There are moments in history when evil hides in shadows. And then there are moments when the shadows themselves begin to tear open and people see things that reveal how far a human soul can fall when it turns away from God. 

We are living in such a moment. 

Across the world, things are being revealed that many people once would have thought impossible – corruption intertwined with power, influence shielding crimes, institutions struggling to explain their silence while truths long buried begin to surface.  

And many people are asking the same question: How did things become this dark? 

But perhaps the more important question is this: Why are we suddenly able to see it? 

Our Lord warned that a day would come when hidden things would no longer remain hidden. “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed: nor hidden, that shall not be known” (Luke 12:2). 

What makes the moment we are living through so disturbing is not simply that crimes have been committed. Humanity has always known criminals. What is shaking people to the core is the growing realization that some of the worst evils imaginable – crimes against children, the exploitation of the innocent, the buying and selling of human dignity itself – did not exist only in the shadows of criminal underworlds. Evidence increasingly suggests that such depravity moved within circles of wealth, influence, and prestige, shielded for years by networks of power that protected themselves while the most vulnerable were treated as expendable. 

When a civilization reaches the point where the powerful can participate in such corruption while institutions look away, we are no longer dealing with an ordinary scandal. We are witnessing something far more frightening. We are seeing the moral foundations of a culture beginning to crack beneath the weight of its own rebellion against God.  

Because when a society no longer acknowledges a law higher than wealth, influence, and desire, even the innocence of children can become something that powerful men believe they can exploit without consequence. This is why the moment we are living through feels so unsettling. 

It is not simply the discovery of individual crimes. It is the growing realization that entire systems of influence may have existed to protect those crimes.  

And when corruption spreads to that depth, the problem is no longer political. It is spiritual.  

For generations now, the modern world has insisted that humanity can build a civilization without reference to God – without obedience to His law, without acknowledging the authority of Christ. 

But when Christ is no longer recognized as King, something else always takes His place.  

Power. 

Money. 

Pleasure. 

Control. 

And when those become the ruling gods of a civilization, the innocent are always the ones who suffer. 

Scripture warns us that such darkness does not appear suddenly. It grows quietly for years beneath the surface of a culture that has lost its fear of God. 

St. Paul wrote words that seem almost written for our own age: “For the mystery of iniquity already worketh …” (2 Thessalonians 2:7). 

The mystery of iniquity. The hidden working of evil beneath the surface of human affairs. But that mystery has one weakness. Darkness can hide for a long time. But it cannot hide forever.  

And when hidden evil finally begins to surface, it is often a sign that God is allowing a civilization to see itself clearly – perhaps for the first time in generations. Because when a civilization stops fearing God, it eventually stops protecting the innocent.  

And when that happens, the hidden works of darkness begin to come into the light – not because God delights in judgment, but because truth is the only path left that can still save us. 

And if we are willing to look honestly at history, we will see something that should sober every generation. The corruption we are witnessing today did not appear out of nowhere. It follows a pattern as old as fallen humanity. 

Whenever elites – whether political, financial, intellectual, or cultural – begin to believe that they answer to no authority higher than themselves, corruption begins to multiply. Power begins to protect itself. Truth becomes inconvenient. The vulnerable become expendable. And eventually, the entire structure of society begins to rot from within.  

Scripture describes this pattern with remarkable clarity. The prophet Micah looked upon the leadership of his own civilization and spoke words that could almost be spoken again today. 

“You that build up Sion with blood, and Jerusalem with iniquity. Her princes have judged for bribes, and her priests have taught for hire, and her prophets divined for money …” (Micah 3:10-11). 

Notice what the prophet says. The corruption was not confined to one part of society. The rulers were corrupt. The religious leaders were corrupt. Even those who claimed to speak for God had begun to serve money instead. And history shows us the same tragic pattern again and again. 

In ancient Rome, the ruling class reached such levels of decadence and cruelty that even pagan historians recorded their horror. The Roman elite entertained themselves with spectacles of violence, the degradation of human dignity, and moral excess so extreme that entire generations lost the ability to recognize virtue. 

And what followed that moral collapse? 

A civilization that once ruled the world slowly decayed from within.  

Centuries later, in revolutionary France, another elite class rejected God and proclaimed that humanity would now build a perfect society based on reason alone. Churches were desecrated. The worship of God was replaced with the worship of the state. But the dream of a godless utopia did not produce liberty. It produced the guillotine. Thousands died under a regime that believed it could create justice while rejecting the authority of God.  

The twentieth century gave us even darker examples. Totalitarian regimes promised paradise on earth if humanity would simply abandon the idea that it was accountable to a Creator.  

In the Soviet Union, millions perished under a system that openly declared war on God. In Nazi Germany, the rejection of moral law produced horrors that still haunt the conscience of humanity. And yet even after witnessing such devastation, the modern world continues to repeat the same dangerous illusion.  

The belief that power can be exercised without accountability to God. The belief that elites can shape the moral order of society according to their desires. The belief that truth can be managed, hidden, or manipulated indefinitely.  

And this illusion has not been confined to one political party, one ideology, or one nation.  

It has appeared in governments. In financial institutions. In media empires. In universities that once existed to pursue truth but now often reward conformity instead.  

It has appeared in entertainment industries that shape the imagination of entire generations while increasingly celebrating what previous civilizations would have recognized as moral disorder. 

And yes, it has even appeared within the Church herself when shepherds fail to protect the flock entrusted to them.  

This is why the moment we are living through cannot be explained by politics alone.  It is not simply a battle between parties or ideologies. It is a deeper crisis. It is the crisis that emerges when a civilization attempts to live as though Christ were not King. When societies refuse the Kingship of Christ, something always fills the vacuum. 

Power fills it.  

Wealth fills it. 

Desire fills it.  

And those forces have never been gentle masters. Because power without God becomes domination. Wealth without God becomes exploitation. Desire without God becomes corruption. And eventually the innocent are the ones who suffer most.  

If we are honest, the pattern is unmistakable. Civilizations rarely collapse first because of military defeat. They collapse because of moral decay. Because once a culture loses its sense of truth, its institutions begin to serve themselves rather than the common good.  

And when institutions begin protecting power instead of protecting the innocent, terrible things can grow in the shadows. Things that many people would prefer not to see. Things that powerful people work very hard to keep hidden. Until one day they are revealed.  

And when they are revealed, society experiences a moment of shock. “How could something like this exist?” 

But the deeper truth is that corruption of this magnitude rarely survives without protection. Protection from wealth. Protection from influence. Protection from institutions that should have acted sooner. This is why exposure feels so unsettling. Because it forces a civilization to confront a question it would rather avoid. 

How far have we drifted from the moral law of God? 

There is a deeper truth that modern civilization has tried very hard to forget. The crisis we are witnessing is not merely political corruption or institutional failure. It is the consequence of a world that has tried to dethrone its rightful King. Scripture does not present Christ as a private spiritual guide whose authority ends at the church door. It proclaims Him as the ruler of history, the judge of nations, and the sovereign before whom every power on earth will one day stand. St. John describes Him with words that leave no room for doubt: 

“ … King of kings, and Lord of lords” (Apocalypse 19:16).  

When a civilization forgets that truth, power begins to behave as though it answers to no throne above itself. And history shows what follows when men believe there will be no judgment higher than their own authority. 

At the root of this crisis is something that Scripture speaks about repeatedly. The loss of the fear of the Lord. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom …” (Psalm 110:10).  

When leaders believe that no higher authority exists, restraint begins to disappear.  

History shows that when elites stop fearing God, they eventually begin to believe they can hide anything. But Scripture warns that this belief is always an illusion.  

Christ Himself declared: “For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; nor hidden, that shall not be known” (Luke 12:2). 

The exposure of hidden corruption is therefore not merely a scandal. It is often the beginning of judgment. Because truth has a way of surfacing when a civilization has ignored it for too long.  

And so we come to the moment we are living in now. A moment when hidden things are coming into the light. A moment when many people feel shaken, disillusioned, even angry as they realize that institutions they once trusted have failed them.  

But there is a deeper question every civilization must answer in such moments. Will we repent? Or will we simply try to hide the truth again?  

Because history shows that when societies refuse repentance, the consequences become severe.  

Scripture contains a warning that echoes across centuries. “Justice exalteth a nation: but sin maketh nations miserable” (Proverbs 14:34). 

When a people reject the moral law of God, suffering eventually follows. Not because God delights in punishment. But because truth cannot be ignored forever without consequences.  

And yet even in moments like this, there is still hope. Because throughout history, when civilizations drift toward darkness, God raises up a remnant. A remnant who refuse to surrender to corruption. A remnant who refuse to call evil good. A remnant who still believe that Christ is King. And the future of a civilization often depends on whether that remnant remains faithful. 

So the question before us today is not simply what crimes have been committed by others. The question is far more personal. 

Will we live as subjects of Christ the King? Will we refuse to cooperate with corruption? Will we defend the innocent even when it costs us something?  

Because the future of our civilization will not be decided only in courts or elections. It will be decided in the hearts of men and women who choose whether they will live according to truth – or according to power. 

History has shown us what happens when societies refuse the Kingship of Christ. The only question left is whether our civilization will learn that lesson before it is too late.  

And so the warning must be spoken plainly.  

A civilization that refuses Christ the King will eventually lose the ability to protect the innocent. But a people who return to Him may yet find mercy. The time to choose between those two paths is not in some distant future. The time is now.  

Because the future of our civilization will depend on whether we remember what our world has tried so hard to forget:  

That Jesus Christ is King.  

And so, my brothers and sisters, as we look at the darkness that is being revealed in our world, we must remember something that the world itself has tried very hard to forget. 

Christ has not abandoned His throne. He remains the King of kings and the Lord of history. No corruption escapes His sight. No injustice escapes His judgment. And no act of fidelity offered to Him is ever wasted. 

The world may try to silence truth. It may try to bury it. It may try to pretend that Christ has no authority over nations or over history. But the day will come when every power on earth will stand before Him. And on that day, the only thing that will matter is whether we chose truth or whether we chose comfort … whether we served Christ the King, or whether we served the passing powers of the world.  

So do not be afraid of the darkness you see around you. Instead, let it remind you that the light of Christ is needed now more than ever. 

Stand for truth.  

Protect the innocent. 

Refuse to cooperate with evil.  

And above all, remain faithful to Jesus Christ our King. 

And now, as we close, I ask Almighty God to bless you and keep you faithful in these difficult times.  

May the Lord strengthen you in truth. 

May He guard your hearts from discouragement. 

May He give you courage to stand for what is right, even when the world pressures you to remain silent. 

And may Almighty God bless you, 

the Father, 

and the Son, 

and the Holy Ghost.  

Amen. 

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland 

Bishop Emeritus