2025--Thirteenth Week after Pentecost
(snippet)
"Ah, Christian, put your affairs in order. Reflect that your all is at stake: remember that, in a very short time, your body will be deposited in the earth, and your soul will go to dwell in the house of eternity. How dreadful, then, will be your misfortune if you are condemned to an eternity of woe! Reflect well on this now, for then you shall find no remedy."
"O my God, I am forced to acknowledge with shame and confusion that I have hitherto blindly wandered astray from Thee! I have scarcely ever thought seriously of saving my soul. O God, my Father, save me, through Jesus Christ. I am willing to part with everything here, provided I do not lose Thee. O Mary, my surest hope, save me by thy powerful intercession."
Without a doubt the best analysis, comment and tribute to Kirk and Zarutska that I have read so far on the internet. The most sickening are the young children left without a mom or dad. The perpetrators can not even be considered human.
From what I've read, it appears that Iryna's killer may be a paranoid schizo - with a long history of violence. If that is the case, it's about time the 'enablers' of such people face justice. He should have been in a secure hospital for his own sake and that of other people. A number of years ago, I remember reading about a man (I think here in the UK) who had been begging the authorities to lock him up again (I think his mother was as well). He knew that if they didn't he'd end up killing someone. The 'authorities' ignored him and yes, he went on to kill - I think again.
This is what happens when a country as a whole turns it's back on Almighty God! You negate God from your lives, you negate: love, peace, kindness, compassion, tolerance, compassion, understanding, and the list goes on... No until we as a nation turn back to Almighty God, this will continue to happen in our Country, our States, our Cities, and even more so in our families. Like the saying goes: "God is the Answer!" God in His time will make all things New! We on our part, must continue to Pray and Pray and Pray and Pray! All of those who have lost their lives due to the hatred that people have against those whom they dislike or might not agree with, or just do not value any kind of life at all, they need our prayers and they need professional help! Prayer is the Answer! Fr. D Roman