The John-Henry Westen Show - August 09, 2022


Liberal clergy think this 'spiritual army' of young Catholics is too controversial


Summary

In the church today, you hear a lot about the need for a new evangelization toward the young. When there are young people who step up, who try to engage in the faith, and bring many people to them, even if they get a following, oftentimes they are canceled because they don t fit the mold of the church that perhaps your baby boomer clergy agrees with. We re going to meet the founder of a movement called Our Warpath, and yep, that sounds militant. But guess what? They re all young Catholics. This actually was founded out of a high school. And we are going to see what they re doing and why certain liberal clergy are opposed to them.


Transcript

00:00:00.000 In the church today, you hear a lot about the want to bring along young people into the church,
00:00:06.140 the need for a new evangelization toward the young.
00:00:10.480 Hmm. Something strange, though.
00:00:13.280 When there are young people who step up, who try to engage in the faith and bring many people to
00:00:20.320 them, even if they get a following, oftentimes they're canceled because they don't fit the mold
00:00:28.220 of the church that perhaps your baby boomer clergy agrees with.
00:00:35.900 We're going to meet the founder of a movement called Our Warpath.
00:00:40.880 And yep, that sounds militant.
00:00:43.120 But guess what?
00:00:44.320 They're all young Catholics.
00:00:45.780 This actually was founded out of a high school.
00:00:50.700 And we're going to see what they're doing and why certain liberal clergy are opposed to
00:00:58.200 them.
00:00:59.020 This is the John Henry Weston Show.
00:01:17.420 Joseph Rigi, welcome to the program.
00:01:19.520 Thank you, John, for having me on.
00:01:20.860 It's an honor.
00:01:22.300 Let's begin as well as do at the sign of the cross.
00:01:24.040 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.
00:01:29.720 Amen.
00:01:31.580 Joseph, you are the founder and president of Our Warpath.
00:01:35.500 Tell us about it.
00:01:36.300 What is Our Warpath?
00:01:36.960 So, Our Warpath, again, it started with a few of my friends and I graduated from the same
00:01:44.180 high school.
00:01:45.180 We saw the need for Catholics.
00:01:48.120 You know, we saw many Catholics, especially young Catholics, kind of either fall away from
00:01:51.320 the faith, not practicing their faith, or they don't really know their faith.
00:01:54.580 So, the idea was to push Catholics on every level.
00:01:59.400 Give them the resources they need.
00:02:00.540 But push them on the physical level, spiritual level, and the mental level as well.
00:02:06.360 And so, Our Warpath, on paper, of course, is a non-profit, a Catholic non-profit organization.
00:02:12.200 But we are a lot more than that.
00:02:15.100 Our Warpath is an intense way of life, committed to forging an army of elite and uncompromising
00:02:21.740 Catholics.
00:02:22.300 Now, that language kind of, maybe to some people, will sound extreme or even uninviting.
00:02:29.180 However, if we take a step back, what does it really mean to be an elite Catholic?
00:02:35.160 And for starters, to be Catholic is, in a sense, ordinary.
00:02:39.140 And in a sense, again, we do have an indelible mark of baptism, which sets us apart.
00:02:44.480 But it's ordinary in the sense that anyone can be Catholic.
00:02:47.580 In fact, there are millions of Catholics around the world who are Catholic, who are part of
00:02:53.380 the Catholic Church.
00:02:54.060 However, they don't practice the faith.
00:02:55.720 They don't live their faith.
00:02:57.220 Look at our American politicians, like Nancy Pelosi and President Joe Biden.
00:03:00.840 They don't live the faith.
00:03:02.960 They promote things like abortion and homosexuality.
00:03:06.100 So, again, to be Catholic is, in a sense, ordinary.
00:03:08.940 But to be an elite Catholic is to be a force of nature against the world, a force of nature
00:03:15.740 against principalities and powers, is to be a Catholic who actively strives towards sainthood.
00:03:22.080 And that's exactly what Warpath is trying to do.
00:03:24.380 Warpath is giving Catholics the resources, the foundational principles on which every great
00:03:32.040 saint was made, daily meditation, daily prayer, daily sacrifices.
00:03:35.880 We give people videos to watch, you know, book reviews.
00:03:40.100 We're giving them everything they need to build on that to be a great saint.
00:03:45.340 And our Warpath is about fighting.
00:03:48.260 The most crucial battle is the spiritual battle, because at all times, if we die, we need to
00:03:53.720 be ready to meet our God when judgment comes.
00:03:57.120 So, the most important battle is that spiritual battle, but there are going to be times when
00:04:02.100 God calls upon the church militant to take a stand, to take a stand and defend his Catholic
00:04:07.680 church, what he's taught us to do.
00:04:10.260 And I believe that that time is now when we look around, what are we seeing within our Catholic
00:04:15.360 church right now?
00:04:16.840 In the past few years, we've seen Catholic clergy shut down our churches because mass and
00:04:23.480 sacraments aren't essential, really.
00:04:24.860 Walmart is essential, but the mass and sacraments are essential.
00:04:29.420 Isn't our spiritual nourishment far more important than our physical nourishment?
00:04:34.040 And again, we should always take example from the great saints that have lived before us.
00:04:38.840 What do we see when the church was flourishing in the past?
00:04:41.120 The Black Death came along, and what happened?
00:04:43.080 Catholic clergy risked their lives to bring Catholics, to bring the dying, the sacraments,
00:04:49.460 to bring them holy communion in order that their soul was ready in a time of judgment.
00:04:53.360 And so we're seeing these churches being shut down.
00:04:57.480 We're seeing Catholic clergy bring up, you know, just a few weeks ago, a homosexual couple
00:05:01.700 was brought up to give a sermon, to give a homily in the church, which goes against canon
00:05:05.960 law.
00:05:07.220 We see, you know, a few months ago, Catholics, a Catholic priest was dancing within the church
00:05:12.340 during the sacred liturgy to an 80s song.
00:05:14.680 What is going on within our Catholic church?
00:05:16.560 And so I think Catholics, I think so many Catholics are sick of what's going on, and
00:05:21.780 they want to do something.
00:05:23.700 And so our war path is here.
00:05:24.980 And that's, again, how we move into what the March for Catholics is all about.
00:05:28.000 Our war path is here, ready to fight, ready to hold not only ourselves accountable for
00:05:32.360 our actions, but other Catholics as well, because that's true charity.
00:05:37.200 That's what Jesus Christ asks us to do.
00:05:39.640 And if he asks us to do it, then we need to do it no matter the cost.
00:05:42.820 So you guys are running a march.
00:05:46.560 Where is this march?
00:05:47.720 What's it about?
00:05:48.660 And what do you hope to achieve?
00:05:50.220 The March for Catholics is going to be held on September 29th and 30th, September 29th
00:05:55.980 of the Feast of St. Michael, of course, the warrior angel, which is why we wanted to do
00:05:59.180 it on there.
00:05:59.580 He's our patient saint.
00:06:01.100 But September 29th and 30th in Peoria, Illinois.
00:06:05.640 And the March for Catholics, really, it's a movement.
00:06:09.220 And I like to use the example to people when I'm explaining what is the March for Catholics
00:06:13.000 all about.
00:06:14.120 I compare it to the March for Life, in a sense, or the pro-life movement, in a sense.
00:06:18.400 The pro-life movement started out small, but they were able to build.
00:06:22.080 They were able to gather hundreds, thousands, and then hundreds of thousands, even millions
00:06:26.460 of pro-lifers together to a point where they had so many people.
00:06:31.480 They were able to impact legislature, impact pro-life politicians, and overturn Roe.
00:06:39.440 And so they've made such an incredible impact on the whole pro-life movement.
00:06:44.180 And they've saved millions of unborn children.
00:06:46.900 They've also saved the lives of mothers and of fathers because they've really tried to
00:06:51.720 keep the family together by telling them, you cannot have an abortion.
00:06:56.700 And so they've had this huge impact.
00:06:59.060 And they're not even a Catholic organization.
00:07:01.340 It's a secular organization.
00:07:03.340 And they've been able to do all this good because people are ready to fight.
00:07:06.600 They want abortion abolished.
00:07:08.840 So the idea with the March for Catholics is bring Catholics together.
00:07:12.920 Start a movement.
00:07:13.940 We might start small, but build upon that.
00:07:17.060 You bring in hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions in time to come to the point where
00:07:22.280 you can impact Catholic politicians to do their duty.
00:07:27.200 You can impact, most importantly, Catholic bishops and Catholic priests.
00:07:31.360 Do your duty.
00:07:32.460 That's all we want from you.
00:07:33.580 We're not telling you we want this, we want that.
00:07:35.800 All we want you to do is do what Christ has taught, what he has taught us to do.
00:07:41.820 Give the mass, give the sacraments properly.
00:07:44.300 That's all we want from you.
00:07:46.020 And so if we can get to that point where we can hold them accountable by putting a lot of
00:07:50.540 pressure on them just to do the right thing, then we can make an incredible impact upon
00:07:55.320 the Catholic world and most especially society as well.
00:08:00.080 Because as we know, when the Catholic church is flourishing, so is society.
00:08:03.580 As soon as the Catholic church starts to, in a sense, crumble.
00:08:06.740 And again, I mean, the Catholic church, the gates of hell will not prevail.
00:08:09.360 But when it seems to be crumbling, so society starts to crumble.
00:08:13.220 And that's what we're seeing today.
00:08:14.460 A weak church, weak Catholic leadership have led to a crumbling of our society.
00:08:18.680 Look where we are today.
00:08:19.420 Where, you know, five-year-olds are transgendering.
00:08:22.260 I mean, this is absolutely transitioning.
00:08:24.200 It's absolutely crazy what's going on.
00:08:26.300 So the purpose of the March for Catholics, unite Catholics.
00:08:31.900 Let them come together, profess their faith in a public manner, and let's hold our Catholic
00:08:36.460 clergy accountable.
00:08:37.740 Because if we don't step up, if Catholics like us, Catholics like those that are subscribed
00:08:42.640 to LifeSite News and many more great Catholic organizations, if we don't stand up, then who's
00:08:48.640 going to?
00:08:49.640 Because the ramifications of Catholics being silent, Catholics remaining silent, are absolutely
00:08:55.880 astronomical.
00:08:57.200 They're crazy ramifications.
00:08:59.100 We are not only going to lose more Catholic churches, but most unfortunately, we are going
00:09:05.240 to lose Catholic souls if we don't stand up and defend the faith.
00:09:08.920 Because many Catholics that are adhering to this modern idea, this soft Catholicism, which
00:09:14.720 is essentially just modernism, a lot of them actually don't even know it's true Catholicism
00:09:19.060 because they've been taught it wrong their whole life.
00:09:21.040 So it's our duty to step up, and that's what we're hoping the March for Catholics does.
00:09:24.060 Okay, so here you are, a bunch of young people, formed a movement, are having a march, you believe
00:09:33.320 in all the teachings that the church offers, and you're trying to encourage pastors to do
00:09:37.960 the right thing by offering the sacraments, by being there for the faithful, by teaching
00:09:42.400 the faith.
00:09:43.820 So surely, even if the church were just like a corporation, you'd have the corporation head
00:09:50.460 say, wow, we've got a bunch of great customers here encouraging us to do great work.
00:09:55.620 Let's help them out.
00:09:57.220 What was your reception in the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois, where you were going to do
00:10:02.940 your march this upcoming September?
00:10:05.280 How were you received by the bishop and the diocese?
00:10:08.880 Yeah, so the diocese, all of a sudden, they got a little afraid.
00:10:13.900 Apparently, we're too Catholic for them, which is unfortunate, I guess.
00:10:18.120 You know, I kind of like to think that we are living in such crazy times where it's
00:10:22.580 controversial to even pray a rosary in public.
00:10:25.100 You know, Catholic clergy get mad at you for this.
00:10:27.260 But the Diocese of Peoria is very unwelcoming now.
00:10:31.620 I mean, so first, like I was telling you, we got a call and saying, well, you know, you
00:10:35.780 can't use a cathedral because we're going to have a problem with volunteers.
00:10:38.960 I said, yeah, it's probably difficult maybe to get a volunteer to.
00:10:41.440 So I said, no problem, easy solution.
00:10:44.520 We are going to pay all your volunteers.
00:10:46.980 Anyone you get, we will pay for them to stand watch at the cathedral, make sure we don't
00:10:51.220 do anything crazy or whatever.
00:10:52.680 I mean, we're just going to pray the rosary, but that's all.
00:10:54.680 So I said, oh, okay, you know, I think that can work.
00:10:56.960 So he said, you know, I'm going to get back to you.
00:10:59.880 So the next call I receive is no longer that same, you know, man who's head of the services
00:11:06.120 there.
00:11:06.400 It's actually the attorney of the diocese of Peoria who works closely with the bishop.
00:11:10.200 She calls me up and says, you know what?
00:11:11.680 And it's actually, the cathedral is actually going to be under construction at that time,
00:11:16.980 those exact two days.
00:11:18.240 And I'm thinking to myself, those exact two days, the cathedral is going to be under construction.
00:11:23.620 Is this a coincidence?
00:11:25.280 And so we kind of ended the call.
00:11:27.780 And then I let her know, you know, after a few days, I said, you know, we need to speak.
00:11:31.580 This is not the real reason.
00:11:33.040 I know this isn't the real reason going on.
00:11:35.140 So she called me up.
00:11:37.980 I mean, note that she was very aggressive.
00:11:40.420 Apparently they call her the Doberman because she's just goes right at you and attacks.
00:11:44.760 But so she called me up and she said, you know, our war path, this is verbatim.
00:11:49.500 Our war path is in no way, shape or form affiliated with the Catholic church.
00:11:54.420 And we're not going to host you.
00:11:56.220 You can come here, but you cannot use any Catholic church that is under the jurisdiction
00:12:02.100 of the Diocese of Peoria.
00:12:03.580 You cannot, under any circumstances, use the cathedral to pray the rosary.
00:12:08.440 You're not allowed to do this because not only do we not agree what you believe in,
00:12:12.640 which again, I believe in everything the Catholic church has always taught.
00:12:15.960 I don't deny any doctrine.
00:12:17.020 I'm baptized.
00:12:17.620 I'm confirmed.
00:12:18.940 But she also let us know that we have an association with devious clergymen,
00:12:24.420 devious clergymen.
00:12:25.440 And she wouldn't let me know who they were.
00:12:28.660 And at the time, we only have two priests on our website that are speaking or one priest
00:12:33.580 and an archbishop.
00:12:34.360 So Archbishop Viganove and Father Altman.
00:12:37.100 So it was pretty brave of her to call out an archbishop for being devious or, I mean,
00:12:41.860 she wouldn't say specifically which clergyman it was.
00:12:44.120 So yeah, the receptance, we haven't really been accepted really in the Diocese of Peoria.
00:12:50.500 However, they've proven our mission statement.
00:12:53.540 This is why we're doing this.
00:12:54.560 This is why Catholics need to stand up because we want to use the cathedral to pray the deck
00:13:00.240 of the rosary.
00:13:00.900 There shouldn't be anything wrong with that.
00:13:02.160 But apparently, it's extremely controversial and they can't allow it.
00:13:05.200 And so no matter what, like I've been telling people, listen, no matter what happens, no
00:13:09.560 matter how much the attorney tells us we cannot use any of their churches or we can't use
00:13:14.080 the cathedral, we will still continue on.
00:13:17.000 The March for Catholics will be happening September 29th and 30th in Peoria, Illinois,
00:13:21.100 no matter what happens.
00:13:24.600 More power to you, Joseph.
00:13:26.260 It's awesome that you guys are standing for the faith.
00:13:28.900 I hope myself to be there.
00:13:30.780 And I hope many of you can join us at the March for Catholics on September 29th and 30th.
00:13:37.040 Any parting words for our listeners?
00:13:40.520 Yeah, I would encourage people to really get involved with the March for Catholics.
00:13:44.400 Again, it's more than just a local march.
00:13:47.840 We're hoping this to be a movement.
00:13:49.520 And we need every Catholic involved.
00:13:51.600 We don't just need people involved in the sense that they're participating in the march.
00:13:55.260 We want Catholics to volunteer to help.
00:13:57.900 We want Catholics to volunteer on the business side of things that they'd like.
00:14:01.300 If they really want to make this a movement where we can finally be rid of the gross things
00:14:09.180 that are happening within our Catholic church, then it's time for people to get involved.
00:14:13.080 So I encourage everyone to be there if they can.
00:14:16.060 Again, we're going to have Father Altman speaking.
00:14:18.600 We're going to have Archbishop Viganot, who will be doing a video for us as well, live stream for us.
00:14:27.220 And we have a few other speakers as well that haven't been announced yet.
00:14:30.560 But again, we are hoping that John will also be there on Thursday to give a talk.
00:14:34.840 But I encourage everyone to get involved.
00:14:38.060 It's time for Catholics to take a stand, because if we don't take a stand, no one's going to.
00:14:42.520 And if we don't take a stand now, it's never going to happen.
00:14:44.840 So the time is now.
00:14:45.960 We need to get it done.
00:14:47.200 And we need to fight the good fight.
00:14:50.520 Amen to that.
00:14:52.140 Joseph, thank you so much for what you're doing.
00:14:54.280 And may God bless you.
00:14:55.700 Thank you for having me on, John.
00:14:56.660 And God bless all of you.
00:14:59.560 We'll see you next time.
00:15:00.340 We'll see you next time.