Introducing the “High Control Catholicism” Series

Tracking Sectarian and Fundamentalist Impulses in the Catholic Church

Photo by John Schaidler, Unsplash

Quick note from Max: Emma and I have been watching what’s happening right now with horror and disgust—so much harm being inflicted just to serve the greed of a few. Before you read this essay, which we’ve been working on for about six weeks, I want to pause and name what’s unfolding around us. Writing these pieces here has been meaningful and even grounding for us in a moment when it’s easy to feel powerless. In our own small way, we can at least name the harm we see, call it what it is, and refuse to let it go unchallenged. The fight for justice is intersectional, and it’s on all of us to call out dangerous beliefs and practices wherever we find them.

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Catholicism is deeply meaningful, positive, and uncomplicated for lots of people.

When they hear the word “Catholic” they’ll think of their Polish grandmother slipping candy into their eager hands beneath the hymnal at Mass, with her kitschy wall art of Jesus and Mary in the kitchen and a St. Francis birdbath in the backyard.

Or they’ll fondly recall growing up with “hippie Catholicism” in the wake of Vatican II, when everything was less serious (acoustic guitars at mass, anyone?), and the message was steeped in the Church’s rich tradition of social teaching.

Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Movement might come to mind, enduring witnesses to Catholicism’s commitment to the poor, to peace, and to justice. For some, such examples—along with the prophetic witness of the late Pope Francis and the present Pope Leo XIV—have even inspired conversion, drawn by a faith that confronts war and genocide and serves the marginalized.

However, there are plenty of people who have never experienced this life-giving vision of Catholicism.

They experienced something completely different.

This Fourth of July, many in America are being denied their dignity—and with it, the basic freedoms that Christianity claims to uphold.

While this series is about High Control Catholicism, it will be anchored in an American context as we trace the impact of the puritans on the ultimate development of American Catholic Fundamentalism through case studies and examples that will lead us to modern America and the role of technology in spreading this far-right sentiment.

We’ll also touch on our personal experiences of growing up Catholic in the Midwest within the turn-of-the-century and the strict practices and beliefs we encountered as young queer people.

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The next essay in this series will cover the traditionalist Catholics of St. Mary’s, Kansas City as our first case study.

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A Rigid Way of Thinking, A Rigid Way of Life

Some Catholics inherited a faith that left aside the social justice church teachings and liberation theologies. One that leverages manipulative, controlling, and harmful systems to maintain patriarchal, cis-heteronormative, sexist power. It’s full of toxic masculinity (we wrote about that here). It leads to a false hierarchy that actually gives less dignity to certain groups.

High Control Catholicism is rigid, fixated on doctrine, and more concerned with how well you play the role you’ve been assigned than whether you’re truly following the teachings of Jesus.

High Control Catholicism is about being a real Catholic. About going to the real mass.

From groups like Opus Dei, involved in labor exploitation and human trafficking across the global south, to covenant Catholic communities across the US, where charismatic leaders encourage participants to isolate themselves outside of society with other true believers… there are unfortunately many examples of Catholic groups following the high control blueprint.

Like far-right Christian organizations, these groups leverage a Catholic nationalism to argue that members should sacrifice themselves in service of a mythologized battle between “secular” and “sacred” morality that they believe is playing out on the public and civic stage. And if you get them talking, you’ll probably find out that a lot of them have a medieval fantasy where they get to be knights with swords because they believe the crusades were morally justified.

It sounds pretty far-fetched when you write it plainly, but most average people have experienced the consequences of these high control, fundamentalist groups—even in Catholic spaces. Think of LGBTQ+ teachers fired from Catholic schools. Think of how conversion therapy is promoted by these Catholics as though it is a reasonable, medically appropriate option. Think of the rise of MAGA Catholics, specifically Catholics that align themselves with Christian nationalists and far-right republicans, even when the actions of these far-right actors, including the Trump administration, are directly counter to what the official Catholic Church teaches.

The rigidity of High Control Catholicism stands counter to official Church teaching about the dignity of all people, yet it utilizes Catholic iconography to reinforce and tether beliefs surrounding issues like firearms, immigration, LGBTQ+ identity and women to an “old faith” colonialist fantasy where everyone must be subjugated.

Photo by Josh Applegate, Unsplash

Who’s Behind the Sectarian Impulse?

Some of these people, although not all, are converts to the faith who believe that this “old faith” justifies outdated and harmful practices merely because they are part of a romanticized and mythologized version of the past.

Some of these Catholics believe that they can further their moral ambitions, for example outlawing access to legal abortion and contraception, by aligning themselves with these far right actors. And it’s not new—Phyllis Schlafly, herself a Catholic, mobilized housewives from Catholic, evangelical, and Mormon communities to oppose the feminist Equal Rights Amendment in 1972.

Some High Control Catholics weaponize their faith–for the firing of gay teachers, to promote dangerous and unscientific medical views, and to justify alliance (and allegiance) to local and national political groups that are not sanctioned by the Vatican.

So what’s going on? For a religion that emphasizes obedience to a central authority, how can there be so many contentious offshoots?

It turns out that there is no small faction of sectarian impulse within the Catholic Church—primarily made up of people who are attracted to a rigid and fundamentalist interpretation of Catholic identity. And they are working on making their medieval fantasies of a Catholic monarchy come true.

These are beliefs with serious consequences for the wider community – not just political and social restrictions that unfairly target and impact nonbelievers, but lasting impact and harm to people within these groups who do not conform well enough to group norms (such as LGBTQ people).

In response, the Vatican moves slowly. Although action has been taken against some groups, there are many new ones popping up all the time (aided by the internet and social media). And especially in the US, political and financial incentives are available to those Catholics who publicly support right wing positions and platform extremists.

What We Hope to Accomplish With This Series

The goal of this work, then, is to inform and educate readers about the similarities amongst these groups (as well as their typically unspoken agendas) in order to make it easier to spot them as they develop, and to disentangle from the ones that may have personally impacted us.

We hope this series helps you see what’s at stake—not just abstract theological debates, but real lives, real harm, and yet also real opportunities to reclaim a healthier, more just Catholicism. High control Catholic groups thrive on controlling the conversation and hiding information about the true history of Catholicism (including the history of LGBTQ saints), so part of resisting them is naming these strategies clearly and understanding their tactics.

Whether you’ve experienced these communities personally, watched them shape public policy, or simply wondered how such rigid and harmful practices persist at odds with a loving Christian faith, we invite you to journey with us as we uncover their stories.

Stay tuned for the next installment on the traditionalist Catholics of St. Mary’s, Kansas City—and don’t hesitate to reach out with your own stories or examples. Together, we can shed light on what’s broken, and begin to imagine something better.

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If you’d like to check out a previous essay by Max touching on these issues related to his experience attending Franciscan University of Steubenville, brushing up against Opus Dei, and reading Gareth Gore’s book, Opus, you can find that essay here.

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