Rachel Maddow, a popular radical left-wing pundit on MSNBC, recently announced that she is returning to the Catholic faith. She was raised in a strict Catholic household as a child but distanced herself from the church as she grew into adulthood. Maddow said that the election of Pope Leo XIV and his liberal stance on immigration inspired her decision.
As you can imagine, this announcement caught a lot of folks — especially practicing Catholics — off guard. And for good reason. Maddow is a diehard liberal who supports abortion, promotes the LGBTQ agenda, and lives in a homosexual relationship. All of these positions go against the official teachings of the Catholic Church. From the way she worded her statement, it does not appear that she plans to change her political views in order to align herself with the doctrines of sacred scripture and tradition.
And that presents a pretty big, pretty serious problem — one that places her soul, and the souls of those she might inspire to follow her lead, in danger of eternal condemnation. The Catholic Church considers abortion and open support for abortion to be grave or mortal sins. The church likewise teaches that supporting and engaging in homosexuality constitutes grave sin. Mortal sin requires grave matter (a violation of the Ten Commandments), full knowledge (you know it is a serious offense), and full consent (you know God hates this, the Church teaches against it, but you do it anyway) (CCC 1857–1861).
Now, I can’t say for sure that Rachel Maddow has met all three requirements for mortal sin. I don’t know her heart. Only God does. It is completely possible that the Lord is already at work in her heart, convicting her of sin and drawing her toward repentance. I pray that is the case. I don’t want to see anyone end up in Hell for eternity.
However, from the outside, things do not look too promising. Maddow grew up in a Catholic household and was likely catechized about mortal sin and the Ten Commandments. Supporting abortion violates the fifth commandment against murder (Catholic order). Engaging in homosexuality violates the sixth commandment against adultery, and scripture expressly forbids it throughout both the Old and New Testaments.
There’s your grave matter.
As for full knowledge, little doubt exists that she knows that scripture condemns homosexuality. Maddow grew up in the Catholic faith. She knows the teachings of the Bible and the church. I highly doubt that she knows that both reject these behaviors outright. That satisfies full knowledge.
And yet Maddow still supports abortion and continues to live a homosexual lifestyle, despite knowing these acts constitute grave sins and evil works God condemns. That appears to demonstrate full consent. I can’t say with certainty that she gives full consent regarding homosexuality, but from the outside, it certainly looks that way.
Again, if all three conditions are met, Rachel Maddow is living in mortal sin, no longer remains in a state of grace, and is headed for condemnation. Yet Maddow appears to believe she can live however she wants and still call herself Catholic — believing that she still receives God’s saving grace.
“Mortal sin results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace… If it is not redeemed by repentance and God’s forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ’s kingdom and the eternal death of hell,” the Catechism of the Catholic Church states in paragraph 1861. Another passage, paragraph 1415, says that “Anyone who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the state of grace.”
In other words, while living in open rebellion and grave sin, Maddow should not receive the Eucharist at Mass. I don’t know whether she does, since I don’t attend her parish. However, if she does receive Communion while in a state of mortal sin, she eats and drinks judgment upon her own soul.
This serves as a long-winded way of saying that you can’t simply call yourself Catholic or Christian and then live however you please. To truly belong to God’s kingdom, you must not only profess faith in Jesus intellectually but also obey Him. That obedience defines true faith. If Maddow truly intends to convert and return to the church, she must submit to its spiritual authority, end her homosexual relationship, repent of her support for abortion, and make the necessary changes to live in obedience to Christ.
I’m not saying Maddow must become perfect overnight. None of us reaches perfection on this side of Heaven. Still, we must pursue it. Until her life bears visible fruit of repentance, I remain skeptical about the sincerity of her return to the faith — and you should be too.
