In the episode of Conciliar Catechesis Watch for the General audience of March 11, we made note of a title for the Christian faithful that appears to have originated in Lumen Gentium, namely “the messianic people,” which is invoked twice in article 9.
[NOTE: Before continuing, for those who have yet to do so, it is strongly encouraged to read the previous post in order to get the most out of what follows.]
As mentioned, I searched diligently for any other official ecclesial text – like a papal proclamation or a decree from a Roman Congregation – that may have used that title before Vatican II but could find none. In other words, it appears to be yet another conciliar novelty; a title for the faithful that has never before been used.
This naturally leads one to wonder why, and perhaps more importantly, how this title found its way into the Catholic (alleged) lexicon via the Second Vatican Council.
Is it just a creative turn of phrase, or maybe merely a poor attempt to add a touch of poetic flare to an otherwise dry catechetical text? Or was it invoked with a deliberate, even if hidden, purpose, and if so, to what end?
If you watched that episode of Conciliar Catechesis Watch, you may recall that I promised to explore these questions, arguing that this novelty was inspired in no small measure by the influence brought to bear on the Council by none other than the Synagogue.
At this, let’s take a closer look at the operative paragraph from Lumen Gentium, Article 9, to consider the phrase “messianic people” in context:
That messianic people has Christ for its head, “Who was delivered up for our sins, and rose again for our justification”, and now, having won a name which is above all names, reigns in glory in heaven. The state of this people is that of the dignity and freedom of the sons of God, in whose hearts the Holy Spirit dwells as in His temple. Its law is the new commandment to love as Christ loved us.
Let’s stop here for a moment. It would seem that this “messianic people” refers not to the Catholic faithful exclusively, but rather (as the Council so often does) to all of the baptized (including heretics and schismatics) collectively. We’ll consider if indeed this is the case as the text continues:
Its [the messianic peoples’] end is the kingdom of God, which has been begun by God Himself on earth, and which is to be further extended until it is brought to perfection by Him at the end of time, when Christ, our life, shall appear, and “creation itself will be delivered from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the sons of God”.
This portion of the text may initially seem rather blameless, but on closer consideration, a number of red flags come into view.
First, while the phrase “kingdom of God” is at times employed as a euphemism for Heaven, the pre-conciliar popes often taught that the kingdom of God is none other than the Catholic Church. For example:
The race of man, after its miserable fall from God, the Creator and the Giver of heavenly gifts, “through the envy of the devil,” separated into two diverse and opposite parts, of which the one steadfastly contends for truth and virtue, the other of those things which are contrary to virtue and to truth. The one is the kingdom of God on earth, namely, the true Church of Jesus Christ; and those who desire from their heart to be united with it, so as to gain salvation, must of necessity serve God and His only-begotten Son with their whole mind and with an entire will. [Emphasis added] (Pope Leo XIII, Humanum Genus)
In addition to identifying the kingdom of God as the Catholic Church (the true Church of Jesus Christ), the Holy Father also conveyed the critically important truth that he who wishes to gain salvation must be united with this Church.
In other words, in order, as the Council states, for one’s end to actually be the kingdom of God (understood as a reference to eternal life in Heaven), it’s not quite enough to simply be numbered among the baptized, rather, one must also persist in unity with the true Church of Jesus Christ.
Of course, the Council, in its ecumenical fervor (among other motivating factors) doesn’t dare repeat that truth.
Returning to Lumen Gentium 9, the text continues:
So it is that that messianic people, although it does not actually include all men, and at times may look like a small flock, is nonetheless a lasting and sure seed of unity, hope and salvation for the whole human race. (LG 9)
Two things stand out here. On a positive note, the Council admits that the messianic people – namely, those allegedly destined for the kingdom of God – doesn’t actually include all men. But, as the conciliar text so often does, it immediately goes on to undermine this truth by hinting that one may reasonably hope for the salvation of the whole human race.
Missing in the Council’s treatment of the kingdom of God is the reality that there is yet another kingdom to which men, by the misuse of their free will, choose to enter.
Picking up where we left off in Humanum Genus, Pope Leo XIII states:
The other is the kingdom of Satan, in whose possession and control are all whosoever follow the fatal example of their leader and of our first parents, those who refuse to obey the divine and eternal law, and who have many aims of their own in contempt of God, and many aims also against God. (Leo XIII, Humanum Genus)
On March 11, during his catechesis on Lumen Gentium 9, Leo XIV explicitly proclaimed what the Council implicitly suggested with respect to salvation. He stated:
Consequently, the law that animates relationships in the Church is love, as we receive and experience it in Jesus; and her goal is the Kingdom of God, towards which she walks together with all humanity. (Leo XIV, General Audience, March 11, 2026)
Is all humanity really walking together with the members of the Church toward the Kingdom of God? No, of course not, some in this world, perhaps even most, are pleased to beat a path toward the kingdom of Satan.
To be perfectly clear, Leo XIV isn’t exactly charting a new course here. Lumen Gentium goes on say the following:
And there belong to or are related to it [“the people of God / messianic people”] in various ways, the Catholic faithful, all who believe in Christ, and indeed the whole of mankind, for all men are called by the grace of God to salvation. (LG 13)
Get that? All men, and that would include the citizens of the kingdom of Satan, are related in various ways to the messianic people whose end is the kingdom of God.
So much for the words of Our Lord, “He who is not with Me is against Me.” (Matthew 12:30)
What exactly is going on here?
As I already hinted, there’s more at play than just unbridled deference to heretics. This much becomes clearer when we get to Lumen Gentium 16, which begins:
Finally, those who have not yet received the Gospel are related in various ways to the people of God. In the first place we must recall the people to whom the testament and the promises were given and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh. (LG 16)
Bear in mind that, at this point in the text, the Council has already defined the “people of God” as the “messianic people,” i.e., they are presented as one and the same. The first untruth that might stand out in the above from LG 16 concerns the claim that the Jews are among those who have not yet received the Gospel.
In reality, it was the Jews who received it first! As it is, the single most noteworthy “belief” among the self-identified Jews of our time (Nostra Aetate in Latin) is their adamant rejection of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Even so, according to Lumen Gentium, the Council must in the first place acknowledge the Jews as being related to the people of God, with the implication being that they too have the kingdom of God for their end.
Why, one wonders, is this a must?
Well, it’s a must because the Synagogue of Satan insisted that the Council should address the Jews of today as a people who remain in a perpetually valid covenantal relationship with God, and worse, the bishops happily obliged.
All of this brings us back to that peculiar phrase, messianic people.
No doubt, the overwhelming majority of Catholics (those who actually read the conciliar text, at any rate) assumed in good faith that “messianic people” refers exclusively to those who profess to follow Jesus Christ, the long-awaited Messiah. This is perfectly understandable but, unfortunately, that’s not exactly the case.
Both the title and the concept of a “messianic people” actually come from the Synagogue.
Consider the following, for example, written in 2024 by a Rabbi Julie H. Danan:
Few non-Orthodox Jews have a literal idea of the Messiah, but we remain a Messianic people in our faith in future, our hope for a time of peace, sharing, and harmony on earth, a “Messianic Era.” That powerful faith, that affirmation of our trust in the future, has led Jews to the forefront of social justice movements throughout history.
So, you see, belief in God’s promise of a literal messiah among the majority of self-identified Jews has been replaced by Judeo humanism (aka Tikkun Olam, understood as “repairing the world”), the proponents of which call themselves a “messianic people.”
This mindset dominates non-Orthodox (aka majority) Jewish thought.
Writing for the website ReformJudaism.org, Rabbi Joseph B. Meszler explains:
Reform Judaism teaches that, in partnership with God, it is up to us to make the world into a place of peace and justice, and that we cannot wait for nor do we expect a personal Messiah … Partners with God in tikkun olam (repairing the world), we are called to help bring the messianic age nearer.
WARNING: Do not be tempted to imagine that this so-called “messianic age,” as so many sincere but misguided people do, will be kind to the followers of Christ. More on that momentarily.
Moreover, note very well that Tikkun Olam Judeo humanism manifests itself in social justice movements, many of which – as observation alone plainly indicates – are purely evil, with Jews proudly positioned at the forefront (e.g., radical environmentalism, immigrant invasion posing as charity, support for abortion rights, gay rights, trans rights, etc.).
Is it merely coincidental that Vatican II, which adopted the Jewish appellation “messianic people,” also happened to champion its own brand of humanistic social justice?
I recall very well a private meeting I had with Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore in 2005 or so, just as I was in the process of launching the Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II Formation Series that I authored (God help me!). I’ll never forget the most passionate piece of advice that he gave on how to proceed with my efforts: “Don’t forget social justice!”
Is it just coincidence that Cardinal Keeler is best known for his over-the-top devotion to dialogue with the Jews of our time?
To be sure, the concept and the phrase “messianic people” isn’t a recent invention; the aforementioned rabbis simply provided an explanation as to what it means, and a rather benign one at that.
In reality, the Jewish notion of a messianic people (and a messianic age) has much older, Talmudic roots.
In the article, The Jewish Question in Europe: The Causes, The Effects, The Remedies (La Civilta Cattolica, Vol. VII, no. XIV. 1890), the author (Fr. Raffaele Ballerini, S.J.) cites a Jewish convert to Catholicism, David‑Paul‑Bernard Drach (b. 1791), with deep knowledge of the Talmudic synagogue who wrote:
The learned rabbis of the Synagogue routinely end their discourse by invoking … all of the blessings promised with the coming of the one who is heralded as the Messiah. Among these promised blessings is the much awaited and longed for moment of the slaughter of the Christians…
Under the heading: “Talmud Reinterpreted,” Fr. Ballerini, citing a prominent French‑Jewish lawyer, writes:
The same concept [of the slaughter and elimination Christians in the messianic age], although slightly changed, pays lip service to modernized Jews, who give no weight to this rancid interpretation of the Talmud. The actual Messiah is replaced by a messianic people, that is, the Israelites, predestined (although how or why is not mentioned) to rule all the rest of the human generations … “A messianism for the new age will be born and unfold. A Jerusalem of a new order, situated between the East and the West, will be greater than the cities of the Caesars and the Popes.”
So, no matter how the Talmud is sliced, it professes a time when the so-called “messianic people” are destined to rule over the rest of humanity, the followers of Christ chief among them, and this provided that they are even allowed to live.
With this in mind, what Catholic can possibly take comfort in the idea put forth by naïve post-conciliar Judeo-apologists that Christians and Jews stand together in hopeful anticipation of a messianic manifestation – the return of Jesus Christ for the former, the advent of a messianic age for the latter?
Rest assured, for the well-schooled, deeply committed, and most influential Talmudic Jews of our time (which does not include every self-identified Jew, many of whom mean their non-Jewish neighbors no harm), there is no real togetherness to be had with Christians, only temporary collaboration, and this only until such time as the non-Jewish world is brought to heel.
With all of this said, one can only imagine how the Talmudic Jewish leaders who pressed the Second Vatican Council to do their bidding must have snickered among themselves when the starry-eyed bishops (stars of David, no less) formally adopted the title “messianic people” to describe those whose end is the kingdom of God.
To the Jews that actively labored to lobby the Council, it mattered not one bit that those fools in their pointy hats imagined themselves to be among said people. After all, the Talmud is quite clear:
The Jews alone are men, while the rest of humankind is comprised of mere beasts, the same who exist only to serve them in the “new order” to come. (cf Treatise, Baba-Metsigna, f. 114.f.)
