Editor’s Note: As Catholics, the speech of a Catholic woman at the funeral — more precisely a memorial service — of her husband who was politically assassinated should be a moment of respect, regardless of what we think of her husband. But more than in the normal course of events, when the husband’s death has ignited the Christians of a nation in a way no other in its short history has ever done. More than 200 thousand persons attended Charlie Kirk’s funeral, and his wife gave a good example of the Catholic Faith in the sentiments she expressed about her husband’s death, at the moment in his life in which he had decided to become a Catholic, but held off because of the scandalous person the Cardinals selected illegally in the Conclave of 2025.

It is the teaching of the Saints, that without a special revelation we cannot know with certitude whether any person, outside of the Saints of the New Testament, after death, went straight to Heaven; because in our true Faith, we know that nothing impure can enter into Heaven, without it first being purified. The doctors of theology say that that purification can take place either through the pursuit of the most intimate union with the Divine Will in this life, to the point of rejecting attachments to all things and enduring all manners of suffering, or in the next, in Purgatory, where for a time determined in proportion to the debts the soul has to God for offending Him in sins of which it repented but did not yet make satisfaction for in this life, the soul lingers for a while, and is hastened forth through the prayers of the Faithful in Heaven and on Earth, uniting themselves to the intercession of Christ Crucified and Risen, and offering acts of Faith, Hope, Charity and the merits of good works and spiritual works such as having Masses offered for their liberation.

It is quite wrong, therefore, to insist that any given good person is in Heaven, without special signs, as it both involves a presumption on our part which transgresses God’s Holiness and Authority, as well as discourages the Faithful on Earth from remembering to pray for the souls of the dead that they be liberated from their chains (2 Maccabees 12:46).

However, in the case of those killed out of hatred of Christ and the truth, as appears to be the case in the murder of Charlie Kirk, I have seen no writer clearly indicate the rules by which we can or cannot publicly opine whether a person went to Heaven as a martyr or not.

For example, when Father Jacques Hamel, a Catholic priest, was stabbed to death and had his throat slit at Mass in his parish Church in northern Francis on July 26, 2016, while saying to his assailants who demanded he convert to Islam, “Vade Retro Satana!” — That is, “Get back, Satan!”, many Catholics including myself have always regarded him as a martyr who was immediately glorified in Heaven. But that is my private opinion and I do not claim infallibility about it.

Thus, we do not have to agree or disagree with Erika Kirk who evidently does hold that her husband died the death of a martyr. She knows better than us whether he professed the Catholic Faith in secret or not — and it seems he did — and so, out of respect, I am not going to fault her in her opinion.

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As regards forensics, it is notable that Erika says that when saw the body, she saw “the wound”. Thus, she seems to be confirming that Charlie suffered no exit wound and no dismemberment. Impossible according to all hunters who have used .30-06 rounds.

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The Book on the Trinity, every faithful Catholic priest would love as his next present

This is Br. Bugnolo's English Translation, of Saint Bonaventure's encylopedic book of theology on the Trinity: With this book, your priest will always have something intelligent and awesomely inspiring to preach to you about God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit!

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