CHALLENGES FACING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

 

Challenging Times for the Catholic Church      Gerry OShea

Historians see the revolutions in America (1776) and France (1789) as ushering in the modern era. The 19^th century in Europe can be understood as an ongoing struggle between the old order driven by men holding on to their lands and privileges against powerless rebels who were denigrated as mere rabble.  

The Catholic Church looked very favorably on hierarchical structures and strongly opposed the new Enlightenment thinking that was spreading throughout Europe. For example, the pastoral leaders in Rome, all-powerful potentates, viewed themselves as part of the status quo, fiercely opposing the growing calls for democratization.

Pius 1X, better known as Pio Nono, called together the First Vatican Council in December 1869 and in a carefully orchestrated vote successfully convinced the assembled bishops – with only a few exceptions – that pronouncements issued from the papal chair about faith and morals could not be erroneous, a questionable assertion considering that he was embarrassingly wrong about slavery, widely regarded as the most important moral issue of the millennium.

Unlike Pio Nono’s assembly of bishops, the Second Vatican Council was set up in 1962 by John XX111, the saintliest and most perceptive church leader of the last century. He saw that the Catholic Church had descended into a closed shop continuing to trot out teaching from the 400-year-old Council of Trent whose declarations were designed to counter the Protestant Reformation.

The sainted John called for opening the ecclesiastical windows to the modern world. He strongly supported the call for religious freedom and started serious dialogue with other religions, especially Jews and Muslims. The tribal platitude regarding no salvation outside of church membership was discarded in favor of preaching that the heavenly gates are open to people of goodwill from all backgrounds.

Still, a strong traditional reaction developed among some priests and bishops who longed for the old doctrinal and moral certainties. They also resented the changing of rituals, particularly the abandonment of Latin during mass in favor of people praying in their own language.

 Addressing God, the Council declared, should never be reduced to mumbo-jumbo utterances in a foreign tongue but should always be graced by the meaning provided in the people’s vernacular.

These internal church divisions were ventilated when in the summer of 1968 Pope Paul V1 published his encyclical Humanae Vitae which declared that marital sexual activity must always be open to pregnancy. In this pronouncement, the pope disregarded the contrary counsel given by his special team of advisors, lay and clerical, who, by a clear majority, urged him to allow couples to use contraceptives to limit or space their number of children.

The traditionalists, a minority of church members, stood by the pope’s understanding of natural law as set down in the encyclical. However, most young people demurred, and many left the church in disgust at what they perceived as myopic moral reasoning about a crucial human issue impacting intimate relationships.

Early in his papacy, Francis refused to condemn loving same-sex partnerships. Who am I to judge? he wondered when asked about the moral dimension of the gay lifestyle. His refusal to censure behavior that Rome had always named as unnatural and therefore sinful drew loud condemnation from traditionalists.

There are two Catholic approaches to decision-making about what is morally acceptable and what must be condemned from the rooftop. One model relies on traditional moral reasoning based on logic and what proponents call the Natural law. So, for instance, if we accept that God created male and female for the sole purpose of procreation, any behavior that fails to meet that criterion must be condemned.

The second approach focuses on the human predicament faced by people involved in loving behavior deemed sinful by the Vatican. Today, for instance, while gay marriage is condemned as a serious breach of church teaching it is legal in most Western countries. Furthermore, Catholics in the pews nearly all adopt a live-and-let-live philosophy and believe that this accords with the spirit of the New Testament.

Should priests be allowed to provide a blessing for a gay couple on their wedding day? In any American diocese, the answer remains a categorical no, but many bishops and priests in Germany and adjoining countries feel that a refusal would contradict their understanding of the Christian spirit and church benedictions in these situations are common in many European dioceses.

Divorced and remarried parishioners also create a dilemma for the priests celebrating mass. The traditionalists are convinced that such people are objectively living in sin and so, logically speaking, they should be turned away from the communion rails.

 A similar prohibition is used in some dioceses against elected representatives who support a woman’s right to choose abortion. The church leaders in America have made opposition to this procedure their number one issue, so President Biden, a devout Catholic, has to choose carefully where he goes to Sunday mass.

Pope Francis has taken the liberal side in dealing with this issue. He has explained that sinners need the sacraments most and he has never refused communion or any of the sacraments to anyone.

The place and importance of women in the church remain the major challenge facing the Vatican because relegating females to minor roles in the governance of the organization is no longer acceptable. Western societies have changed dramatically in opening the door of opportunity for women who no longer accept second-class status in their church where all the power resides with robed clerics, all male.

The Synod on Synodality is considering allowing women deacons and opening up senior positions in the powerful bureaucracy to females. Progress is slow but various studies reveal a majority of Catholics favor women qualifying for every office in their church communities including the priesthood at all levels of service and authority.

Gerry OShea blogs at wemustbetalking.com